St. John’s University - School of Law

St. John’s University School of Law’s “greatest strength... is its willingness to go to bat for its students.” “Friends, alumni, and professors routinely make calls and write letters on behalf of students,” one happy student says. St. John’s provides a “strong alumni base, especially in the NYC area,” and has “a great reputation in the New York Judicial arena.” Consequentially, graduates “have an edge in both NYC and Long Island firms.” SJU “has a very collegial atmosphere” with “no backstabbing.” The friendly atmosphere is created in part by the fact that “each 1L class is divided into three groups that take all of their first year classes together.” Students quickly make friends and “camaraderie is pervasive, everyone works hard, [and] most are willing to help each other with outlines or forming study groups.”
“The teachers are uniformly excellent,” and most “have an Ivy League background” and are “experienced within their respective fields.” These “absolutely amazing” professors tend to have an “open door policy” and “are pleasant and willing to help.” “The professor student interaction is great,” although one student says there is “much too much emphasis on rote memorization of law that leads to cramming and a ‘brain dump’ on a single final exam.” “The professor takes a personal interest in his or her student” and the school “encourages participation in its trial advocacy, moot court and journal programs.” “A few (maybe 10 percent) of the Professors seem very unenthusiastic, like they don’t want to be there,” but overall the teachers are “excellent” and “accessible beyond belief.”
Student opinion on the administration is more divided. Some say that the “helpful” administration “works like clockwork.” Others say “the right hand never knows what the left is doing, and you can go to five different people with the same question and get five different answers.” A 2L says, “I would say the administration has your back. It’s not ‘us and them;’ it’s ‘us.’” Students are friendly with the Dean, who “tries to get to know everyone” and is frequently seen “walking around.” By far the most common complaint is a rather unusual one: “temperature regulation.” The “climate problem in the classrooms” means that “it can be fifty degrees in a room one day and ninety degrees the next day.” “Seriously, why is blazing hot in every other room?” one sweaty student bemoans. Otherwise, “the facilities are nice” and “classrooms have all been re-done in recent years and utilize current technology.” “The library is well organized and has a good variety of quiet areas and common areas for group work,” when students need to study. “The most valuable resource so far has been the Career Development Office,” a 1L tells us. “I was able to get instant feedback on cover letters and résumés. In the end, this led to me landing a desirable summer internship rather quickly.”

“Stop by the cafeteria at lunch time and the noise and energy make it obvious these students ACTUALLY LIKE each other!” one student boasts. SJU students “are helpful, friendly, and the competition is not cutthroat.” Instead, students treat each other “like family” although “it is a bit cliquey at times.” “The admissions department does a great job of recruiting bright, thoughtful, dynamic and diversified groups of students.” That said, they do a poor job in “ethnic diversity” and the student body is “an utter white wash, though I think the school has improved that aspect over the last couple years.”
Despite being located in the NYC city limits, students say “you need a car at St. John’s” if you want to get anywhere. “The train ride to Manhattan is NOT reasonable,” taking about an hour to get from campus to Times Square. “There is practically nothing ‘within walking distance,’ if you consider ‘walking distance’ less than twenty minutes away,” one student grumbles. Still, if you can brave the ride then all of New York City is at your disposal. “Everything is what you make of it,” one student muses, “and St. John’s has a very large amount of opportunities to join groups that are highly involved, social, and supportive.”