Visiting Schools -- Worth the Expense?

So, you've gotten in to a couple of law schools. Congratulations! The worrying is over now!!! Or is it?

What if you don't make the right decision? What if you aren't happy once you get to the school you decide to go to? What if you didn't even apply to the school that would have been perfect for you?? If you've been reading this blog at all, you know that I am the world's biggest worrier when it comes to this sort of stuff.

I thought the hard part would be waiting to hear back from schools. And while, yes, that was it's own particular brand of nerve-wracking, worrying about making the right decision for you is on it's own level of intense...these aren't butterflies in my stomach, they're dinosaurs!

My own experience with campus visits pre-law school made it clear to me that I needed to take the time and resources to visit the schools that I was seriously considering (if you don't want to read the blog entry I linked to, just know that I decided to go to a school that I never would have considered -- for the admittedly shallow reason of location/weather -- based on my campus visit).

There is only so much information you can get on TLS and from the USN&WR rankings and profiles. Honestly, if it's a place you're considering spending the next three years of your life, and probably more, then you have to make sure that the quality of life, as you see it, is good enough for YOU. Because let's face it: no one has the same value criteria when evaluating law schools, and reading someone else's opinion is just NOT going to give you the information that you would get for yourself if you visited.

However, for a LOT of potential law students, cost is prohibitive. Hopping on a plane and flying to all areas of the United States is just not practical. You have to take time off of work, pay for your ticket, hotel, rental car, food, etc. It can be a daunting prospect. So, while I do think it's important to visit the law schools you're considering, I don't necessarily advocate visiting every school you've applied to.

If you KNOW that you are SUPER interested in a school, by all means, visit in October or November. But if you're just kind of riding out the cycle, like me, then you should wait until closer to seat deposit due dates before you visit. I mean, you want to make sure that you'll actually get into a school (with good scholarship $, if that's important to you) before you spend $500 visiting.

What I did was narrow down my list, and then determine which schools, if any, offered any sort of travel reimbursement (unfortunately, the answer to that question was "not many at ALL."). I figured out which schools had ASW programs on which weekends, and went from there.

If, however, there isn't an ASW planned on a day or weekend where you can visit, you need to make sure that you visit DURING THE WEEK. (This is really important, so I bolded it). While seeing the campus and the outlying areas around a law school is nice, and can be done on the weekend, you're not just going to be living there -- you'll be going to school there! You need to be able to talk to current students, sit in on classes, and see what the REAL atmosphere is like during the week. Saturday just won't cut it.

I will be visiting 3 law schools this month, and those are my top 3. Earlier this year I visited a few more, but I didn't go out of my way to see them (they're geographically close and I have friends who either went or go there, so I had people to crash with). As you can tell from earlier posts, it will come down to the campus visits to determine where I ultimately end up. I couldn't commit to spending a year somewhere without seeing it first, and I don't see how anyone could.

Yes, it sucks to spend the money and time, but it would suck MORE to get to a place in August and realize that it is SO not the school for you.