Commitment to Law School

Pre-Law Advice at the College of Charleston

III. Undergraduate Preparation

We have been tracking College of Charleston law school applicants systematically for many years. For a ten year period beginning in 1992, there were 896 students reported in the LSDAS system. This means that 896 students appear to have taken the LSAT, including some who took the test but did not apply to any law school. Of that 896, we have complete records of 238 C of C graduates who did in fact apply to law school. The LSAT scores of the 238 are about one point higher on average than of the 896; we therefore have a statistical reason to believe that the 238 reflect the typical C of C student who has taken the LSAT and who has considered applying to law school.

Of those 238 students for whom we have complete records, 76 majored in Political Science. Other majors included History, Psychology, Sociology, English, Philosophy, Business Administration, Communication, Biology, Education, Art History, Classics, Theatre, Fine Arts, French, Religious Studies, Spanish, Accounting, Economics, Geology, Physics, Anthropology, and Urban Studies. In other words, almost every available major at the College of Charleston has been represented among students who had a serious interest in applying to law school.

The point, however, is that a narrowly-based, unchallenging major with vocational objectives is not the best preparation. A student should seek out a challenging, quality education. Law schools want students who can think analytically, read critically, and write intelligently and correctly. Any course of study which helps develop critical analyses, logical reasoning, written expression, computer skills and oral facility is recommended. Whatever your major turns out to be, you must make good grades. However, excellent grades in unchallenging courses are false steps. Finally, remember that law school is mostly reading, research, and writing. If you do not enjoy those exercises, do not go to law school.

The Association of American Law Schools has issued a formal statement of pre-legal education that includes this list of recommended skills:
--comprehension and expression in words;
--critical understanding of the human institutions and values with which the law deals;
--creative power in thinking;
--This statement goes on to observe that the development of these fundamental capacities is not the monopoly of any one subject-matter area, department, or division. Rather, their development is the result of a highly individualized process pursued with high purpose and intensive intellectual effort (AALS, 1983-4).

The Association of American Law Schools specifically recommends courses such as English language and literature, government, American history, and economics, as well as statistics and computer science (AALS, 1984, at 16). The Association's rationale is clear. Writing and reading skills are essential. Knowledge of processes of government, including how laws are made and adjudicated in American historical context is helpful. Many legal subjects are linked to the economic relations between people. Using computers to analyze empirical data and access to computer data bases is a necessary skill. Thus, the AALS recommendations continue to be relevant in the 21st Century.

With that in mind, undergraduate preparation can be divided into three parts: the basic undergraduate coursework; courses which look best to an admissions committee; and courses which may later help you practice law.

1. Undergraduate courses. Think of breadth, because your four years as an undergraduate may be your only opportunity to study new and interesting subjects. Your major, whatever it might be, will provide the depth of subject matter needed. Pre-law courses are recommended only insofar as they prepare you with vocabulary, methods, and thinking tools. You may wish to take at least one case law course to learn how to brief cases. But also learn how the law works on a day-to-day basis. There are several departments at the College which offer such courses, including Sociology, Business, History, Philosophy, and Political Science. Take one of those in an area that interests you, but do not take a course just because it has "law" in the title.

The South Carolina Supreme Court formally offered its opinion that the following course areas are helpful in preparing a student for both law school and the Bar Exam: (1) English Composition; (2) English Public Speaking; (3) United States History; (4) Accounting; (5) Economics; (6) Logic; (7) Literature; (8) Political Science; (9) Philosophy. The State Supreme Court urged students to take as many courses in these specific fields as practicable (see Littlejohn, 1980, at 111).

United States Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has said that the best preparation for law school was the study of lyric poetry (Gopen, 1984, at 333). "No other discipline so closely replicates the central question asked in the study of legal thinking: 'Here is a text; in how many ways can it have meaning?'" (id.) There are no final answers in the law. An answer is always followed by another question. As Gopen put it, "That is a necessary attitude with which to approach legal training" (at 347).

2. Law school admissions deans have their own views on courses which look best when they are considering the "gray area" applicant--the individual who is a borderline case rather than one who is automatically accepted or rejected. Remembering, as always, that no particular major is favored over others and that you do not automatically gain bonus points for courses with "law" in the title, consider the following general rules. Admissions committees like to see: (a) applicants who study breadth of subjects and depth of subject matter--but when in doubt, go to depth; (b) excellent grades in courses which develop critical thinking ability; (c) courses which enhance your ability to communicate accurately and effectively; (d) an internship in the legal field because the applicant has had a realistic look at law: (e) freshman and sophomore grades as good as grades made as a junior and senior. Some admissions deans believe that the transition from high school to college is similar to the transitions from college to law school and from law school to legal practice, and therefore assume that those who did well with the first transition will do equally well with the others. Some law schools look closely at freshman and sophomore grades on that basis. It is difficult to pull up a grade point that has started off badly. It is our experience at the College of Charleston that if you don't have at least a 3.0 GPR, you will be unlikely to be admitted in law school. Admissions committees disfavor: (a) applicants whose transcripts show a series of survey courses; (b) transcripts where a lot of courses were taken for credit only or pass-fail; (c) transcripts which show a lot of courses dropped. Finally, don't look for easy answers. There aren't any.

3. Three law school deans were asked what courses they thought were the most helpful in law practice. One said to ask lawyers the question. Dean Barber of John Carroll University said simply, "Shakespeare, Dante, and Milton." Dean Faught of Loyola University of Chicago said, "Any language tools, including computer science and foreign languages...[are helpful]." Professor Mann (1982) asked hundreds of lawyers in South Carolina and elsewhere that question. Almost all have said that English Composition helps the most both in law school and in subsequent practice. But if you have any doubts, ask some lawyers yourself--but be sure not to limit your inquiry to just a few.

To summarize, you should not pursue any particular course of study narrow-mindedly. Your objective should be to get the most out of college life, time, and study. The college years will stand on their own merit, regardless of career aspirations of outcomes, especially in this ever-changing society. Though some pre-professional career preparations such as the allied health fields are specific and scientifically plotted and planned, this is not true for pre-law. It is a myth that there is one and only one pre-law curriculum. No major gives you an advantage and no major invites rejection.

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