Law School FAQs

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Law School FAQs

Adapted from Kathleen Uradnik - Pre-law Advisor at Saint Cloud State University

1. What major should I choose?

Any major! There is no required pre-law curriculum. I urge students to choose a major that they enjoy, because they will be more likely to excel at it. Of course, a rigorous program of study is preferable to an easy one. Double majors and majors with minors are not required, but many people pursue them. Remember, though, it's the quality, not the quantity, that counts.

2. What are the most common majors?

Carol Leach, Professor and Pre-Law Advisor at Chicago State University, has compiled a list of the most common majors of law school applicants, along with their success rates for acceptance to law school. Not surprisingly, political science is the most common major, and physics majors have the highest acceptance rate. Over 200 different majors are commonly found in law school applications, so you really can choose any major.

The Twenty Most Common Majors for the Law School Entering Class of 2001

1. Political Science

2. History

3. English

4. Psychology

5. Criminal Justice

6. Economics

7. Sociology

8. Communication

9. Business Admin.

10. Finance

11. Accounting

12. Philosophy

13. Biology

14. Business Mnt

15. Intl Relations

16. Marketing

17. Journalism

18. Liberal Arts

19. Pre-Law

20. Gov't Service

Majors with the Highest Acceptance Rate for the Law School Entering Class of 2001

1. Physics

2. Philosophy

3. Biology

4. Chemistry

4. Gov't Service

5. Anthropology

6. Economics

7. History

8. English

9. Intl Relations

10. Computer Sci 10. Psychology

11. Finance

12. Journalism

13. Poli Science

14. Comm.

15. Accounting

16. Sociology

17. Liberal Arts

3. Do we have a ?pre-law major? at Walsh University?

No. Few undergraduate institutions offer a pre-law major. The reason is pretty straightforward: law schools want applicants with a broad-based liberal arts background, not undergraduates who already think they are ?junior? lawyers because of their pre-law background. Most undergraduate schools feel that a pre-law major is too narrow, and certainly the law schools believe that is not a substitute for the real thing.

4. What classes should I take?

There are no required classes for law school. You can take what you want. I encourage students to take courses that interest them, because they will be more likely to do well in them. In general, I also suggest that a student (1) avoid easy or "fluff" courses, because the quality of the courses you take will be taken into account by the law schools; (2) choose courses that stress writing and give you practice in it, because writing is perhaps the most important skill you will need as a lawyer; (3) choose courses that require you to think for yourself, rather than simply memorize material. The development of analytical skills (logical reasoning, argumentation, etc.) is important preparation for law school. You do not need to take an undergraduate law course. However, you may wish to do so to see if the subject matter and approach interests you. Many of the law courses on this campus are taught like law school courses (with casebooks, Socratic method, etc.), and so they can serve as some indication to you of whether you will enjoy the material and master it. The pre-law program here at Walsh University provides a suggested course of study but it is unlike an academic major in which there are requirements and core courses.

5. What are the most important parts of my law school application? How do I get in?

Admissions decisions are based most heavily on your GPA and LSAT score. These are clearly the two most important components of the application. After these numbers, the admissions committees look at the personal statement, letters of recommendation, and activities/experience, generally in that order. Like it or not, the LSAT is absolutely crucial to your application; the better you do, the more choices you will have for admission and financial aid.

6. Should I take time off before going to law school?

This is an important decision, and a personal one. No one can tell you what to do; I can only give you some things to think about. There are a number of good reasons to take time off between college and law school:

You will gain experience (work/volunteer, preferably legal);

You will save some money to pay for law school;

You will be a more competitive applicant;

You will have the benefit of all of your senior year grades on your transcript;

You will have more time to prepare for the LSAT;

You will have the time to determine whether law school is right for you;

You will be more mature, a quality that law schools place a premium on.

A large percentage of applicants (67%) have taken time off between college and law school. They use this time to work, to travel, or to obtain an advanced degree. The consensus among law school admissions directors seems to be that it doesn?t matter so much what you do with that year or two (or more) off, but rather what you learned from it. The time off is supposed to mature you, and to make you more prepared to attend law school. Hopefully you can make a better case for why you want to go, and how the interim period has contributed to your decision to attend law school.

Many parents are concerned that if their child takes time off after college, he or she will never return to school to advance their education. That?s possible, I suppose, but the statistics suggest otherwise. Two-thirds of law school applicants have taken time off, and have still chosen to apply. If law school is right for you, taking time off should only make you a more competitive applicant. If you are too distracted or uninterested to apply after taking time off, law school was not the right choice in the first place. Let?s face it: most law school applicants are highly motivated to go, regardless of how much time has passed since college.

7. How do I choose a law school?

Make a list of criteria that are important to you. Perhaps the first thing to think about is where you want to live and practice when you graduate. If you are fairly certain that you want to stay in Ohio, then you should strongly consider a Ohio school or a school with a good enough reputation that you can take its degree and return to Ohio and get a job. Of course, you can practice in Ohio with a degree from any accredited law school, assuming you pass the state's bar exam. So this geographic rule is not set in stone?but it is something to think about, because if you go far away to attend law school, you will be giving up local connections, alumni contacts, word-of-mouth job opportunities, and the like. On the other hand, if you receive a nice financial aid package from a school that's far away, you can save money and still pass the Ohio bar. The idea, then, is to think about your personal situation, and then select the schools that seem best suited to your wants and needs.

