Contact w/ admissions office Forum

[chapmaco]

Hi all,

I know in applying to undergrad it was a good idea to have personal contact with admissions officers- through e-mail or phone conversations. Do the same rules apply for law school admissions? For example, if a school sends you an e-mail indicating that they are interested in you as an applicant and provide contact info for their admissions officer, is it a good idea to follow up on that?

[Scotusnerd]

I've found that the best way to make contact and find out for sure is to visit the school and talk to the admissions people directly. If that is not possible, telephone is the next best bet. Email is last for personal interaction.

As a side note about schools sending you offers: these schools are by and large for-profit institutions that are out to eat your money and not give you a very marketable degree in return. STAY AWAY, do research on what schools you want to go to, and score as high as you can on the LSAT. Find a school that suits your needs, rather than one that just happened to contact you first. I probably get about 5 emails a day from various law schools trying to recruit me, and in every case bar perhaps one or two, they are bad deals.

[cutecarmel]

I agree with this poster (though not so much about the second part---I've had many great schools, Duke and Harvard for example, that have sent me offers...but yes, you should research more into schools that send you offers)

Anyhow. I don't think it would hurt to correspond with admissions officers. But you don't want to come off as insincere ("Oh thank you so much. I love this school. It's so incredible. It's my dream school" blah blah blah).

I have corresponded with admissions officers from schools with programs that I am interested in. I've also emailed about fee waivers. It hasn't hurt me (I got into 5 of 9 schools I applied to...still waiting on the other 4) but I'm not sure if it has helped me either. I'm not sure that when you email admissions that you are corresponding with the same people who will actually make admissions decisions.

I agree with the other poster and that the best way to show interest is to actually visit the school. A few schools actually ask on the application about campus visits/recruiting events that you have attended.

I've found that the best way to make contact and find out for sure is to visit the school and talk to the admissions people directly. If that is not possible, telephone is the next best bet. Email is last for personal interaction.

As a side note about schools sending you offers: these schools are by and large for-profit institutions that are out to eat your money and not give you a very marketable degree in return. STAY AWAY, do research on what schools you want to go to, and score as high as you can on the LSAT. Find a school that suits your needs, rather than one that just happened to contact you first. I probably get about 5 emails a day from various law schools trying to recruit me, and in every case bar perhaps one or two, they are bad deals.

[mrtoren]

Admissions offices are already bogged down with countless emails, applications, and phone calls to sort through..don't add to it unless you have a legitimate concern. If you want to shoot the breeze with them, like others have said, go visit in person.

[rinkrat19]

Admissions offices are already bogged down with countless emails, applications, and phone calls to sort through..don't add to it unless you have a legitimate concern. If you want to shoot the breeze with them, like others have said, go visit in person.

+1

In my experience, they were always helpful if I emailed or called with an actual question, but they're busy people. Don't just contact them to put yourself on their radar. It could very well backfire and you'll be on their radar as an annoying, needy person.