Look into how easy it is to change majors at these schools. It sounds like you might need to explore majors the first year. Nice choices!
I was just wondering, because I’m deciding where to go amongst the other schools I applied to and I’m strongly thinking about attending here.
Also deciding if I wish to attend amongst the other schools I applied to. I would be majoring in political science.
I was recently admitted into Harpur along with a few other students. I keep hearing that students at Bing aren’t happy, because it was a safety for most of them. Are the students there generally happy? Is it racially and ethnically diverse? Are academics good? Do they prepare students well for grad school? And how is student life?
Spelman College, Binghamton, Syracuse, Stony Brook, and Temple are the schools I’ve been accepted into.
I’ve only toured Temple and Stony Brook, I’ve only done virtual tours for the others
How do the aid packages look? Are all of these places equally affordable for you? Run some numbers here: http://www.finaid.org/calculators/awardletter.phtml
Big fan of Spellman here. Have you asked Spellman or Temple to put you in touch with recent graduates or current students from your area? If you can’t visit those campuses, you might find it helpful to have a chat with someone who has studied and lived there recently.
I’m a personal fan of small LACs for prepping a student. The undergrad experience at small LACs is usually much more hands on, much more nurturing, the writing is read carefully, usually, and corrected as carefully. Critical thinking skills will be honed, to my mind, in the small personal classrooms of an LAC, compared with a big uni. Spelman has an excellent reputation for top law schools. I am guessing that if it’s like most LACs you won’t have to declare your major until Sophomore year.
I’m also a big fan of women’s colleges and the strong women they tend to nurture. There won’t be a big distraction at Spelman from fratty boys, that’s for sure. Unlike at Syracuse, which has a lot of fratty boy culture IMHO. Women who attend women’s colleges tend to break barriers in disproportionate numbers compared with women who graduate from coed schools.
As an FYI, for law school, you need GPA (3.7+) and LSATs above about 172. You can start practicing your LSATs like now. Seriously. Your major isn’t as important as law covers many areas. As you will have undergraduate debt already, you will want to find a law school that will either propel you into a big firm job where you can pay off your loans in a short period (like concentrate on paying off your loans in 2 years in a job with a starting salary of like $160K and then either stay in that job or transition to something else) or a school where the school itself offers loan forgiveness for public interest or government work. Be sure to look up schools that offer that sort of opportunity. Ask them directly. The ABA publishes the employment stats of law schools.
I’d go with Spelman - in particular because you can switch majors without having to go through any sort of entrance to major courses or pass any sort of selection, so if you’re undecided it’d give you maximum flexibility. In addition, Spelman is highly recruited (far above what you’d expect) because it’s known as the best HBCU in the country.
Criminal Justice is not considered a strong major, email Temple to see if you could switch.
What’s your parents’ budget?
What’s net cost at each?
My cousin is a recent graduate, but hasn’t given me much information. My parents want a school that’s going to have the best return investment. Spelman only gave me a $2,000 grant, and Temple gave me $5000.
What’s your budget?
What’s your net cost?
Which universities are affordable?
What’s you net cost at Temple?
Email Temple to ask whether you can switch to Political Science.
Is Binghamton instate?
Did you get honors?
They’re all pretty much around the same price( over $45,000) but Binghamton and Stony Brook are cheapest. However, based on some research I don’t know if I would have the best time there and I’m not in the honors college. I’d probably change my major at Temple anyway, but I read that they were one of the top schools for criminal justice. Why isn’t it considered a strong major?
Looks like Bing and Stony Brook are about 25K per year for NY state residents. Are your parents OK with paying 20K per year more for your undergraduate education? @happyteen19
They prefer the cheaper options, but want a school I’m ultimately going to be happy at for the next four years
Criminal justice usually leads to working in DoC or law enforcement.
A “strong” major will either include a lot of difficult reading/frequent writing, or heavy quantitative skills.
IMHO, Spelman will set you up the best. I agree with previous posters about its prestige and the benefits of a women’s college. I am trying to get my daughter to see those benefits.
But, I also agree that YOU will be the single most important factor for whether you attend a top law school, not your school (though I think Spelman may help you become your best self).
My history: attended huge state school (forced to be s nurse/long story), decided later to go to law school having no idea what was a “good” school, picked one, worked my tail off (as in almost never going out, but I LOVED my law school classes, so it didn’t feel like a sacrifice), clerked for a judge over the summer whose clerks told me I’d have better opportunities coming from an Ivy, transferred to one (!) (I was the top student at the law school I’d picked), wrote onto Law Review, graduated with honors, and had offers all over country (wasn’t international back then).
