This is good advice, especially for those of us at a liberal arts college like Franklin & Marshall. We are often told, when we indicate that we have an interest in going to law school, that a liberal arts undergraduate education is a fantastic, if not ideal, preparation for a law degree. While this may true, many of us often extrapolate from this understanding that we are therefore guaranteed to succeed, or that law school is, more or less, an ideal choice for us.
It is important to understand that law school is not for everyone. Just because you enjoy and are good at reading complicated texts and thinking critically (valuable, liberal arts-instilled skills in their own right) doesn't mean that you will like or do well in law school. Law school requires certain interests, skills, and knowledge from its students that not everyone possesses. Whether or not you think you have the necessary background and the desire to go to law school, this is important to consider.
I think that "pre-law" at a liberal arts school like F&M is somewhat of a misnomer. The key to preparing for law school is to learn how to write well, to think critically and to reason, to comprehend what others have written, and to learn how to "learn". No matter what subject or discipline an F&M student possesses as a major, he or she will likely be well prepared for law school because F&M provides all of its students an opportunity to develop the skills needed to excel in law school and in the practice of law. I never took a Government course at F&M, and spent most of my first two years there deciding whether I should go to medical school. I ended up with Economics and English as my concentrations, yet the things I learned in science and philosophy courses were as useful to me in law school and as a practicing attorney. So I would encourage students not to get to bogged down with the "pre-law" label, and to focus more on whether they have good reasoning skills. If so, they could be Chemistry or Physics majors and still have a great opportunity to use their F&M education to thrive in the legal profession!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Anthony. I think you definitely make some great points about the kind of education we receive at liberal arts colleges and how it is an excellent preparation for law school and a career in law - regardless of major. The legal profession is a diverse field and one in which people of all backgrounds can thrive and find satisfaction, but I don't think that it should be a "default option" (as I write in the post) for liberal arts undergraduates. Law schools expect a certain foundation of knowledge and experience (I would presume) that not everyone possesses. I guess I would say that you have to know why you want to be a lawyer. But maybe I'm wrong!
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