Courses available to Second Year Students

BUA 2205 Legal Environment of Business
STA 2215 Elementary Statistics for Social Science
STA 2216 Statistical Methods
ECO 2201 Principles of Economics
PSI 2215 Environmental Policy
PSI 2207 American Public Policy
PSI 3305 Public Administration
SOC 2205 Criminology
SOC 2206 Practical Applications in Law Enforcement
PHI 2233 Elementary Logic
PHI 2265 Philosophy of Law
PSI 2202 State & Local Government
PSI 2207 American Public Policy
PSI 2203 International Law & Organization

Second year checklist

Attend a pre-law information session.

Pick up a schedule in the Political Science and International Students Department (Hill Hall 316) or visit the News and Events pages on this site.

Meet with pre-law adviser Dr. Charles Neal.
Call (410) 857-2412 and request an appointment or visit Hill Hall 312.

Get on the pre-law info list.
You’ll receive notices on law-related classes, resources, workshops, clubs, free practice LSAT tests and more. To subscribe, go to;

Explore majors that interest you.
There are NO preferred majors for law school. This bears repeating.
There are NO preferred majors for law school.

Meet with an adviser for help on exploring majors.

Law schools are looking for bright, motivated and accomplished students, so your course work should reflect an inquiring mind: select courses that challenge you sharpen your analytical reasoning and improve your writing skills. In planning your course work and activities, remember that the study and practice of law requires skill at problem-solving, sound judgment and clear written and oral communication.

Pay attention to your grading options.

Ideally, all graduate programs would like every class graded, but most students end up with a withdrawal or two before they graduate. The resulting “W” notation is not prejudicial to your grade point, and LSDAS (the Law School Data Assembly Service) excludes them from conversion. But watch out for grading options that result in NS or NC, they protect your grade point; but LSDAS converts them to “0.0”.
Take writing courses and any courses that involve a lot of reading, writing and research.
Beyond the required English composition courses, take all the writing you can to improve your writing skills. Law is mostly reading, writing and research, and much of a lawyer’s, as well as a law student’s, time is spent in a library. Do you like writing papers? If long hours of reading, writing and research don’t appeal to you, law is probably not the right profession.

Attend a pre-law Fraternity International meeting.
It’s a great way to learn about different kinds of law from guest speakers (attorneys, law students, professors, etc.), learn about various pre-law resources (LSAT prep, how to write a personal statement, resumes, etc.) and meet other pre-law students. The pre-law Fraternity on campus is Phi Alpha Delta (PAD). Prospective members are encouraged to attend a meeting or two to decide if they’d like to join.

Plan for letters of recommendation: visit your professors during his/her office hours.
Develop relationships early and often! These are the people that will be writing you letters of recommendation for law school. If you’re in school when applying, your strongest letters will likely come from faculty, although if you have a developed relationship with a supervisor at a long-standing job, that could make an effective second letter. Most students don’t take the time to know their professors, but it’s one of the best things to do. Aside from enriching your studies, getting to know a faculty member can result in a letter that goes beyond the general to one that makes a striking impression on admissions committees. Two letters are usually sufficient, although some schools do want three. Most letters of recommendation are completed through the LSAC (http://www.lsac.org/).

Take Philosophy Practical Reasoning. 
Students say it’s good prep for the LSAT. Be forewarned that there may be a lot of math-oriented work in this class.

Try a legal internship. There are many places that hire interns, including:
• City Attorney
• Public Defender
• Public Prosecutor
• ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)
• NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• Private Law Firms

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