Department of Political Science
Office of Pre-law Advising
Timothy S. Boylan, Ph.D.
Pre-law Advisor
Department of Political Science
312 Bancroft
(803) 323-4664
email: boylant@winthrop.edu
Legal Careers
Students considering law as a career must realize that law is a highly
competitive and, in some areas, an overcrowded profession.
Most statistics on job professions show that there are almost 1 million
lawyers in the U.S. today. Further,
there are about 150,000 students in American law schools.
If you take a look in the Rock Hill or the Charlotte Yellow Pages, you
will get an idea of how many attorneys are “out there.”
However, there is always room for a good lawyer, as there is always room
for a person who is good at something he or she desires to do.
Although starting salaries vary between regions and from year to year,
the entry-level salaries of law graduates of the University of South Carolina
ranged from $20,000 to $50,000 in private practice the early 1990s.
There are options within the profession besides private law practice.
Opportunities exist in corporations (average starting salaries range from
$30,000 to $35,000) government (average starting salaries range from $24,000 to
$32,000) and a variety of other areas: unions, banks, businesses, industries, and foundations.
Undergraduate Preparation
Probably the most frequently asked question concerning academic
preparation for law is, “what is the best major to prepare for law school?” One of the best features of pre-law education is that there
are no specific course requirements that you must take during your undergraduate
years. A pre-law student is, quite simply, someone who defines him or herself
as such. Law is a broad and
diverse profession. Different
specializations in law call for widely differing skills, so law schools do not
generally recommend any particular major.
What law schools do
seek is an indication of academic performance and achievement, and they look at
two measurements of these more than anything else.
These two indicators are: 1)
a competitive undergraduate grade point average, and 2) a competitive score on
the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). Many
other personal factors may be considered as well, such as demonstration of
leadership abilities, community service, and exposure to the field.
However, you must recognize that most law schools will primarily consider
GPA and LSAT scores in making admissions decisions—it
is estimated that 75% to 95% of the law school admissions decision is based on
these two scores.
As a result, there is a common
sense bit of advice for the student considering law: choose a major that interests you, take courses that you want
to take and do well in them! You
should pursue the most rigorous discipline in which you have an interest and in
which you can maintain a high GPA. Nothing
will help you gain admission to law school more than evidence of an academic
career that demonstrates excellence, diversity, and challenge.
While no one major is preferred,
students should choose coursework which helps them develop the skills needed to
be successful in law school and in the legal profession.
You should choose courses that require significant amounts of reading,
writing, analysis, and in-class discussion.
Frequently recommended subjects
include:
· English Literature
· Modern English and Grammar
· Creative Writing
· American Government
· US and World History
· Philosophy and Logic
· Constitutional Law
· Judicial Politics
· Public Speaking
Your task is to acquire the
reading, writing and analytical skills that are needed in the legal profession.
One point bears repeating: A
strong record in a major you enjoy will serve you better than a mediocre record
in a major that someone told you was the best for preparing for law school.
There is one other important consideration when deciding on an
undergraduate major. What will you
do with your major if you change your mind and decide not to go to law school? What happens if you are not accepted into a law school?
(Current data suggests that a GPA of 3.0 and an LSAT score of 145-150
have become the minimum requirements for admission to any
law school.) You want to choose an
undergraduate major that has a built-in “Plan B,” an alternative plan that
that leaves you with attractive options if your law school plans are not
realized. This is another strong
reason for choosing a major that you like.
These are the key points to consider during your academic planning.
With this in mind, you should focus on a specific group of “core skill
and value areas” to guide you in your course selection while at Winthrop
University. (These core skill and
value areas are drawn, in substantial part, from the Statement of Skills and
Values contained in the 1992 Report of the American Bar Association Task Force
on Law Schools and the Profession, Legal
Education and Professional Development: An
Educational Continuum.)
1) Analytical and
Problem Solving Skills
Students should seek courses and other experiences that will engage them
in critical thinking about important issues and will give them experience in
structuring and evaluating arguments for and against propositions that are
susceptible to reasoned debate. Good legal education teaches students to
“think like a lawyer,” though the analytical and problem-solving skills
required of attorneys are not fundamentally different from those employed by
other professionals. The law school
experience will develop and refine those crucial skills, but one must enter law
school with a reasonably well-developed set of analytical and problem-solving
capabilities.
2) Critical Reading
Abilities
Preparation for legal education should include substantial experience
involving the close reading and critical analysis of complex material, for much
of what law students and attorneys do involves careful reading and comprehension
of judicial opinions, statutes, documents, and other written materials. It is
important to note that law school should not be the first time that a student
has been rigorously engaged in the enterprise of carefully reading and
critically analyzing complex written material of substantial length.
Potential law students should also be aware that the practice of law
requires the ability to read and assimilate large amounts of material, often in
a short period of time.
3) Writing Skills
Those seeking to prepare for legal education should develop a high degree
of skill at written communication. Language
is the most important tool of the lawyer, and lawyers must learn to express
themselves clearly and concisely. Fundamental writing skills should be acquired
and refined before one enters law school. Those
preparing for legal education should seek as many experiences as possible that
will require rigorous analytical writing, including preparing original pieces of
substantial length and revising written work in a response to constructive
criticism.
