Pacific Legal Advantage Program

Explore Law at Pacific

The Pacific Legal Advantage (PLA) Program is a selective, honors-level pre-law opportunity for high-achieving students from any major. Through a seven-unit curriculum that blends hands-on experience with expert mentorship, PLA offers an early, in-depth look at the legal profession—at no additional cost.

Whether you're planning to pursue law school or simply exploring your interest in the field, this program equips you with valuable skills, connections, and a potential head start on your JD.

Program benefits

Law School Faculty Mentorship: Learn from McGeorge School of Law professors in seminar settings
Real Legal Experiences: Attend court visits, law firm tours, and legal events
LSAT Prep + Advising: Get one-on-one support for law school admission
Accelerated Law Pathways: Fast-track your law school journey through 3+3 or 2.5+3 plans

PLA coursework

Three Weekend Seminars (1 unit each)
Honors-only courses taught by McGeorge faculty:
POLS 060, POLS 062, and POLS 175
One Upper-Division Law Course (4 units)
Choose from law-focused courses such as constitutional law, legal reasoning, or ethics
Five Official PLA Events
Includes courtroom observations, guest speakers, and networking with law school faculty and students

Who should apply

This program is ideal for:

High-achieving first-year students, sophomores or first-year transfer students (fewer than 60 transferable units)
Students from any major who want an academic edge for law school
Students interested in honors-level coursework and legal exploration

Applicants with fewer than 30 college units may submit high school transcripts for review.

Students walk together at the California capitol

The interior of the California state capitol.

McGeorge Promise

University of the Pacific is pleased to offer students in the Legal Advantage program three guaranteed pathways to admission to Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law.

LSAT waiver pathway: 3.8 cumulative undergraduate GPA and must be attending Pacific or within 12 months of Pacific degree conferral at time of application to McGeorge. (Limited to 10% of the admitted class. Pending character & fitness requirements. Open to all Pacific students)
LSAT waiver pathway: 3.6 cumulative undergrad GPA & 85% on the ACT/SAT (Limited to 10% of the admitted class. Pending character & fitness requirements. Open to PLA students only)
LSAT required pathway: 3.6 undergrad GPA & 157 LSAT (Limited to 10% of the admitted class. Pending character & fitness requirements. Open to all Pacific students)
Applicants who take the LSAT at any time prior to matriculation at McGeorge are ineligible for admission under the Direct Admission LSAT Waiver program and will be reconsidered for admission through the LSAT required pathway or normal admissions process.

Indicate Pacific Legal Advantage as a "pre-professional program" on your application to the University or contact the Outreach Coordinator.
Respond to an email or mailing from the program.

Requirements

7-unit program
- Three 1-unit seminar course taught by McGeorge Law School professors
- One 4-unit upper division law course (applied as an elective)
Attendance and participation at 5 official Legal Advantage events. Events include but are not limited to:
- On-campus speaker events
- Field trips to courthouses, law firms, McGeorge campus, etc.
- Social networking with local lawyers and law students
- Shadowing a local attorney for the day