Pre-Law

Working in the legal field is not what you see on TV or the movies—very few lawyers are in court frequently. The legal profession offers a wide range of possibilities with a JD, and you can find Centre alums in all types of interesting positions. If you’re thinking about a particular path in the law, chances are a Centre lawyer is out there doing that. Check with the prelaw advisor to be connected to some of our alums.
 
Public Service: Represent or advise governmental organizations. Examples include Federal and state judgeships, United States Attorney, White House Counsel’s office, public defenders,  and the Foreign Service. Centre lawyers can also be found involved in party politics, in elected office, and at the forefront of various policy initiatives. 
 
Public Interest: Represent and advocate for causes that are important to you. Examples include public defenders, the ACLU, and the Ohio Innocence Project. Many Centre lawyers are pursuing their passions in public interest legal work.
 
In-House Counsel: Work for a corporation and advise the business as their internal counsel. Centre alumni, for example, serve as in-house counsel at Humana and Proctor & Gamble, among numerous large and small corporations.
 
Litigation Attorney: Represent individuals and corporations who have been sued or are suing another party. Centre lawyers have appeared in federal and state courts across the country representing their clients, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
 
Transactional Attorney: Advise on the legal structure of corporate mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, and other financial transactions. This can be done either in-house (working at a company) or at a private firm, and Centre lawyers have pursued both paths. 
 
Tax Attorney: Represent clients in tax litigation and structure financial transactions for optimal tax treatment. 
 
Intellectual Property Attorney: Protect clients' scientific and artistic innovations, including the music industry.
 
Teaching/Academic: Teach law or work for a law school in another capacity. Examples include the Dean of Ohio State Moritz School of Law, General counsel at the University of Virginia, director of admissions at Washington University School of Law, full or part-time law professors at Vanderbilt, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Cincinnati.

Centre lawyers stand ready to help the next generation, through mentorship programs and internship opportunities, which help prepare our students for law school success. 

Join our Centre law LinkedIn community!

Current Centre graduates are excelling at the top law schools (or have recently been admitted to them), including Harvard, University of Chicago, Columbia, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and Texas, along with top regional schools. We schedule a program every spring for Centre graduates in law school to share advice with, and answer questions from, current Centre students thinking about law school. 

Basic process for applying to law school

University of Chicago monthly admissions webinar: Learn about the admissions process from law school admissions professionals

Law school transparency: Input your preferences and search for schools; compare schools; and get helpful information about different law schools.

ABA 509 reports: This contains information that each law school must report to the American Bar Association, including about admissions and scholarships. This is helpful to review as you focus on particular schools.

Law school data

The LSAT is the test that you must take for admission to law school. Some schools will accept the GRE instead of the LSAT, but you should double-check to confirm (and schools that do accept the GRE may not offer the same range of scholarship options without the LSAT). The LSAT generally tests reading comprehension and analytical reasoning, and it is a test that you can improve upon significantly with practice. Students generally take the LSAT the fall of their senior year if they intend to start law school immediately after graduation. You should start preparing early in the spring before you plan to take it. 

You can take the LSAT either in-person or remotely, and you should give consideration to which format would be best for you. Whatever you choose, take your practice tests in the same manner that you will take the actual test.

Beginning in Summer Term 2025, Centre will offer a three-credit course focused on LSAT prep along with basic law school foundational skills.

All about the LSAT from LSAC

Free LSAT prep: Includes practice tests, answers, analyses of your answers, teaching videos, etc.

Free LSAT practice tests

LSAT writing: The writing component of the test has undergone several changes recently, and law schools are now looking at this more closely. It may become a scored component of the LSAT in future years. 

Info on LSAT fee waivers: If you believe your financial situation warrants it, you should apply for a fee waiver. A fee waiver entitles you not only to a waiver or discount on the LSAT fee, but also provides access to other normally for-cost services from LSAC. If you are denied a fee waiver, you can request reconsideration

Other test prep options: 

7Sage, a self-study course that several students have benefitted from

Princeton Review

Kaplan 

Testing dates: the LSAT is typically offered monthly in August, September, October, November, January, February, April and June. 2024-25 dates

Law school applications require the submission of a “personal statement,” usually around two pages long, which gets behind the resume and shares your personal story. This is a critical piece of the admissions process, and one that you should devote significant time to. The successful personal statement will tell an engaging story about you – what formative moment or experience molded you as a person or sparked your desire to become a lawyer? These should be authentic descriptions of you (rather than highlighting resume points). 

