Preparation for Law

All accredited law schools in Ohio, like most accredited schools throughout the country, require a college degree for admission. A college degree is also a prerequisite to taking the Ohio Bar Examination and the bar examinations for most other states. Beyond the minimum requirements for admission, law schools emphasize the value of a broad, general program of arts and sciences for the prospective law student. Above all, they stress the importance of acquiring certain intellectual skills and abilities rather than a particular body of information. Foremost among these skills are facility in writing and speaking, logical reasoning, and the use of abstract concepts. Because the student can develop these skills in a variety of courses, there is no basis on which to prescribe a rigid and detailed “prelaw curriculum” or recommend any particular major.

Law schools, however, uniformly emphasize the special value of courses in which considerable writing is required. In addition, courses in American government help acquaint the student with the basic legislative, administrative, and judicial processes of our society. Business and economics courses often provide an understanding of business and financial concepts and terms with which the lawyer may deal. Other disciplines-such as history, philosophy, political science, psychology, and sociology-offer concepts, information, and perspectives that are important in dealing with modern legal issues. Finally, prelaw students may wish to take a course in which case method is used, to test whether their aptitudes lie in this direction.