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Pre Law
Law School
Preparation
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Choosing a Major |
- Law is an
incredibly diverse profession, and because
of this, there is no one particular major
that provides a student with a definitive
background for its study. While the majors
of English, Political Science, Philosophy,
or Business have traditionally been
considered as preparation for law school, it
is equally true that any major will lead to
success in a law career. The most important
first step that any student interested in
law can make is to choose a major in which
the student excels, which can be any major
that interests the student. The University
at Albany has many excellent majors, all of
which are listed in the
Undergraduate Bulletin.
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Admission
Requirements for Law School |
- While there is no
particular major that is considered to be
"pre-law," there are certain basic
requirements for admission to law school:
the successful completion of the Bachelor's
degree; a competitive undergraduate grade
point average; and a competitive score on
the Law School Admissions Test.
Additionally, many personal factors are
considered. Even though there is no single
major that predicts a successful career in
law, there are certain skills that will be
necessary to ensure that success; students
should choose their classes wisely to
develop those skills.
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Language Skills |
- Language skills
are of the utmost importance for success in
the legal profession, and chief among these
skills is writing; students should look for
classes that aim to strengthen technical
skills such as grammar, and also choose
classes which require essay examinations and
analytical written work. Oral communication
is another important language skill, since
those in the legal profession must be able
to clearly and effectively convey their
meaning through the spoken word; speech
classes or those classes that require oral
presentations help build oral communication
skills. Reading and oral comprehension
skills are also crucial, both in law school
and in the profession.
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Critical thinking and
the LSAT |
- In addition to the
language skills, students should work to
develop their critical thinking skills;
these skills are the basis of all success in
the legal profession. It is because of the
importance of these skills that logic and
analytical reasoning problems account for
three-quarters of the scored portion of the
Law School Admissions Test. Courses in
foreign languages, English, mathematics and
physical sciences, economics, philosophy,
are useful in developing quantitative and
verbal reasoning skills. Students will also
need to have an awareness of people and
society, to better understand how
individuals and groups function; classes
that would be useful for this would be
sociology, psychology, history, literature,
and philosophy. Students should also develop
their general research skills by choosing
classes in which a research project is a
critical component.
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Other important
factors |
- Although the grade
point average and the LSAT score are
important, there are many other factors that
law schools consider when making a decision.
Campus involvement, community service,
internships in the legal field, and an
overall commitment to helping others would
be very useful to someone interested in law
as a profession.
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