Considering Specialized Law-Related Programs

The following departments in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences have developed specialized programs and tracks for students interested in legal studies or have substantive legal or law-related courses:

• Economics Department
• Ethics Department
• Environmental Studies Concentration
• Criminal Justice Department
• Peace & Justice Concentration
• Philosophy Department
• Political Science Department

Contact the Chairs and Professors in the departments you’re interested in to discuss their course offerings and complementary internship and research opportunities.

Improving Your Writing and Communication Skills

Consider adding courses to your portfolio of classes that focus specifically on your writing, editing, and communication skills. Communication and writing skills are very important for a career in law or any other profession. Concentrated coursework in which rewriting, analyzing, and evaluating text is a regular and essential part of your day over time can build the skills you need: the ability to discern important details and to write well. Search for professors and courses that offer these attributes. Take challenging courses now that will prepare you for greater challenges that law school and the legal profession will require you to handle in the future.

Consult the websites for the Communication Department and the English Department for a listing of editing, legal writing and analysis, professional writing, public speaking, and rhetoric and argumentation courses.

Focusing Your Efforts on Applying a Career Development Approach to Your Interest in Law

Work on applying The Law School Advising Program’s career development approach to your interest in law school and the legal profession by adopting the following recommendations:

• Be proactive and take responsibility for laying the track for your career path
• Challenge yourself in your choice of majors, minors, and courses, and choose those that you are passionate about
• Choose professors who will challenge you to improve your skills
• Acknowledge that law is a writing- and research-based field
• Focus on improving your transferable skills—your writing, editing, research, public speaking, and citation skills
• Establish disciplined study habits and an astute attention to detail
• Take on leadership roles and new challenges in your activities, clubs, jobs, and at your internships
• Acknowledge that for a Law School Admissions Office your grades reveal your determination, your perseverance, your ability to succeed, and your skills
• Set goals for your academic achievement and devise a schedule to achieve your goals so you can ensure you will “perform well at an academically rigorously level”
• Do not compare your goals and interests to others’

Now that you have considered the skills that law schools and the legal profession value and are developing your plan to improve and refine these skills, you will be ready for the application process.