Pre-Law: 4 Year Preparation

The minimum requirement for admission to a recognized law school is a bachelor's degree. Most law schools value intellectual maturity and a broad educational background, such as is provided by majors in the social sciences, natural sciences or humanities, rather than narrow specialization. Well developed research, analysis, oral and written communication skills are considered desirable.

It is suggested that students take the Legal Studies minor and take additional coursework in the following areas: accounting, economics, history, political science, philosophy, psychology, sociology, speech, and writing. For more specific information on an appropriate course of study, see the Pre-Law advisor, who is assigned by the Social Science Division.

Admission to law schools is highly competitive. Applicants are usually expected to achieve an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.00 and perform well on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), although strength in one of these areas may compensate for weakness in the other. The LSAT should be taken early in the senior year. More information about preparatory materials, contact the pre-law advisor, Dr. Mark Henkels, 838-8554, henkelm@wou.edu.

Legal Studies Minor

For more information, please contact Dr. Mark Henkels, 838-8544.

Legal Studies Minor...................................................................... 27

PS 201 American Government......................................................................................... 3

PS 202 State and Local Government.............................................................................. 3

BA 230 Business Law...................................................................................................... 3

PS 479 Constitutional Law............................................................................................... 3

PS 480 Administrative Law.............................................................................................. 3

PS 484 American Jurisprudence..................................................................................... 3

PS 485 Legal Research and Writing............................................................................... 3

Choose two........................................................................................................................ 6

ANTH 475 Anthropological Approaches to Law

BA 211 Fundamentals of Accounting I

BA 212 Fundamentals of Accounting II

CJ 213 Survey Juvenile/Criminal Justice System

CJ 452 Legal Aspects of Law Enforcement

HST 304 English History

HST 305 English History

                        PHL 231 Introduction to Formal Reasoning

                        PHL 232 Introduction to Non-formal Reasoning

                        PHL 253 Social and Political Philosophy

                        PHL 340 Professional Ethics: the Law

                        PS 409 Administrative Internship

                        PS 410 Legislative/Political Internship

                        PSY 334 Social Psychology

                        SOC 225 Social Problems

                        SOC 309 American Society

                        SP 321 Influencing through Argument

                        SP 326 Communication and Controversy: Freedom of Speech in the US

                        SP 327 Communication in the Legal Field