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). 

YESHIVA UNIVERSITY BENJAMIN CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW

This morning we started off in mid town at Yeshiva University, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law. They are a little lower on the list, but we decided to visit since the application will be free here (Fee Waiver). We did a short self-guided tour and were able to meet with a counselor briefly, though she seemed somewhat uninterested in speaking with us. The facilities were nice: you can see here the main floor student lounge as well as a student lounge with lockers up on the 3rd floor. Overall, it won't be a top choice, but it will be a fine backup option.

FUN FACTS:

- Cardozo is located on 5th avenue in Greenwich Village. 

- The Innocence Project was started at Cardozo 20 years ago.
- Named after Supreme Court Justice Cardozo.

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

We got into new york around 11am this morning and Brandon was happy to have gotten the opportunity to drive through Manhattan. We picked up our friend, Leonard (from UM), who is working at 200 West this summer in Manhattan. By around 1pm, we had dropped off our car at the hotel and taken the metro back into the city. We stopped by NYU, but since it was a Sunday, we didn't get to meet anybody or do a tour. For this reason, we decided to forego any other visits for the day. We had Fordham on the schedule, but since they would actually be pleased to speak with us tomorrow, we decided to reschedule them for tomorrow instead of Columbia. So tomorrow will be tours and perhaps meetings at Yeshiva Cordozo and Fordham schools, and maybe a swing by of Columbia if we decide to make the time. As far as first impressions of New York, it was a fun day. We found a small cafe for lunch and a nice german place for dinner and we saw plenty of sights in between-- the most exciting: Leonard took us on a personal tour of Goldman Sachs. We saw views of the city from the 43rd floor of the building, right across from the new World Trade Center. It was an incredible view and a beautiful building. Thanks, Leonard!

OUR DAY OFF

 We spent our day off -- yesterday-- looking around the historic sites of Philadelphia. Here you see Elfreth's Alley, the Nation's oldest Neighborhood; Christ Church, and Brandon sitting in George Washington's pew; Independence Hall, a court room. It was a really fun and relaxing day! We spent another night in Philadelphia (well, New Jersey) before heading off to New York this morning.

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY JAMES E BEASLEY SCHOOL OF LAW

Next we traveled to the north side of the city and paid another outrageous $14 fee for parking. But it seems it ended up actually being far more worth it than our visit to Penn. We were continuously surprised by Temple. The campus was quite a bit larger than (at least I) expected. The law school was comprised of TWO separate buildings. Of course, we found the wrong building first, haha. So we kept going and found the admissions office. We explained that we were a day early and the Associate Dean of Admissions was more than happy to welcome us into her office and speak with her. She spoke well of her school and of her city, and her enthusiasm was certainly contagious. She had a spunky personality and was a pleasure to talk to. She told us everything we could have wanted to know and then some. She definitely made Temple stand out as  real possibility. We then continued to our self guided tour-- back to the original building we found! We saw their Moot Court, a few classrooms and their law library, and though it wasn't as high tech as most of the other schools we have seen so far, the prestige of the programs keeps the school towards the top of the list.

FUN FACTS:

- Temple is top 2 in Trial Advocacy Programs.

- Temple is top 10 in Legal Writing Programs.

- Temple is top 15 in International Programs. 

- The Broad Street Metro Station, which runs right to the city center, stops right at the Law School.

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA LAW SCHOOL

We arrived in Philadelphia today around noon and went straight to our favorite lunch spot for the best cheese steaks in town-- By George in Reading Terminal Market. We each enjoyed most of our sandwiches--only most because we simply got way too full. So we packed up what was left for breakfast tomorrow morning and headed for U Penn. Once on far west side of the city, we payed the outrageous $12 for parking and headed in to the Ivy League school. We checked in with both security checkpoints and were finally able to get up to the admissions office with hopes of speaking with a counselor since we were here on a weekday instead of saturday! Unfortunately, no such luck. The receptionist in the office insisted that no counselors were available to meet with us, however she would be happy to answer our questions. Yet our questions were mostly answered with, "You'll have to check out website", so we quickly realized that we were not going to get anything special from these people. So we walked around the school briefly before departing. We saw they had a relatively pretty campus-- it was especially nice to see a lush, green courtyard in the middle of a bustling city. The Moot Court Room and Classrooms were on the higher end of average, and the student lounges--"The Clock" and "The Goat"--looked comfortable and well loved by students. The goat (pictured at left) for which the lounge is named carries with it a legend about how ancient courts used to decide the outcome of difficult cases; they would bring out the goat, and he would butt only the guilty. An interesting story.

FUN FACTS:

- Students at Penn Law are encouraged to pursue a dual-degree during their 3 years.
- Students are required to complete 70 hours of Pro Bono service.
- Philadelphia is the 5th largest city in the nation.

