PRE-LAW
Applicants to law school must have or be completing at least a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university. Most universities, including Colorado State University, do not have a pre-law major, and law schools admit students from a variety of academic disciplines, majors, and minors. Students planning to seek admission to law school should select a major and coursework that that will interest them, challenge them, and help them develop skills in critical analysis, logical reasoning, and written and oral expression, which are necessary for success on the Law School Admissions Test and in the law school environment.
Suggested Courses
Remember that law schools do not discriminate among academic majors. Instead they are interested in students who pursue a challenging academic experience across a broad array of subjects. CSU does offer an interdisciplinary Legal Studies minor that may be of interest to students considering legal or law-related fields. Classes that may aid students in preparation for the LSAT and law school include (but are not limited to):
ANTH 422/SOC 422: Comparative Legal Systems
AREC 342: Water Law, Policy and Institutions
AREC 375: Agricultural Law
CO 300: Writing Arguments
E 341: Principles of Literary Criticism
ECON 327: Law and Economics
ETST 324: Asian-Pacific Americans and the Law
ETST 444/SOC 444: Federal Indian Law and Policy
HDFS 403: Families in the Legal Environment
JTC 415: Communications Law
PHIL 110: Logic and Critical Thinking
PHIL 210: Introduction to Formal Logic
PHIL 312 : Philosophy of Law
POLS 410: American Constitutional Law
POLS 413: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
POLS 431: International Law
SOC 455: Sociology of Law
SPCM 349: Freedom of Speech
Pre-law Advising
Dr. Courtenay Daum, Associate Professor of Political Science, is the designated pre-law advisor at Colorado State University. This handout provides useful information for students considering law school:
Undergraduate Preparation for Law School
To attend a pre-law advising session, sign-up on Dr. Daum’s office door (Clark C366B) or send her an email. You must sign up in advance before attending one of the following sessions:
Fall 2017 Sessions:
- Wednesday, September 13: 1 - 2 p.m., Clark C349
- Thursday, October 26: 10 a.m. - 11 a.m., Clark C349
- Monday, November 27: 10 a.m. - 11 a.m., Clark C349
To receive information regarding free preparatory LSAT exams, visits from law school representatives, etc., students should register for the pre-law listserv – note that is NOT the listserv for the pre-law club despite the name!
Pre-law Club
CSU’s pre-law club provides students with numerous opportunities to educate themselves about law schools and the legal profession.
Email: Jordyn Kopcow
Connect through RamLink: https://ramlink.collegiatelink.net/organization/pre-lawclub/news
Applying to Law School
Undergraduates planning to enroll in law school immediately after completing their baccalaureate degree should plan to begin the admissions process no later than the fall semester of their senior year of college. Applicants will have to take the Law School Admissions Test, a standardized test offered by the Law School Admissions Council in June, September/October, December, and February each year. The Law School Admissions Council also oversees the Credential Assembly Service (CAS), which will coordinate their application packet for the law schools to which they are applying.
Additional Resources
The American Bar Association provides an overview of the legal profession, including statistics on law school enrollments and law school graduates’ employment placement post-graduation.
Top-Law-Schools.com provides information on law school rankings as well as advice on completing law school applications.
