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Pre-College Academy

Pursue Your Passion & Experience Law School at Penn Carey Law

July 2024 (Program Dates TBA)| Location: On Campus in Philadelphia, PA
Program Fee: TBA (Residential) | TBA (Commuter)

Apply Now!

The Penn Carey Law Pre-College Academy is a rigorous academic program that gives high school students from around the world the opportunity to experience law school at a world-class university. This three-week intensive academy provides you with a well-rounded introduction to the American legal system and how law is practiced in the United States.

The third week of this program exposes students to various timely and specialized fields of law, such as business & entrepreneurship law, environmental law, human rights & immigration law, and technology, privacy, & intellectual property law.*

*These topics are a representation of possible focus areas. Specific topics to be confirmed closer to the program start date.

Why You Should Attend

Law School Experience at an Ivy League Institution

This one-of-a-kind opportunity allows high school students to experience an accelerated version of the first-year law school curriculum at an Ivy League university.

Access to Renowned Faculty & Thought Leaders

Drawing on the scholarship of one of the nation’s top law schools, you will learn from standing Penn Carey Law faculty and legal practitioners on cutting-edge legal issues that are shaping the United States today.

Opportunity to Pursue Your Own Interests

In addition to providing a well-rounded introduction to the American legal system, the Pre-College Academy allows you to be exposed to a range of specialized areas of law, such as business, environmental, human rights, and technology law.

Build a Strong Foundation for Future Success

The Pre-College Academy is designed to help you develop and fine-tune the communication, analytical, logical reasoning, and leadership skills essential for future academic and professional success.

2023 Academic Leadership

Academic Director

Ted Oxholm, L’13, is the Academic Director of Penn Carey Law’s 2023 Pre-College Academy. He currently serves as a history and social sciences high school teacher at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, where he also served as associate general counsel. Before his teaching career, Oxholm clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and litigated civil rights, constitutional, and commercial cases in Manhattan. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, and also holds degrees in religious studies from Yale University and in high school social studies education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

 Associate Academic Director 

Carl Rosin has served as the Associate Academic Director of Penn Carey Law’s Pre-College Academy since 2014. He currently teaches English, Philosophy, and other electives at Radnor High School. Rosin graduated from Harvard College in 1988, and later received his M.Ed. from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Named the National High School Philosophy Teacher of the Year for 2014, he has also served on the National Humanities Center’s Teacher Advisory Committee for 2018-19.

2023 Participating Faculty and Presenters

Students will have the unique opportunity to engage with and attend sessions taught by full-tenured standing faculty members, including:*

Professor Dorothy Roberts

George A. Weiss Professor of Law & Sociology, Raymond Pace & Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School 

Program Focus Area: Criminal Law

Professor Regina Austin

William A. Schnader Professor of Law, Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

Program Focus Area: 
Torts, Restitution Law

Professor Tobias Wolff

Jefferson B. Fordham Professor of Law; Deputy Dean for Equity & Inclusion University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

Program Focus Area:
Constitutional Law

Tess Wilkinson-Ryan
Professor Tess Wilkinson-Ryan

Professor of Law and Psychology, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

Program Focus Area:

Contract Law

 Felicia Lin

Dean of Students and former Senior Lecture of Legal Practice Skills, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

Program Focus Area:
Legal Practice and Trial Skills

John Hollway

Lecture in Law and Executive Director of the Quattrone Center, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

Program Focus Area:
Errors in Criminal Justice (Criminal Law)

*2023 Faculty and presenters subject to change.

View Scholarship Information

To submit an application or for more information about Penn Carey Law’s Pre-College Academy, please visit: