Visiting Students. How does it work? Forum

[FluidMosaic]

1L here potentially shooting for non-law. I'm thinking about trying to be a visiting student for either 2L Spring or 3L Fall(trying to recruit to non-legal positions).

How does being a visiting student work? Timeline? Application? Tuition? Admissions?

[BuckinghamB]

I never did visiting student at a non-law program, but did it this semester as a 3L at another law school. I just applied during fall 2014 semester. Due date was like mid-december I think. I can't imagine the timeline is much different for other schools.

For admission, all I needed to do was state a compelling reason to be at the school. In my case, my fiancee lives in Chicago and we're going through a parent's serious health situation. Pretty sure grades played no role at all, but you'll still need to send a transcript.

I had to pay that semester's (or year's) tuition at the target school's tuition rate. There's some kind of consortium agreement thing my school needed to fill out and send to the target school, but the financial aid people knew what to do.

VERY IMPORTANT: if you end up visiting a school, make sure you have your target school fill out an enrollment verification form and send it to your student loan servicer. If you don't do this, you'll get a notice that your loan payments are due soon b/c you're technically not enrolled at your original institution. I learned this the hard way--scared the shit out of me when I got an email saying my massive payment is due a month after graduation.

[Lwoods]

Why are you shooting for non-law? Do you mean JD-preferred or unrelated to the law entirely?

Anyway, I did my 3L year as a visiting student.

Cons:
I had to pay full tuition at the visiting school.
My 3L grades didn't count (so I had to abandon any hope of latin honors).
I didn't get that last year with my classmates.

Pros:
I was able to network like crazy in the new city and land precisely the type of job I wanted.
I met new friends / began creating a network here.

Spring 2L and Fall 3L seems like a bit of a disjointed time to do a visiting year, particularly if you're searching for non-law jobs, which tend to hire later. Why not just 3L? Aim to get a 2L job in your desired city.

As for the application timeline, just check the school you're hoping to visit. Visiting student applications are typically due the same time as transfer student applications, I think.

The hurdle is going to be with your home school, though. I'm lucky--mine has never rejected a request for a visiting year--but other schools are far more strict. For example, my visiting school doesn't allow its students to do visiting years unless they're following a spouse. So, don't count on being able to do it until you know your school's policy.

[chuckbass]

Alternatively, drop out and don't waste your time/money in law school if you don't want to be a lawyer.

[BlueLotus]

What kind of class rank is needed?

[MauveDinosaur]

How tough will it to apply as a visiting student to another law school if I have a disciplinary history with my law school?

[FluidMosaic]

Alternatively, drop out and don't waste your time/money in law school if you don't want to be a lawyer.

I mean I would but 2.4 undergrad doesn't do so well. Since I work during the schoolyear and scholarships and savings and stuff, I will graduate 0 debt.



OT though so when you do a visiting scholar thing, does it have to be for the entire year?

[sundontshine]

How/why did you get a 2.4 in undergrad?

[FluidMosaic]

How/why did you get a 2.4 in undergrad?

A college experience.