A Visit to Law Schools is Important Before The Admisions Process

Visiting a law school is an extremely important part of your research. The visit brings to life a school that has heretofore been only an imaginary place fashioned by rumors, hearsay, Website information, guidebook and brochure blurbs, and statistics. In addition to partaking in the usual tours and information sessions, you should attempt to understand both what daily life is like for students and whether the academic experience is what you seek. Law school visits also offer opportunities to improve your admissions chances: Knowing well the school to which you are marketing yourself, and showing yourself as interested enough in it to have undertaken a substantial visit, are two ways in which you can distinguish yourself.

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When to Visit

It is best to visit a law school when it is in session so that you can get the right feel for student and academic life. If at all possible, visit when classes are in session, but not during exam period. Attending when school is in session will give you an opportunity to interact with students, who are the best reflection of a school and what it is all about. At exam times, however, students will have little interest in discussing the school (or anything else) with you, so you will be unable to gain an in-depth understanding of the school.

Try to visit a campus on a weekday in order to get the best sense of the school. Weekday visits will allow you to see students interacting and to attend several classes. Visiting Monday through Friday will also ensure an opportunity to visit with admissions staff. Even if the school does not conduct formal interviews, you may be able to leave a favorable impression with admissions officers, which can work to your benefit.

It is not particularly important that you visit immediately before applying. Even if you visit a year (or two) beforehand, your understanding of the school will stand you in good stead as long as your key criteria for selecting a school have not changed substantially in the interim. By the same token, it is not a bad idea to revisit schools you are seriously considering after you have been accepted in order to arrive at a final decision.

Before the Visit

Plan to visit a range of law schools. This is extremely important if you are not certain what you are looking for. Visiting different kinds of schools is a smart move even for those who think they know what they want. You might be certain, for example, that you want to attend a small, suburban law school because you had such a good experience at just such a college. Upon visiting a range of schools, however, you might find that you now would be better served by a much larger environment, both law school and city. Visit small and large, public and private, urban and rural schools. Also, be sure to visit schools that represent a range of selectivity. You need to visit not just your "stretches," but also your "possibles" and "likelies."

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Note that you will learn about law schools—and about law school visits—as you tour schools. After you have visited several schools, you will know what items are most crucial for you to investigate as well as how best to gather the information you need. Therefore, do not plan to visit your likely top two choices first.

Instead, try to visit several schools about which you are not certain as a means of familiarizing yourself with the visiting process.

Keep these additional guidelines in mind when planning your itinerary:

• Familiarize yourself thoroughly with the law schools you will be visiting. You should be familiar
   
• with all the basic facts about a school before getting to the campus, where your job is to refine your impressions and conduct a more detailed investigation—not to learn the absolute basics. Start a law school notebook in which you record your data.
   
• Visit no more than one school per day. The amount you need to do on campus necessitates a full day, not just two or three hours. The more you value a given school, the longer you should plan to spend at it.
   
• Arrange meetings with individuals in areas of interest to you, whether professors, career service professionals, or financial aid officers.
   
• Arrange for a formal interview (if this is part of the admissions process for that school).
   
• Compile a list of the questions you intend to ask at each school, along with any that are specific to this school.

While on Campus

Your visit can include general information-gathering and efforts targeted at specific areas of interest or concern to you. Thus, you can take a campus tour or spend time talking with each labor law professor. The time you have available is likely to determine much of what you do. If you have very little time, a great need for financial aid, a keen interest in corporate taxation, and you have already visited a number of other schools, you would be silly to spend most of your time taking a general campus tour. Instead, you would probably want to spend time with a financial aid officer, talk in depth with several tax professors and discuss the school and the tax department with several students. Given sufficient time, you might want to meet with the career services department as well as sit in on several corporate tax courses.

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The Campus Tour

You can take a general tour of the university or, perhaps, a tour of just the law school. The former is likely to last up to an hour, whereas the latter is likely to be much shorter. These tours are a pleasant way to get your bearings; they can also give you the chance to size up the atmosphere of the campus. The students who lead such tours are, of course, salespeople for the school, so do not expect to get a forthright perspective on the school's strengths and weaknesses from them.

Information Session

A group information session is essentially a school's sales pitch. It is, however, a useful tool for gaining basic information about a school. These sessions generally give an overview of the school's tradition and philosophy as well as the multitude of academic, extracurricular, and other opportunities available there.

Although admissions officers often lead these sessions, this is seldom a time to try to stand out from the crowd in order to impress them. Those who try to dominate sessions or gain attention with too many questions that are not of interest to other applicants are frowned upon by admissions officers. If you are lucky enough to be one of only a couple attendees, however, keep in mind that your efforts may improve your admissions chances.

