CORNELL LAW SCHOOL

Yesterday was our final school tour: Cornell Law School. We drove 6 hours from Boston to Ithaca, New York, and boy was that a drive. The last hour was ALL back roads, with beautiful views, but very little going on. It wasn't until we were about 3 minutes from the school that we started to see any life; it sort of appeared out of nowhere. Once we got into the city, it felt a little more lively, as it is actually the size of Ann Arbor, approximately, but it sure is far more secluded than Ann Arbor! We were able to speak with the secretary in the office here rather than an advisor, and for that reason I don't think we got quite as much information as we wanted. But we went on our self-guided tour and found their Squash Courts (SO important, haha) and a homey little study space. The Moot Court was fairly impressive, but overall the campus just felt too secluded. Maybe it was partly because it was summer, but we felt that every other school had a lot more energy than this school did.

And so now, today, we are home. We drove through wine country and stopped to let the boys do some tasting along the way. Dinner was in Buffalo, NY, where we tried the original buffalo chicken wing. Jimmy's is WAY better. Then we continued through Canada to see Niagara Falls and finally made it home around 2am. It was an incredible trip with lots of laughs and lots of information; now we just have to sort it all out and start applying! Thanks for traveling with us. :D

BOSTON COLLEGE LAW SCHOOL

Today is our penultimate school: Boston College. We started with a bad taste in our mouths, simply because the public transportation stop labeled "Boston College" was only for the main campus. The Law campus is 1.6 miles away from there. We had no buses or shuttles. So we walked. Whew. BUT! Once we got on campus, we decided it was worth the trek. The campus was quaint and cute and everyone was quite nice. We met with a current student (rising 2L) who was able to answer most of our questions and took us on a tour of the law campus, which consists of only 3 buildings, which are all connected. It was such a nice little visit. And of course our qualms about transportation were calmed because a shuttle runs to near train stations. It's still less convenient than Boston U (and most of the other schools we've seen, for that matter), but could be a good option if necessary.

After seeing this school, we headed back into the city, and since it began to rain we stopped into a bar for some refreshing drinks to wait out the rain. It finally cleared up so we headed to the train station but it didn't last long. We ended up walking all over Boston in the pouring rain; but I must say that Brandon always found the driest route because he knows I don't like being rained on. :) But we ended up getting a ferry ride across the harbor and we saw the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) which was pretty neat. By 7, we said our goodbyes to Boston (for now?) and now we start for home.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Brandon behind the Judge's desk

Boston from the 12th Floor

Yesterday our last school of the day was Boston U. It is located VERY close to downtown Boston and the campus is beautiful! The metro system runs right through the center of the campus, making it really convenient to access any area of Boston in virtually no time at all. Fenway Park is also just blocks away, which is pretty neat. The entire Law School is contained in one building, which is 15 stories high. We spoke with an advisor who was very helpful and kind. She, as expected, spoke very well of her school, and gave us all the information we needed to know, including what to do in Boston for the rest of the day. We briefly looked around the campus, saw the classrooms and courtrooms, and of course the views and were very pleased. For the rest of the afternoon, we walked the Freedom Trail in Boston, which took us past Paul Revere's house, the North Chapel--where he lit the lanterns to warn of the British approach-- and Copp's Hill Burial Ground, where Prince Hall was buried (He was the pioneer of Black Freemasonry). It was a very fun day!

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL

Here we are at Harvard Law School. Again, we were not able to speak with anyone at admissions, but it was certainly nice to look around the law school. It was located just a few stops west of downtown on the red line and the metro took us right into campus. The campus itself was really pretty and quite large-- there were several buildings that made up the law school campus. The boston area itself was quite pleasant while we were here; it was warm but with a nice breeze! We are very glad we stopped by.

YALE UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL

Here we are with ANOTHER surprise school! We decided that we should swing by Yale and see it since it was only an extra 5 minute drive out of the way. It was about 8:30am when we got there, so no offices were open to speak with us, but at least we got to walk around the campus. It looked shockingly similar to the Michigan Law School, but upon further research, we found that Yale totally copied UM, not the other way around (UM- 1859, Yale- 1930). Sloppy copy cats. It was nice to see it, but we have little to report.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Well, here is a little surprise for you! We decided to stop by Columbia after all. We aren't in New York all the time and we figured since we were close and we were going to apply anyway, it was worth swinging by to see it. It turns out that the campus was beautiful and the staff was friendly! We are definitely glad we came. The adviser that we spoke with was incredibly helpful was so accessible, especially in comparison to the other Ivy League School we visited. The
campus is rather large, especially since it includes the Undergraduate campus, but after a little bit of a walk we found everything and had a great little tour. It's also located next to Harlem, which has quite a bit of history. We continued from here to find a good pizza joint and we found John's Pizzeria down by Time Square. It was quite good! The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around and finding all the good tourist locations like 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center, and Central Park. For the evening, we decided to venture all the way down to Coney Island! It was a really great night. Brandon and I rode the Cyclone, one of America's oldest roller coasters and we all indulged in one of Nathan's hot dogs. As we headed back to the metro station, Jim got caught in a broken pier board and now has a bit of a swollen knee, but other than that it was a great day and overall great weekend in NYC!

FORDHAM UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Next stop today was at Fordham University School of Law. Located next to the Lincoln Center, we found this school to be in a really great location. We spoke with an adviser who was very candid about Brandon's unique potential. We took a quick tour around this building as well and found we were quite pleased with the atmosphere. Though it is number 29 (according to US News), a little lower than our typical range, it is still a viable option because of its good location on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

FUN FACTS:

- The apartments on the corner of this campus start at around $2000 for a single. 

- Fordham is nationally ranked in the top 15 for 3 programs (Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property, and Clinical Legal Education).