UChicago Law Welcomes JD Class of 2028
This fall the University of Chicago Law School welcomed 204 JD students to its campus. The impressive group was selected from a record-breaking pool of more than 6,500 applicants.
The Class of 2028 hails from 35 states, 77 undergraduate institutions, and represents 35 different undergraduate majors. The top majors include business, computer science, economics, history, finance, government, international relations, philosophy, and political science.
More than 25% of this class majored in a STEM field and more than 30% know one or more coding languages.
The median LSAT score for the group is 174 and the median GPA is 3.97.
The cohort boasts 121 students who speak more than 40 different languages. There are 104 research assistants, 58 published authors, 27 musicians, and seven Eagle Scouts.
The class also includes two professional ballerinas, two video game creators, a US rowing coach, a YouTuber who runs a channel about the US Supreme Court, an archeologist, a cartographer, and several entrepreneurs, including one who helped develop an AI model to predict litigation outcomes; another cofounded a basketball media company.
The Law School also welcomed 77 LLM candidates from 30 different countries.
Orientation Week Highlights
The Class of 2028 started their new chapter with Orientation the week of September 15 -19.
New this year: A group of upper-class student mentors, dubbed Dean’s Fellows, helped welcome students by leading campus and building tours, facilitating group sessions, and shepherding the fledgling law students through the week’s activities.
The Dean’s Fellows Program launched this fall to help incoming students acclimate to life at the Law School. Each of the 12 fellows are assigned to a group of 1L students to provide mentorship and support throughout their first year.
Orientation Week included several interactive sessions and workshops, some led by staff and others by faculty.
Staff from the Dean of Students Office facilitated a session on “Thriving at the Law School,” where they discussed different ways students could cultivate a fulfilling law school experience.
Another session, “Parent and Partner 101,” led by Dean of Students Brandi Welch, sought to help facilitate community-building among students who are parents and/or partnered.
Faculty-led sessions included an introductory class to Legal Research and Writing, a session on “AI and the Legal Profession,” a session on “Free Expression at UChicago Law,” and a special topics session called “Statistical Discrimination,” in which Professor Sonja Starr discussed and critiqued contexts in which the legal system has appeared to tolerate or encourage statistical discrimination, which refers to treating individuals differently based on generalizations about the groups to which they belong.
Students also took the Pledge of Professionalism during the week and afterwards enjoyed a Q&A with Chief Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, ’79, of the Northern District of Illinois. Erika Harold, the executive director of 2Civility, moderated the Q&A.
The beloved tradition of the Entering Students Dinner—a formal dinner held in the Green Lounge that includes a pre-networking reception, a faculty member who delivers a speech, and faculty member attendees—was another hallmark of the eventful week.
Clinical Professor Craig E. Futterman delivered this year’s speech in which he declared: “There has never been a more important time to go to law school.”
Other poignant words of advice Futterman offered: “Don’t forget why you came to law school. What brought you here? What brought you to the University of Chicago Law School, or as you’ll soon refer to it, simply as the Law School? You’re each here for different reasons.”
The week culminated with an evening boat cruise on Lake Michigan, where students could continue making connections and celebrating their new chapter at UChicago Law.
Scenes from Orientation
Want to see more photos from the week?
View the photo gallery with full captions on our website.
Class of 2028 Spotlights
Each year we interview a select number of students from the incoming class. Meet a few of our new arrivals:
Charlotte Barry, '28
Charlotte Berry, ’28, from Longmeadow, Massachusetts, has been teaching at a boarding school in New Hampshire for the past two years. A graduate of Harvard with a degree in Classics and government, Barry says that her undergraduate studies illuminated for her how the legal system could be used as a tool for advocacy and the articulation of civil rights. In addition to her teaching, she has also worked in the nonprofit sector, served in AmeriCorps, and had a stint living in New Zealand.
“I hope to extend my legal education through a clerkship, before gaining experience in litigation,” said Berry. “Eventually I’d like to go into public service and work in administrative law. I’m also really interested in the intersections of education, children’s law, sports law, and civil rights.”
Jordan Chernof, '28
Jordan Chernof, ’28, is a former software engineer at Microsoft hailing from Seattle, Washington. Chernof’s background in computer science launched his career in tech—but the political and regulatory changes he witnessed in that industry inspired him to pivot to law school.
“I realized cybersecurity is equally a political and technical problem, and I directly witnessed political and regulatory changes (such as the General Data Protection Regulation, known as GDPR, and the cyber executive order) change how technology was built,” said Chernof. “I hope to use my legal education to better understand how laws and institutions shape our urban and/or information technology systems.”
Noah Blake Smith, '28
Noah Blake Smith, '28, became curious about the study of law after working as a research assistant—analyzing the real-world impact of public policy—at his alma mater, Georgetown University, where he majored in economics and minored in mathematics. He hails from Philadelphia.
"I was drawn to the Doctoroff Business Leadership Program on account of my interest in the business side of law," said Smith. "The Law School’s preeminence in law and economics likewise attracted me, given my academic background. I aspire to become a leader at the intersection of law, business, and technology—in whatever form that may manifest."
Elisabeth Synder, '28
Elizabeth Snyder, ’28, graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts this past June. Originally from Falls Church, Virginia, Snyder was drawn to the Law School because of UChicago’s values of free expression and open discourse.
“I hope to devote my career to defending civil liberties—especially freedom of speech and of the press—at a time when I believe these liberties face existential threats,” said Syner. “The future of First Amendment rights depends on legal advocates who prioritize constitutional principles above political expedience in order to prevent the bedrock of functioning democratic debate from eroding with shifting political tides.”
Irena Petryk, '28
Irena Petryk, ’28, from Morton Grove, Illinois, earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Oxford. Petryk, who was named a 2023 Rhodes Scholar while finishing up her undergraduate studies, has a deep interest in US foreign policy and has ambitions to one day help shape those policies to create a stronger and more cooperative global community.
"I would love to work at the intersection of law and foreign policy, either at a federal agency or an international organization," said Petryk. "I’m especially interested in how legal frameworks shape economic statecraft."