Students at institutions such as the Boston University School of Law still find value in pursing legal education, according to a recent survey.
The report, administered by the Law School Survey of Student Engagement at Indiana University, states that law students are increasingly satisfied with their law education.
“LSSSE gathers information from law students to help law schools identify what is going well and what would benefit from more attention,” said Aaron Taylor, director of LSSSE. “This year’s report explores four themes … [including] student satisfaction with advising services and overall experience was a primary theme of the report.”
Of the students surveyed, 65 percent said their school provided them with the resources they needed to succeed academically. However, 55 percent of students surveyed said they are unsatisfied with their schools career counseling and job search programs.
LAW Associate Dean of Student Affairs Christine Marx said the high quality faculty contributes to students’ overall happiness with their law education.
“Princeton Review surveys law students on a number of factors, and their latest law guide to law school based on student input ranked BU LAW school as number one for best professors and number five for best class room experience,” she said.
Marx said although the job market is not faring well, LAW has many initiatives to prepare students for the job market and look for jobs, such as the One Out Career Path program.
“Every first year student attends a two-day career conference where they learn about different practice areas and how to prepare for those jobs, how to get their resumes read, and networking opportunities,” she said. “We also do individual counseling with students about their goals.”
LAW professor Jack Beermann said law students are more satisfied with their studies than their undergraduate counterparts are because they have a clearer picture of their education.
“One of the things you should realize is that law students are in a different stage of their life,” he said. “These are people who decided after four years of undergrad or maybe after working that they want to go on to law school. It’s much more clear why they’re there and what their goals are.”
LAW has a substantial financial aid budget and is able to award scholarships to help many students attend, Beermann said.
“[There is] a very high financial aid budget because there are fewer people applying to law school these days than there were five years ago, so competition for good services is higher,” he said.
Several students said they were satisfied with their education at LAW, but were still worried about post-graduation job searches.
Nikita Changlani, a first year LAW student, said although she does not think her classes are very applicable to her future career, she is impressed with the quality of her professors.
“I’ve really enjoyed my classes and love my professors,” she said. “I think the nature of first year curriculum is the fundamentals. It’s just a necessary stepping-stone preparing me to prepare myself for a job.”
Second-year LAW student Anda Lopazan said despite the great career resources within LAW, she still has some anxiety about obtaining a job after she graduates.
“Some classes have helped me more than others,” she said. “I don’t know how this will help because the job market is so tough. I know some people in much better positions than I am with rankings and GPA and they have had difficulty finding jobs. It’s not something BU can really do anything about, but it has prepared me.
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