The Admissions Office

At many schools, you can visit the admissions office and ask to speak with an admissions officer, even if you have not arranged an interview. (Do not expect to be given a formal interview, however, unless you have arranged one in advance,) An officer might be willing to give you a few minutes of his or her time to answer questions and address concerns. Express your interest in the school and ask questions that show you to be serious.

You have the chance to impress the admissions officer in a way that might benefit you. Be on your best behavior and be sure your questions and comments show your overall knowledge of the school, your general intelligence, and your poise. Even at schools that do not conduct formal interviews, it is common for admissions officers to make notes of any substantive interactions with applicants.

The Financial Aid Office

If you intend to seek financial aid, you are likely to have numerous questions about how this school handles financial aid matters. Arrange in advance to speak with a financial aid officer; 20 to 30 minutes is likely to be enough time if you are well organized.

The Career Services Department

Relatively few applicants pay sufficient attention to the value a good career services department can add to a school—and to their own career prospects. Visiting the career services department at each school you visit will quickly show you which are the most able where your interests are concerned. Take 20 or 30 minutes to discuss what they offer (in light of the discussion on prior pages of what a good career services department can do).

Classes

Upon contacting the admissions office to arrange a visit, ask about the possibility of sitting in on classes. This is your opportunity to get a feel for the professors, students, and the nature and quality of teaching at the school. If you have time, try to sit in on a variety of classes. Consider sitting in on a first-year (core) course as well as an advanced course in a subject of particular interest to you. Try to sit in on a course for which the admissions office does not make the arrangements. Given that the admissions officers want to sell their school, you can expect them to try to route you to the best instructors. To see what an ordinary professor is like, ask students for a suggestion in your chosen field. Then approach the professor of the course and see whether he or she will permit you to sit in. Most will accommodate you without hesitation.

Be Aware of Your Prejudices

Many things can skew your impressions of a school for better or for worse, thereby affecting your ability to evaluate it.

Therefore, pay attention to these points:

• Do not let your like or dislike of a single person (admissions officer or other administrator, student, professor, etc) influences your overall impression of a school.
   
• Bear in mind that weather is a transitory matter and you might be visiting a school on the rare sunny (or rainy) day.
   
• Depending upon when in the term you visit (i.e., at the beginning of the term or during midterm or final exams), students may be more or less enthusiastic about their choice of school—and about spending time with you. This can vary dramatically from first- to second- to third-year students, by the way, given that each is facing a very different set of factors that will influence their views of life, law, and school.
   
• If you sit in on an advanced class, do not be surprised if the material and the class discussion are beyond your comprehension. (On the other hand, if the material seems extraordinarily dry, do not be afraid to reexamine whether law school is the right choice for you.)
   
• Remember that school officials are more likely to try to sell you than are students. Try to talk with as many different types of people as possible to build the most complete and accurate picture of the school.
   
• Pay particular attention to those students who most resemble you in terms of their background and goals. Whenever you encounter someone who reminds you of you, dig in. Pump her, and all of her friends, for as much information as you can get regarding what they think the school does and does not do well.
   
• Appreciate and observe the school for what it is rather than obsessing about your chances of admission there. If you focus too much on the latter, you will limit your ability to assess the school.
   
• Keep in mind that even though a school might have a prestigious name, it is not necessarily the best school or the best school for you. As you carry on your visit, keep in mind the criteria you have established for determining the best school for you.
   
• Remember that choosing a law school is an iterative process—as you visit and examine schools, you should learn more about your own needs; and as you learn more about your own needs, you will refine your criteria regarding which schools are best for you.

Send Thank-You Notes

Send thank-you notes (or e-mails) to key people with whom you interacted. This can include interviewers, financial aid officers, professors, or other faculty who took time to chat with you. It is not necessary (or worth your time and effort) to send notes to people who conducted large information sessions or tours—these people are not likely to remember you and there is no reason to send a note to thank someone for this kind of routine group treatment. It is the individualized treatments that need to be addressed with letters of appreciation.

Be sure to note the names, titles, and addresses of individuals while on your visits—and be sure to get all the spellings correct. If you are unsure of any spelling details, you can always call the admissions department (for the names of admissions officers), the financial aid office (for the names of financial aid officers), the student telephone directory (for the names of students), or academic department offices (for the names of faculty or administrators) to make sure you are correct. Although sending thank-you notes will not guarantee your admission, it is nevertheless a nice gesture and will be appreciated by the recipients.

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