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Home / Academics / Pre-Law Advising Program

Undergraduate Pre-Law Degrees

John Carroll University offers multiple paths to law school: a four-year Pre-Law Advising Program that fortifies any academic major; a new Law & Society interdisciplinary minor; and an accelerated 3+3 partnership with Case Western Reserve University Law School that allows you to complete your undergraduate and law degree in six years.

All John Carroll students are welcome to join the Pre-Law Advising Program, regardless of your preferred path or major. The Pre-Law Advising Program at John Carroll University offers advising, mentoring, shadowing opportunities and other resources for students interested in pursuing admission to law school.

Whatever your motivation — whether you have always wanted to study law, or feel more recently compelled — dedicated faculty and staff support the Pre-Law Advising Program and are here to help build on your strengths and strengthen your weaknesses, and prepare you for a successful legal career.

Law School: What Does it Take?

Law schools favor applicants with a passion for the law, a motivation for advancing the legal profession, and a strong academic record.

A liberal arts degree — with its focus on critical thinking skills — prepares you to immerse yourself in judicial opinions and rulings via the case method, a law school hallmark. More than raw memorization of case facts, law school trains you to discern the underlying legal principles that shape a ruling and outcomes.

Law School Admission Council data shows that students in majors such as economics, philosophy and classics score nearly identical to test takers from hard science majors and math. Here are a few common majors pre-law students tend to gravitate toward, depending on what they want to do with their law degree:

9%

Projected career growth for lawyers

8,723

The number of lawyers employed in Cuyahoga county, where JCU is located

24,907

Students took an expanded, four-section Law School Admission Test in August, 2021 with an average score of 154.19.

Pre-Law Program Highlights

From JCU to Law School Success

Our students have gone on to pursue law degrees at top Ohio and U.S. law schools, including Harvard, Cornell, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Ohio State, Case Western Reserve, the University of Pittsburgh, and other prestigious law schools. Our pre-law adviser can advise you from day one to make sure your choices match what law school and graduate schools look for, and how you can best tailor your degree to meet your biggest goals.

Jobs & Internships

One of the best ways to see if a career in law is right for you? Take advantage of local and global internship partnerships and connections, working with those in the legal field from Freshman year. Fellowship partnerships with Cleveland Council of World Affairs, Global Cleveland, and Meet the Press and ongoing internships with the University Heights Mayor’s Office can give you vital experience in your field. In the past, students have interned with the US State Department, the White House, Drug Court, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office (Crime Strategies Unit and Major Trials Unit); the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (Supervision, Credit Risk, and Cyber Security division); Office of the Presiding Judge, Third Municipal District, Circuit Court for Cook County, IL; State representative’s district office (Rep Rob Mercuri, 28th district, PA); US Representative’s district offices (Conor Lamb in PA and Chris Jacobs in NY).

Student Organizations & Experiential Learning

Law schools like to see applicants with passions inside and outside of the legal world. John Carroll offers organizations and experiential learning opportunities in both. Get involved with Student Government, the Ohio Innocence Project, The Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion, Black Student Alliance, Latin American Student Association, and many more. We offer experiential learning courses—such as the European Union Simulation or Model Arab League—that aim at developing negotiation, leadership, and diplomacy skills. We also sponsor various events throughout the academic year, such as lunch roundtables with prominent academicians, judges, and politicians as well as the popular occasional series Rant on the Rails, which brings in both prominent and student panelists to discuss important issues at the local, national, and international level.

Featured Faculty

“John Carroll offers exceptional pre-law degrees for students who want to put their talents to work to assist and repair the world.  Whether you’re interested in protecting the environment, building the legal framework for new digital domains, or pursuing justice for the accused, JCU pre-law provides the tools that you can hone over a lifetime. The analytic rigor that you will develop in JCU pre-law will help you on the LSAT, in law school, and during your entire legal career.”

—Elizabeth Stiles, Professor

Notable Alum

Cole Hassay

Henry Cole Hassay, ’16

"JCU sharpened my critical thinking skills, taught me how to make compelling arguments, and helped me become an effective writer. My liberal arts degree from here prepared me for law school and legal practice."

JCU Northeast Map

Pre-Law Alumni Across the Region

John Carroll University alumni live, work, teach and support communities throughout the region from Northeast Ohio to Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Columbus, Buffalo, Rochester, Pittsburgh, New York City, Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Resources 3+3 Dual Admission in Law Program