New law school affiliations, a legal studies concentration, a successful mock trial team, and more, mean better opportunities for Scranton students interested in the law.
Expanding Scranton’s Pre-Law Program
Over the past five years, graduating seniors have had a great track record of getting into law school with an acceptance rate ranging from 96 to 100 percent, evidence of the success of Scranton’s expanding pre-law program. The University has also increased the number of entering students interested in pre-law by more than 50 percent since 2016. “We are doing more,” said Pre-Law Advisory Program advisor and philosophy professor Matthew Meyer, Ph.D. A re-energized alumni group is creating a supportive network for Scranton students, and faculty and administrators are working to expand programming. Together, they are navigating the complicated world of law, from law school admissions to a profession in flux post-recession. Over the past five years, the team, led by Meyer, who took on his role as advisor in 2014, has secured several law school affiliation agreements, launched mock trial, created a new legal studies concentration, started an LSAT preparation course for credit and revived the Council of Alumni Lawyers. The University has secured agreements with Villanova University School of Law, Duquesne University School of Law, Boston College Law School and Penn State Law, which allow students to obtain their undergraduate degree and J.D. in just six, rather than seven, years. The affiliations began with Villanova in May 2017, which
gives Scranton students who meet the program requirements the option of automatic admission to the law school with a minimum scholarship of $25,000 per year while at Villanova. The successive programs are similar, but having multiple affiliations gives students a variety of options.
Pre-Law Culture “We want to create a culture around pre-law,” said Dr. Meyer, who personally advises dozens of pre-law students each year. “This isn’t just about the individual students going to law school. It’s about them knowing and connecting with one another and identifying as pre-law.” An out-of-the-classroom resource that has “excited and energized” students in recent years, according to Meyer, is the mock trial team, founded in 2015. This past February, the team, which is open to anyone not just those in pre-law, competed in the opening round of the American Mock Trial Association’s national tournament. Sid Prejean, Esq. ’72 and Jason Shrive, Esq. ’06, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, Criminal Justice & Criminology, are the team’s faculty advisors. “The mock trial team is an important part of the pre-law program at The University of Scranton,” said Shrive, “as it provides our students with an opportunity to experience a courtroom setting, after performing case analysis and preparation of a theme and theory of a mock civil or criminal case.” FA L L 2019
25
