Pre-Law

No matter your major, Valpo’s rigorous academic training will prepare you for law school and a fulfilling career in the law.

Why Pre-Law at Valpo?

Valpo pre-law students can major in anything from history and English to philosophy, sociology or political science. No matter your major, Valpo’s rigorous academic training will prepare you for law school and a fulfilling career in the law. Valpo faculty members will help you choose courses and a curriculum that will set you on the path to acceptance in your law school of choice.

Our graduates have attended top schools across the country including Notre Dame, Indiana University, the University of Michigan, Cornell, and Georgetown, and top Chicago-area school like Northwestern, Loyola, Chicago-Kent, DePaul, and many more.

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About Our Pre-Law Degree

There is no single major that will prepare you for law school. Valpo pre-law students major in everything from history and English to art, education, and computer science. Choose a major that will be challenging, enjoyable, and will allow you to achieve competitive grades. However, good pre-law training includes a fundamental understanding of political thought and awareness of the modern American political system. For that reason, many students major in political science. In fact, two-thirds of political science majors do attend law school. No matter which major is decided upon, being a pre-law student at Valpo involves rigorous academic training, which will prepare you for the challenges of law school and a fulfilling career serving in the area of justice.

The combination of rigorous academic work has prepared many of the University’s graduates for acceptance into law schools across the country, including IU-Bloomington, Notre Dame, University of Maryland, American University, Loyola – Chicago, Loyola- New Orleans, New England, Samford, UIC John Marshall, Chicago-Kent, DePaul, plus many more.

General Information

Preparation

Political Sciences Courses:

POLS 170: Field of Law
POLS 120: The Government of the United States
POLS 271: The Judicial Process
POLS 150: International Relations
POLS 371/372: Constitutional Law
These courses can be supplemented with offerings from other colleges and departments including Business Law, Elementary Logical and Critical Thinking, Criminology, and Intellectual Property, among others.

Courses that stress analytic and problem solving skills, critical reading skills, writing skills, oral communication and listening, general research skills, and organizational/management skills will be among the most valuable in preparing you for law school.

Internships:

A legal internship will likely help you evaluate whether a legal career is a good fit for your strengths and interests. It is hard to know whether you would enjoy any profession without seeing what professionals in that field do on a day-to-day basis. A legal internship would give you access to a legal environment, and ideally, by the end of the internship, you would have a better idea whether or not law school is the right choice for you. If you do decide to attend law school, previous legal internships can often help you form professional connections that could benefit you in your future legal career.

Extracurricular Activities:

Many pre-law students become leaders in these campus organizations as well as in the many other organizations dedicated to working for social justice. The Career Center also offers graduate/professional school fairs in order to interact with law school admissions representatives, and hosts legal career panels.

College Republicans
Pre-Law Society
Student Senate
College Democrats

Pre-Law Advisors

Seek guidance on the law school admissions process, including the LSAT, timelines, and applications.

James Old, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science
College of Arts & Sciences, Rm. 325
Tel. 219.464.6948
james.old@valpo.edu

College of Arts & Sciences

Program Rankings and Highlights

Internships

Legal internships will give you first-hand experience and help you form professional connections that will benefit your future legal career.

Experts and Mentors

Professors at Valpo help students develop their knowledge, career plans, and curiosity.

Extracurricular Activities

Many pre-law students become leaders in campus organizations and in the community.

College of Arts & Sciences

Meet Our Faculty

Professors. Mentors. Friends. At Valparaiso University, you will work on real-life problems alongside faculty leaders with decades of business experience and a true desire to do what’s best for you.

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