Law schools prefer candidates who have filled their undergraduate curriculum with a breadth of challenging courses. They will be looking into the rigor and depth of the courses you selected and the quality of your work in the challenging courses. Admissions offices are looking for evidence that you have met the requisite skills outlined above. Taking courses that do not develop those skills may not serve you well, even if you excel in them. An undergraduate transcript that follows a narrow, unchallenging, or vocational track is not an indication of your ability to succeed in law school. If you are on a liberal arts and sciences path, you are well on your way to acquiring those skills.
You may develop the skills necessary for success in law school through many different majors and life experiences. There is no one best major for a Pre-Law student. Law schools routinely accept students from every possible major. You should, therefore, choose to major that excites you and allows you to develop those skills that are necessary for getting into law school and doing well while you’re there. Your best bet is to select a major that challenges you, stimulates your curiosity, requires significant analytical thought and original research, and allows you to meet your academic goals.
The Law School Admissions Council’s publication, So You Want to be a Lawyer (2001), noted that more than half of all law school applicants in 2000 identified themselves as social science or arts and humanities majors. However, LSAC notes, it should not be inferred that any one major guarantees more success in gaining admission than any other major. Rather, the most commonly chosen fields of study emphasize skills that are useful in the study of law. In fact, LSAC notes, many law schools will admit students from less common majors in order to diversify the background of the matriculating class. Science students, for example, comprise a significant minority of successful applicants to law school. That should not be surprising, since science students are often well equipped with backgrounds in rigorous analysis, logic, and problem solving.
In anticipating your application to law school, you should be very mindful of the courses you choose to take. While there is no formal curriculum for self-declared Pre-Law students, there are many courses offered throughout the College of Arts and Sciences that would be important to consider.
English Composition and Literature
Any composition or literature course would be invaluable to the development of the requisite skills and habits for success in law school.
Courses in Microeconomics, and Macroeconomic Theory would be particularly helpful. Also, consider taking the following:
ECON 221 Economic History of the United States
ECON 325 Economics of Crime and the Criminal Justice System
ECON 327 Social Economics: Issues in Income, Employment and Social Policy
ECON 331 Labor Economics
ECON 415 Econometrics
ECON 445 Economics of the Public Sector: State and Local
ECON 461 International Trade Theory and Policy
As indicated earlier, many courses in Historical Studies—especially American history—would provide you with a firm grounding in several sets of requisite skills required by law schools.
HIST 314 History of Feminist Thought
HIST 200 U.S. History and Constitution
HIST 434 20th Century American History
HIST 431 American Revolution and Constitution
Law schools are particularly interested in seeing applicants’ make interdisciplinary connections among seemingly disparate categories of analysis. Some of the classes offered through IS may be of interest to you.
IS 328 History and Science
IS 332 The Political and Social Thought of Hegel and Marx
IS 334 Natural Resources: Issues and Conflicts
IS 350 Women in Social Institutions
IS 375 Technology and Public Policy
IS 385 Risk and Risk Tradeoffs
Significant coursework in the languages, especially Latin or Greek, would be important. In addition, foreign language and literature courses regularly develop students’ understanding of diverse cultures and international issues.
Coursework in Philosophy is strongly recommended. In addition to Logic, Critical Thinking, and Introduction to Philosophy, courses to consider include:
PHIL 320 Ethics
PHIL 340 Social and Political Philosophy
PHIL 343 Philosophy of Law
PHIL 440 Classical Political Theory
PHIL 441 Modern Political Theory
PHIL 213 Introduction to Deductive Logic
PHIL 310 Theories of Knowledge
PHIL 322 Environmental Ethics
PHIL 346 Feminist Theory
PHIL 411 Advanced Logic
Many students find Political Science to be particularly helpful preparation for law school. In addition to the 111 and 112 Introduction classes, you may want to take:
POLS 390 The Judicial Process
POLS 495 Constitutional Law I: Rights and Liberties
POLS 496 Constitutional Law II: Powers of Government
POLS 499 Philosophy of Law
POLS 499 Environmental Law
POLS 424 Administrative Law
POLS 342 Public Policy
POLS 484 Classical Political Theory
POLS 485 Modern Political Theory
POLS 472 International Organizations
POLS 385 Introduction to Political Theory
POLS 386 American Political Ideas and Their Origin
There are many Sociology and Criminal Justice courses relevant to a Pre-Law student, including:
SOC 304 Race and Ethnic Relations
SOC 308 Women, Gender and Society
SOC 373 Juvenile Delinquency
SOC 391 Marriage and Family
SOC 431 Employment and Workplace Change
CJ 206 Criminal Law and Procedure
CJ 365 Ethics in Criminal Justice
CJ 366 Race and Gender in Criminal Justice
CJ 465 Theories of the Just Society
There are many important issues covered by Anthropologists that would be important to be familiar with as you head to law school. Some of the courses regularly offered include:
ANTH 350 Contemporary Issues
ANTH 452 Political Anthropology
ANTH 401 Language, Politics and Society
Again, law schools are interested in a breadth of experiences and skills, including the arts.
