St. John’s Law School Overview
Founded in 1925, the University of St. John’s School of Law was initially intended for the children of individuals who had been denied economic and educational opportunities. The law school broke ground some 55 years after the official opening of St. John’s University in 1870, enabling these marginalized students access to a top-notch legal education.
During the 1960s, the St. John’s University and St. John’s Law School both enjoyed an enormous growth of applications. It was obvious that the current facilities would not be able to meet the requirements of the growing student body, so St. John’s Law School broke ground in 1970 on a new Law School building located on the Queens Campus, finished in 1972.
The legacy of St. John’s Law School lies with the 15,000 graduates working for the best law firms in the US, as well as those working in the business sector, public interest organizations, and government agencies. Around 800 students are typically enrolled at St. John’s Law School during any given year.
The focus of St. John’s Law School is on providing an exceptional education that leans heavily on the fundamentals of legal reasoning, writing, skills, and ethics. While the traditional classroom learning environment is an important part of the St. John’s Law School curriculum, the school invests widely in innovation and practical knowledge. It has 19 centers and clinics available to students to learn the cutting-edge legal subjects that will help them transition into successful careers.
St. John’s Law School has an extensive externship program that places students with a variety of pre-approved employers. The externship focuses on real legal matters and cases while utilizing mentorship as a learning tool.
The externship program also provides students with real litigation, transactional experience, case management skills, and policy issue exploration. The goal of the program is to prepare the students thoroughly for the practice of law in specific areas. The placement of students depends on their interests in a certain area of law, and the desire to learn or improve specific skills.
The placements include work in a wide spectrum of legal areas, from civil and criminal to business, transactional, administrative, and judicial sectors. St. John’s Law School places students in public interest organizations, governmental agencies, judicial chambers, private law firms, and corporate legal offices.
One area where St. John’s Law School stands out the L.L.M. specializing in bankruptcy. St. John’s is the only school that offers courses and degrees on the subject. Interested students can enroll in the 30-credit program with relevant courses and defense of a thesis.
There are more than twenty courses focusing on bankruptcy issues and different legal challenges connected to it. Students may learn more about Chapter 11 and what to do in those situations, preventing bankruptcy malpractice or fraud, and the procedures or taxation. The program is comprehensive, offering unique opportunities for graduates to stand out among other legal minds in the bankruptcy field.
St. John’s Law School Rankings
Law School rankings represent the combination of academic quality, infrastructure, and facilities, the expertise of the faculty, prestige, and career opportunities that stem from the law degree acquired from a certain school.
Usually, the higher the rankings, the better the quality of education and potential career opportunities. It does not always hold true, though. There are plenty of examples where the prestige and reputation of the institution influence the rankings of the law school.
Take the law school rankings seriously—your potential employers do, relying heavily on the law school ranking system to choose candidates. Some employers even hire exclusively from a pool of applicants from a pre-selected list of law schools.
News and World Report ranks St. John’s Law School No. 74 in the US. The school experienced a slight rise from the 77th ranking achieved the previous year. A place in the top 100 best law schools in the US speaks volumes to the quality of education and career opportunities at St. John’s Law School.
St. John’s Law School Admissions
What is St. John’s Law School Acceptance Rate?
Most of the elite law schools have extremely low acceptance rates due to a variety of factors, such as the number of students applying, available slots, academic requirements, reputation, and prestige. All these factors play an important role in the acceptance rate of any law school.
Currently, the national average for acceptance rate to law schools is around 45%, but this is high compared to what you see among the best law schools. The competition for those schools is intense, and that makes entry exceptionally challenging.
St. John’s is a competitive law school, but it still boasts a healthy acceptance rate, just below the national average.
The Class of 2023 had an exceptionally student-friendly year, with 40.61% of all applicants receiving offers from St. John’s Law School. The school received 2,445 applications for admission and replied with 993 offers for those that met the academic requirements. The median GPA of the class was 3.36, and the LSAT scores were 156.
