Basic Information for Pre-Law Students:

The Pre-Law Advisor at Gannon University is:

Questions Pre-Law Students Most Often Ask

1. What factors are considered in admission to law school?

There are two factors given great weight in most law school admissions decisions; academic performance - grades and to some degree types of courses taken - and a student's score on the LSAT (Law School Admissions Test). Generally a grade point average of "B" or better and a LSAT score at around the 50 percentile range are minimal requirements for acceptance at some law schools. Requirements for admission at more selective institutions will be much higher.

Co-curricular and extracurricular activities and accomplishments may be of some help in gaining admission particularly if they demonstrate qualities related to study and practice of law.
 

2. What should I study as an undergraduate to prepare me for law school and the LSAT?

One of the best features of a pre legal education is that it contains absolutely no requirements or restrictions. Students can go to law school from virtually any major offered at Gannon. We do recommend that students take certain foundation courses in such fields as Economics, English, Paralegal, History and Political Science in order to acquire a general understanding of the issues and values with which the law deals. The skills tested in the LSAT and applicable to the study and practice of law include communications - reading, writing and speaking ability and; the capacity to think clearly, critically and analytically. Courses that stress reading, writing and thinking are found to be in many departments. What is probably more important than the subject area in how a course is taught and who is teaching it. Look for excellence in teaching above all else. Remember the tough courses may be the best if you are stimulated to think and encouraged to achieve high standards.

There are certain courses that, while by no means required for law school, students have found helpful in the past (Accounting, Logic, Advanced Composition, Constitution Law, etc.) These will be recommended to you on an individual basis. You may wish to take one or more law related courses - Criminal Law, Business Law, courses in the Legal Assistant Program, etc. to "see what the law is like." This is perfectly all right but do not expect them to improve your LSAT score or enhance your possibility of law school acceptance any more then other well taught courses.
 

3. Pre-Law Minor.

While no course or major is required for admission, many Gannon students who have gone on to law school have found certain classes helpful. Current students with sufficient flexibility in their curriculum are encouraged to take courses designated in the Pre-Law Minor. These include LP 111 - Introduction to Law in Society as well as additional Pre-Law Cognates. A Pre-Law Minor may be earned through the completion of 18 credit hours of such courses.
 

4. When should I take the LSAT?

In almost all cases the LSAT should be taken either in June after your junior year or in the early fall of your senior year. To take it earlier might result in a lower score since your abilities should improve with further education. Later test dates are available in your senior year but are not recommended if you plan to apply for law school admissions for the following fall.
 

5. Shouldn't I take the LSAT once for practice?

No, definitely not. All scores will be reported together with an average which many schools will accept as indicative of your performance. Ideally, you should plan to take the test only once and to do as well as possible on it. If you do poorly, retake the test. You have nothing to lose.
 

6. How can I prepare for the LSAT?

The LSAT is designed to measure intellectual qualities that develop gradually and types of knowledge that accumulate over relatively long periods of time. Nonetheless, more and more advisors are convinced that careful preparation can improve performance on the test. Thorough familiarization with the exam at the least should reduce test anxiety and make it easier for you to deal with the questions in the limited time that you are given to answer them.

According to the Northeast Association of Pre-Law Advisors:

"The only way to work towards an improved score on the LSAT is to familiarize yourself with the test. Two hours of concentrated practice nightly for at least three months prior to taking the exam is necessary. One hour per day for six months, or one hour every other day for one year is also acceptable. In other words, then, there are three ways to prepare for the LSAT: practice, practice, and practice. You can appreciate how vital study is when you consider how very important the test is and how little experience you have had in taking such tests. The closest test experience to this one that you have had was several years ago when you took the SATs or ACTs. Furthermore, certain demands of the LSAT are wholly different from those of the SAT and ACT. The day you sit down in the test center is not the day to be introduced tot he format and to the kind of reasoning that will be required of you."

In preparing for the examination the most authoritative materials to use are those included by the Law School Admissions Service itself. These include a practice test and the LSAT/LSDAS Registration and Information Book available free from my office or from Guidance; The LSAT Prep Test from LSAS and copies of past examinations also available from the LSAS. Commercial preparation books may provide helpful tips for preparation and additional examination questions for practice. Be certain that such books are up to date and published since at least June 1991.
 

7. What help can your office give in preparing me for the LSAT?

An extensive workshop is offered at nominal cost by the Pre-Law Program. This workshop is generally presented in early September and again in March-April. We recommend that the workshop be taken in the junior year.
 

8. Should I take one of the commercial LSAT preparation courses?

Neither the Law School Admission Council nor this office sponsors or recommends any particular commercial preparation course. Such courses undoubtedly have been helpful to some students. Finds out what you can do to prepare on your own and what assistance is available at the University first before you decide whether or not such a course is worth the cost - (they are expensive).
 

9. What about recommendations?

Though some law schools do not require letters of recommendation, most do require one to three letters, usually two from professors and one from a dean. In general, recommendations carry little weight unless a student is already a well qualified candidate and the letter points out some unusual or outstanding fact that is not apparent from examining the student's objective record.

A final word. Letters from faculty members or others who know the student well are basically the only ones which count. Letters from Congressmen, judges, ministers, and family do not carry much weight and may "turn off" admissions committees.
 

10. When do I apply to law school?

In the summer and early fall a year before a student plans to enter law school, the student should do three things: (1) write to law schools to obtain catalogues and application forms; (2) sign up for the September LSAT, if he or she did not take the June test; (3) consult with the Pre-Law Adviser. Applications should be completed and sent to the schools to which the student is applying as early as possible following receipt of your LSAT scores. In all cases applications should be completed by December or early January.
 

11. Should I have interviews or visit the law schools to which I plan to make application?

In general law schools do not encourage interviews and in some cases will not grant them. If, however, you are traveling during the summer or any time and plan to be near a law school that interests you, it could be helpful to you to visit that school.

During the fall semester a number of law schools send representatives to Gannon. Their primary purpose is to give the students information about their school and to answer individual questions. Students should , during the senior year, see the representatives from any of the schools that interest them.
 

12. Are there any books I can read which will tell me what law school is like and about the practice of law?

Osborn, John J., Jr.  Go ahead and read it and/or see the movie. Reaction from law students is mixed; most say it is fairly accurate, a few find it overdone and a smaller number say it understates the law school experience.	The Paper Chase.
Baker, Leonard.		John Marshall, A Life in Law.
Bowen, Catherine Drinker.		The Lion and the Throne.
Bowen, Catherine Drinker.		Yankee From Olympus.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr.		The Common Law.
Horsky, Charles.		The Washington Lawyer.
Hurst, J. W.		The Growth of American Law.
Levi, Edward H.		An Introduction to Legal Reasoning.
Llewellyn, Karl N.		The Bramble Bush.
Pound, Roscoe.		The Spirit of the Common Law.
Mayer, Martin.		The Lawyers.

 
13. Ten rules for Succeeding in Law School and as a Lawyer:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Learn to think analytically and clearly and to express yourself well in written form; i.e., learn to think and learn to write.
 

14. What is law school like?