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Prelaw Information

http://www.discoverlaw.org/Applicants to law school must have or be completing at least a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university; however, no particular major or prelaw curriculum is required. In fact, most universities do not offer a "prelaw" major. Undergraduate students planning to seek admission to law school should select a major and curriculum that interests them, that will challenge them, and that will help them to develop their abilities for critical analysis, logical reasoning, and written and oral expression that will help them succeed in the rigorous academic environment of a 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, www.lsac.org., in June, September/October, December, and February each year. They will also need to subscribe to the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS), which will coordinate their academic and biological information, as well as LSAT scores, for the law schools that they are applying to.

Colleges and universities will have a designated prelaw advisor who can assist you with the law school admissions process. Once an applicant has created an LSAC Candidate Account, the name and contact information of the prelaw advisor at their degree-granting institution will be included in their profile. Applicants may also contact the academic advising office at their college.

The University of Houston has created an intense, month-long Summer Prelaw Institute, http://www.prelawprograms.uh.edu/. The program is open to Houston area college sophomores, and includes coursework, skills training, exposure to the legal profession, and mentoring components. In the 2007 inaugural class, 33 students enrolled in the four week Summer Prelaw Institute, receiving six credit hours of instruction in logic, philosophy, legal reasoning, and written communication. In addition, graduates of the Summer Prelaw Institute are eligible to participate in an intensive law school application workshop. The classes since then have completed their programs and prepared for the LSAT and law school applications. Several classes of students have now completed law school and are preparing for their state bars. Princeton Review has generously provided special LSAT preparation instruction for the program participants at a discounted rate. Additional support has been provided by a grant from the TG Foundation and from firm and lawyer donations.

The 2012 program will be held June 4 through June 28, 2012: the 2012 Prelaw program application materials are available at: http://www.prelawprograms.uh.edu/. Look for other prelaw activities at the UHLC website. More information about the UH Summer Prelaw Institute is available at http://www.prelawprograms.uh.edu/. There will also be Saturday Academy activities, where applicants can meet with current law students, admissions professionals, and practicing lawyers to discuss legal education.

Prelaw Links