Beginning in the fall semester of 2017, the School of Diplomacy and International Relations will offer a new six-year dual degree program.
Also known as the 3+3 program, it will allow students the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree and a Juris Doctorate degree, which is the most basic law degree required to practice law, through Seton Hall’s School of Law. Students will complete this program within six years instead of the seven years it usually takes, said Dean Andrea Bartoli of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations.
The new program is one of a kind because “it is clearly linking law and diplomacy in a way that stresses the professional side of the field,” said Bartoli. Bartoli added that students in this new program will have the same curriculum other diplomacy students have, but with more of a professional legal aspect.
However, because of the program’s rigorous and continuous curriculum, Bartoli said the program is not available to current diplomacy students. Even so, current students of the School of Diplomacy are encouraged to apply to the School of Law, Bartoli said. Students must enroll in the program their freshman year so they can complete the respective curriculum.
One diplomacy student said she would not join the program even if she was able to.
Erin Donovan, a senior diplomacy and international relations major, said that after learning what law school is like from her cousin, a recent graduate of Northwestern School of Law, as well as her sister’s peers, it is her understanding that the first year of law school is fundamental to a law student. Donovan said that “[she] could not imagine handling the course load of a senior while also starting her first year at law school.”
Another student had a different view on the program.
If freshman diplomacy and international relations major Colin Price could participate in the program he said he would because it “fast tracks students of law to the real world experiences of the job market.”
Interested students should apply directly to the program rather than just applying to the School of Diplomacy and then select the program if they are accepted.
High school students who apply are required a minimum of an unweighted 3.5 GPA as well as a minimum of 1270 on the new SAT with at least a 650 in the ERW (Evidence-Based Reading and Writing) section, or a 27 on the ACT, said a Sept. 22 Seton Hall press release titled “School of Diplomacy Unveils New Programs.” Students must also take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) prior to their junior year of college.
Interested students can visit the School of Diplomacy and international Relations’ website page to apply or request more information.
David Encarnacao can be reached at david.encarnacao@student.shu.edu
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