St. Francis School of Law’s selective approach to the admission of applicants to our Juris Doctor program means that students participating in the program have the substantial benefit of interacting with highly qualified fellow students. St. Francis uses the Socratic style of instruction in its live online classes, which is widely used in traditional law schools. This approach assures that students participate in extensive continuous dialog with their professors and with each other as well. The methodology creates an enriched and stimulating learning environment, leveraging not only the knowledge and experience of St. Francis professors, but also the impressive students entering the program through our rigorous admissions process.
St. Francis uses its virtual meeting platform, WebEx, also widely used by many businesses, to hold live interactive classes, where students and faculty interact live, face-to-face, voice-to-voice. Our small class sizes of 15 or fewer students foster the development of collegial relationships between students, as they frequently interact in both the virtual and live components of the St. Francis online J.D. program.
St. Francis’ admissions requirements support the law school’s mission to become the world’s first elite online law school. Applicants submit an essay in support of their applications, as well as transcripts reflecting their previous education. Applicants often submit impressive letters of recommendation that evidence their prior professional experience, qualifications and their motivation to study the law. This information is reviewed carefully and selected applicants are invited to engage in a personal interview.
The personal interview is perhaps the most important part of the St. Francis admissions process because it provides applicants with the opportunity to convey personally their motivation and interest in the law generally, as well as in the St. Francis J.D. program. Following the interview, applicants are selected for review by the Academic Acceptance Committee, where the entire application package is again evaluated. At any point during this process, further information may be requested from the applicant.
Applicants selected for admission into St. Francis School of Law through our admissions process must attend a three week orientation designed to prepare entering students to make the most of their legal education from the start and introduce students to St. Francis’ unique approach to legal education. Our current students include professionals from the fields of healthcare, accounting, finance, business, compliance, engineering, education, the military, and technology, to name just a few.
Many St. Francis students hold advanced degrees, and have substantial expertise in their current professions. This means that in any given class, discussion of case law is informed by the real world knowledge of students in diverse professions who contribute their experience and perspectives. The highly selective admissions process combined with our orientation program assures that St. Francis students admitted to enter our program reflect the law school’s core mission.
St. Francis students develop a meaningful collegiality, not only with their professors, but also with their fellow students, as they work toward the Juris Doctor degrees.