Pre-Law

Contact: Prof. Rick Young, cryoung@stthom.edu

Applying to Law School

Pre–law seeks to provide our students with advice useful to preparing for and applying to law school. In addition to assisting pre–law students with law school selection and admissions counseling, the program is also directed to correcting deficiencies identified by low scores in any of the LSAT test areas.

Scholarship

The University believes that the best preparation for law school is the broad background in the humanities and sciences provided by the University’s core curriculum. Success in law school and in the legal profession requires a strong ethical foundation, an excellent command of the English language, highly developed analytical and critical thinking skills, and academic and professional proficiency in the law. Important to the prospective law student are the intellectual proficiencies: ethical, political, historical, behavioral, social, and economic that inform a University of St. Thomas graduate. Our goal is to provide students interested in law with the opportunity to explore the discipline and develop an informed understanding of the function of law in American culture. Pre–law students participate in the University’s core curriculum and declare and participate in a major discipline.

Although law schools accept applicants with a baccalaureate degree from any major, the University believes that certain curricular choices are not only preferable but highly desirable. After selecting a major, prelaw students will enroll in pre–law courses that help prepare for the rigors of the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), Socratic examination and case briefing. Pre–law courses will also provide information about our constitutional system and common law heritage, a background critical to discerning and understanding normative values reflected in the law.

The Pre–law Program begins with the First Year Experience and continues as the student’s interests in law evolve. Incoming first year students should tell the FYE advisor about their interest in law and visit with the Pre–law Advisor. Through participation in Mock Trial, students will hear from practitioners and speak with law school admission counselors.

To remain in the pre–law program, a student must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.00, make no less than a B– in any prelaw course, be assessed according to the program’s requirements, and show continual progress toward remedying deficiencies identified by pre–LSAT scores in any of the areas tested (reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logic).

Note: The courses that comprise the minor do not contribute to students’ Political Science major or minor degree plans.