To connect with pre-law at Furman, contact the pre-law advisor in the Office of Pre-Professional Advising.

Furman’s study away programs represent engaged learning at its finest. Add a global dimension to learning as you cultivate intellectual curiosity, develop new skills and build self-confidence – keys to competing in a complex, ever-evolving world. The majority of study away programs, including semester-long and three-week May Experience (MayX) courses, are interdisciplinary in nature and open to students of all majors. Law-focused MayX options led by alumni who are attorneys have addressed the intersection of medicine, poverty and law, as well as trial advocacy.

In addition to interning at legal firms, our students have secured internships at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, public defender agencies, government agencies, health care systems and nonprofits. Through the Upstate Medical Legal Partnership, our students gain valuable experience at Prisma Health. Furman remains the only undergraduate institution in the nation to partner with a medical legal partnership.

Working under the supervision of practicing attorney faculty members, our students acquire real-world experience representing clients through The Justicia Project, a partnership with the Department of Politics and International Affairs and a local law firm. Joining Furman’s prestigious mock trial program is another way aspiring attorneys develop and polish their skills in trial advocacy, public speaking and critical thinking.

If you are interested in law, choose any major you are passionate about. Students typically declare a major by the end of their sophomore year, so there’s plenty of time to explore options. There are no academic major requirements to participate in pre-law activities at Furman. Grades matter in pursuing downstream law schools as do LSAT scores, so select a major that inspires you and one in which you think you’ll excel.

Learn more about choosing a major in the pre-law track.

Students planning to go directly to law school after graduation typically take the digital LSAT in the summer after junior year. Ideally, students would only need to take the LSAT once; however, LSAC permits students to five times in five years and nationally, most students take the exam twice. While law schools have access to all test scores, they overwhelmingly consider students’ high LSAT score. Because the rolling admissions cycle opens in September or October each year, it’s in your best interest to submit applications as soon as you have a strong admissions packet ready in the fall. Students taking gap years have more flexibility, and many students opt to take the LSAT in the summer after graduation. The LSAT remains on file for five years.

Furman graduates gain admittance to a range of institutions from smaller colleges to larger Tier I, Top 50 universities (as ranked by U.S. News and World Report). Some of the Tier I law schools our Furman alumni have attended in the last five years include:

• Stanford
• Yale
• Duke
• Penn
• UVA
• Michigan
• Berkeley
• Georgetown
• Minnesota
• Texas
• Vanderbilt
• UGA
• UNC
• Notre Dame

The National Association of Law Placement (NALP) maintains helpful data on attorney salaries and employment. According to NALP’s most recent report, “The Class of 2024, the largest graduating class in nearly a decade, defied most legal industry predictions by shattering many of the employment records set just one year ago by the Class of 2023… the Class of 2024 achieved the highest ever employment rate — both overall and within bar admission required/anticipated jobs.” With an overall employment rate of 93.4%, this figure was 0.8 percentage points higher than the previous record set by the Class of 2023.

NALP also reported that “the percentage of graduates working in jobs for which bar admission is required or anticipated… grew by 2.2 percentage points to 84.3%—marking a new all-time high dating back to when NALP introduced the current job classifications in 2001.” Overall, the percentage of jobs for which bar admission is required has increased by nearly 20 percentage points since its low point for the Classes of 2012 and 2013.

In terms of compensation, NALP found that “the Class of 2024 also set new records when it comes to compensation. For the sixth consecutive year, the overall median salary increased—climbing by 5.6% to $95,000.” Among private practice positions, the median salary was $160,000, with variations based on firm size and location. NALP also noted that “just 6.8% of employed Class of 2024 graduates were seeking a different job, also an all-time low,” reflecting a strong job market and high satisfaction among new law graduates.