Pre-Law

Pre-law prepares students for careers in the legal field.  You can be pre-law from any major.

Legal Studies and Crime & Justice – programs related to the pre-law program.

Students interested in law and in the US legal system can complete Albright’s Legal Studies program, an interdisciplinary minor designed to help students develop a thorough understanding of our legal system.  For those considering law school, this minor also serves as academic preparation for law school.  In addition, The Political Science, Psychology and Sociology Departments offer a crime and justice interdisciplinary major, which focuses on the legal, political, administrative, psychological and sociological analysis of criminal deviance and societal responses to crime.

Gaining admission to law school

Students applying to law school should develop a record of high achievement in a broad and challenging program of study. There is no required major for admission to law school. Rather, students planning to attend law school should pursue a serious and demanding course of study that will help them understand society and themselves, and help develop the intellectual abilities, and insights needed to practice law.

Pre-law students should incorporate into their undergraduate program courses that enhance their understanding of politics and government, develop their writing skills, provide training in the use of language and reasoning, and increase their understanding of history, economics and the world in which they will live.

Albright’s Pre-law program

To prepare students for law school, Albright offers a pre-law program consisting of a major of the student’s choice, other recommended courses (see below), and a systematic process for advising from the freshman through senior years. Students considering law school should confer with our Pre-Law Advisor, Suzanne Palmer, J.D. LL.M., Assistant Professor of Economics and Business. Professor Palmer is an attorney and an  experienced pre-law advisor who can guide students through the process of preparing for a career in law and the law school application process.

Several specific courses are recommended for pre-law students, regardless of their majors, with the understanding that most pre-law students will take some, but not all of these courses:

• Constitutional Law (POL 371)
• Civil Liberties (POL 372)
• Critical Thinking (PHI 150)

For students interested in a more intensive academic preparation for law school, Albright offers an interdisciplinary Legal Studies Minor, which incorporates the courses listed above along with other courses designed to explore the role of the legal system in the American society and polity. See the Political Science section for specific requirements.

Those interested in corporate law should also consider:

• Financial Accounting (ACC 101)
• Principles of Economics (ECO 105)
• Business Law I (BUS 250)

Courses that enhance writing skills, analytical, abstract, and/or quantitative skills or that develop understanding of history and values also are especially good preparation for law school and the legal profession, as are courses that increase reading ability and comprehension.