The following factors may be important to you:

Size of school/class

Location

Job placement statistics

Financial aid

Quality of faculty/Reputation

Bar pass rate of graduates

Student satisfaction

Special programs/joint degrees

Expenses (tuition/cost of living)

Philosophy/Ethics

Minority representation

Alumni network or connections

Attrition rate of students

"The feel" of the place

It is a very good idea to visit the law schools you are considering. Having the ?feel? of a place helps students to decide where they will best fit in. I have had a number of students visit their ?heart?s desire? law school, only to find that it was cold and impersonal. Usually these students end up going to another school, one where they felt more comfortable and welcomed.

8. How many schools should I apply to?

To a certain extent, the answer depends on your personal needs and on what you can afford. I encourage students to apply broadly, so that they have the most options open to them. Applying to law school, in my view, should be thought of as two separate steps: applying in the fall, and then deciding in the spring where to go once the acceptances and rejections are received. If you apply broadly, you should have more choices at decision making time.

Many pre-law advisors recommend that students apply to one or two "safety schools," where they are virtually certain of admission, and then to several "competitive schools," where they will be competitive applicants but not necessarily successful ones. In addition, students often wish to apply to a few "dream schools." And why not, if you can afford it? You have nothing to lose.

To determine which schools you are competitive at, you can refer to any number of books and web sites that provide rankings. The best book is probably the ABA/LSAC Official Guide to U.S. Law Schools. I have this book in my office. Also, you can access it online at the LSAC?s web site, www.lsac.org. A great web site is the Boston College Law School Locator, which, like the Official Guide, allows you to input your GPA and LSAT scores to generate a list of schools that might be right for you. It is located at: http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/gradschool/law/lawlocator/

9. What should be on my resume?

Once again, it's the quality, not the quantity, that counts. Law schools are looking for people who excel. You can excel in one thing (music, track, ceramics, etc.) or you can excel by being a leader and a well-rounded person. You are not judged by the length of your list of undertakings, but by what you did, how dedicated you were, and what you learned from your endeavors. Do not pad your resume! Law schools can smell that a mile away. You shouldn't need to, anyway, particularly if you worked while going to college. The law schools understand that, between working and studying (and maybe raising a family, too), there is only so much time left for extracurricular activities. That's why it's important to focus on one or two things that you enjoy.

You need an extracurricular activity of some sort. Maybe two. You can accomplish this easily by volunteering somewhere?anywhere. Show that you care about someone other than yourself. Work for a food bank, a battered women's shelter, the Humane Society, Big Brothers/Sisters. Volunteer at your church, synagogue, or mosque. Be a tutor to younger students. Take care of an elderly relative. All of these things count as extracurricular. It doesn't have to be a college-based group or activity, and it doesn't have to be in the legal field ? just so you do good quality work and learn something from it.

10. When do I take the LSAT? How many times can I take it?

Ideally, you should start preparing for the exam a year in advance. The LSAT tests certain skills that you can improve if you practice them. The more practice, the better. You should never take the LSAT on a whim. Take it when you're ready. You should plan to take it only once. Multiple scores are averaged by the LSDAS reporting service, so you don't necessarily gain much by taking it again, unless you are convinced you can do significantly better. If you absolutely bomb the test, there are provisions for canceling your score, but you must make this decision very quickly after taking it

11. I have a black mark in my past. Do I have to disclose it on my application? What do I say?

If the application asks you for information, you have to give it. Usually the applications will ask you to report incidents of cheating, academic fraud, arrests, convictions, etc. You must not hide this information. You need to present it accurately. Usually a paragraph or two will do, typed up separately as an addendum to your personal statement and submitted with your application materials. If the incident was major (for example, I had a student arrested for possession of a handgun on the Berkeley campus?he?s now a successful attorney), you might wish to devote your personal statement to it.

Try not to worry about this "black mark." Law schools do not expect you to be perfect. A minor incident or two should not affect you too severely (depending on the circumstances, of course). A high percentage of applicants have some sort of alcohol or traffic violation on their records. Law schools tend to overlook minor infractions. However, if you have multiple infractions, ones that show a pattern of bad behavior, you may have a lot of explaining to do. Also, you will need to pass a moral character review before you are admitted to practice law by each state?s bar association. If you have questions regarding your eligibility, many states will do a "pre-screening" for you. Serious offenses such as felonies or those involving academic integrity (plagiarism, cheating, and the like) are, of course, taken seriously by law schools.

12. How do I pay for law school?

In general, most law schools provide forms of financial aid to their students. Do not be scared by the tuition price of law schools. Many schools have raised their tuition in order to be able to financially help those students who cannot afford the cost. I advise my students to choose your schools to which you wish to apply without concern for their tuition. Most often the more ?expensive? schools will be competing with other institutions once all costs and grants are accounted for. However, it is extremely rare for any students to complete law school without accruing some school loan debt.