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.