Visiting student at a top law school - Pros and Cons Forum

[stuffedburrito]

Are there any advantages to spend 3L at a top law school as a visiting student? Has anyone on this forum done so or know anyone who have gotten positive results from it (e.g. employment opportunities)? Does it give a boost to your resume?

I understand that visiting students have compelling personal needs to spend their last year at another school, but can this work to their advantage career-wise?

I am considering whether to apply to a top school (e.g. UCLA, USC) as a 3L visiting student, so any feedback on this topic would be great.

Thanks!

[awesomepossum]

it's not clear to me how this would help you...you're not going to get a degree from that school.

furthermore, by that time, you should hopefully have secured a job already.

[Georgiana]

Also, usually the school needs to have something you can't get at your own school (e.g. a special program) or you have to have some personal reason for needing to be at that school (e.g. getting married and hubby is stuck in that area).

[underdawg]

lol if it really gave a boost to one's resume, don't you think a lot of people would do it and/or it would become just as hard as transferring?

[mumbling2myself]

I'm going to be visiting next year (T14 -> T14). From what I've heard, there are very few of us applying or following through with the visit. The hard part is actually getting the home school to sign off on the visitation (this is where you need a compelling reason, as others have stated).

It really isn't likely to do much for your career, but if you really want to do it, do it.

[stuffedburrito]

Thanks for all your tips!

[rm21]

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[270910]

So, say that I were to go to Harvard but get married after 2L summer to a woman who lives in the Philadelphia area. Would it be difficult to do my senior year as a visiting student at Penn?

Possibly not. That's close to exactly why the programs exist - it's not for shits and giggles or PRESTIGE, it's to accommodate people who's lives are greatly inconvenienced by spending 3L in the location they started law school. Is marriage enough? Will depend on both school's programs, but it's in the ball park.

[slowdiver]

I'm also very curious about this. My girlfriend, now fiance, and I have been long-distance since I started law school and she started a PhD program in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are only able to visit on holidays and have to fly back and forth every time (live +1000 miles apart). I recently got a job in SF for my 2L summer that could hopefully lead to employment after graduation and am considering visiting at one of the schools out there for my 3L year. I wonder if missing your fiance is a "compelling reason" for these purposes, and if anyone who has done the visiting thing felt as though they missed out by not spending the third year with their friends.

[RVP11]

I'm also very curious about this. My girlfriend, now fiance, and I have been long-distance since I started law school and she started a PhD program in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are only able to visit on holidays and have to fly back and forth every time (live +1000 miles apart). I recently got a job in SF for my 2L summer that could hopefully lead to employment after graduation and am considering visiting at one of the schools out there for my 3L year. I wonder if missing your fiance is a "compelling reason" for these purposes, and if anyone who has done the visiting thing felt as though they missed out by not spending the third year with their friends.

Maybe if you get her pregnant? I think needing to be with your pregnant SO would be pretty compelling.

[JOThompson]

Do you have access to the career services office at the school you're visiting? Montauk's book had a chapter about this, I'll look at it and see what his perspective is.

[Maven]

As someone who did this a very long time ago, I can tell you that it took tremendous stress off of my relationship with my S O. Commuting was simply a big hassle.
It also helped me with my job prospects. Not so much relating to use of the career placement office at my new ls, (it didn't really want to help me) but from being in the city where I intended to practice.
Also-although I was not particularly concerned about coming in as an outsider I was also able to meet new people through a clinical program that I was able to participate in.

[Chicklets]

As someone who did this a very long time ago, I can tell you that it took tremendous stress off of my relationship with my S O. Commuting was simply a big hassle.
It also helped me with my job prospects. Not so much relating to use of the career placement office at my new ls, (it didn't really want to help me) but from being in the city where I intended to practice.
Also-although I was not particularly concerned about coming in as an outsider I was also able to meet new people through a clinical program that I was able to participate in.

Thanks Maven.. It's good to hear from someone who actually did this. My husband and I are making some difficult choices right now, and knowing that this is a potential option (should the long-distance marriage thing be even more of a burden than we anticipate) is very reassuring.

I'd love to hear more first hand accounts (especially from those with HAPPY ENDINGS).

[wannabe146]

I know that this is an old thread, but I was wondering about the financial aid for being a visiting law student. I have somewhat of a scholarship where I am now and was wondering if the school where I would still be getting my degree from would still contribute the scholarship if I visited a school? Thanks for the help!

[Aqualibrium]

I've been entertaining the idea of visiting a school for 3L year. From everything I've seen, you have to pay tuition at your new school, and your degree granting school will not chip in at all. I think that makes sense, but it's my biggest hurdle.

[wannabe146]

Thanks for the post. Any other ideas on paying for it.....or are you just stuck with sticker price at the new school?

[wannabe146]

bump

[Aqualibrium]

Thanks for the post. Any other ideas on paying for it.....or are you just stuck with sticker price at the new school?

3rd party scholarships? Rich parents? You lose your scholarship at your old school, and you can't get one at your new school. You're pretty much stuck paying sticker. I really want to visit, but I just can't justify going from zero loans to a 50k+ loan for only one year of school.

[wannabe146]

haha, that is what i thought. thanks for the response!

[wannabe146]

so how do people make it work with visiting a school?

[Aqualibrium]

so how do people make it work with visiting a school?

In some instances the cost is comparable of course so there is no real loss. In others, the cost is much lower. There is a student at my school visiting from a school where he/she paid about 50k in tuition and living expenses. At my school, he/she is only on the hook for about 18k in tuition and living expenses because of in state tuition.

[wannabe146]

interesting. thanks again for the response!

[wannabe146]

what do your grades have to be like to be able to visit? is it advised to do it for just a semester or the whole year? do employers look down upon visiting?

[Aqualibrium]

1. From my research, it didn't seem like grades mattered too much. It's not like transferring where you need to be top 5-10% from some schools to make it. I got the impression that you can't be scraping the bottom of the barrel, but you don't need to be a rockstar. The really important thing is having a compelling reason for the visit imo.

2. I really don't see the benefit in visiting for only a semester.

3. By the time you visit, you'll be a 3L; I think we all know how firms tend to treat 3L's that didnt summer with them. That said, I would think that employers in your school's home market wouldn't look kindly on someone who spent their 3L year at school outside the market. I'd think that's especially true with the more xenophobic secondary markets.

With regards to employers in the market of the school you visit, it would seem to me that it signals a commitment to being in that area. I dont see how that can ever hurt you. Plus the networking opportunities you get by being in the area are bound to help. You have to keep in mind though that you're degree granting school is still what they end up seeing you as.

Just my thoughts...

[wannabe146]

Thanks again for the help! You have really provided a lot of good information!

One last question. If you visit, do you have to give up your title as being a part of a journal at your home school? Or can that stay on your resume?