Benjamin Joffe '23
BA Political Science
Pronouns: he/him

On his major:
I majored in political science because, although there is no one “pre-law” major, political science courses challenge and develop reading and writing skills essential in law school, and are often law-adjacent and introduce foundational legal concepts prior to law school. 

Favorite Class:
I really enjoyed POL 320: Constitutional Law, taught by Prof. James Corcoran. The content of the course was always fresh and interesting. I also enjoyed working on my senior honors thesis in POL 495/ 496 with Prof. Jason Rose, who is a great professor and mentor to all political science students.

Interests and accomplishments:
I have worked as an undergraduate student government senator, an SBU fellow for CTI, and have been vice president of the Pre-Law Society for nearly two years. I am also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and recently won the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence.    

Greatest achievement:
I consider my greatest achievement so far to be scoring a 176 on the LSAT. While a standardized test score might seem strange as one's greatest achievement, the true achievement lies in the months of effort leading up to that score, and what that score means for law school admissions; scoring in the 99th percentile is truly something I have worked and studied so hard for, and I am incredibly proud of reaching this point. 

Plans for post-graduation:
After graduation, I have a summer position as an attorney recruitment intern with a top global law firm, Latham & Watkins LLP, which I am incredibly excited about. After that position, I intend to send in law school applications in early fall and take a road trip around the country with my best friend. 

Career aspirations:
I am incredibly driven towards my goal of becoming an attorney. I have held dreams of attending a top law school since I started college, and I am in nervous anticipation to finally apply and put on display to these law schools all that I have worked towards. 

Advice for potential Seawolves:
The best non-academic advice I can give is to be as social as you can, even if you are nervous at first. I consider myself sort of shy but have made lifelong friends by putting myself out of my comfort zone. Academically, I would say to leverage tools like Classie Evals to see the grade distributions of past courses to inform your decision to enroll in those courses.