Pre-Law

A Few Recent Maryville College Alumni Profiles

Student

Katie Warner ‘08
University of Washington 
MC Major: Biology and Environmental Studies
Photograph of Jennifer Roy, Class of 2009

Jennifer Roy, '09
University of the District of Columbia 
MC Major: History
Student

Ashley Vandevender ‘11
Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University
MC Major: English Literature

All about Pre-Law

To become a lawyer, paralegal, or pursue a career in the legal field, individuals must have a well-rounded education that instills excellent communications skills, superb critical thinking abilities, interpersonal skills, an unwavering personal and professional ethic, as well as the ability to conduct focused research and present persuasive and accurate arguments.

Highly Personal & Highly Supportive
Maryville College faculty are able to write excellent letters of reference and recommendation for MC students because faculty and students truly know one another. It’s impossible to get into grad school without letters of recommendation, and Maryville College students consistently get placed in grad schools thanks in part to the high-quality and personal reference letters made by their faculty.

All of these skills are core to the Maryville Curriculum and exemplify why a liberal arts institution – such as Maryville College – is an ideal place to study and pursue the legal profession.

Most law schools will advise students to pursue a liberal arts education rather than a specific “pre-law” program because most “pre-law” programs are seen as too narrow and limit the breadth of a student’s education. For this reason, Maryville College does not offer a specific “pre-law” major but does have a specific pre-law advising approach and recommends certain majors that may be more helpful and preparatory for a legal career.

Truly, any major field of study can lead to law school, however, the most popular majors for pre-law students at MC have typically been History, English, Political Science, Environmental Studies, Philosophy, Religion, and Sociology. However, we’ve had our fair share of biology majors go on to law school. That’s the beauty of a liberal arts education. Our alumni will assure you that Maryville College helped them prepare for law school by teaching them writing skills, how to conduct thorough research, and how to speak to a variety of audiences.

Through Maryville’s individualized approach to academic advising, each student who considers herself or himself “pre-law” will be matched with one of our “pre-law” faculty advisors who will guide the student toward most appropriate coursework, classes, electives and internships to help fulfill the desired goal…a successful preparation for grad school and a career in the legal fields.

 

Other MC students pursuing legal careers have recently graduated from the following law schools:

David Houbre ‘06
University of Tennessee-Knoxville, School of Law
MC Major: Political Science		 Erin Phillippi Rust ’06
Washington University School of Law
MC Major: Political Science and Sociology
Emily Edler ’05 
Syracuse University College of Law
MC Major: Political Science		 Scott King ‘04
Vermont Law School
MC Major: Writing/Communications
Molly Winton Lothamer ‘00
Georgetown University Law Center
MC Major: International Studies

Core Curriculum Requirements

Each student must satisfy the core requirements and requirements for individual programs of study.