14 of The Best Pre-Law Schools
Norma Harris – Choosing the best pre-law schools can be daunting and keeping in mind that many top law schools in the United States have low law school admissions with acceptance rates or as little as 20 percent, the desire to enter a reputable school can be intense.
Although there is no specific pre-law degree – unlike medical school – the pre law schools that offer the most supportive programs are those that better place future lawyers in a position of achieving a placement in a good law school.
Which pre law schools have the best programs? Which offer the best undergraduate programs with details on the law school admissions?
We start with some of the obvious big names, because they are the best, and they offer immersive programs that really provide a high level of pre-law ‘experience’ prior to embarking on your law career.
There are various educational and other publications providing details about the best pre-law schools, such as Juris Education, which has the illustration we’ve included below –
The statistics we show below are taken from Juris Education, but remember that the best pre-law schools can also include smaller schools providing great support and resources for those seeking a legal career.
1. Yale Law School
Yale University Acceptance rate: 6.2 percent Tuition cost per year: $64,700 Average GPA needed for admission: 4.0 Yale University is considered one of the best schools to attend and is known as an intellectual powerhouse.
Yale Law School is one of the most prestigious law schools in the country. Yale University offers great interdisciplinary programs for its undergraduate students, has a student-led Undergraduate Legal Aid Association, and amazing opportunities to network with the school’s phenomenal faculty and alumni.
2. Harvard Law School
Harvard University acceptance rate 3 percent, tuition cost $54,269. Average GPA need for admission: 4.2.
Harvard’s law school is a gold standard. At Harvard University, first-year students get placed into residential houses that allow them to network and build relationships.
These residential houses have on-site pre-law mentors and tutors for students. Mentors and tutors can provide advice and support and even walk students through the application process for law school.
Residential law tutors also specialize in different areas of the law,and a top resource with Harvard is the various programs for undergraduate students, including joint JD degree programs and opportunities to network with Harvard alumni.
3. Columbia University
Columbia University Acceptance rate: 3.9 percent Tuition cost per year: $65,524 Average GPA needed for admission: 4.1
Columbia University has achieved a very high favoritism among students with its Pre-Law Society where students can receive direct advice from practicing attorneys, educators, and law students.
The Pre-Law Society helps students with the daunting law school application process with people who have applied and graduated from law school previously.
4. Stanford University
Stanford University Acceptance rate: 4 percent Tuition cost per year: $62,484 Average GPA needed for admission: 3.9 or higher.
There is a valuable pre-law society at the university and it comes with high regard from alumni and others.
Stanford’s Pre-Law Society provides a Shadow Program and speaker series with lawyers and faculty to its undergrad members. If you need help writing a personal statement for getting into law school, Stanford’s Pre-Law Society will review your statement and provide suggestions.
5. Princeton University
Princeton University Acceptance rate: 6 percent Tuition cost per year: $59,710 Average GPA needed for admission: 3.9 or higher.
Undergraduate students have various opportunities to explore their interest in law and gain practical experience in the field.
The Princeton Internship in Civil Service provides students with a very highly regarded summer internship opportunity where students engage with practical, meaningful work.
6. University of Chicago
University of Chicago Acceptance rate: 5 percent Tuition cost per year: $63,801 Average GPA needed for admission: 4.2 or higher
The University of Chicago recently introduced an innovative new program called “Careers In…” that allows students to gain experience in their interested career fields.
Aspiring lawyers can participate in the “Careers In Law” part of the program that offers one-on-one advising, workshops, job shadowing, internships, and the chance to explore various paths in law.
7. Georgetown University
Georgetown University Acceptance rate: 13 percent Tuition cost per year: $65,082. Average GPA needed for admission: 4.01 Georgetown University offers a variety of pre-law programs and services to its students.
The school offers pre-law advising appointments, pre-law workshops, and visits from law school admissions officers to prepare students for law school.
8. New York University
New York University Acceptance rate: 8 percent, Tuition cost per year: $60,438 Average GPA needed for admission: 3.7 or higher NYU is home to one of the top pre-law universities in New York.
NYU Law, ranks in the top ten best law schools in the US and is well set up for pre-law study. For undergraduate students, NYU offers advising on applying to and choosing law schools. The university also hosts a Lawyer Alumni Mentoring Program where students can get one-on-one mentoring with established lawyers and NYU Law Alumni.
The program also coaches students for the annual mock trial against competitor schools.
9. Duke University
Duke University Acceptance rate: 6 percent Tuition cost per year: $66,172 Average GPA needed for admission: 4.1 Duke University is home to Duke Law, another top law school that covers diverse areas of the law.
The university also hosts great pre-law programs for its undergrad students to prepare them for law school. One significant program for the pre-law students is the PreLaw Fellowship Program. The fellowship is a four-week residential program that targets students from underrepresented and underserved communities.
The program aims to provide students with the resources to successfully start law school and a legal career.
10. Rice University
Rice University, one of Texas’ top schools for pre-law and although it does not offer a pre-law course as such it does provide considerable assistance for those seeking a legal career. It also has a wide and flexible course curriculum which is helpful when deciding about a law career.
11. University of Florida
University of Florida also offers ‘walk throughs’ for pre-law students and advice about legal career issues and how to choose the right course at the university, which can be provided personally or via Zoom.
12. Cornell University
Cornell has what it terms a ‘rigorous pre law program’ via internships and study at the University. This includes assistance in obtaining the internships plus an examination that will help set up anyone seeking a law career with the foundations for entry to Cornell or any other school
13. University of Oklahoma
Oklahoma State University offers three ways to get to law school with their bachelor and ‘transfer’ arrangements in their law courses. With their programs and assistance students can apply one year ahead for admission to the major (or minor) law schools.
14. Baylor University
Texas’ Baylor University provides a pre law course that focuses on students from all majors to develop a legal career, with support and programs including a Baylor Undergraduate Law Review.
Your Key Pre-Law Study Questions:
When apply for a great pre-law school you should check out the school where you intend to study as generally a law school application will require a letter of recommendation from a faculty member, so having one will help your application stand out.
What About Other Law Schools – Is This The Complete List?
No, I have identified in the top dozen the major pre-law schools but there are of course others and you should use some of the criteria and research mentioned to identified which law colleges or schools best suit your purposes for future study at a good law school. The latter schools mentioned are simply a sampling of some of the smaller schools that can provide great assistance for those looking for a good pre-law college.
Author –
Norma Harris is a Senior Legal Associate at Cogneesol. She is an experienced legal practitioner who provides insights on legal topics including the latest trends in legal technology. She may be contacted via Twitter.
