Lay the building blocks for a legal career
With small classes, dedicated faculty and a flexible curriculum that allows you to combine majors, double major, study across departments or create your own major, Union is the perfect place to lay a solid foundation for a career devoted to the law.
ALUMNI PROFILE:
Major: Political Science, Spanish
Current position: Attorney, Goulston & Storrs
At Union, you’ll develop oral and written communications skills as well analytic, research and decision-making capabilities, all highly valued in the legal profession. A Union education also encourages creative and entrepreneurial thinking, other assets that will help you flourish in the field of law.
Union students will find a variety of campus supports and resources to support their law school ambitions. Our pre-law adviser helps students determine if law is the right field and help them prepare for the law school applications process.
In addition, Union and Albany Law School have established a six-year 3 + 3 Accelerated Law Program that leads to the B.A. and J.D. degrees. Ten first-year students are admitted jointly each year by the two institutions.
Possible majors:
Most majors or interdisciplinary concentrations – from art history to mathematics – will provide a good foundation for going on to law school. In fact, law schools do not specify a particular major or even a set of courses and encourage students with diverse interests to consider law. Some popular majors among Union pre-law students are history, economics, English, philosophy and political science. Other potential majors for those interested in the law include Sociology and psychology as well as classics, where a study of ancient philosophers and texts, Latin and Greek helps students sharpen their analytical skills.
In general, students are advised to follow an academic path that best suits their passions and is therefore likely to produce higher class performance, since the GPA is a critical component of law school admissions.
Clubs and organizations:
Debate Team,Ethics Bowl, Model United Nations and the Pre-Law Club, which sponsors talks by law school admissions officers, lectures and panel discussions by academics, alumni and practitioners.
Internship opportunities:
In recent years, these have included the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Law and Justice, Hunger Action Network, Legal Aid Society, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, NYS Coalition Against Domestic Violence, NYS Department of State, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, NYS Office of the Attorney General, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Senate.
In addition, each spring the Political Science Department at Union organizes a political policy-making program in the District of Columbia. Twenty top students from all academic disciplines and majors are accompanied by a Union political science professor. One of the program’s three courses is an internship with an Executive or Legislative office, a non-governmental organization, a media outlet, or a think-tank.
Suggested terms abroad:
Civil Rights mini-term in the American South, New Hampshire Presidential Primary mini-term. In addition, the Galway, Ireland term abroad offers courses in law.