St. John’s Law School is competitive among the best law schools in the country but still accessible to most students pursuing a graduate degree in law.
The high acceptance rate is an advantage—two in five students that apply receive an offer from St. Johns to join their law school.
| Applications | Offers | Matriculated | |
| Class of 2023 | 2445 | 993 (40.61%) | 224 (9.2%) |
| 25% | Median | 75% | |
| GPA | 3.03 | 3.36 | 3.63 |
| LSAT | 153 | 156 | 159 |
St. John’s Law School LSAT Percentiles
| 75th percentile | 159 |
| 50th percentile | 158 |
| 25th percentile | 154 |
2023 Entering Class Profile
| Number of Students | 720 |
| LSAT Score | 158 |
| Undergraduate GPA | 3.54 |
| % Women | 48.10% |
| % Students of Color | 6.90% |
What is the Tuition for St. John’s Law School?
| In-State Resident | Non-Resident | |
| Full Time | $53,290 | $53,290 |
| Part-Time | N/A | N/A |
What are the Living Expenses at St. John’s Law School?
| On-Campus | $25,075 |
| Off-Campus | $22,774 |
What are the Housing Options at St. John’s Law School?
| On-Campus | Yes |
| Off-Campus | Yes |
BAR Passage Rates at St. John’s Law School
| Reporting | 92.3% |
| First Time Takers | 273 |
| St. John’s Average | 85.3% |
| New York Average | 78.6% |
| National Average | 79.64% |
Application Deadlines
When will the St. John’s Law School application materials be available?
The St. John’s Law School website has all the necessary materials and information that you might need to successfully apply. The materials are always available.
When does St. John’s Law School begin accepting applications?
The admission process for St. John’s Law School begins on September 1st every year, and the deadline for submitting applications is on March 16th for the upcoming school year. All applications submitted between September 1st, 2021, and March 16th, 2022, will be a part of the Fall 2022 semester admissions procedure.
How are applications to St. John’s Law School submitted?
St. John’s Law School uses the LSAC online application service.
Does St. John’s Law School have an “early admission” or “early decision” process?
St. John’s Law School has two early admission programs intended for the students that demonstrate high aptitude and are certain that St. John’s Law School is their priority.
The Honors Early Decision Program offers full scholarships for students with impressive academic achievements and requires a November 20th deadline for submitting applications.
The regular early decision program has a January 6th deadline.
How much is the application fee and when is the deadline?
| Application Fee | $60 |
| Honors Early Decision Deadline | November 20th |
| Regular Early Decision Deadline | January 6th |
| Regular Decision Deadline | March 16th |
Does St. John’s Law School grant interviews?
St. John’s Law School does not grant interviews for admissions. However, it welcomes all incoming law students to contact the admissions office for a meeting with a member of the staff to explore the school.
Employment After St. John’s Law School
| Median Salary Private Sector | $79,000 |
| Median Salary Public Sector | $62,500 |
St. John’s Law School Class of 2021 has an exemplary 93.19% employment record. The class had 235 graduates, and 234 were able to find a job within a year of graduating. 2021 graduates entered the workforce in various sectors:
- 57.1% of graduates took jobs in the private sector. The distribution of jobs according to the size of the law firm is interesting, with 38.4% of graduates in the law firms of 500+ attorneys and another 14.4% of graduates in law firms with 50 to 100 attorneys.
- 31.2% of graduates ended up with small law firms (19.2% in law firms up to 10 attorneys and an additional 12% of graduates in law firms with 11 to 25 attorneys).
- 6% of all Class of 2021 graduates hold jobs in the government sector.
- 6% of graduates work in business and industry sectors.
- 5% of graduates decided to start a career in the education sector.
- 8% of graduates are part of a clerkship program at a federal or state level.
- 4% of graduates took jobs in public interest organizations.
99% of graduates that ended up finding a job after graduation have a long-term employment contract.
Out of 219 graduates that took the bar exam, 202 (or 92.2%) passed.
All these factors demonstrate robust employment potential stemming from the graduate law degree from St. John’s Law School.