4) Oral Communication
and Listening Abilities
The ability to speak clearly and decisively is another skill that is
essential to success in law school and the practice of law.
Lawyers must also have excellent listening skills if they are to
understand their clients and others with whom they must interact daily. Before
attending law school individuals should seek to develop their basic speaking and
listening skills, such as by engaging in debate, making formal presentations in
class, or speaking before groups in school, the community, or the workplace.
5) General Research
Skills
Although there are many research sources and techniques that are specific
to the law, an individual need not have developed any familiarity with these
specific skills or materials before entering law school.
However, the individual who enters law school without ever having
undertaken a project that requires significant library research and the analysis
of large amounts of information obtained from that research may be at a severe
disadvantage. Those wishing to
prepare for legal education should select courses and seek experiences that will
require them to plan a research strategy, to undertake significant library
research, and to analyze, organize, and present a reasonably large amount of
material.
The Law School Admissions Test
The Official Guide to U.S. Law Schools and the Law Services
Information Handbook have the answers to most of the questions that you
might have about the procedures for applying to law schools and for taking the
Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). However,
a few observations can be made about the LSAT.
The LSAT is like no exam given at Winthrop University.
It is a sophisticated test of thinking skills based on reading
comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logical problem solving.
The test also includes an updated writing sample section.
Do not be lulled into complacency about the importance of this test.
Although it may not seem logical or “fair” to give greater
consideration to an applicant’s performance on a four hour test than to his or
her four year performance as an undergraduate, some admissions committees will
weigh an applicant’s LSAT scores more heavily than GPAs.
Preparing for the LSAT is now standard.
If you do not prepare, you are putting yourself at a distinct
disadvantage. You are putting
yourself in a select group of undergraduates-- people who have done well enough
at the University to think that they have a shot at law school.
When you take the LSAT you will be competing against some of the best
university students for admission into law school.
Which LSAT test date to choose depends on which schools you are
considering. Some regional and
national schools prefer an early application pool, so the June test at the end
of your third year or the early fall tests of the Senior year are best.
For those students considering the University of South Carolina as a
first choice, the October test date (at the beginning of fall semester of Senior
year) may be best.
Do not take the LSAT for practice.
Your score will count. Under
current Law Services rules, all of your LSAT scores will be forwarded to the
schools you list, unless you expressly request your test not to be scored or
sent to any schools (cf. Law Services Information Book).
The law schools admissions committees, therefore, will have a report of
all your LSAT results. If you make
a significantly better score on a re-test, it may negate the previous score.
However, some schools will use the average of multiple test scores when
evaluating applications.
It is strongly recommended that
you prepare for the test. The
commercial products (the pre-tests and practice materials that can be purchased
in area bookstores) provide a structured way to prepare for the exams.
Sometimes less expensive exam preparation programs are offered through
both commercial and university-based programs.
Whether you prepare through a formal program or with your own materials,
you should take at least one
full-length practice test at the beginning of your exam
preparation. You must take LSAT
preparation seriously. If you have
a good GPA, a high LSAT score can put you in the automatic acceptance category.
If your grades are marginal you must
do well on the LSAT to have a chance at admission.
Application Strategies and the Law School Locator
There are several classifications of law schools.
Those with national reputations are the most prominent and are highly
competitive. These include Harvard,
Yale, Chicago, Stanford, Columbia, Michigan, Virginia, and Berkeley.
Some regional law schools have very good reputations and are considered
second only to the national schools. In
the South, these include Duke, Emory, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tulane and Vanderbilt. State law
schools may or may not have regional reputations.
All AALS accredited law schools have basic descriptions in the Official
Guide to U.S. Law Schools (available for review in the Pre-law Advisory
office in 312 Bancroft).
One helpful tool for developing a strategy for making application to law
schools is the Law School Locator. The
Locator can be used as a guide to estimate
chances of acceptance at various schools based on the median GPA and LSAT scores
of accepted students at those schools in recent years. Locators can be found in the Official Guide to U.S. law
Schools, and can be evaluated during an appointment with the Pre-law
Advisor.
Some Concluding Thoughts
No school can assure success for its graduates, especially regarding the
highly competitive field of law school admissions.
Suppose you have been scared off or have been denied admission to law
school, but still want to pursue a degree in law? Many schools, including some in the Southeast, offer advanced
degrees (usually an M.A.) in Criminal Justice.
Yet another possibility is paralegal training, in which students are
trained to become lawyers’ assistants. The
National Center for Paralegal Training is located in Atlanta.
Winthrop also has recently reintroduced an intensive weekend paralegal
program. Another option is a
Judicial Administration program, which combines work in law with an advanced
degree in public administration.
The handout is meant to acquaint you with some of the key points to
consider in preparing for law school. Other
questions can be directed to the
Pre-law Advisor at Winthrop, Dr. Timothy S. Boylan. His office is located in 312 Bancroft Hall and the phone number is (803) 323-4664. The main phone number of the Department of Political Science is (803) 323-2209. The pre-law advisor holds resources for students considering law school as well as catalogs from most of the country’s law schools.