Visiting Law Schools

[F458JE]

I plan on visiting UCLA and USC in July, and possibly a couple northeast schools such as Georgetown and Penn. I did not have the option to visit undergrad schools when I came out of high school, so it will be a new experience. My question is, can you get a good feel for what the school is like during a visit? Should I get that "I'm home" feeling when I step on one of the campuses? Should I wait till September so I can sit in on some classes?

One other question out of curiosity: Will it look favorably when I apply in October that I visited the school a couple months earlier? I figure it will with UCLA since I plan to apply ED.

[F458JE]

Have you checked to confirm if your school allows it? Mine only allows you to "visit" other colleges if they're overseas colleges.

Every law school I have looked at online lets you visit... 

['blueskies]

Have you checked to confirm if your school allows it? Mine only allows you to "visit" other colleges if they're overseas colleges.

OP doesn't mean a visiting semester, s/he means going to look at the schools to help him/her decide where to go

OP- you may or may not get an "I'm home" feeling.  I did for undergrad, but not for law school (but I am really happy at my school).  You can sit in on classes if you want, I personally didn't find that helpful in my decision, however if you want to talk to students it might be better to wait until then.  I think you can get a pretty good feel from a visit- you'll see where you will be every day for the next 3 years, you can hear from current students and get a feel for the environment and things like that.  Maybe figure out what things are important to you before you go so you know what you're looking for (like what the library or classroom feels like, where students live, things like that).  For your last question, they'll probably put a note in your file that you visited, but nothing will outweigh your LSAT/GPA when they're evaluating your application.

[jowa504]

When I applied to undergrad I actually found official "admitted students" days the most helpful (which from what I understand a lot of law schools offer as well). Other than the fact that you don't want to waste money flying across the country to visit a school you might not even get in to, at those events the schools are trying to make the best impression possible so if you don't like what you see or you absolutely love it then it can be really helpful.

Visiting before applying can be helpful when narrowing down choices, especially if you group your visits by region to cut some costs (like UCLA and USC) but if you're pretty certain where you are going to apply I would consider waiting.

[BikePilot]

It'd be better if you could visit when school is in session. Most schools are totally deserted when school is out so its hard to get a feel for the culture place.  At the very least arrange to meet with some faculty in areas that interest you if you go over the summer.

This is probably common knowledge, but law schools all do admit weekends where admitted students are invited out and shown around, sent to classes, fed, and generally schmoozed by the schools.  Of course that might not help with ED.

[wuchun]

Visiting before applying can be helpful when narrowing down choices, especially if you group your visits by region to cut some costs (like UCLA and USC) but if you're pretty certain where you are going to apply I would consider waiting.