Advisor: Dr. McInnis (Political Science), 450-3412
Law schools, unlike medical schools, do not require any particular degree or course of study for admission. Each applicant is required to have completed only a bachelor’s degree and the Law School Admissions Test.
A pre-law student at UCA may choose any field in which to complete a bachelor’s degree. Several things should be kept in mind when making this choice. A prospective law student should possess three basic qualities:
- Skill in the comprehension and use of language. Language is the lawyer’s working tool. In seeking to convince, in drafting legal instruments and legislation, and in oral and written arguments, a lawyer must have the capacity to communicate with clarity, precision, and persuasiveness. A program of study which requires one to write is, therefore, essential.
- Analytical and problem-solving skills. An important part of the lawyer’s work is problem-solving. Creative and analytical thinking requires the development of skills in research, use of facts, deductive and inductive reasoning, critical analysis, and the systematic formulation of principles and concepts.
- An understanding of and interest in human institutions and values. Lawyers are not just engaged in a process like that of a worker changing a tire on a car, rather, they are forces in the operation and shaping of the institutions and values with which humankind is concerned. The work which lawyers do can have a tremendous impact on a human life and even a whole community. A broad background in history, government, philosophy, economics, and the arts is, therefore, quite important.
Each pre-law student at UCA should consult with the pre-law advisor to choose a course of study which best fits the student’s needs and desires and offers the best preparation for law school. Students should also consult with the pre-law advisor for assistance in selecting the appropriate law schools to which they should apply.