Pre-Law is not a major as such.  It is an emphasis that the student may select to help him/her prepare for law school and the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). Working with the pre-law advisor and the academic major advisor, pre-law students complete an appropriate academic major in the liberal arts such as Political Science, English, Women's Studies, History, Psychology, Sociology, or Economics or an appropriate major in Business such as Accounting, Management, or Finance and Business Law.  Besides minors in the above liberal arts or business areas students can also select an appropriate minor such as criminal justice or philosophy as part of the preparation for law school. In addition, the student will be advised to take a variety of courses that help him or her prepare for a career in the law.  This includes courses to enhance his or her writing skills, logical analysis, and problem solving skills as well as some substantive law courses such as Constitutional Law, Business Law, The Judicial Process, Criminal Justice and the Constitution, Civil Liberties and the Constitution, or Sociology of Law.

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater has an outstanding law collection in the library that includes decisions from all federal and fifty state courts as well as the finding and analytical resources to locate appropriate court cases or statutory law.

A special feature of the pre-law program is the course in Resources for Legal Research which serves as requirement for the legal internship program where the student is placed with an area attorney, judge, or district attorney.  In this setting, the student will have an opportunity to conduct legal research related to a practical issue and observe the legal process in action.

Upon completion of the four year undergraduate degree, students then attend a law school for three years to receive the professional training necessary to take the bar exam and become a member of the bar.  Wisconsin does provide that students who graduate from either Marquette or UW-Madison law schools with the appropriate grade point average can be admitted to the bar without taking the bar examination.

For further information contact: