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Pre-law Studies in Political Science at UIC

There is no "Pre-law" major at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and that is probably a good thing. The American Association of Law Schools recommends against taking such a major. The best preparation for legal education, according to AALS, is a broad liberal arts education, rather than a narrowly-focused law program. Law schools prefer that you leave the law training to them--after all, that's their job--and instead use your undergraduate years to build a foundation for studying law. That means learning about politics, economics, culture, science, and other things that law schools don't teach but want you to know, so that when you become an attorney you will understand the issues that come up in your cases.

Although you can major in whatever you like and apply to law school, Political Science is a good choice for pre-law students. About one-third of our majors intend to apply to law school, and there are several reasons for this:

Political Science gives you special understanding of politics, government institutions, the economy, and culture, all of which is good preparation for law study and being a lawyer.
People who are interested in law are usually also interested in politics and government.
The Political Science department offers pre-law advising for Political Science majors. The Political Science pre-law adviser is Dr. Evan McKenzie, a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles Law School who spent ten years practicing law and is also an adjunct faculty member at The John Marshall Law School. He has LSAT application books, which are full of useful information, and will spend time with you acquainting you with the process and helping you decide where to apply.
The Political Science curriculum includes law courses that interest pre-law students and help them decide whether or not they like the study of law. These courses involve reading opinions of the United States Supreme Court, learning the basics of legal analysis, and developing an understanding of the politics of American and international law. They include:
- POLS 253: Constitutional Law
- POLS 254: Civil Liberties
- POLS 255: Courts, Color, and the Constitution
- POLS 256: Civil Liberties II--Privacy, Women, and the Law
- POLS 258: The Judicial Process
- POLS 287: International Law
Political Science as a discipline has close links to the study and practice of law. Political scientists study courts as political institutions and also analyze legal doctrines in the context of history, politics, economics, and other aspects of social science theory.

Applying to Law School

Most of the information you need to apply to law school is available from the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). Their web site should be your first stop as you begin the journey toward law school. It explains the process of taking the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), applying to law schools, and obtaining financial aid, and has links to many other sources of information.

The law school application process is highly centralized and designed to handle the enormous number of people--over 100,000 per year--who take the LSAT and consider applying to law school. The Law School Admission Service (LSAS), which is affiliated with the LSAC, is the collection point for your transcripts and LSAT scores, as well as other materials. You pay them for doing this, and for sending your file to the law schools of your choice. But you also need to apply to the law schools directly, and pay each school an application fee (usually around $50). After your file is complete at LSAS (transcripts and LSAT scores ready), and after you have applied to the schools of your choice, those law schools will call for your file and LSAS will send it to them. Then you wait for the decision, and that's the hardest part.

The Law School Admission Test

The LSAT is given four times in each academic year--in June, October, December, and February. You should take it no later than December, because by February the admissions process is well under way. You will get your score about five weeks after you take the test.

The LSAT is neither an intelligence test nor a knowledge test. It is an aptitude test. It measures your ability to reason logically and analytically and tests your verbal skills. You can't prepare for it in a few weeks, but you can develop your aptitudes over a period of years--such as the years you spend as an undergraduate. Become an active reader to build you reading speed, and read a wide variety of materials outside of your textbooks, including everything from novels to contracts to cereal boxes. Take a course in logic. Seek out courses that require you to do structured thinking, especially if you are ordinarily reluctant to take such course. These are the skills you need to develop.

If you want to take an LSAT prep course, and you can afford the fee (they tend to run in excess of $700), fine. But you can prepare on your own. The LSAT application book contains order forms for test preparation material, including LSATs from previous years, and there are "study for the LSAT" books in any large bookstore.

Choosing the Law Schools for Your Applications

A large part of getting into law school is quantitative. They screen most of their applicants in or out based on grade point averages and LSAT scores before making fine distinctions based on personal statements, letters of recommendation, balancing for diversity of all types, and other considerations. You can find out how likely you are to get into any given law school by consulting The Official Guide to U.S. Law Schools, an on-line publication. This source also gives you detailed information on each law school, including areas of specialization, tuition, faculty, and nearly everything else you need to know at this stage. You can also look at the law school rankings done annually by U.S. News and World Report to see how high in the ratings your choices are.

Links to other sources of information:

There is an ocean of information available on the web for people interested in the law. Here are just a few, and all of them have links you can follow to many other sources: