Pre-legal education cannot be cast from a single mold. The knowledge needed to be a lawyer is as broad and varied as the human activities on which legal problems are based. For this reason, no specific course of study is required for admission to law school. Instead, pre-law students are advised to obtain as diversified an educational background as possible, while meeting the requirements of their majors.
Because the ability to communicate effectively is so important, students must acquire an effective command of the written and spoken word. Recommended areas of study are English, communication, criminal justice, history, political science, economics, psychology, sociology, philosophy, mathematical sciences, business, including accounting, and foreign languages. At least one course in accounting is strongly recommended.
In preparing to apply to law school, students are advised that there are moral character, fitness, and other qualifications for admission to a state’s bar. The applicant, prior to matriculation, should determine what those requirements are in the state in which the applicant intends to practice. Contact information for state bar examinations is found at www.ncbex.org.
Students desiring additional information about preparation for law school, admission to the USD School of Law, and careers in law are encouraged to visit the School of Law’s website at www.usd.edu/law and to visit with Associate Dean Tom Sorensen, room 250 at the School of Law.
