Georgetown Law Center recently featured the impact of its Early Outreach Initiative, a program that engages high school students in underserved communities. Established in 2018, the first-of-its-kind initiative has reached over 3,500 students in partnership with more than 80 schools and educational organizations. The program’s central mission, says Andrew Cornblatt, Georgetown Law’s dean of admissions, is to present the idea of law school and a legal career to high schoolers who wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to the legal profession. The initiative does this through a combination of in-person and virtual visits, including guidance from current Law Center students and alumni mentors.
Cornblatt was inspired to develop the program after a 2017 survey from the American Association of Law Schools found that more than half of law students first considered law school before they even reached college. However, not all students are equally likely to be exposed to the idea of law school in their communities, or to have the resources to navigate the application process.
“The legal profession needs more diversity in it, which means the applicant pool needs more diversity,” he says. “I’m hoping this program will bring into the applicant pool, and then into the legal community, highly qualified people who otherwise wouldn’t come. We’re interested in expanding the circle.”
Expanding outreach
To engage with a broader range of students, the Early Outreach Initiative partners with upward of 30 schools and educational organizations each year. Cornblatt and his team are currently working to grow the program’s reach by partnering with other law schools to set up campus visits across the country, in addition to the 40 high school visits in 20 states planned for the current 2024-25 academic year.
The program operates in four phases: first, a visit from Cornblatt and student volunteers to discuss the law school experience, then an alumni visit aimed at demystifying the legal profession. For schools within driving distance, the third step includes a visit to Georgetown Law for a firsthand look at campus life. Finally, graduating high school seniors are partnered with attorney mentors for continued guidance about applying to law school and pursuing a legal career.
The program’s phased approach, Cornblatt says, is key to its success, as just one visit isn’t enough to make a lasting impact. “This is about going to these kids and saying, ‘You can do this—and we’re going to help you do this’,” he says. “We don’t just parachute in and parachute out.”
Planting a seed
Aidan Davis (B’24, F’24, M.P.P., L’28) originally considered joining the military and becoming an engineer after high school. He says a visit from Cornblatt to his New Jersey high school during his junior year led him to Georgetown instead. “The Early Outreach program planted a seed in my mind,” says Davis.
Davis graduated from Georgetown with a dual degree in business and global affairs in May. This fall, he’s at Georgetown Law, where he looks forward to exploring public interest law as part of the dual Master in Public Policy and J.D. program offered jointly by the Law Center and McCourt School of Public Policy.
“Nobody in my immediate community even finished undergrad, let alone thought about going to law school and practicing law,” he says. “But what I heard in the conversations with Dean Andy struck a chord with me about the broader implications of law.”
Read more about the Early Outreach Initiative and its impact. >