[94% overall acceptance rate for Miami seniors applying to law school from 2010-2013 (compared to national average of 83% for same period)]

[17% of seniors were accepted to Top 25 law schools in 2013.]

[33% of seniors were accepted to Tier 1 law schools (ranked 1-50) in 2013.]

Joseph Bushur: In the fall I'll be going to Harvard Law School.

Chris Kesler: This fall I'll be going to William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Maria Gray: I'm going to the University of Alabama School of Law.

Elizabeth Martin: This upcoming fall I'm going to be attending the College of Law at the University of Illinois.

Dan Ward: I'll be attending Vanderbilt Law School next fall.

Ethan Weber: Next year I'll be participating in the Teach for America Program.

Maria Vitullo, Esq. [Director, Pre-Law Program, Miami University]: Miami's Pre-Law Program is intended to expose students early on to the practice of law in order for them to determine whether law is even something that interests them.

Maria Gray [Psychology major]: I didn't know for sure what I wanted, to go to grad school for psychology or to be an attorney. Maria Vitullo really helped me hone in on what I wanted to do, and who I wanted to be and just kind of helped foster that individuality that I had.

Priya Mehta [Diplomacy and Global Politics major]: I worked with the Court of Common Pleas in Cleveland after my sophomore year and learned a lot about criminal defense law and watching the prosecutors and the defense attorneys but that gave me more background into what attorneys actually do.

Maria Vitullo: For students who ultimately decide that law is something they do want to pursue, the Pre-Law Program has in place
courses for students to prepare themselves to be the best, most competitive law school applicants possible.

Joseph Bushur [English/Literature and Theater majors]: The Pre-Law Program was extremely helpful throughout my entire process of applying to law school from working on the LSAT to my resume and personal statement; the entire application process.

Ethan Weber [Political Science major]: The ability to come in and talk about my applications, and where I was in the process of writing a cover letter and a personal statement and getting a resume tailored to what law schools are looking for was the most valuable part for me.

Elizabeth Martin [Political Science major]: I attended some of the workshops for seniors that started right at the beginning of fall that kind of mapped out the entire process of applying to law school.

Chris Kesler [Political Science and Philosophy majors]: That allowed us time to work on our personal statements and got us exposure to what law schools are looking for in applications. We actually got to meet with and speak with a panel of three law school admission representatives.

Maria Vitullo: The biggest event of the year for Miami's Pre-Law Program is its annual Law Day event which we do every year. We have
schools, law schools from all over the country that come to Miami to meet with our students to provide information about their law school programming and interview our competitive senior applicants.

Dan Ward [Chemical Engineering major]: They really gave me the opportunity to meet with some schools that I was very interested in and sort of show these schools face to face what I had to offer. It undoubtedly helped with my admission because within three days after I had submitted my application I received an offer of admission.

Maria Vitullo: Junior year is a very important year for pre-law students. This is when they begin preparing for the LSAT examination and
it is also when we offer seminars and workshops to start foreshadowing for students what they can expect through the summer after their junior year and into the start of their senior year. While Miami's Pre-Law Program has a lot of pre-professional curricular components to it, the bread and butter of what we do every day is one-on-one advising. And we have two pre-law advisors in the office whose sole job is to meet with students one-on-one and provide the kind of individualized guidance that each student needs.

Joseph Bushur: I got incredible advising that helped me to feel a lot more confident about the entire process.

Priya Mehta: I would say for students starting off in pre-law to get involved early because the more ahead of time that you learn about the resources and the opportunities for you, the more you can take advantage of them.

[March 2013]