John Jay College Of Criminal Justice | The City University of New York

   

Students who participated in John Jay’s Pre Law Institute are being accepted at law schools across the country. From Brooklyn Law School to the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall), 32 recent John Jay graduates have been accepted at 54 law schools. “Many are now deciding between several offers,” said Vielka V. Holness, Director of John Jay’s Pre Law Institute. “In fact,” she added, “John Jay’s students have received more than $3.1 million dollars in scholarship awards including many full tuition scholarships to well-regarded law schools including several in the metropolitan New York City area such as Fordham University School of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and Brooklyn Law School.”

Large scholarships and offers of admission to John Jay students have also come from other nationally top-ranked law schools including the University of Minnesota, Vanderbilt, Tulane, the University of California at Hastings, the University of Maryland, Northeastern, American, Chicago Kent, and Loyola-Chicago, as well as Pace Law School’s top-three ranked Environmental Law Program and New York’s own public law schools, SUNY Buffalo and CUNY Law. Click here to see the full list. 

The mission of John Jay’s Pre Law Institute, which was established in 2005 by President Jeremy Travis, is to "identify, motivate and prepare John Jay students and alumni who are interested in preparing for a career in law." The rigorous program, which includes Pre Law Boot Camps, focuses on building the types of skills that support and strengthen students' undergraduate academic achievement and enhance their performance on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT).

“The Pre Law Institute’s initiatives, which involve faculty, help students develop the kind of writing, reading and critical thinking skills that law schools seek,” explained Ms. Holness. “For instance, through the Pre Law Boot Camp, students are exposed to the Socratic method and the other styles of law school learning, including how to build strong legal arguments and identify weaker ones,” added Ms. Holness, an experienced attorney who also directed law school career development centers and served on law school admission committees.

Students start participating in John Jay’s Pre Law Boot Camps start as early as their freshmen year. Students worked with one or more of John Jay’s professors, including English Professor John Staines, Philosophy Professor Jacoby Carter, English Professor Victoria Bond, Political Science Professor Erin Ackerman, and LSAT Instructor Carolyn Nelson in one or more of the Boot Camps to improve their writing and critical thinking skills. “Our goal is to provide a range of learning opportunities through which students strengthen their skills so they are ready to apply to law school and pursue a legal education,” said Ms. Holness who has worked extensively with New York area law schools. “Clearly law schools are recognizing the quality of John Jay’s students.”

The Next Generation of Lawyers:
John Jay Students Accepted at the Following Law Schools

1. Albany Law School
2. American University
3. University of Baltimore
4. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University
5. Brooklyn Law School
6. University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall
7. University of California at Hastings
8. California Western School of Law
9. Charlotte School of Law
10. Chicago - Kent
11. City University of New York Law School
12. University of Colorado
13. DePaul University
14. University of Detroit
15. Florida Coastal Law School
16. Fordham University
17. Golden Gate University
18. Hofstra University
19. Howard University
20. Indiana University - Robert McKinney School of Law
21. John Marshall Law School, Chicago
22. University of Kentucky
23. Loyola University at Chicago
24. University of Maine
25. Marquette University
26. University of Maryland
27. Michigan State University
28. University of Minnesota
29. New England School of Law
30. Northeastern University
31. New York Law School
32. Pace University
33. Pacific McGeorge
34. Penn State University
35. University of Pittsburgh
36. Quinnipiac University
37. Roger Williams University
38. Rutgers University at Camden
39. Rutgers University at Newark
40. St. John's University
41. Saint Louis University
42. Seton Hall University
43. State University of New York at Buffalo
44. Suffolk University
45. Syracuse University
46. Thomas Cooley Law School
47. Touro Law School
48. Tulane University
49. Vanderbilt University
50. University of Vermont
51. Valparaiso Law School
52. Villanova University
53. Western New England School of Law
54. Widener University