Dr. Kat’s List: Colleges to Consider if You Want to Be a Supreme Court Justice

List compiled by Katherine L. Cohen, Ph.D. and team of counselors at IvyWise and ApplyWise.com

From the beginning of the 20th century, every President who has seated a Supreme Court justice has picked at least one Ivy League graduate. If Sonia Sotomayor is confirmed, she’ll be the second consecutive justice who attended two Ivy League schools (Princeton University and Yale Law School.)

Should students who aspire to be Supreme Court Justices also aspire to attend an Ivy League institution? Based on our research, the answer is yes! By examining the alma maters of recent U.S. Supreme Court Justices, and programs at colleges that lead to admission to prestigious law schools, we’ve complied five great undergraduate options.

Harvard College, Cambridge, MA
Harvard undergrads are lucky to study near Harvard Law School, the most common alma mater among Supreme Court justices, including David Souter and Antonin Scalia. Admirably, Harvard College has made it a priority to support minority and less advantaged students who are applying to law school. Harvard College’s Black Pre-Law Association helps members get discounts on LSAT review courses, fosters mentorships with practicing lawyers, and even assigns ‘Big Sibs’ from Harvard Law School to advise undergraduates during the application process. During the summer, Harvard’s campus also plays host to TRIALS, a pre-law immersion program aimed at helping underrepresented law school applicants from many colleges prepare for a future legal career.

College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA
According to Holy Cross, 17% of its student body will attend law school. As undergrads at the Catholic liberal arts college of 2,700 students, Crusaders prepare to apply by working with pre-law advisers, competing on the Holy Cross Intercollegiate Mock Trial Team, and writing for its student-published Journal of Law & Public Policy. As alumni, they’re active in the Holy Cross Lawyers Association, a division of the alumni club that provides professional support, networking, and opportunities for further legal education. Among the many Holy Cross alumni in the legal profession is Justice Clarence Thomas, who as an undergrad helped create the college’s Black Student Union. Thomas’s Supreme Court opposition to Affirmative Action was influenced by his alma mater’s tumultuous efforts to recruit black students after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Stanford University, Stanford, CA
If you’re looking for a little legal romance, head out to California. Sandra Day O’Connor and William Rehnquist dated while students at Stanford Law, where Rehnquist was class valedictorian. The two future justices both cheered on the Cardinal as undergraduates and as law students—in fact, Rehnquist got a third degree (his Master’s) from Stanford as well! Maybe that’s because Stanford students are groomed for public service: all undergrads take courses that fulfill an ‘Education for Citizenship’ credit, and seniors in the Public Service Scholars program develop and research theses that can be applied practically to make changes in their community, in majors as diverse as biology and urban studies. It’s called “Research with a Public Purpose.” Stanford is also home to a law school that has sent graduates to Supreme Court clerkships for 35 consecutive years!

Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA
Those eager to serve their country will feel at home at Washington and Lee, an institution endowed by George Washington. Supreme Court justices Joseph Lamar and Lewis Powell attended this small, intense liberal arts college in rural Virginia. Powell received both undergraduate and law degrees from the university and became famous on the bench for his good manners and ability to compromise, embodying the ‘one rule’ that former college president Robert E. Lee prescribed for Washington and Lee: “Every student must be a gentleman.” Today, both the liberal arts college (1,780 students) and law school (400 students) provide students with individual attention and support as they plan their legal careers. For example, undergrads who want to go to law school take a senior year legal ethics course and work closely with pre-law advisors. With a 95% law school acceptance rate, W & L shows that personal attention does pay off.

Yale College, New Haven, Connecticut
What’s the big advantage of being an undergrad at Yale? For an aspiring attorney, there’s the chance for lively debate with fellow Elis, as two of the most popular majors are Economics and Political Science. Yale also offers a unique honors major called Ethics, Politics, and Economics, to which students apply in their sophomore year. Any future justice would relish the chance to use philosophical principles to debate public policy, as EPE students do. Yale alumni include Justice Potter Stewart, who was a member of the Skull and Bones society and the chairman of the Yale Daily News. Finally, Yalies may have a slight advantage in attending Yale Law, where Justices White, Thomas, Alito and most likely Sotomayor received their legal training. Although Yale law has an intimidating acceptance rate of 6%, Yalies feel confident sending their application: according to the Yale Daily News, the acceptance rate for those who graduated from Yale College is higher, at 11%.