Law schools are looking for students who they believe will be successful law students and who they will be proud of as those students graduate and enter the legal profession. 

University of Chicago guidance on personal statements

Examples of personal statements of recent Centre students who have been admitted to top law schools are available in the library or from the prelaw advisor. 

Most law schools have optional supplemental essay prompts in addition to the personal statement for you to submit as appropriate. Carefully review the prompt and decide whether it makes sense for you to submit any of the supplemental essays. 

Centre hosts a law school fair typically in October when 20-30 law schools from across the country send admissions representatives to campus. This is a great, informal opportunity to go beyond the websites and learn more about particular law schools and their admissions process. Many schools will also offer application fee waivers, so be sure to ask about that! 

Be sure to carefully review all requirements in a law school’s application. You probably have a resume on hand already, but schools will sometimes offer guidance on what they want to see in a resume. Take advantage of these resources. The CCPD can provide you general resume assistance to get you started. 

Letters of recommendation are an important part of any law school application. You should take advantage of the relationships that you’ve cultivated with your professors. During your first two years at Centre, think about three or so professors who you enjoy learning from and chatting with. Go to these professors’ office hours, regardless of whether you are currently enrolled in a course with them and take steps to develop your relationships with them (maybe find ways to collaborate on research or projects). When you ask for a letter of recommendation, be sure to give the professor plenty of lead time, explain a clear deadline for the letter, and provide your resume, transcript, and any other information that may be helpful (such as a draft personal statement). Centre professors enjoy helping you succeed, just make sure that they have all of the necessary tools to highlight your candidacy. 

These programs are geared towards helping students get ready for law school, including the application process. Many of them are free (and essentially recruitment tools by law schools) and some additionally offer financial assistance with the LSAT and law school applications. You do not need to attend a pipeline program prior to law school; but some students have found them helpful. They generally provide a realistic glimpse of what it’s like to be a law student, and many of these programs are oriented towards first generation or low income students. 

If you think you may be interested in a pre-law pipeline program, AccessLex contains the most comprehensive database on these programs. Note that each of these programs is slightly different, with a different focus, different deadlines, different time commitments, etc. Another overview is offered by LSAC. Most programs require applications in your sophomore or junior years. 

Many students elect to take a gap year or two before entering law school. A gap year can be valuable, but students should consider several factors: (1) do I need a break from school to be fully motivated to tackle law school; (2) do I believe that I can get into my target law schools now, or do I need to improve my resume with some work experience; and (3) can I find a meaningful job experience during the gap? 

As you consider these and other factors, if you believe that you would like to pursue a gap year, you should start the planning as soon as possible in your senior year to maximize the chances of landing a meaningful position. We suggest that you schedule a meeting with the CCPD in the fall of your senior year to begin planning.

Law school is a significant investment, but there are many ways to make it affordable. Most law schools offer scholarships to the majority of their students. You can find information on particular schools’ scholarship practice from the ABA 509 reports. There are also outside (meaning, not from particular law schools) scholarship sources that you should explore. AccessLex maintains a comprehensive database of these scholarships. 

Federal unsubsidized loans are generally available to cover the cost of attending law school, and can be forgiven in certain circumstances. AccessLex is a nonprofit organization that provides free financial consulting to aspiring law students, current law students, and law alumni. If you want to understand better how law school loans work, what repayment options exist, or how to compare financial offers from competing law schools, AccessLex can help.  

Law school ROI report: Another data point worth exploring as you consider the costs of law school.

Centre understands that many students will make the decision to apply to law school after graduation. We want to help alumni in their law school application journey however we can. Alumni who would like assistance in the application process, or simply in making the decision whether to apply to law school, should contact our prelaw advisor.

For alumni in law school and exploring the job market, Centre is here to assist with networking opportunities across the Centre alumni legal network. Please make an appointment with the prelaw advisor to learn more. 

A judicial clerkship is often a valuable step for law school graduates to learn more about the court system before they enter practice. During a clerkship, you work closely with a particular judge, assisting them in evaluating cases. These are often very competitive and highly sought-after positions. Our graduates have clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals as well as numerous federal district courts and state courts.