| |
|
« TLS Profiles - TLS Programs - TLS Stats - Rankings St. John's School of LawThe St. John’s School of Law, located in Jamaica, New York, provides students with a plethora of resources and a near-New York city location that will open up several doors. Tuition is high at St. John’s however, the academic programs are mediocre, at best, and many students struggle to find work. Nevertheless, St. John’s will prove a worthwhile investment for those who put in the requisite effort. Admissions & Tuition Roughly 36% (1,479 out of 4,063) of applicants were granted admission last year. For those who matriculated to the full-time program, the 25th to 75th percentile GPA range was 3.16–3.70 and the range for the LSAT was 156-163—with medians hovering around 3.48 and 161, respectively. St. John’s also accepts students on a part-time basis; admissions standards for this program are typically much lower than those of the school’s full-time program. In 2008, GPA’s for part-time admits ranged from 3.24 to 3.59 for the 25th to 75th percentiles, while LSAT scores ranged from 150-156 for the same percentiles. Once matriculated, St. John’s students face a hefty tuition bill. Full-time students pay $42,200 per year, while part-timers pay $31,650. Room & board is estimated to be roughly $13,000, and book costs and miscellaneous fees average $5,500, bringing the total yearly cost of attendance to nearly $61,000 for full-time students, and about $51,000 for part-timers. Financial aid is available for St. John’s students. In fact, many students (32.6%) receive sizeable grants from the financial aid office. Last year, for example, the median grant awarded was a generous $25,000 for full-time students—that’s more than half the cost of tuition! Overall, grants ranged from 15K to 38K for the 25th to 75th percentiles. Employment Prospects St. John’s School of Law students pass the New York Bar at a rate of nearly 88%, putting them more than two percentage points ahead of the New York state average. After passing the Bar, St. John’s graduates struggle to find immediate employment. In fact, only 75% of those surveyed by USNews were reported to be employed at the time of graduation. Within nine months, however, 91% of those surveyed were employed. Those who did find jobs did quite well for themselves. This was especially true for those who entered the private sector. Graduates working in this field enjoyed a median starting salary of $89,000, with a range of 65K to 160K for the 25th to 75th percentiles. This explains why 54% of graduates entered private practice. By contrast, those who entered public-service started with a median of $53,000. It should be noted however, that, while this number is low compared to private-sector salaries, it is high relative to other starting salaries for public-service graduates around the United States. While St. John’s graduates enjoy high starting salaries, they generally do not enjoy regional flexibility. In fact, nearly 90% of graduates surveyed remained in New York after graduation. This is a testament to St. John’s status as a regional law school, meaning that the majority of its graduates struggle to find work outside of the region the school is located in. A few graduates, however, did find work outside of New York. Those students are most likely those who were at the top of their class or who had previously-made connections. And so, any prospective student should be sure she would be comfortable with a career in New York before committing to St. John’s. Academics With a poor student-faculty ratio, no real outstanding academic programs, and an ‘academic experience rating’ of 65/100 according to the Princeton Review, St. John’s may prove a tough sell for those looking to maximize their educational experience For particularly motivated students, however, St. John’s resources will prove invaluable. Students can take advantage, for example, of St. John’s clinical program, gaining practical experience in Domestic Violence Litigation, Elder Law, or Immigration Law, among other fields. Students can also gain research and writing experience by joining the staff of one of the school’s many journals, including the St. John’s Law Review, the N.Y. International Law Review, and the Journal of Catholic Legal Studies, among others. And for students who really want to specialize, dual-degrees are available. What’s more, St. John’s students enjoy modern, clean facilities that provide the type of technological capacity that a 21st century law student demands. St. John’s also has a great library and plenty of study space for its students. The bottom line, however, is that students will have to take advantage of these resources if they are looking to get a well-rounded legal education, because the classroom experience at St. John’s leaves much to be desired. Quality of Life St. John’s School of Law is full of commuters. As a result, the student-body tends to be less cohesive than that of other schools, and the social scene is lacking. What’s more, Jamaica, New York is not the best place to spend three years; but it is very close to Downtown New York City, allowing students all of the social, cultural, and recreational opportunities that the big Apple Provides. This is how most students are likely to de-stress and put the rigors of law school out of their mind for a bit. Conclusion St. John’s has its flaws, this is not to be doubted; but the school is capable of preparing students for a long and enriching career in law. Students looking for that ‘picture-perfect’ law school, however, with stimulating academics, a cohesive student body and exciting social life, should look elsewhere. Quick Reference U.S. News Ranking: 87 |
Stanford Law School Yale Law School Harvard Law School University of Virginia School of Law Pepperdine Law School Northwestern Law School Cornell Law School Michigan Law School Golden Gate Law School Duke Law School Columbia Law School Temple Law School Loyola Law School UCLA School of Law Villanova Law School New York University Law School UC Hastings Law School Santa Clara Law School UPenn Law School Berkeley Boalt Hall University of Chicago Law School UC Davis Law School Fordham Law School George Washington Law School Georgetown University Law Center New York Law School UNC Chapel Hill Law School Boston College Law School Boston University School of Law Emory University Law School The University of Iowa College of Law University of Minnesota Law School The University of Texas School of Law The University of Southern California School of Law (Gould) Vanderbilt University Law School Washington University in St. Louis School of Law Wisconsin Law School The University of Alabama School of Law George Mason University School of Law The University of Colorado School of Law Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington University of Notre Dame Law School The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law The University of Illinois College of Law The University of Washington School of Law William & Mary Law School Washington and Lee University School of Law The Arizona State University College of Law The Baylor University School of Law The Case Western Reserve University School of Law The University of Georgia School of Law The Brigham Young University Law School The Southern Methodist University School of Law Tulane University Law School The University of Connecticut School of Law University of Florida Levin College of Law Wake Forest University School of Law Vermont Law School The University of Utah College of Law Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University The University of Tennessee College of Law The University of Cincinnati College of Law The University of Pittsburgh School of Law University of Maryland School of Law The University of Kentucky College of Law The University of Houston College of Law The Florida State University College of Law Chicago-Kent College of Law (Illinois Institute of Technology) Brooklyn Law School University of Arizona College of Law American University College of Law University of San Diego School of Law Northeastern University School of Law University Of Miami School Of Law University of Richmond Law Oregon School Of Law Lewis & Clark School of Law Rutgers Law - Camden South Carolina Law Seattle University School of Law PSU School of Law Canada: University of Toronto Faculty of Law DePaul University College of Law Rutgers-Newark School of Law Hofstra Law School Seton Hall Law School Missouri - Columbia Law School Indiana University Indianapolis Law Buffalo Law School UNLV Law School St. John's School of Law The University of Denver Law School University of Louisville School of Law The University of Oklahoma College of Law Georgia State University College of Law Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center Loyola University Chicago School of Law Marquette University Law School University of Kansas School of Law Canada: University of Alberta Faculty of Law St. Louis University School of Law University of New Mexico School of Law Catholic University's Columbus School of Law The University of Maine School of Law Gonzaga University School of Law The University of Arkansas School of Law University of San Francisco School of Law Canada: Dalhousie Law School Canada: McGill University Faculty of Law Canada: University of Ottawa Faculty of Law Canada: Osgoode Hall Law School (York University) Canada: UBC Faculty of Law IE Law School- Northwestern Law Executive LLM Program IE Law School- Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International Practice University of California – Irvine School of Law |