Top Law Schools

Thought I would compile information for this as well now that TLS is starting to get acceptances. I know I'm trying to figure out which schools to visit, when they are, if they overlap, how to pay for it if schools aren't giving stipends, etc.

BY SCHOOL

Yale:
Weekends: April 18-20 and Monday program March 11
Travel Stipend?

Stanford:
Weekends: April 12-15
Travel Stipend? up to $200 in-state and $400 out-of-state, as well as $25 each way for transportation to and from San Francisco or San Jose Airport.

Harvard:
Weekends: March 9-11 and April 20-22
Travel Stipend? $50-200 based on distance

Columbia:
Weekends: March 6-7 and April 3-4.
Travel Stipend? up to $250 based on distance

Chicago:
Weekends: April 11-13; "Day in the Life" program March 4
Travel Stipend? up to $200

NYU:
Weekends: March 7 & 8, April 4 & 5, April 25 & 26 [NOTE: These are all Thursdays and Fridays, not actually weekends]
Travel Stipend? no
OTHER: Regional events in DC, SF, LA, and Boston in February an alumnus' home, with a meeting with the Dean and a reception.

Berkeley:
Weekends: April 11-14
Travel Stipend? $150 instate, $300 out of state

Penn:
Weekends: March 22-23; Preview Day April 8
Travel Stipend? $100-200 based on distance

UVA:
Weekends: March 22 (informal picnic March 21)
Travel Stipend? varies by state:
$0: City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia

$100: DC, MD, NC, VA

$250: AL, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MA, ME, MI, MS, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VT, WI, WV

$400: AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, HI, IA, ID, KS, LA, MO, MN, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY, or outside the U.S.

Michigan:
Weekends: March 21-23 and April 4-6
Travel Stipend? subsidizes hotels (all but ~$20/night) and food. NO travel reimbursement and no hotel subsidy if you bring a guest.

Duke:
Weekends: April 5 (Friday) with optional evens April 4 and 6
Travel Stipend? Varies by state:
If you are travelling from the following states, you are eligible for a $200 subsidy: ME, RI, NH, MA, NY, CT, NJ, DE, MD, VA, DC, SC, GA, FL, TN, AL, KY, LA, PA, MS, WV, VT, AR.

If you are travelling from the following states, you are eligible for a $250 subsidy: IL, IN, IA, NE, MO, ND, SD, MI, MN, KS, WI, OH.

If you are travelling from the following states or outside of the US, you are eligible for a $350 subsidy: CA, OR, WA, WY, MT, AK, HI, NM, CO, UT, OK, TX, ID, NV, AZ

Northwestern:
Weekends: April 5-6
Travel Stipend? yes- UP TO $150 reimbursement IF flying more than 300 miles to Chicago.

Georgetown:
Weekends: January 24-25 & March 21-22
Travel Stipend? no

Cornell:
Weekends: March 8-9 and April 19-20
Travel Stipend? $100-300 based on distance

UCLA:
Weekends: March 11 and April 7
Travel Stipend? no [apparently you can request and they will decide, some have succeeded)

U Texas:
Weekends: March 21-22; April 5 & 12 (optional streamlined events)
Travel Stipend? by merit and only if outside of Texas (invites go out Jan/Feb)

Vanderbilt:
Weekends: March 15 and April 5
Travel Stipend? yes, but must be approved in advance.
Flights: up to $350
Hotel: $50/night for up to two nights
Ground transportation from airport: $18

USC:
Weekends:
Travel Stipend?


WUSTL:
Weekends:
Travel Stipend? up to $200 if you are traveling to St. Louis from over 150 miles away

George Washington:
Weekends: March 22
Travel Stipend? only reimbursed if you matriculate (lolllll) up to $150

Notre Dame:
Weekends: April 5 & 12
Travel Stipend? up to $300

Tulane:
Weekends: March 8-9
Travel Stipend? up to $250, based on merit

Boston College:
Weekends: Friday, February 22, March 23, April 4
Travel Stipend? up to $250, based on merit

UC Irvine:
Weekends: April 5-6
Travel Stipend? ?


