Is Arizona State or Notre Dame better for pre-law?

The biggest practical tradeoff is prestige and network versus cost and flexibility. Notre Dame gives you a more nationally recognizable name, a very strong alumni network, and close faculty access in a smaller undergraduate environment. Arizona State offers a large university with many academic options, strong public-policy and civic-engagement opportunities.

For pre-law specifically, neither school has a required “pre-law major,” and law school admission depends much more on GPA, LSAT, writing ability, and recommendation letters than on the label of your college. That said, Notre Dame is usually seen as the stronger launchpad if your goal is maximizing law school placement and signaling power. Its advising, academic reputation, and alumni reach tend to carry more weight, especially for highly selective law schools.

Arizona State can still set you up very well. It has plenty of relevant majors, debate and public-service opportunities, and access to government and legal settings in the Phoenix area. For a student who is proactive, wants a broader large-campus environment, and can graduate with much less debt, ASU can be a smart path because law school itself is expensive and minimizing undergraduate cost matters.

If the question is which school is more widely regarded as stronger for pre-law preparation, the answer is Notre Dame. If ASU would be dramatically cheaper, though, that changes the calculation in a real way, because a high GPA with low debt can be more valuable than a modest prestige bump.