Union College

Location: Schenectady, NY (urban, small city)

Size: 2,096 students

Avg percent need-met: 100%

Acceptance rate: 43%

Middle 50% ACT: 27-32 **Test Optional**

Middle 50% SAT: 1220-1420 **Test Optional**

Union is a historic liberal arts college on a beautiful campus. They offer lots of research opportunities, and have a small, but strong, engineering department. They don't have teaching assistants: professors do all the instructing and are truly interested in their students, providing plenty of support with an open door policy. Building a sense of community is important to the overall experience, and students are assigned to houses (think Harry Potter) which foster that.

Popular majors / known for: Economics, engineering, political science

Academic approach: Liberal arts with an emphasis on interdisciplinary learning

Campus tradition: Lobsterfest is an event held each spring at Union where every student can get a lobster dinner (vegetarian options available, too)

Opportunities for Pre-Law

  • 3+3 Accelerated Law Program with Albany Law School that allows students to earn a Bachelors and their J.D. degree in 6 years

  • Offers an interdisciplinary law and humanities minor for students considering law school

  • Clubs include the Debate Team, Ethics Bowl, Model United Nations and the Pre-Law Club, which sponsors talks by law school admissions officers, lectures and panel discussions by academics, alumni and practitioners

  • Pre-law students have the opportunity to participate in internships including with the ACLU, the US Dept of Homeland Security, the US Senate, and many New York State gov't offices

  • Study abroad programs are targeted toward students with law ambitions, such as the Civil Rights mini-term in the American South, New Hampshire Presidential Primary mini-term, and the Ireland study abroad term

  • Each spring, the Political Science department organizes a political policy-making program in DC, which includes an internship with an executive or legislative office, an NGO, a media outlet, or a think-tank.

Application Details

RD deadline: January 15

Early Action deadline: November 1st

Supplemental essays: None

Application fee: $60

CSS profile: Required, due January 15

Interviews: Considered

School also featured in: Engineering, Good Merit Aid

Page last updated: April 2022