The Pre-Legal Committee

Allegheny's Pre-Legal Committee is the single most important resource available to students interested in careers in the legal professions. Composed of two advisors (one faculty, one administrative), plus elected student members and a student chair, the Committee provides support, advice, information, and guidance in a personalized manner. Its programs and resources include:

• Regular newsletters with the most current information about graduate schools and careers.
• Pre-legal panel discussions during Freshman Orientation
• Help arranging internships, externships and visits to local law offices.
• On-campus interviews with the 1,215 institutions that recruit at Allegheny each year.
• Special programs and speakers ranging from Derrick Bell, former Harvard professor of constitutional law, to alumni who return to share their career and graduate school experience.
• Intensive preparation for the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) administered on campus twice yearly.
• Assistance in the graduate school application process, beginning in September of the senior year. The acceptance rate for applicants who fully avail themselves of the committee's help is close to 100%.

Pre-Legal Advisors

Allegheny's two pre-legal advisors are members of the Northeast Association for Pre-Law Advisors, an organization that links undergraduate pre-law advisors (and their students) with law school admissions committees and faculty. The advisors are:

• Robert Seddig, professor of political science. B.A., Carleton College.; M.A., Ph.D., Princeton University.
• Nancy Sheridan, director of student support services. B.A., The College of Wooster; graduate studies, University of Illinois, St. Cloud State University.

Recommendations

A key element in the law school application process is recommendations from faculty and internship sponsors. Allegheny's recommendations carry enormous weight because faculty here have such good knowledge of their students-as individuals, friends, and scholars.

Placement

• For over a decade, the law school acceptance rate for Allegheny graduates has consistently averaged over 80%. Students who work closely with the Pre-Legal Committee during the application process achieve an acceptance rate close to 100%.
• A representative sampling of the schools attended by Allegheny graduates over the past few years includes:
  • Highly Selective:
    • Cornell University
    • Harvard University
    • University of Pennsylvania
    • University of Chicago
    • Duke University
    • University of Virginia
    • University of Michigan
  • Selective:
    • Case Western Reserve University
    • University of Notre Dame
    • Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University
    • University of Pittsburgh
    • Vanderbilt University
    • Villanova University