BY DATE

January 24-25
Georgetown (#1)

February 22
Boston College (#1)

March 4
Chicago "Day in the Life" progrm

March 6-7
Columbia (#1)

March 7-8
NYU (#1)

March 8-9
Cornell (#1)
Tulane

March 9-11
Harvard (#1)

March 11-14

UCLA (March 11; #1)
USC Rothman Scholar Interviews

March 15
Vanderbilt

March 21-22
Georgetown (#2)
Michigan (#1) [March 21-23]
Texas
George Washington (March 22)
UVA
Penn (March 22-23)

March 23
Boston College (#1)

April 3-4
Columbia (#2)

April 4-5
NYU (#2)
Vanderbilt (#2)
Boston College (#3)

Notre Dame [April 5]
Texas [April 5]
Duke [April 5]
Michigan (#2) [April 4-6]

April 5-6
Northwestern
UC Irvine

April 7
UCLA

April 7
Penn Preview Day

April 11-14
Berkeley
Chicago

April 12-15
Stanford

Notre Dame (#2) [April 12]
Texas [April 12]

April 18-20

Yale

April 19-20

Cornell (#2)

April 20-22
Harvard (#2)

April 25-26
NYU (#3)

In. First post in epic twinkletoes thread.

No idea about stipends, but Michigan's two ASWs are March 21-23 and April 4-6. And it looks like Duke only has the one on April 4-6.

Lavitz wrote:In. First post in epic twinkletoes thread.

No idea about stipends, but Michigan's two ASWs are March 21-23 and April 4-6. And it looks like Duke only has the one on April 4-6.

Thanks lavitz! Ill add em in when I'm back home. So excited to see your cycle. We seem to enjoy making mega-threads. Excited to see this one grow as we make plans to have TLS meetups during ASWs... especially because I'm annoying on this site but not in real life. I enjoy the subtle-troll.

twinkletoes16 wrote:Excited to see this one grow as we make plans to have TLS meetups during ASWs... especially because I'm annoying on this site but not in real life. I enjoy the subtle-troll.

Would be funny if we're the only people who post ITT because nobody checks this subforum

I find your posts to be more entertaining than annoying. But I thought you were pretty much set on Berkeley unless Harvard or Stanford admitted you; are you planning to attend any of the other ASWs?

Anyway, I found the thread from last year here, which is obviously useless for dates but may be useful for stipends assuming no policies have changed. In that case:

• Chicago reimburses up to $200.
• Columbia reimburses up to $250 based on distance.
• Cornell reimburses $100-$300 based on distance.
• Harvard reimburses $50-$200 based on distance.
• Michigan subsidizes hotels (all but ~$20/night) and food. No travel reimbursement and no hotel subsidy if you bring a guest.
• Northwestern offers no subsidy.
• Penn reimburses $100-$200 depending on distance.
• Stanford reimburses up to $200 in-state and $400 out-of-state, as well as $25 for transportation to and from San Francisco or San Jose Airport.
• Duke varies by state:
  If you are travelling from the following states, you are eligible for a $200 subsidy: ME, RI, NH, MA, NY, CT, NJ, DE, MD, VA, DC, SC, GA, FL, TN, AL, KY, LA, PA, MS, WV, VT, AR.
  
  If you are travelling from the following states, you are eligible for a $250 subsidy: IL, IN, IA, NE, MO, ND, SD, MI, MN, KS, WI, OH.
  
  If you are travelling from the following states, you are eligible for a $300 subsidy: CA, OR, WA, WY, MT, AK, HI, NM, CO, UT, OK, TX, ID, NV, AZ.
• UVA also varies by state:
  $0: City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia
  
  $100: DC, MD, NC, VA
  
  $250: AL, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MA, ME, MI, MS, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VT, WI, WV
  
  $400: AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, HI, IA, ID, KS, LA, MO, MN, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY, or outside the U.S.

Again, all of this is subject to change this year, but I suppose it could function as a good estimate for now.

Based on this: --LinkRemoved-- it looks like Northwestern's ASW is 4/5 -4/6 this year.

Lavitz wrote:

twinkletoes16 wrote:Excited to see this one grow as we make plans to have TLS meetups during ASWs... especially because I'm annoying on this site but not in real life. I enjoy the subtle-troll.

Would be funny if we're the only people who post ITT because nobody checks this subforum

I find your posts to be more entertaining than annoying. But I thought you were pretty much set on Berkeley unless Harvard or Stanford admitted you; are you planning to attend any of the other ASWs?

