University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s Pre-College Academy offers high school students a unique and exciting opportunity to immerse themselves in a law school experience—something typically reserved for first year law students. This transformative program not only allows participants to explore their passion for law but also helps them determine if it’s the right career path. Students will engage in rigorous coursework and activities, witness law in practice with visits to courts and other institutions, interact with standing law school faculty and legal experts, and uncover a world of possibilities in the legal field, giving them a valuable head start in planning their future.

Students typically participate in classes weekdays, 9:00am to 3:00pm. Class will be held in Penn Carey Law’s state-of-the-art law school, situated within the prestigious University of Pennsylvania—an elite 284-year-old Ivy-League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first two weeks of the Academy are spent taking an accelerated first-year law school curriculum. Additionally, students have the opportunity to put the skills and content learned into practice through participation in legal exercises focused on making oral arguments, contract negotiations, creating a new commercial product or business, and more.

The third week of this program exposes students to various timely and specialized fields of law, such as business & entrepreneurship law, corporate law, administrative law, environmental law, human rights & immigration law, and technology, privacy, & intellectual property law.*

Admissions to the Pre-College Academy is based on a record of academic achievement, interest in law, and leadership. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and space is limited, so we encourage all applicants to apply as early as possible.

*These topics are a representation of possible focus areas. Specific topics to be confirmed closer to the program start date.

Select 2024 Faculty and Presenters:

• Regina Austin / William A. Schnader Professor of Law, Emerita / Session Topic: Group Conflict and the Intentional Torts
• Fernando Chang-Muy / Thomas O’Boyle Adjunct Professor of Law / Session Topic: Immigration & Refugee Law
• Cynthia Dahl / Practice Professor of Law, Detkin IP and Technology Legal Clinic /Session Topic: Intellectual Property Law
• John Hollway / Associate Dean and Executive Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice / Session Topic: When Criminal Justice Gets It Wrong
• Felicia Lin / Dean of Students / Session Topic: Intro to Trial Practice: Opening & Closing Statements
• Theodore Ruger / John H. Chestnut Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus / Session Topic: The Supreme Court and Constitutional Decision-Making in Context

*2025 faculty and presenters subject to change.