Although quite a step away from the STEM department, but still an opportunity for UW’s best and brightest, the Law, Societies, and Justice major (referred to as LSJ) is a one-of-a-kind program whose alumni never fail to turn impressed heads in the job market. As the program quickly gains popularity amongst undergraduates, I sat down with dear friend and recent LSJ admit, Sarah Mann, to seek her best advice for those interested on taking on the challenge of furthering their education of law and policy at work in the real world. Ecstatic to finally join the major, after more than two years of taking its intriguing coursework and rethinking the application questions too many times to count, she shares some helpful advice for those willing to follow in her footsteps to stand out in this unique liberal arts education.
1. Why did you want to apply to the LSJ major in particular? What drew you to the program (what is the most rewarding), and where can it take you afterward?
I applied to the Law, Societies, & Justice major in my junior year at UW after a lot of consideration for other majors and classes. I have always been interested in the pre-law category, and spent my first two years of undergrad exploring various social science and humanities courses in order to find what I enjoyed learning about, and the knowledge and pathways that I was passionate about. What initially drew me to the LSJ program was two courses: 1) the introductory LSJ course (LSJ 200) taught by Katherine Beckett, and 2) the Intro to American Law (POL S 202) course taught by Theodore Myhre. Both of these professors talked about law in a way that I have never heard experienced before and truly made me understand not only the universality of law, but the enormous number of ramifications and applications that law has to our everyday lives. This program is extremely universal and involves a huge plethora of subjects that you can choose to learn about including human rights, how legal systems work, how philosophy plays a role in law, what constitutes the identity of a criminal, etc. I have really enjoyed my time spent with LSJ courses and professors. I would strongly urge others who are interested in issues such as social justice & human rights to consider the Law, Societies, & Justice program as either a major or a minor pathway!
2. The application process involves a 750-word personal statement. What advice would you have for someone applying to the major when writing it?
My #1 piece of advice is to be yourself. The LSJ major committee is looking for driven, hardworking, and passionate people to be included in the LSJ Department. I would suggest writing your personal statement in a way that reflects those values and incorporate parts of your personal journey at UW. My second most valuable piece of advice is making an appointment to visit the LSJ Writing Center to ask for peer reviews and help on writing your personal statement. These are students who are aptly aware of the LSJ department requirements and can really lend a hand if you don’t know where to start or how to upgrade your personal statement to stand out.
3. Once you get into the major, describe the key components of the coursework, and any capstone or internship opportunities that come with it. What do you hope to do outside of classes with the major?
The coursework follows a basic timeline and involves several core/introductory courses and then delves into two different subfields of course that you can take credits for to count towards your degree. Those two different subfields are human rights, and comparative legal institutions. You can choose for a large list of classes that will count for those credits, and I encourage you to take whatever classes interest you the most! There is also a required internship portion to the major that requires students to complete over 100 hours of logged internship work and simultaneously participate in the LSJ 401 class.
4. For anyone thinking of applying to the major, what’s one piece of advice you would give them?
I would advise students applying to the major to be aware of what classes are required for the LSJ major and make use of the Audit Degree function (DARS) on the MyPlan page. This function was my lifesaver, because it clearly lines out what classes count for LSJ major requirements and is extremely useful to those who enjoy planning out their quarters in advance and also for those who haven’t gotten into the major yet.
For information about everything LSJ-related under the sun, including application information, workshop opportunities, and class listings, give the department admissions page a visit. If you have a passion for public service and improving the equity of societal institutions, this may be the path you’ve been looking for.