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The Ronald H. Brown Summer Law School Prep Program for College Students

The Summer Prep Program for College Students is an eight-to-nine week educational experience taking place in June, July and August of each year.  Pursuant to this Summer Prep Program, the Ronald Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development partnered with the following undergraduate schools:

  • John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY Department of Puerto Rican/Latin American Studies
  • Medgar Evers College/CUNY
  • St. John’s University
  • York College/CUNY
  • United Negro College Fund Colleges (Link to UNCF schools)

Through a rigorous selection process, each undergraduate college selects students for the Summer Prep Program. Each student also earns academic credit while participating in the Prep Program.

Download a PDF copy of the 2010 Summer Prep Program brochure for Juniors  and Sophomores.

Why Attend?
For the past ten years, the percentage of African American and Latino/a students enrolled in law schools has declined.  The Ronald H. Brown Summer Law School Prep Program prepares students for the challenges of law school, the LSAT and the law school application process.  Through law school courses taught by actual law school faculty, internships with judges and lawyers working in a variety of practice settings, and a comprehensively designed LSAT Prep course, the Ronald H. Brown Prep Program students have an edge in the admissions process.

Over the past three years, the students who have participated in the Ronald H. Brown Program have seen a dramatic average increase in their LSAT scores.  More importantly, the Ronald H. Brown Summer Prep Program students have been accepted to some of the most competitive law schools in the Nation: American University, Duke University, George Washington University, Georgetown Law School, Indiana University-Bloomington, Michigan Law School, New York University, Penn State-Dickinson, St. John’s School of Law, University of Miami, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Wake Forest University, Washington College of Law, Wayne State University, and Yale Law School.  For all these reasons, students seriously considering a career in the legal profession should participate in the Ronald H. Brown Summer Law School Prep Program.

Goal of the Summer Prep Program
The goal of the program is to reach out to students from underrepresented backgrounds who are often the first members of their family to attend college and encourage them to pursue the study of law.  By reaching out to these students after their sophomore year, they receive information that will help them plan their activities, courses, and LSAT preparation so they will be more successful applicants.  The Summer Prep Program is designed to increase qualified applications to law schools of college students from underrepresented backgrounds attending participating undergraduate colleges.  The feedback that we received from the students enrolled in the Summer Prep Program was almost unanimously positive.

Program Testimonials

  • Former Dean Mary C. Daly’s called the Summer Prep Program a “resounding success.”
  • “Today, I feel richer because of all the knowledge I obtained in this program.  From now on till the day I graduate I will work extremely hard to improve my reading and writing skills to be competitive when it comes to applying to law school.” -- student
  • What I liked most about the program was the atmosphere of the course and the work load.  I really felt like a law student attending my first days of law school.  And it is because of this summer prep program I am reassured that the studying of law will be part of my future.” -- student

For more information about the Ronald H. Brown Center contact: RonaldHBrownCtr@stjohns.edu.