The J.D. Admissions Office actively seeks to connect and partner with other organizations and programs to strengthen, support, and diversify the pipeline to law school. We have several longstanding partnerships and are always willing to explore other possibilities. Often, these partnerships include group visits at Berkeley Law and information sessions about the law school admissions process. You may also be eligible for an application fee waiver if you participated in a qualifying partnership program (please see the full list on the fee waiver application). If your organization is interested in partnering with our office, please contact admissions@law.berkeley.edu.
High School Outreach
Often classes, programs, or law academies at local high schools are interested in their students visiting the campus and learning about the law school experience. The Admissions Office supports these efforts by working with the teacher or school to tailor a visit that will be meaningful for the students. Due to the high degree of customization, we can only accommodate one visit per semester. Requests can be made by emailing admissions@law.berkeley.edu.
UC Berkeley Partners
The NextGen Summer Policy Academy is an innovative, fully funded, three-week program for college juniors who have demonstrated an interest in public service and can contribute to more diverse perspectives in public policy. Taking place in Washington D.C., and then at one of three partner institutions (UC Berkeley, University of Minnesota, or University of Washington), the Summer Policy Academy connects participants with policymakers and policy frameworks, giving them a firsthand understanding of how public policy can be used to build a more equitable, sustainable, and just world. The program is in partnership with the Volcker Alliance and the Public Policy and International Affairs Program.
The Summer Policy Academy builds upon the rich foundations of the Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute (JSI), a seven-week intensive that GSPP has hosted since 1982. This new structure maintains the academic rigor and professional development that were the hallmarks of PPIA JSI’s seven-week program while enhancing networking and experiential learning opportunities.
The Program
Week One (Washington, D.C.) – Immersive Public Service Experience
All Summer Policy Academy participants start the program together in Washington, DC., for a week-long “policy boot camp” designed to immerse them in the heart of U.S. policymaking. Highlights include:
Inspirational Field Trips: Visits to key institutions such as the GAO, State Department, Capitol Hill, and the Smithsonian to witness public policy in action.
- Policy Talks & Guest Speakers: Insightful discussions on topics central to governance and public service.
- Networking & Mentorship: Opportunities to connect with leaders of color and seasoned professionals in the public sector.
- Cohort Building and Professional Skills Development: Facilitated community-building activities to foster collaboration and establish professional expectations.
Weeks Two and Three (UC Berkeley – Goldman School of Public Policy)
The policy focus area at the UC Berkeley site of the Summer Policy Academy is democracy policy, with special emphasis on the intersection of public policy and law. Students will delve into critical issues of public policy analysis, civic governance, public opinion analysis, and community empowerment.
Key topics
- Public policy and law
- The “democracy gap”: examining areas where democratic principles fall short in addressing societal needs.
- Voting and elections, speech and expression, effective co-governance at the state and local levels, legal and social citizenship, media and information security, law, and institutional trust.
- Training in data analysis, policy memo writing, and the legal mechanisms that transform policy into law.
- Core Components & Professional Development
- Policy design, memo writing, and persuasive communication.
- Quantitative literacy and data visualization.
- Individual strengths assessment and resilience coaching
- Graduate education pathways and career readiness.
- Constructive dialogue for collaborative problem-solving.
Additionally, participants will benefit from mentorship, resume workshops, public speaking training, and opportunities for professional storytelling. Apply here!
Getting into Grad School (GiGS) is a collaborative partnership between the Office for Graduate Diversity (OGD), and the Graduate Assembly (GA), whose ultimate goal is to encourage and prepare undergraduate UC Berkeley students to select, apply, and enroll in graduate school.
By engaging key staff and graduate student mentors with motivated undergraduates, we hope undergraduates leave the mentoring program with a better understanding of what the process entails and are inspired to pursue academic careers and create change in the future.
Berkeley Underground Scholars (BUS) creates a pathway for incarcerated, formerly incarcerated and system impacted individuals into higher education. We are building a prison-to-school pipeline through recruitment, retention, and advocacy. BUS is an academic support program housed within the Division of Equity and Inclusion at UC Berkeley.
Golden Bear Orientation is the third phase of the Golden Bear Experience which is typically held during the third week of August. During Golden Bear Orientation (GBO), new students are placed in groups with two Orientation Leaders, continuing UC Berkeley students, who guide their group through all kinds of programming throughout the week. Some example events include community bonding, learning about affinity spaces, becoming familiar with resources on campus, and exploring the Bay Area. In these groups, new students are placed with other students who have a similar housing experience (i.e., being placed in the same group as those dorming in the same building, those who commute to campus, those living off-campus, etc.). This gives students the chance to meet other new incoming students, build connections, and find community.
After Golden Bear Orientation, you may participate in Getting Your Bearings, a collection of events sponsored by campus departments and student organizations, for newly admitted undergraduates. It starts the day after Golden Bear Orientation and lasts through the first three weeks of the semester. You may choose from hundreds of events, participating in the ones that mean the most to you.
Check out the Cal Events app for events and links in the fall. Although it is not mandatory, Getting Your Bearings offers ways you can shape your experience at Cal, dig deeper into community, and just have fun!
California Partners
California LAW is a program created to connect, communicate, collaborate, and coordinate with programs that are part of the educational pipeline for diverse students into the legal profession or law-related careers. California LAW is housed at the Foundation for California Community Colleges and is closely aligned with the Foundation’s strategic goal to expand student access, success, educational, and career outcomes through the promotion of student-centered resources and tools.