Here’s the thing. I am not brilliant or special in any way. My oldest -in college now - is smarter than me, but unfortunately lacks drive and isn’t doing so great. If you want what you say, you need to be serious and go and achieve it. I truly believe, based on my experience, anyone can achieve their dreams with a tremendous work ethic, fortitude, and perhaps a bit of luck (I wouldn’t have transferred but for the clerkship).
Good luck!!
PS, Do not major in criminal justice. It isn’t rigorous enough to set you up well for the lsat. Think math, physics, engineering, classics, philosophy, international relations/government, industrial and labor relations, history, statistics… google this.
OP – “My parents want the best return on investment” – That’s well and good. They are completely right. However the ROI should be figured after grad school IMO. LACs on straight ROI tend to fair poorly compared with big unis mainly because of what they offer for majors, at least as ROI is calculated on sites such as payscale. The big unis have as part of ther ROI stats graduates in engineering and business. Small LACs have mainly humanities majors and some STEM. the LAC majors tend to be a slower build because the grads tend to go into grad school.
If you’re set on Law School, then it seems logical to find the school that’s going to set you up for the top 14 (T14) law schools–or higher. These tend to be the ones that will offer the PI/Gov work debt forgiveness (though not all of them) and/or tend to propel students into Big Law where they can pay off their loans and get excellent deals practice or litigation practice. What I have in mind is an NYU or Columbia law – both schools can do this.
Temple seems the least fabulous for undergrad as the major in crim law there. It might be cheap but there’s no need to study law as an undergrad, or prelaw. In fact the legal profession is so varied and so wide in scope that truly you can major in anything in undergrad: Nursing, engineering, theater, studio art, classics, art history, whatever you choose you can find a career in law. If your heart is fully in that major, then go for it. Your enthusiasm will propel you forward.
One strategy that many want-to-be attorneys take, is to major in what interests you, and use that to hone the skills of critical thinking and writing. → Logic and writing. ← Those skills. To reiterate my earlier post, the hands-on tutoring that takes place at an excellent LAC like Spelman will help greatly in this process.
The second part of the strategy is to get as close to a 4.0 as possible.
The third part is to ace the LSAT (by starting to practice like now for it).
You also can bolster your knowledge of legal careers during college by interning in law-related fields during undergrad. That means, if you’re interested in art history, you could for example work in the legal arm in-house in an auction house or a museum. If you’re interested in crim law, then volunteer for a prisoner’s legal service. If you’re interested in intellectual property law, then intern in the legal dept of a publishing house or the like. Or volunteer in the court system – NYC has positions like this. Judges take on volunteers (and of course clerks when the time comes) to help in the courtrooms. There are many many different types of law.
After college, maybe get paralegal work at a firm. In litigation or corporate side. That will give you a nice overview of what practicing law is about.
Actually, the way law schools recalculate application GPA means that 4.33 is the maximum possible GPA if your undergraduate school has A+ grades and you earn A+ in every course. However, in practice, A+ grades are likely to be rare even at schools where they may be given (although you may encounter a rare student who earns more A+ grades than any other grade).
https://www.lsac.org/applying-law-school/jd-application-process/jd-application-requirements/academic-record#GradeConversionTable
For admission to law school, you can take a look at http://schools.lawschoolnumbers.com/ . That site also has some tips on undergraduate preparation for law school. https://www.lsac.org/lsat/lsat-prep/types-lsat-questions describes the types of questions on the LSAT. Basically, you want to get good at reading, writing, and logic.
For law job prospects associated with law schools, see https://www.lstreports.com/schools/ . Law job prospects are strongly associated with the ranking of your law school, which is strongly associated with admission selectivity.
Thank you so much!!
Congrats on your excellent choices! I hope you can visit Syracuse and Spelman. Two very different and excellent options. Seeing them in person would be very helpful I believe.
Given that you have a variety of interests, I would think a liberal arts school or a major university with a wide range of strong programs would give you a good set of options as you explore your academic interests in college.
Good luck!
ps. I saw a reference in an earlier post to fratty boy culture at Syracuse. As the parent of a current Syracuse fraternity member, I would say that the negative tone of the comment is an unfair generalization. My son is a gentleman, and I believe his fellow members are too. They are committed to community service, school spirit, and social support. Further, the Syracuse administration has a zero tolerance policy for bad behavior in the Greek system. And I believe most parents are equally demanding that the system be a positive experience for all students. We would yank our son out of school in a second if he were involved in any disrespectful behavior. And if his fraternity were implicated in any bad decisions we would stop supporting his membership ASAP. We are grateful that the administration is promoting the strengths of Greek life and taking a hard line against the few who engage in bad behavior. I applauded when they kicked one fraternity off campus the day before rush started. Nice way to send the message that there is a new sheriff in town. Geez. Guess I had a reaction to that comment.