THEA 112a Introduction to Acting
MUS 395 Music Merchandising
The ability to communicate effectively is highly important to admissions committees. Mass Communications courses are good places to develop those skills. Also, the department offers courses that relate directly to the media and the law:
MC 401 Media Law and Policy
SPC 410 Rhetorical Theory and Criticism
SPC 330 Theories of Communication
Facility with pre-calculus is highly recommended; also familiarity with statistical analysis would be very important. Consider taking the following courses:
MATH 223 Logic and Mathematical Reasoning
STAT 107 Concepts of Statistics
STAT 244 Statistics
There are many opportunities within the following courses to not only hone the skills necessary for success in law school, but to acquire the background necessary for work in Environmental Law or Administrative Law.
ENSC 402 Environmental Law
ENSC 419 Science, Experts and Public Policy
Physics is the study of the basic building blocks of the universe and of the laws that govern their interactions. Students of Physics attempt to develop images or descriptions of the universe using mathematical and conceptual models that are continually revised in light of new observations and discoveries. The models also help to predict properties of nature that have not yet been observed. Students will study classical Physics (the Physics of mechanics and electromagnetism), Einstein's theory of relativity, Bohr's theory of the atom, and modern Physics including quantum theory and atomic and statistical Physics. Throughout their study of Physics, students learn applications that lead to a variety of specialized fields of study.
Therefore, a BA in Physics, including courses in chemistry and biology, should provide the technical depth necessary for a law career in a high-tech corporation or in patent law. The grid provided below shows representative courses, but interested students should discuss their program with the Pre-Law advisor and an advisor in the physics department.
| FIRST YEAR | ||||
| Fall | Spring | |||
| Chem 121a | 4 | Chem121b | 4 | |
| Chem 125a | 1 | Chem125b | 1 | |
| Math 150 | 5 | Math152 | 5 | |
| Eng 101 | 3 | Phys211a | 4 | |
| CS 140 | 4 | Phys212a | 1 | |
| 17 | 15 | |||
| SECOND YEAR | ||||
| Fall | Spring | |||
| Phys211b | 4 | Phys301 (elect) | 3 | |
| Phys212b | 1 | Phys302 | 4 | |
| Math250 | 4 | IntroSS | 3 | |
| Eng 102 | 3 | SPC 103 | 3 | |
| FL101 | 4 | FL102 | 4 | |
| 16 | 17 | |||
| THIRD YEAR | ||||
| Fall | Spring | |||
| Phys318 (elect) | 3 | Phys312 | 3 | |
| IS364, etc | 3 | Phys308 (elect) | 4 | |
| IntroSS/FAH | 3 | IntroFAH | 3 | |
| Biol120 | 4 | Chem241a | 3 | |
| Phys356 (elect) | 3 | Biol121 | 4 | |
| 16 | 17 | |||
| FOURTH YEAR | ||||
| Fall | Spring | |||
| Phys410 (elect) | 3 | Phys499 | 3 | |
| DistSS | 3 | DistFAH | 3 | |
| elective | 3 | elective | 3 | |
| elective | 3 | elective | 3 | |
| elective | 3 | elective | 3 | |
| 15 | 15 | |||
There are many ways to show an admissions committee that you have the qualities necessary to succeed in law school. If you got off to a rocky start in your undergraduate program, the review committees will be interested to see a marked improvement during the latter period of your study and you will want to provide clear evidence of such improvement. If your last few terms evidence a downturn in your academic record, it is likely they will not be impressed.
A few things you might want to consider as you try to improve your academic record include:
·Studying abroad.
Admissions committees would also like to see well-rounded applicants. This means that you should try to become as involved as you can in the institution, your department, the local community, or other areas of interest to you. For example, seek out opportunities for public debate, presentations, independent research, academic service-learning programs, internships, and campus and community leadership.