University at Buffalo (UB)
Students are encouraged to take classes that are challenging and that will assist in improving analytical, reasoning, research and writing skills. Bear in mind there are no specific undergraduate pre-law course requirements to prepare for law school.
You can learn more about different types of law and get some introduction to legal issues by taking legal study courses. Also, there are relevant courses in many different academic departments that may have content related to legal studies. For example, political science offers courses in public law. Philosophy offers a Philosophy of Law minor. Sociology, English and business administration are just a few additional examples of departments that offer legal-themed courses. Some courses may be beneficial even for preparing for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), such as Critical Thinking (PHI 115) and Symbolic Logic (PHI 215) (keep in mind however that the content from these courses is not directly applicable to the LSAT). Browse courses by department and by semester on the class schedule.
Law schools require students to effectively use words in communication, both the written-word and verbally. Courses involving writing papers is beneficial, especially reference-type papers that require students to conduct some preliminary research. You can consider taking courses that have some sort of thesis requirement, to show admissions officers you have taken courses to improve both your writing ability and your academic researching skills. Admission officers often take note of advanced and upper-level classes that have a strong research component.
There are some technical writing and legal writing courses that might also be helpful. These are frequently found in the English (ENG) list of courses.
It is very important for students to know understand requirements to graduate. Academic advisors help students choose courses to satisfy their UB Curriculum and departmental requirements.
The Law School Admission Council processes your academic information and provides that to law schools when you apply. UB currently allows students to repeat most courses and “replace” the first received grade. See an explanation of the Repeat Policy in the Undergraduate Catalog. However, the Law School Admission Council will average the grades of a course taken twice and will not honor the Repeat Policy. This is highly important to consider when thinking about retaking a class to improve your GPA, as it might make more sense to take instead a upper-level class in your major.