September 2027 Pre-Law Post: “What does it mean to be a pre-law student?”

What does it mean to be a pre-law student?

Facade of US Supreme Court in Washington DC on a sunny day

If you have one-on-one conversations with five Amherst alumni who are lawyers, even if they practice the same type of law and attended the same law school, you will hear five unique stories about how they arrived at similar places in their professional lives.  Everyone’s path is different.  There is no required pre-law major, no prescribed set of courses, and no single kind of internship or job you need before enrolling in law school.”  You could spend ten years after Amherst as a high school history teacher or as an archivist at a museum and still successfully pivot to become a lawyer.

What a wonderful thing to know that no matter where you are in your life, you can find a doorway into a profession that, while not always easy or without its flaws, can be rewarding in a variety of ways.  That’s not to say that there aren’t things you, as an Amherst student, should keep in mind before applying to law school. YOu will have opportunities throughout the year to participate in Loeb Center programming that will give you a deeper dive into the ways you can take advantage of your time at Amherst to explore your interest in law while preparing you for entry into law school.  

Here’s one of the biggest lessons I hope you’ll take away: being a pre-law student means being deeply curious.

Instead of asking, “What will look good to law schools?” start by asking, “What am I genuinely curious about?”  You should ask yourself this about your future legal career, but also when selecting classes for the semester, considering campus organizations to get involved in, or applying for internships and even jobs. 

For example, a common question I get each semester is whether law schools have a preference for certain courses perceived as more rigorous than others or “out of the box” enough to make a candidate stand out.  My answer is nearly always the same – “Are you genuinely interested in the coursework, and is it an appropriate challenge given your strengths and the rest of your academic commitments?” Law schools won’t be impressed simply because you took an advanced STEM course versus a humanities course.  Conversely, sticking solely to humanities courses because you think that is what is expected won’t necessarily indicate to law schools that you are a more serious candidate for law school.

Law schools will certainly care about your academic performance, but the courses you choose can also help you develop the interests, questions, and perspectives that eventually make your application distinctly yours.  Did that STEM course make you think deeply about the growing need for more ethical considerations as technology advances?  Did it make you interested in exploring how more research into the effects of traumatic brain injury can help judges and attorneys weigh mitigating factors during sentencing?  Did taking a literature course raise questions about punishment and justice? Those are questions that not only help you write strong admissions essays but could unlock future career options you wouldn’t have known were available to you had you not given yourself permission to lean into what sparks your natural interest.

Leading with curiosity increases the chances that you will develop something all law schools care about — a perspective about the world around you and a vision for how you see yourself in it in the future.  

So, what does it mean to be a pre-law student? More than anything, it means giving yourself permission to be curious—and paying attention to where that curiosity leads you.

Upcoming Loeb Center Pre-Law Programs

From First-Year Mammoth to 1L Law Student: Charting Your Pre-Law Path | Wed. 9/23 @ 6:30 PM | Location: Science Center, Room E108 | RSVP

Get an in-depth picture of what you need to know now as a current undergrad to prepare for the law school admissions process. 

NYU School of Law Information Session | Mon., 9/28 @ 7:00 PM | Location: Science Center, Kirkpatrick Lecture Hall (Room A011) | RSVP

Join a senior member of the admissions team for an overview of NYU School of Law and its application process.

Legal Futures Lab: Building Your Plan for a Deeper Exploration of Legal Careers | Fri. 10/2 @ 12:00 PM | Location: Science Center, Room E108 | RSVP

This hands-on, interactive session will use life design practices to help you map out your motivation for becoming a lawyer and develop a strategy for further exploration.

Law School Admissions Resources

LawHub Webinar — How Does the LSAT Fit into My Law School Application? | Wed., 9/16 @ 4:00 PM | VIRTUAL | Register Here

Free LSAT Workshop with TestMasters! | Wed., 9/16 @ 6:00 PM | VIRTUAL | Register Here

Job & Internship Opportunities

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo, P.C. 

Project Analyst Program | DEADLINE: 9/30/2026

The Project Analyst Program was founded in 1989 and, in recent years, has expanded to include 16 Project Analysts across four offices, covering nearly a dozen practice areas. During their two-year tenure, Project Analysts gain practical experience and valuable exposure to law and business by working alongside Mintz’s attorneys and senior professionals.

At Mintz, Project Analysts can expect to develop and use a broad range of skills to meet the needs of the firm and its clients. Project Analysts research factual issues, review and analyze documents, organize data, draft reports, and organize and prepare case documents. Project Analysts also track regulatory activity and monitor industry trends. They interact directly with clients on projects, sometimes on a regular basis.

Upcoming Info Sessions:

The Cornerstone Project

Campus Organizer | DEADLINE: 9/26/2026

Regional Organizing Director | DEADLINE: 9/27/2026

The Cornerstone Project is a Texas-based nonpartisan nonprofit organization that aims to increase youth civic engagement and build up a new generation of civic leaders. They do this through a campus-based Fellowship Program, which provides resources for students to register their peers to vote, run voter education and mobilization efforts in their communities, and pairs them with a unique leadership and civic development program.

The organization is hiring Campus Organizers and Regional Organizing Directors to oversee a cohort of Fellows and guide their leadership development. This role is ideal for candidates who are excited to grow with the organization and help build up the next generation of Texas leaders. I personally worked as an organizer shortly after graduation, and it was instrumental in my personal and professional development.