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Brooklyn College offers pre-law advising that gives students the support and guidance they need to make informed decisions about pursuing a career in the law.
We offer academic and career advisement that helps students clarify and achieve their goals. Advisers engage with students on their motivations to attend law school, curricular choices, the law school admission process, and legal careers. A faculty adviser assists students in assessing the academic, personal, and professional competencies and credentials needed to get into law school.
Law advising and mentoring is open to all students, regardless of their standing or major. Anyone with an interest in law, whether just beginning to explore or already working on law school applications, is welcome to visit the office and participate in events.
To get help creating a personalized academic plan, discuss the process of applying to law school, talk about legal careers, and more, contact:
Anna Gotlib Associate Professor, Philosophy Department Pre-Law Academic Adviser 3307 Boylan Hall E: AGotlib@brooklyn.cuny.edu P: 718.951.5311
Lawyers advise and represent clients on legal proceedings or transactions.
Source: Occupational Outlook Handbook
Lawyers work in a variety of workplaces and industries, including:
Brooklyn College offers a liberal arts education that serves as the best form of preparation for law school.
There are no specific courses or majors that a student is required to take to prepare them for the path to law school. Instead, students should select classes that broaden awareness of relevant issues, require critical analysis, and exercise analytical reasoning skills.
While there are many classes that are useful for students interested in the law, departments specializing in classes for pre-law students are Political Science, Philosophy, and Classics.
The Political Science Department offers courses dealing with government, politics, and power. There are specific lenses of government, legal systems, and constitutions.
Philosophy Department offers classes in reasoning, logic, social and political issues, and a number of ethical dilemmas, including ones in the law, the sciences, and public policy.
Classics courses can help with your analytical skills and the definition of law over time.
Additionally, we offers several majors and minors that might be of interest to students planning to go to law school.
Law schools offer a wide variety of degrees or certificates to match your interests, your goals, and your schedule.
While many students apply to law school during their senior year in college, it is also quite common to take a few years off between earning one’s undergraduate degree and entering law school.
Applicants ought to apply as early as possible in the application cycle, ideally by the end of October or November.
Law schools begin accepting applications each year on September 1 for admission in the following year.
Although there are some exceptions, the general rule is that law school students begin their studies in the fall. This means that it is rare for students to be able to begin law school in the spring semester.
Applications are processed on a rolling basis, which means that schools will begin reviewing them as soon as they are received.
While most schools advertise an application deadline of the following spring or summer (earlier for Early Decision/Early Action programs and priority deadlines), by those dates most of the seats and considerably more of the available scholarship dollars for the incoming class will already have been given away.
The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) website outlines everything you need to know to apply to law school. It is also the website where you will sign up for the LSAT.
Additionally, you will use the LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service (CAS), which is loosely comparable to the Common Application for undergraduate admissions. The CAS will help applicants collect some of the necessary components of their applications and will produce a CAS report for applicants and send the report to law schools on the applicant’s behalf.
Students should make sure that they are familiar with the common components of a law school application:
More information is available at LSAC.
Applicants interested in attending law school will likely need to complete a standardized admission test.
The two most commonly accepted tests by law schools accredited by the American Bar Association are the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
Students should explore both testing options and determine which best works for their educational plans.
It is best to take the LSAT before the application season begins.
This means that they should plan to take the LSAT (at least for the first time) during the spring or summer of the application year.
For students still enrolled in classes during the spring semester, the summer test may be more convenient, as it allows for dedicated study time after classes have ended. Taking the test before the beginning of the application cycle leaves time for an applicant to retake the test, if necessary, and still apply on time.
Note that applicants typically must register for an exam more than a month before the actual test date.
Law school typically lasts three years, and the first year is especially rigorous.
The first year of classes is similar, but not identical, at all law schools. Almost every school offers a core curriculum of civil procedure, criminal law, contracts, legal research and writing, legal methods, torts, constitutional law, and property, though not necessarily all during the first year.
At some law schools, required courses comprise only a small part of the JD curriculum; at other law schools, required courses and other experiences take up more of the curriculum.
Generally speaking, you will have the opportunity to take a variety of electives during your second and third years of law school.
Source: LSAC
The Magner Career Center gives students interested in careers in law access to career advisement, professional networks, career events, internships, and more to help them clarify and achieve their goals.
For more information, contact Pamela Brown-Laurenceau.
By participating in several career events held each year, students also have access to successful Brooklyn College alumni who share their experiences working in the legal field, and provide students with valuable advice on navigating the pro’s and con’s of the profession. Here are just some of the past participants:
Through the generosity of the Geen family, students like Jessica Betancourt and Finn Mayock received funding to support their LSAT preparation or participate in an unpaid internship.