California LAW consists of 21 high school law academies created under the California Partnership Academy model, in a unique partnership between the State Bar of California and the California Department of Education.
Additionally, California LAW includes members of the Community College Pathway to Law School initiative with 29 community colleges throughout the state, 9 undergraduate universities, and their law schools, resulting in an educational pipeline into the legal profession.
Here at Central Valley Scholars, we empower students to realize their potential and capabilities and directly provide the resources, guidance, and support in order to make their educational dreams a reality.
An extension of its Destination Law School program, this two-day intensive workshop is geared towards diverse students who are interested and ready to apply to law school.
DLP demystifies the law school application process and provides diverse students with the physical and moral support, technical tools, and one-on-one advising needed to become top law school candidates.
The workshop will cover such topics as preparing for and taking the LSAT, developing a strong personal statement, and learning about career options with a law degree.
There is no cost to participate in the DLP program.
CYDL’s programs immerse East Bay youth who are first-generation and/or from marginalized communities in environments that might otherwise seem inaccessible: classes and activities on the U.C. Berkeley campus and internships in law, government and social justice offices.
Our individualized support, social/emotional learning curriculum, stipends and ongoing mentoring enable the youth to flourish in these environments, and beyond. Our participants also engage deeply with community issues that are relevant to their lives.
More than 92% of our program participants go on to attend higher education! Many also use our program as a springboard to civic engagement and careers in community service and social justice.
Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY) is an award-winning nonprofit serving Bay Area youth impacted by the justice system. Our programs connect young people with positive mentors and role models, promote their understanding of the law and their rights, and support them to become leaders among their peers and in their communities. Together with our young people, we also help our justice systems become more just, humane, and equitable. As a result, FLY increases safety and decreases the costs and consequences of crime.
Diversity in the legal profession is an ongoing issue. Together, Black people and Latinos make up nearly 45% of California population, yet only comprise about 7% of the state bar. The Diversity Legal Pipeline (DLP) seeks to increase diversity in the law by providing law-school bound undergraduates of color with the information, experience and advising necessary to be successful in the law school application process.
The DLP is an intensive, week long pre-law bootcamp that introduces students to the law school application process and puts them face to face with law students, lawyers, and judges who affirm that a legal education is within their reach. During one week from June 10-14, students will participate in a mock constitutional law class, take an actual LSAT, read real court cases, and have plenty of time to meet and network with other students and legal professionals over zoom. After the bootcamp, students are offered supplemental support to assist them on their path to law school.
The mission of LEAP is to diversify the legal profession by preparing underrepresented students to become successful law school applicants, lawyers, and agents of social change.
We support students who are historically underrepresented in the field: people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ+, first-generation college students, and people who are socioeconomically-disadvantaged.
LEAP provides comprehensive programming through focused workshops, LSAT prep courses, mentoring, and a moot court competition. Programming is designed to prepare participants for a successful career in law by helping them successfully apply to law school, excel as law students, and flourish in their legal communities afterward.
Are you a current college student, recent college graduate, student in a master’s degree program, or tribal leader? Do you identify as American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, First Nations of Canada, or are otherwise indigenous? Are interested in applying to law school?
If so, you are invited to apply to CILA’s Pathway to Law Program, a two-day workshop that will guide you through the law school application process and pair you with an attorney mentor.
National Partners
PLSI is an intensive two-month program that prepares American Indian and Alaska Native individuals for the rigors of law school.
The Pathway to Law Initiative is sponsored by the Indian Legal Program at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, the Indigenous Law Program at Michigan State University College of Law, Office of Admissions at University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and the American Indian Law Center, Inc. This program also receives support from the National Native American Bar Association, Native American Bar Association of Arizona, TestMasters, and the National Native American Law Students Association.
The 2015 National Native American Bar Association study of Native Americans in the legal field (The Pursuit of Inclusion: An In-Depth Exploration of the Experiences and Perspective of Native American Attorneys in the Legal Profession), concluded that the Native American law student population is lower than the rate of Native Americans in the overall U.S. population. The study found that pathway projects reaching students in earlier stages of education are essential to continuing the gains in Native American law student numbers and success. In response to the issues identified in the 2015 National Native American Bar Association survey, the Indian Legal Program and the Indigenous Law Program are joining together to strengthen the Native American pathway to law.
This important initiative has been funded by grants from Access Group, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
Graduate Horizons is a four-day workshop for Native college students, college graduates, and master’s students in preparing for graduate school (master’s, Ph.D. or professional school).
Hosted by the National Consortium of Public Interest Law Schools, the annual Public Interest Symposium connects prospective students and law schools united by the call to use the law as a tool for social change.
Connect with faculty, organizers, and experts on some of the most prescient and galvanizing social justice issues of the moment and gain new insight on legal education and lawyering through intersectional approaches and experiential learning.
The symposium is a collaboration of law schools across the country and is sponsored by the National Consortium of Public Interest Law Schools, including UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, Lewis & Clark Law School, Northeastern, Vermont Law School, and CUNY Law.
Our 9-month program assists underrepresented students in applying, and gaining admission, to law school. Catalyst Scholars will receive:
• A free, customized, 16-week LSAT preparation course taught by our exclusive SEO Law partner
• Workshops to strengthen their application materials
• An individualized review of application materials through JD Advising
• Access to mentorship with attorneys from our sponsor firms
• Access to exclusive roundtable discussions with admissions officers at law schools nationwide
Learn about the application process and timeline here!