Pathways to UCI Law

The School of Humanities has formed a partnership with the UC Irvine School of Law to create the following scholarship opportunities for Humanities students interested in applying to UC Irvine Law:

• Scholarship Program

• 3+3 Articulated Program

These opportunities are designed to help UCI Humanities students jump-start their legal careers and to provide talented humanities students interested in the study of law the ability to obtain an affordable legal education at one of the nation’s top public law schools! 

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

The Scholarship Program guarantees a minimum scholarship for students who have graduated from the UCI School of Humanities and are later admitted into UCI Law’s Juris Doctor (J.D.) program. Successful applicants admitted to the Law School, who are part of the Scholarship Program, will receive a $30,000 tuition scholarship per year, available for both residents and nonresidents, to help offset the costs of attending UCI Law. 

To be eligible, students must apply directly with UC Irvine Law and be admitted with credentials at or above the median LSAT and undergraduate GPA of the prior year's class. For additional information about this and all other eligibility requirements, visit the Pathways to UC Irvine Law Scholarship Program page.

Please Note: Make sure to read the entirety of the UC Irvine Law Scholarship Program webpage to fully understand the program's benefits, eligibility, and application process.

3+3 ARTICULATED PROGRAM

The 3+3 pathway is an option for students on track to graduate with their Humanities degree by the end of their third year. Successful applicants admitted to UCI Law through this program will benefit from scholarship assistance, including a $30,000 scholarship every year to help cover tuition and fees at UCI Law. Additionally, participants will receive mentorship through a structured mentor program, fostering a sense of community and shared experiences.

To be eligible, students must apply directly with UC Irvine Law and be admitted with credentials at or above the median LSAT and undergraduate GPA of the prior year's class. For additional information about this and for all other eligibility requirements, visit the Pathways to UC Irvine Law 3+3 Articulated Program page.

Please Note: Make sure to read the entirety of the UC Irvine Law 3+3 Articulated Program webpage to fully understand the program's benefits, eligibility, and application process.

Note: All applications to UCI Law go through the same review. Scholarship Program and 3+3 Articulated Program applicants who do not meet the median GPA and LSAT for the $30,000 scholarship are reviewed the same as those who meet the median. If a student is admitted without the median GPA and LSAT, the scholarship will be reviewed like other admitted students to UCI Law.

INTEREST FORM

Complete the Interest Form if you are planning to apply UCI Law and/or if you would like to be contacted about related programming. 

Interest Form

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

STUDENT AND ALUMNI EXPERIENCES: LIFE AS A DOUBLE ANTEATER

The journey from a B.A. to a J.D. is a well-traveled path for many UCI Humanities alumni. Since the university’s inception in 1965, UCI Humanities graduates have pursued a wide variety of careers in law, practicing as attorneys, judges, government officials, paralegals, legal advocates, law clerks and law professors. More than 25 percent of UCI Law’s J.D. graduates hold a B.A. in humanities, including these graduates from UCI’s School of Humanities

Nancy Sotomayor | UCI Law, J.D. ’16 | UCI, B.A. Women’s Studies, and Psychology and Social Behavior ’11

Nancy Sotomayor may currently work as a litigator at Akerman LLP in Los Angeles, but her passion for law was ignited as an undergraduate at UCI. Her double-major humanities background equipped her with critical thinking and analytical skills crucial for excelling in law school and eventually helped her secure a competitive associate position at an AmLaw 100 firm.

To this day, Sotomayor draws upon her humanities background in her legal practice. She emphasizes the importance of understanding the intersections of law with critical race theory, a concept she encountered during her women’s studies courses. “Knowing how to think critically and take into account the intersections of race, gender and socioeconomic status is particularly valuable in the field of law,” said Sotomayor.

After Sotomayor was accepted to UCI Law, she toured the school and sat in on a class. The experience brought her full circle to when she first toured UCI as an undergraduate. “I immediately felt a sense of community, home and belonging,” she recalled. “After that, I knew I was sucked back in and would be a forever Anteater.”

Isra Shah | UCI Law, J.D. ’12 | UCI, B.A. English, Minor in Educational Studies ’06

Isra Shah, a member of UCI Law's inaugural class, traces her interest in law to her undergraduate studies as an English major in the School of Humanities. “I draw upon skills I learned as a humanities student every day,” said Shah, who credits her humanities background for her ability to view issues from multiple perspectives, write persuasively and perform critical analysis.

UCI’s interdisciplinary Humanities Core made a lasting impact on Shah. “To this day, I believe it to be the most rewarding and challenging academic work I've done,” she noted. The course’s theme for the year was “Laws and Orders” and included case law, literature, film, art, philosophy and political theory. Through a series of lectures and seminars, Shah explored law’s relationship with language, social order, oppression and resistance. Shah also believes that the collaborative nature of seminar classes mirrors the teamwork involved in legal practice.

Now a municipal attorney, Shah advises local government agencies across Southern California. She was grateful for the opportunity to continue her higher education journey within UCI. “It was an opportunity to get legal training from some of the best professors in the world through a program that had an almost unfathomable level of support from the university, the faculty and the Orange County legal community,” she said. “That I could do all of this in a familiar setting was a benefit that I appreciated then but really recognize now.”

Joseph Cheung | UCI Law 1L | UCI, B.A. English and Chinese Studies ’22

Joseph Cheung embarked on his humanities journey with a keen interest in law. Like Shah, his participation in Humanities Core was pivotal, culminating in a research paper on Hong Kong’s cultural identity, which earned him a Humanities Core Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Research Paper Award and marked the convergence of his humanistic and legal interests.

Cheung’s advice to aspiring law students is to connect with alumni and attend events that bridge humanities with law. Doing so helped him connect the dots between his English and Chinese studies and a future in law. “I attended events like the UCI Forum for the Academy and the Public’s ‘Global China in an Anxious Age’ exhibit, where the School of Humanities collaborated with UCI Law. Events like that, along with other interdisciplinary panels, made me feel like the issues I cared about during my studies of humanities could and would transition to the questions I would pursue in law school,” said Cheung.

Mentorship, too, plays a pivotal role in guiding aspiring law students on their educational journey, according to Cheung. He gained valuable insights and a sense of camaraderie from connecting with members of the UCI English Majors Association who shared a similar undergraduate experience and pursued careers in law. It was then that Cheung realized, “If they could do it, and they were in my shoes not too long ago, then I could possibly do it, too!”