Anyway, I found the thread from last year here, which is obviously useless for dates but may be useful for stipends assuming no policies have changed. In that case:

• Chicago reimburses up to $200.
• Columbia reimburses up to $250 based on distance.
• Cornell reimburses $100-$300 based on distance.
• Harvard reimburses $50-$200 based on distance.
• Michigan subsidizes hotels (all but ~$20/night) and food. No travel reimbursement and no hotel subsidy if you bring a guest.
• Northwestern offers no subsidy.
• Penn reimburses $100-$200 depending on distance.
• Stanford reimburses up to $200 in-state and $400 out-of-state, as well as $25 for transportation to and from San Francisco or San Jose Airport.
• Duke varies by state:
  If you are travelling from the following states, you are eligible for a $200 subsidy: ME, RI, NH, MA, NY, CT, NJ, DE, MD, VA, DC, SC, GA, FL, TN, AL, KY, LA, PA, MS, WV, VT, AR.
  
  If you are travelling from the following states, you are eligible for a $250 subsidy: IL, IN, IA, NE, MO, ND, SD, MI, MN, KS, WI, OH.
  
  If you are travelling from the following states, you are eligible for a $300 subsidy: CA, OR, WA, WY, MT, AK, HI, NM, CO, UT, OK, TX, ID, NV, AZ.
• UVA also varies by state:
  $0: City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia
  
  $100: DC, MD, NC, VA
  
  $250: AL, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MA, ME, MI, MS, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VT, WI, WV
  
  $400: AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, HI, IA, ID, KS, LA, MO, MN, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY, or outside the U.S.

Again, all of this is subject to change this year, but I suppose it could function as a good estimate for now.

WHOA thanks I'll aggregate this all now.

Yes, pretty set on B, but still need to see how the chips (aka $$$) fall. I can't attend anywhere at sticker, so need B to throw some $$$ my way which seems easier said than done. S is definitely not gonna happen and H seems like a Hail Mary...will play it by ear. Got into NYU already but I want to live/practice in CA so....not sure.


I'll start advertising this thread in the A/D/W Forum

Are stipends need based?

Br3v wrote:Are stipends need based?

Only a few are. Last year, Columbia required you to fill out an application explaining your financial situation. The application didn't strictly require documentation, but it asked you if you applied for need-based aid, and if you didn't, you were unlikely to get a stipend. NYU was murky about stipends in general and doesn't post any info about travel stipends. I was unable to get a stipend by emailing Admissions.

With the travel costs these days, it's tough to break even even with the stipends, so I recommend visiting several schools at once if you can take the long time off. I visited three east coast schools at once and was able to break even. I would have made a profit, too, if the schools didn't insist on knowing how much the other schools were giving me to prevent me from turning a profit.

@twinkletoes: Stanford's airport transportation subsidy was $25 each way, not $25 total.

I know that Duke's travel stipend from California this year is only $250. It seems like that is the most they offer now (being that its hard to be much further from Duke than CA with two notable exceptions). Also, theirs is not need-based.

The Berkeley letter (email? Can't remember) about visiting said there was $150 from CA and $300 Out of State to visit but that they would only give that toward a "round-trip, coach ticket." This is fine for me with Berkeley but there are other schools I plan on visiting in the same trip (Fly into one airport, visit, bus/train to another school, fly out of another airport) where it would definitely not be a round-trip ticket. Does anyone have any info on how this works for other schools?

haveahat wrote:I know that Duke's travel stipend from California this year is only $250. It seems like that is the most they offer now (being that its hard to be much further from Duke than CA with two notable exceptions). Also, theirs is not need-based.

The Berkeley letter (email? Can't remember) about visiting said there was $150 from CA and $300 Out of State to visit but that they would only give that toward a "round-trip, coach ticket." This is fine for me with Berkeley but there are other schools I plan on visiting in the same trip (Fly into one airport, visit, bus/train to another school, fly out of another airport) where it would definitely not be a round-trip ticket. Does anyone have any info on how this works for other schools?

I did this. The trip cost $300 and I was eligible for $250 at school A and $150 at school B. Because the schools insisted on getting the detailed itinerary and the receipts, I wasn't able to turn a profit, but I was fully reimbursed (something like $200 from school A and $100 from school B).

soj wrote: I did this. The trip cost $300 and I was eligible for $250 at school A and $150 at school B. Because the schools insisted on getting the detailed itinerary and the receipts, I wasn't able to turn a profit, but I was fully reimbursed (something like $200 from school A and $100 from school B).

Thank you for this. I'll be sure to spend up to the budget at each school.


Also, A+ thread. Will be coming back to this as soon as ASW comes closer.

Vanderbilt: ASW is 3/15/12 and 4/5/12

From the letter: "We will normally reimburse the cost of round-trip transportation for admitted stdents attending an ASP or on a scheduled individual visit. Overnight hosting with student ambassadors is available for the ASPs, and partial reimbursement of hotel expenses is available for ASPs and individua visits. Expenses must be approved by the Admissions Office before you travel. Approved expenses will be reimbursed after your visit".

IE - they cover transportation, maybe partial hotel, must be approved in advance!

GULC - Jan 24-25 and March 21-22. No travel stipend. Can stay with current students if you want.

oaken wrote:GULC - Jan 24-25 and March 21-22. No travel stipend. Can stay with current students if you want.

For the January one at least they only guarantee/arrange housing with a current student for the night of Thursday, January 24th. If you want to stay longer you have to arrange it separately with your student host after you're matched.

Great thread!

Tag....great PSA

Chi is April 11-13

UPDATED as of 1/7.

That's really cool, Twinkles! I just RSVPed at Berkeley. I hope to see some of you TLSers there

According to Notre Dame's website, open house days are April 5 and 12 and they offer up to $300 in reimbursement for a visit.

soj wrote:

Br3v wrote:Are stipends need based?

Only a few are. Last year, Columbia required you to fill out an application explaining your financial situation. The application didn't strictly require documentation, but it asked you if you applied for need-based aid, and if you didn't, you were unlikely to get a stipend. NYU was murky about stipends in general and doesn't post any info about travel stipends. I was unable to get a stipend by emailing Admissions.

With the travel costs these days, it's tough to break even even with the stipends, so I recommend visiting several schools at once if you can take the long time off. I visited three east coast schools at once and was able to break even. I would have made a profit, too, if the schools didn't insist on knowing how much the other schools were giving me to prevent me from turning a profit.

@twinkletoes: Stanford's airport transportation subsidy was $25 each way, not $25 total.

So, when should one ask about stipends? And how should one go about doing that?

Br3v wrote:So, when should one ask about stipends? And how should one go about doing that?

Pretty much as soon as admissions releases ASW info. Once you're in, I don't see any downside to asking politely.

Texas (from Dean Ingram's posts on the admits' facebook page):

ASD will be March 21 22, 2013. There may be several competing school events so we have optional streamlined events as well on April 5th and 12th. We definitely hope you can visit with us on one of those days.

We do not offer travel stipends. However, we offer travel scholarships for a limited number of admitted students to attend our ASD program/OMVs (Organized Mini-Visits). Travel Scholarship Offers will be sent late January/February. Merit criteria for travel scholarships begins at a 169/3.6 for admitted students currently residing outside the state of Texas.

Duke offering up to $350 this year:
If you are travelling from the following states, you are eligible for a $200 subsidy: ME, RI, NH, MA, NY, CT, NJ, DE, MD, VA, DC, SC, GA, FL, TN, AL, KY, LA, PA, MS, WV, VT, AR.

If you are travelling from the following states, you are eligible for a $250 subsidy: IL, IN, IA, NE, MO, ND, SD, MI, MN, KS, WI, OH.

If you are travelling from the following states or outside of the US, you are eligible for a $350 subsidy: CA, OR, WA, WY, MT, AK, HI, NM, CO, UT, OK, TX, ID, NV, AZ.

fruitoftheloom wrote:Vanderbilt: ASW is 3/15/12 and 4/5/12

From the letter: "We will normally reimburse the cost of round-trip transportation for admitted stdents attending an ASP or on a scheduled individual visit. Overnight hosting with student ambassadors is available for the ASPs, and partial reimbursement of hotel expenses is available for ASPs and individua visits. Expenses must be approved by the Admissions Office before you travel. Approved expenses will be reimbursed after your visit".

IE - they cover transportation, maybe partial hotel, must be approved in advance!

Vandy released more details today.

Flights: up to $350
Hotel: $50/night for up to two nights
Ground transportation from airport: $18

Full details here.