Guides
How to do the things on the path: talk to professors, ask for letters, take the LSAT, find funding and apply. Each guide ends with programs to apply to.
Samples to copy
Templates for a fictional student: copy the structure, not the content.
- One-page résumé and academic CVFor jobs, internships and master's programs, and for PhD and research programs. Download the résumé (Word, PDF) or the CV (Word, PDF).
- Law school résuméHours per week for jobs, an interests line, no objective. Download it (Word, PDF).
- Email to a professor asking for adviceAsk for office hours and offer to help with research.
- Email asking for a recommendation letterYour interest, the program and deadline, and the class you took with them.
Start here
- Start here: graduate schoolGround rules for funded programs, and the first things to do · graduate school
- Start here: law schoolThree ground rules for pre-law students · law school
Get ready
- Talk to your professorsOffice hours, and an email you can copy · both paths
- Pair your majorMinors and second majors that open doors · graduate school
- Methods and skillsStatistics, R and the courses that teach them · graduate school
- QC and CUNY pre-law resourcesPre-law advising, the Legal Studies minor and clubs · law school
- Research as a pre-law studentHonors theses and faculty research · law school
- Notes from RBSIFirst-hand notes from the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute · graduate school
Apply
- Statements, help and AIWho reads your statement, and where AI fits · both paths
- Recommendation lettersHow to ask, with a sample email · both paths
- Applying to PhD programsFees, waivers, the GRE and the rest of the file · graduate school
- PhD visit programsFunded campus visits; apply the summer before senior year · graduate school
- LSAT and feesTest dates, costs and the fee waiver · law school
- Sample résumé and CVCopy the structure, not the content · graduate school
- Sample law school résuméHours per week, interests, no objective · law school
- Gap yearsMost law students worked first · law school
Money and jobs
- Jobs you can getCommon first jobs for political science majors, what they ask for and what they pay · both paths
- Scholarships and fundingQC's own application, national awards and study abroad · both paths
- Journalism, nonprofits and governmentPaid internships and fellowships outside graduate school · both paths
- Job search tools and AIHireQC, free certificates and job alerts · both paths
- Using AI the right wayA helper and a proofreader, never the writer · both paths
- Building a networkProfessors, the career center and NYC events · both paths