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Hey a current area MBA student and relatively new nyc resident here.
considering law school after finished with b-school & wondering what you guys know about area law schools.
My impression is that the city law schools are ranked as follows:
1.Columbia
2. NYU
3.Fordham
4.Brooklyn law school
5.St Johns
6.Hofstra
according to US News, these nyc schools are also the best 6 in ny state as well (besides Cornell). syracuse & buffalo are ranked below Hofstra (a bit surprised by that)
I'm pretty sure about 4 of the top five though (dont know much about brooklyn school but its ranked high). as i read somewhere that St Johns law grads had 90% bar passage rate and syracuse passage rate was in the 70s %.
would really prefer to hear from current/former students of one of these schools.
Last edited by onlinewebsearcher; 11-11-2008 at 08:54 PM..
You're forgetting a good one - Yeshiva University's Benjamin Cardozo School of Law. It's seen as being on the same level as Brooklyn, but has a much less extensive alumni network due to being a fairly young school. Columbia and NYU accept next to no one and are extremely prestigious. Fordham is an excellent school, and Brooklyn/Cardozo follow closely behind. I didn't consider Saint John's, Hofstra, CUNY Law School, or New York Law School so I can't give a lot of information on them. I am a second year student at Brooklyn and think that NYC is a great place to be in law school - lots of work opportunities here. Let me know if you I can answer any more questions that you may have.
Law school dropout here. Not exactly who you asked to chime in, but here goes. I went to CUNY law school for two years. It is the only public law school in NYC. The tuition is far less than the others. While it does have a stated mission to train public interest lawyers, I'm not even sure that a majority of graduates end up there. So if you are interested in public interest law, great, but if not, I wouldn't let that stop you from considering CUNY Law. And you won't find yourself with a mountain of debt (though it will not be insignificant!).
I had excellent grades in college, but only a slightly above average LSAT. That killed my chances to get into a prestigous school. While I think it is natural to be concerned about rankings, it does seem fairly common for this to be carried to obsession.
It's often said but almost never heeded: go to law school only if you really want to be a lawyer.
Law school dropout here. Not exactly who you asked to chime in, but here goes. I went to CUNY law school for two years. It is the only public law school in NYC. The tuition is far less than the others. While it does have a stated mission to train public interest lawyers, I'm not even sure that a majority of graduates end up there. So if you are interested in public interest law, great, but if not, I wouldn't let that stop you from considering CUNY Law. And you won't find yourself with a mountain of debt (though it will not be insignificant!).
I had excellent grades in college, but only a slightly above average LSAT. That killed my chances to get into a prestigous school. While I think it is natural be concerned about rankings, it does seem fairly common for this to be carried to obsession.
It's often said but almost never heeded: go to law school only if you really want to be a lawyer.
Good Luck!!
Great advice - seconded by another CUNY Law School dropout - but I lasted only one semester! It's the place for public interest law/low tuition/but obviously not stellar salaries as a lawyer in public interest law.
Does CUNY Law have a part-time program? I'm considering it. I am in the public field, but at the same time, I'm not letting the fact that CUNY is a public interest law school deter me. 1) The last thing I want to do is to have a mountain of debt. I dealt with that in undergrad, and made a more cost-efficient choice while going for my masters; 2) One can make the best of ANY situation.
Does CUNY Law have a part-time program? I'm considering it. I am in the public field, but at the same time, I'm not letting the fact that CUNY is a public interest law school deter me. 1) The last thing I want to do is to have a mountain of debt. I dealt with that in undergrad, and made a more cost-efficient choice while going for my masters; 2) One can make the best of ANY situation.
Why did you guys drop out?
IIRC, CUNY did not have a part-time or a night-time program. I found this rather odd as the school is supposed to cater to non-traditional students. I'm sure it is a matter of their budget. They did have a day-care for children of students, I'm sure that's an enormous plus for some.
One entrance tip: I think that the essay you will write as part of the admission package is probably more important than it is with most other law schools. CUNY is looking for people committed to public service, and the fact that you already are is a huge plus. I'm sure it's my essay that got me in.
Why did I drop out. People drop out for all kinds of reasons. I'll just say personal reasons and leave it at that, it would be too revealing here. But it does remind me of what I wrote above: Go to law school only if you really want to be a lawyer. It's a lousy way to spend three years if you're doing it only because you're undecided what you want to do in life, or think it will look good on a resume, or the classic "it will open doors."
IIRC, CUNY did not have a part-time or a night-time program. I found this rather odd as the school is supposed to cater to non-traditional students. I'm sure it is a matter of their budget. They did have a day-care for children of students, I'm sure that's an enormous plus for some.
One entrance tip: I think that the essay you will write as part of the admission package is probably more important than it is with most other law schools. CUNY is looking for people committed to public service, and the fact that you already are is a huge plus. I'm sure it's my essay that got me in.
As nyctc says, it's strange that CUNY doesn't have an evening program for its law school - considering its non-traditional orientation.
For me personally, I've always wanted to be in a position where I thought that I could influence individuals and/or provoke thought on issues of great significance to the larger society. I've been an accountant and adjunct instructor for several years prior to the decision to do law school. It didn't take me long to realize that I wasn't cut out for that field - the drudgery of reading case law, the adversarial nature of the profession, etc.
Don't get me wrong, the study of law and its practice are right up there alongside medicine making it a distinguished and revered career - although people do view lawyers both with adulation for their intellect and with disdain sometimes for using that to exonerate individuals or entities that should really be put away.
I've decided to continue my accounting and adjunct adult education teaching and instead of using the law to arouse passion and interest in important issues, I'm going the route of professional writing where I hope to achieve the same objectives with less interpersonal conflict - and perhaps make a little more money in the process.
Good luck in your pursuits and if you like public interest law, CUNY is the place to be. But as you know, regardless of which law school you attend or what focus that school emphasizes, you'll be sitting for the same uniform bar exam, obtaining the same state license, and can practice in any field or fields you so choose. And at CUNY, you'll not be saddled with a mountain of debt.
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