ITINERARY CHANGED

As you see, we went ahead of schedule. We saw all 4 DC schools today, so make sure you get to read about all 4 of them, even though they are in the reverse order of how we saw them. Enjoy! :)

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW

And we just kept going! We decided that even though we were scheduled for a student led tour tomorrow at 2pm, we should see our final school today so we could get to Philly earlier. So we rode out to Tenleytown, on the outskirts of DC. By this time--around 2pm-- it was quite hot. We arrived in the metro station and saw on a map that the Law School (WCL) was almost a mile away. In this heat, it was going to be quite a walk. But we all decided that we were willing to do it; so off we went. But before we even got out of the tunnel we saw a sign for the American University Shuttle! WOOO! We ran to the bus and found that it was very similar to the M-Bus--anyone can ride for free and they drop off at several different stops around the campus. So we got right to the Law building and were able to meet briefly with a counselor. We really got lucky that each of these schools were able to fit us in on such short notice.

FUN FACTS:

- American U has a good program for International Law.

- Admitted students are invited to participate in a housing conference in the end of June/beginning of July in order to find affordable places to live in the fall.

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL

Since we were done with both of our scheduled law schools by noon, we decided to continue to tomorrow's schedule! George Washington was quite a different school from anything we had seen so far. Right as we got up to street level from the metro, we saw beautiful brass letters spelling out George Washington University, and we immediately thought, "Well that's easy!" But then... it was a hospital. So we kept on trucking to try and find what we were looking for and we were pleased to find that everybody was SO friendly! People were not afraid to stop us on the street and ask if they could help us find anything, which was greatly appreciated.  We made our way to the Admissions Office where we were able to meet with a friendly and pleasant Dean of Admissions. He was proud of his school and made a very good impression, convincing us that the large size of George Washington Law School is not in any way a disadvantage. Spanning an entire city block, it certainly is the largest school we've seen so far, but it is still a great contender.

 FUN FACTS:

- GWL is located just blocks from the White House!

- Applicants in the Early Decision option who are accepted by the end of January receive a full tuition waiver. 

- Dean Matt Dillard loves Ann Arbor!

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER

Next stop: Georgetown University Law Center. This campus consisted of three main buildings, the first of which is pictured to the left. It contains most of the administrative buildings and houses the Office of Admissions where we met with a representative to again answer the important questions. We found that Georgetown has well renowned programs across the board and also has an incredible view of the city from the 12th floor of the residence hall (pictures above- see the Capitol Building?). A self guided tour showed us that the campus is beautiful and contained in a small area. The location will certainly keep this school on the good list.

FUN FACTS:

- Georgetown features an International Law Building.

- There are rumors of a basketball court on the roof.

-There is one building on campus dedicated to student housing.

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Student Mailboxes

We started off early this morning, arriving at the Southern Avenue Metro Station to take the train into the city. For only $14, we certainly got more than our moneys worth! We arrived at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia around 8:15am and met up with a representative from the Admissions office. She gave us a quick tour of the buildings, newly renovated in the last decade. Returning to the Admissions office, we were able to get a few of our key questions answered, but overall weren't left with a warm fuzzy feeling. The campus was a nice atmosphere and the neighborhood seemed relatively safe, but the representatives did not sell the school to us very well. When we asked, "Why GML?", the answers were "It was cheap" and "It was close". So in short, its still a consideration, but not a first choice.

Law Library

The Capital is just blocks away

Moot Court

 FUN FACTS:

- George Mason prides itself on their Economics and Law Program.

- 56% of matriculants come from outside of Virginia.

- Chief Justice Antonin Scalia frequents the campus.

- Each student is required to take 6 semesters of writing, write for a Law Journal and participate in Moot Court.

WILLIAM AND MARY MARSHALL-WYTHE SCHOOL OF LAW

A Museum in Colonial Williamsburg.

John Marshall's family Bible.

After a four hour drive from Lexington, we arrived in Williamsburg, Virginia to visit the William and Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law. Named after 4th Chief Justice John Marshall and George Wythe, under whom Thomas Jefferson studied Law, this law school is the oldest in the nation. The school, and of course its surrounding area, is packed with history. We walked briefly through Colonial Williamsburg as we searched for a place to eat. After settling on a tasty little sandwich joint--The Cheese Shop--we returned to the Law School to meet with the Dean. Though she was still very nice  and had thorough answers to our barrage of questions, it wasn't quite the same personal experience we received at Washington and Lee earlier this morning. W&M has a similar honor code and revealed similar traits sought after in potential candidates, however they differ in their classroom requirements and admission decision time (William and Mary does not offer rolling admissions). William and Mary also differed in their tour style. At the conclusion of our meeting, we were each given an iPod with an audio tour of the college and sent on our way. Though the tour was certainly informative and did indeed tour us around all the essential parts of the building, there were times when it would have been nice to have had a real live tour guide-- we got lost looking for the ping pong table! All in all, the people were friendly, the campus was pretty, and the school remains prestigious, which are all checks in the right box.

W&M is known for this program.

A rec room for student use

FUN FACTS:

- Colonial Williamsburg is part of what is known as "America's Historic Triangle", which also includes Jamestown and Yorktown.

- The school began educating lawyers in 1779, at the urging of Thomas Jefferson.