Planning Your Pre-Law Path

There is no one journey to law school. This content will help you find your right path.

Pre-Law Phases

Depending on what year you’re in, here are guidelines for steps you can take.

First-Years & Sophomores Juniors & Seniors Alums

Paying for Law School

Law school can be extremely expensive. Being well educated about your financial options is important to making strategic financial decisions.

A law school’s cost of attendance is an estimate of the total cost of attending that school for one academic year. It includes the direct costs, like tuition and fees, and the indirect costs, like living expenses. The Law School Admission Council has a helpful article breaking down these costs: Law School Cost of Attendance. Start by researching the cost of attendance for the law schools you’re interested in on each school’s website.

Consider how much money you have that can go toward the cost of law school. Most people do not have enough to cover the entire cost and need to look into these funding options.

These funds do not have to be repaid and are offered through the school itself or occasionally through third-party organizations. Some schools offer merit-based aid, some offer need-based aid, and some offer a combination of the two. Start by looking at the grants and scholarships offered directly through the schools you’re interested in applying to. Research whether you will be automatically considered or need to apply separately and what the criteria are for eligibility. Next, you can research third-party scholarships. AccessLex has a database of over 800 scholarships and writing competitions for law school in their scholarship databank.

Smith College has two law prizes for seniors or graduates, the David Burres Memorial Law Prize and the Barbara Jordan Award for Study of Law and Public Policy.

Many students finance law school through a combination of federal and private loans. Federal loans usually have lower interest rates and may be eligible for loan forgiveness programs. You’ll need to read about the eligibility criteria to see if these are an option for you. Private loans usually have higher interest rates and are credit-based. We recommend you start building your credit score well in advance of applying for these loans. 

We highly recommend AccessLex as a resource for financial education for paying for law school, applying for scholarships and financial aid, filling out your FAFSA application, and evaluating loans.

First-Years & Sophomores

Law school does not require you to take certain classes or have a particular major. Pre-law is a declaration of your future intentions to go to law school rather than a set curriculum. We encourage you to embrace the openness of the pre-law path and take advantage of the variety of courses offered at Smith. Explore different academic avenues that interest you and figure out the course of study you’re most drawn to. Throughout this process, focus on developing the critical reasoning, writing, research, and analytical skills that will help you succeed in law school and your future career.

GPA is a meaningful factor in law school admissions. If you’re starting to struggle in a class, seek help proactively by going to your professor’s office hours and connecting with learning supports at Smith. Though GPA does matter, all law schools conduct holistic application reviews, which means they are not basing their decisions solely on numbers. In short, take your academics seriously but don’t let concerns over your GPA stop you from taking classes that genuinely interest and challenge you. Be mindful of the academic integrity rules in your classes and avoid Academic Integrity Board infractions as you will need to disclose these on your law school applications. Most professors are open to extensions or conversations about challenges you’re having in their classes—always pursue these avenues instead of any academic dishonesty.

One of the key benefits of Smith College is the opportunity to work closely with faculty. During these early years, make it a goal to attend office hours for each of your professors at least once per semester (and more is great!). Office hours are an opportunity to ask questions or discuss course material, but they are also a chance to get to know your professors and have them get to know you. You’ll find that almost no one has had a linear path in their own career journey and you may be surprised to learn how they got to be where they are now. Building these relationships with faculty will help you as you figure out your own path forward and is essential for requesting letters of recommendation for law school.

You don’t need legal experience to apply to law school. However, firsthand exposure to the legal field can be extremely beneficial to you in clarifying whether you want to pursue this career. Many people who are interested in law school have had very little direct experience with lawyers. And even for those who do have some exposure, there are a lot of fields of law and careers in them can look very different. Before investing considerable time and money in law school, it will be to your advantage to get some exposure to the legal field and determine what does and doesn’t appeal to you. This experience can take the form of:

  • internships (consider Praxis for funding an unpaid internship)
  • work
  • volunteering
  • informational interviews
  • job shadowing
  • alum panels and law school info sessions
  • career treks
  • Law School Admission Council forum

Law schools appreciate students who are involved in activities that interest them. These activities can be related to the law or otherwise, on or off campus. Aim for quality over quantity. Law school admissions would rather see sustained commitment to a few activities, organizations, or causes that you genuinely care about and can show an increase in leadership and involvement over time rather than participating in many activities in a superficial way.

Juniors & Seniors

If you think of the first two years as your chance to explore, this next phase is a chance to deepen and specialize.

Opportunities to consider:

Continue to build meaningful relationships with faculty. Consider taking multiple classes with a professor you really connect with. Most law schools want at least two faculty letters of recommendation. Begin thinking about whom you will ask and have conversations with them about your interest in law school.

Consider work, an internship, or volunteering in a field that you’d like more direct exposure to. Many pre-law students seek out advocacy organizations in fields that interest them (like LGBTQ rights, immigration, environmental justice, and more). Some students pursue internships with their local, state, or national government representatives. Smith’s Praxis program can provide funding for an unpaid internship, including one that you develop in collaboration with a host organization. Experience does not have to be explicitly in the legal field to be relevant or meaningful. Law schools are eager to have students who have a wide range of experiences: You can pursue work, internships, and volunteering in whatever areas interest you.

Consider pursuing a leadership role in an organization you’ve been involved with.

Alums

Roughly two-thirds of law school applicants take one or more years off before starting law school. Some alum applicants have been set on law school for a long time and have been working in a related field since graduation. Others find themselves coming to an interest in law school much later in life. Either way, be able to talk about how your path has led you to law school, but especially if you’ve had a career shift or a very nonlinear path, law schools will need you to explain how this interest has grown and developed for you.