Any Good Reasons for deciding to Attend St. John's Law Forum

[jewtangclan03]

For those interested, I asked the Admissions Director if scholarship recipients were placed in the same section. This was her response:

"...this is not done. Students are placed in sections to maintain the integrity of the class. Each section has similar numbers of scholarship students, median LSAT scores, median GPAs, composition of male/female ratios etc. "

[observationalist]

For those interested, I asked the Admissions Director if scholarship recipients were placed in the same section. This was her response:

"...this is not done. Students are placed in sections to maintain the integrity of the class. Each section has similar numbers of scholarship students, median LSAT scores, median GPAs, composition of male/female ratios etc. "

Well that's encouraging... st. John's FTW over brooklyn?

[Bankhead]

For those interested, I asked the Admissions Director if scholarship recipients were placed in the same section. This was her response:

"...this is not done. Students are placed in sections to maintain the integrity of the class. Each section has similar numbers of scholarship students, median LSAT scores, median GPAs, composition of male/female ratios etc. "

Well that's encouraging... st. John's FTW over brooklyn?

FYI, Brooklyn and 'Dozo also swear they do not do this...

[fluffy]

For those interested, I asked the Admissions Director if scholarship recipients were placed in the same section. This was her response:

"...this is not done. Students are placed in sections to maintain the integrity of the class. Each section has similar numbers of scholarship students, median LSAT scores, median GPAs, composition of male/female ratios etc. "

Well that's encouraging... st. John's FTW over brooklyn?

FYI, Brooklyn and 'Dozo also swear they do not do this...

Yikes. Need to know. Wasn't there a St. John's student on here recently who could answer? Can we send them messages on facebook?

[alannak]

I know this doesn't really mean ANYTHING, I just felt like chiming in..

I'm from a very Irish, upper-middle class-y neighborhood in Queens, and among attorneys St. Johns is well represented, and very well thought of.

I job-shadowed a lawyer from my neighborhood over the summer... he's up there in age and has done, like, EVERYTHING there is to do with a JD (politics, private, public practice, now has his own practice)... and obviously he isn't in Big Law, but he is very committed to St. Johns. I guess my point is that St. Johns has very active alumni which for me is a big plus in considering a school .

Also, if you have parents to live with in Queens, LI, or Brooklyn you'd save some $$$$ on room and board.

Sorry, I realize again this is probably useless. But I wouldn't be so quick to shoot down SJ!

[js87]

I am very, very seriously considering St John's (25k year scholly). I do not want biglaw, atleast not as of now. I want to go work as a prosecutor or in the public interest and, maybe in the future, open up my own practice or go in to local politics.

They offer a prosecution clinic, 75k less debt with my scholarship (a VERY important consideration when you're expecting to take a first job in the 50-60k range), and a nice campus. The big downside I see is the location. It's not urban, not quite suburban, and I think I'd need a car.

If they had on campus housing for first year students I would be 100% sold. I just really don't want to be living in Queens, a thousand miles from friends and family, renting a basement in some stranger's house.

[Ali]

They sent me email about an online chat tomorrow (Feb. 24th) at from 12-4pm.
I'm sure there will be someone to take questions. Go on to the website and look for a link to it tomorrow.

[hoffb86]

If you haven't done so yet, I'd look into their scholarship retention rule and see if it's as shady as Brooklyn's: put all the scholarship recipients in the same section and make them fight it out to see who gets to keep their $$$. That's harsh, considering some of the brightest incoming students (and presumably some of the best potential lawyers) will have their chances at a job crushed shortly into their law school career. Not to mention they were probably optimistic about staying in the top and keeping their scholarships, so they were grossly misinformed about the level of risk they were assuming. Anyone able to confirm/deny whether St. Johns employs this Thunderdome approach as well?

wouldn't this ultimately hurt Brooklyn more than it helps (or any school that does this for that matter)?

I mean, don't you want your top students to be successful, as they are the ones who ultimately have the most potential to "make it" and thus give money back to the school and increase the school's reputation and strong alumni base.

Does BLS really do this? and if so, ultimately, is it really of any benefit to them? To me, it doesn't seem likely.

[jewtangclan03]

js, while they dont have on campus housing, you can apply for these townhouses that are quite close to campus.

i'm sure you won't have to live in some family's basement. most law schools (including this one i assume) are pretty good about helping you find a compatible roommate.

sju is currently a top 2 choice for me-- keep in touch and let me know if you end up going there!

[aximpod]

If you haven't done so yet, I'd look into their scholarship retention rule and see if it's as shady as Brooklyn's: put all the scholarship recipients in the same section and make them fight it out to see who gets to keep their $$$. That's harsh, considering some of the brightest incoming students (and presumably some of the best potential lawyers) will have their chances at a job crushed shortly into their law school career. Not to mention they were probably optimistic about staying in the top and keeping their scholarships, so they were grossly misinformed about the level of risk they were assuming. Anyone able to confirm/deny whether St. Johns employs this Thunderdome approach as well?

wouldn't this ultimately hurt Brooklyn more than it helps (or any school that does this for that matter)?

I mean, don't you want your top students to be successful, as they are the ones who ultimately have the most potential to "make it" and thus give money back to the school and increase the school's reputation and strong alumni base.

Does BLS really do this? and if so, ultimately, is it really of any benefit to them? To me, it doesn't seem likely.

hoffb86 - Dont believe that BS.

At BLS, almost everyone has some sort of merit scholarships so it does look like your particular section is stacked but you will soon find out that it is more or less the same across each section. As for keeping your scholarship, I didn't think it was that hard to do at BLS and the terms are pretty generous - stay in the top 40% to retain all of your money - Top 50% and you keep 80% and so on.