Visiting Law Schools: USC

USC hosted a day-long event. Parking was free (law school sponsored). USC law is situated towards the Natural History Museum side of the college campus. It's right next to Marshall Business school (which btw was posh!). After years of living in green suburbs, it was hard for me to appreciate all the grey smog and red bricks, which is the general characteristic of the USC neighborhood. But once on campus, there is a stark change in color. Things just seem brighter and greener within the campus gates.

After parking my car, I approached the law school building. There were big red and gold (USC colors) balloons and white cloth tables decorated with food and drinks. But I was alarmed. The people standing around that area were wearing suits and tie. I was in khaki pants and t-shirt. When I got within 50 feet of the crowd, I realized the pomp-and-circumstance that alarmed me a few seconds ago was business school affiliated. I think B-students were meeting prospective employers. Although I was relieved that no one would accuse me of under-dressing, I was admittedly disappointed not to be showered with free food.

The law school is quite small. I walked into the building and waited for the admissions office to open. The day was to start at 9:30; I was 15 minutes early. Propsective students started gathering around ocean-green-colored couch area. There were about 15-20 students. Promptly at 9:35, the admissions staff took us to USC's mock court room to debrief us of our day. The court room, wasn't as big as UCLA's, but the wood used to build it seemed to be of higher quality (I don't know anything about wood quality....but it just seemed that way).

We were given the opportunity to sit in on a 1L class, criminal law. It was boring. Mainly because I had no idea what the professor was talking about, and because the class was more of a lecture than a discussion.

After class we were given a tour of the law school. The library has been recently renovated. I've seen the library in its pre-renovation days, and I've got to admit the new look is much nicer. I was amused, however, that the library had the Abraham Lincoln room. It allegedly has the largest collection of Lincoln books and materials of all the law schools in the world.

After the tour it was lunch time with a professor at the University Club. The University Club is the classy dining area for staff, faculty and guests. The menu has high-end dishes like salmon and filet mignon. I ordered the salmon. The professor was awesome. She was in charge of the legal clinic that helps non-profit organizations in the greater L.A. region. Our lunch conversation ranged from world-travel to best-yogurt toppings.

The day ended after lunch.

Now the list of positives and negatives:

Positives
- Relatively intimate law school atmosphere
- Minutes away from the Staple Center, Downtown L.A. and the beach
- Trojan connection (pervasive throughout the campus)
- Awesome weather
- Across the street from the Natural History Museum (dinosaur bones!!!)
- Amazing array of restaurants and ethnic food
- Students seemed geniunely happy

Negatives
- The neighborhood is sort of shabby
- Job opportunities seem to be L.A. polar
- Law school architecture could use some remodeling.