Sunday, September 20, 2009

Law School After John Jay?

Hey everyone! Happy sunday =)
Since my first post, I have been thinking about switching majors. As I had mentioned, I want to become a lawyer so after John Jay... I plan to go to law school. I was all excited about this until I read the "Preparing for Law School at John Jay College" sheet by the Pre Law Institute! The line that said, "The Dean of Admissions at Brooklyn Law School is quoted saying he 'looks unfavorably on legal studies and criminal justice majors.' Now that may not sound too scary, but being the person I am, I worry way too much. So of course after reading this, and being a criminal justice major, I felt that I MUST switch my major ASAP or else I wouldn't be able to get into a good law school!
I quickly went on the John Jay website to the "majors" section to look at the other possible majors. I looked over the courses for the government majors and that did not interest me one bit. I then started considering majoring in Legal Studies (didn't realize at the time that law schools don't really like this either haha) or English, but eventually... I figured I should talk to someone about it.
First I went to Kate Szur of FYE to let her know about it because I've been talking to her about it for a while and she knew I was thinking about it. After talking for a little, she recommended me to Louise Freymann who could be of more help. Ms. Freymann is a part of the academic advisory and I spoke with her as well. She let me know a lot of information that did make me feel better. One of the things that she told me that stood out was, "do what you enjoy and have fun." I learned that even if you do plan to attend law school after, you should still major in what you enjoy. We shouldnt necessarily do it just to look good or make it seem to the law school that we're trying too hard. Ms. Freymann also informed me of a philosophy major which may also be a good choice. This major is really good because it really helps the students think philosophically and in depth, which is definitely a plus for any career! Something really important for law school however, is that we need really good writing skills.
The process of switching majors really isnt as hard or confusing as I thought it would be. The best thing to do is to talk to many people as you can to try to get different opinions before doing anything.
I wasn't able to attend the Pre Law Orientation because I had class. But just as a mental note for everyone, if you missed the orientation, you can go down to the Pre Law Institute and ask for an separate appointment date to speak with one of the people there about the material covered at the orientation! =]
(As an FYI, the Pre Law Institute website has a link called "Pre Law Advisement Guide" that is really helpful, so you guys should all read over that when you get a chance!)
After the meeting with an academic advisor, I have a better understanding of law school. Some time this week, I am going to the Pre Law Institute to ask for an appointment date. But overall, I am thinking of staying in the criminal justice or switching to a History major and minoring in either english or philosophy. I'll keep you guys update =) Have a good afternoon/night!

5 comments:

  1. Michelle,

    Thanks for letting everyone know about the Pre Law Advisement Guide and the Pre Law Institute website. As an aid to all your readers I have placed the link to the PLI website and guide here: http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/centersinstitutes/prelaw/ .

    If you are not sure about your choice of major or minor after reading the Pre Law Advisement Guide, make an appointment with a pre law advisor or better yet ask a law school dean.

    Dean Victoria Ortiz of the University of California School of Law (Irvine) will be on campus (Multipurpose room, 2nd floor North Hall) on Wednesday, September 30 (3:30 - 4:30) to speak with students about the law school application process, preparing for law school and UC Irvine's offerings. RSVP by emailing: PLI@jjay.cuny.edu


    Dean Ortiz is the Dean of Students and Director of Admissions for the law school at UC Irvine.

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  2. GREAT POST!!! Thank you so much for sharing your experience, I actually stumbled on this while Googling the same conflict your in. Majoring in "what you enjoy" sounds very reassuring. Also, based on recent statistical data it was observed that students who majored in Math/Complex Sciences, Philosophy/Theology, and Economics respectfully scored higher on their LSAT's and were favorably accepted as well. You should practice as much as you can, and scored the highest GPA possible at John Jay. Being that we're coming from a "City College" we are up against other ivy league schools as well which I am told has the upper hand. However in other data, it was concluded that students from Community Colleges must score an extra 10-15 points on their LSAT's to overcome this competition since (this may be a myth to reduce competition) law schools would favorably accept a student with a 2.0 GPA coming from harvard opposed to a student with a 4.0 GPA coming from John Jay.

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  3. From my expereince at John Jay the Pre-law advisors make up stories. They once told me how I did on my SAT determines how yo do on your LSAT! I was like what the heck are you talking about?

    As far a majors are concerned it does not really matter what kind of major you are. You can be an art major and still go to law school.

    I am currently a legal studies major. In that major you take sevral law classes. I beleive that this will prepare you for law school since you take law classes and make it easier for you. The advisors at John Jay say that the legal studies major are for paralegals. Which I do not beleive. But evrn so it is better to enter into law school by having a legal backround rather than have none at all right?

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