FAQs: Law School Options

  1. What's the best pre-law major?

    There is no "best" major for law school. The most common pre-law majors; Political Science, History, and English are excellent preparations, but only if you enjoy those areas of study. Your personal interests and desire to grow intellectually in a particular discipline should drive your choice of a major.

    Try to think about how the perspective of your major will enhance your long-term interest in the law. Your general advisor in the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center is available to help you with this process.

  2. What courses are required for Law School?

    There are no specific course requirements for law school. The most important thing is to take courses that are intellectually challenging for you and that broaden your understanding of the world. Training in the use of the English language is very important to success in law. You should honestly assess yourself on this, and as an undergraduate work to develop your written and verbal skills to their fullest potential.

    Try to use your distribution requirements to take courses in a broad variety of disciplines, both to explore the subjects themselves and to improve your skills in particular areas, i.e. logical reasoning, reading complex texts. Quantitative courses will help you to analyze and synthesize data necessary for making a case. Verbal skills will help you to present arguments effectively. Sensitivity and aware of social issue may help you to listen better to clients.  ECON 101 examines the microeconomics of capitalism-the behavior of households and businesses, the generation of prices and outputs in markets, and applications to public policy.

  3. I only want to go to a "top" law school. What GPA do I need in order to get admitted?

    First, you should further evaluate your interest in a legal education and why you wish to pursue it. Striving to be the "best" is an admirable quality, but studying and practicing law is something that you should desire for its own sake. Your legal education will involve a huge sacrifice of time, energy and money. Before making that choice, make sure it is going to be right for you.

    There are no general GPA cutoffs, but there is less competition in the pool of applicants, the higher your GPA and LSAT scores are and the more competitive you are for admission to top schools. Many law schools desire UM graduates but recognize you are competing with your classmates for a position in the law school class. Subjectively, UM is very respected but in the application process, you need to make yourself interesting so that the law school will see you as an asset to their class. The personal statement is your opportunity to do this. See "Pre-Law Programs" for scheduled personal statement workshops or call to set up a one-on-one appointment.  See the Boston College 25%-75% Locator at http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/gradschool/law/lawlocator.html or LSAC's Official Guide at http://officialguide.lsac.org/Release/UGPALSAT/UGPALSAT.aspx to assess your competitiveness at law schools.