Penn Carey Law students matriculate from small pool of schools and majors, DP analysis finds

Most University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School students come from a highly concentrated group of undergraduate schools and fields of study, an analysis by The Daily Pennsylvanian found.

The DP collected names of Penn Carey Law graduates from the law school graduating classes of 2025, 2024, and 2023 using commencement programs. Using publicly available information, the DP constructed demographic data for 98% of the graduating students from these years.

The majority of Penn Carey Law students attended a private American institution for their undergraduate degree, with only two of the 10 most commonly represented undergraduate institutions being public. Ivy League universities were attended by 155 students — almost 20% of the total student population across the three years sampled.

Penn was the most represented undergraduate institution among all three classes, with 7% of students having earned their bachelor’s degree from the University. Twenty-four members of Penn Carey Law’s 2025 graduating class received their undergraduate degree from Penn. For the 2024 and 2023 graduating classes, Penn was also the most common undergraduate school, with 18 and 16 class members, respectively. 

For those graduating classes, the number of students who received a J.D. ranged from 248 to 301.

However, this pattern of sending multiple students did not hold for most schools. By far the most common number of students sent to Penn Carey Law from any single undergraduate institution was one. In 2024, for example, 95 of the 145 unique undergraduate institutions were represented by only one student.

There was also a clear trend of students enrolling in law school soon after completing their undergraduate studies. More than 74% of the students analyzed by the DP spent less than four years between graduating college and enrolling at Penn Carey Law.

Less than 10% of students attended law school at least six years out of college.

In an emailed statement to the DP, a spokesperson for Penn Carey Law highlighted the law school’s holistic approach to admissions and stated that there was no advantage to attending a specific school.

“Students who apply to Penn Carey Law come from every state in the nation, from many countries around the world, from more than 200 undergraduate institutions, and from a broad range of academic, ethnic, cultural, professional, and economic backgrounds,” the spokesperson wrote.

Certain undergraduate fields of study were also common among Penn Carey Law students. In every year, the most common undergraduate major was political science. In the Class of 2024 alone, 98 students majored in political science, constituting almost a third of the entire class. After political science, the most common majors were economics, international relations, and history.

The Penn Carey Law spokesperson emphasized that there is not one particular path to earn a spot at the school and said that successful applicants come from a broad range of fields of study.

“There is no pre-law educational requirement or even a specific recommended course of study for admission to Penn Carey Law,” the spokesperson wrote. “Strength of character, breadth of knowledge, and intellectual maturity constitute the base upon which our legal education builds.”

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