Tips for First Years and Sophomores Considering Law School
Select a major in a field that interests you and in which you can excel. Don’t worry about picking courses that you think will impress law school admissions committees but do challenge yourself.
Attend your professors’ office hours. Beyond getting your questions answered, you might learn about something—an area of research, an opportunity, a career path--of which you were not aware. When the time comes, it won’t be a challenge to find professors to ask for letters of recommendation.
Find out as much as you can about the practice of law. Do a job shadow with a nearby Bowdoin alum or an informational interview with an alum who practices law, learn from campus speakers about their law-related careers, attend a Pre-Law program for students from underrepresented backgrounds (many of which are free) or listen to podcasts of various lawyers describing their work on lstradio.com. See Pre-Law Advisor Nancy Gibson for more information.
Attend Law Day, sponsored by Bowdoin, Bates and Colby at the University of Maine School of Law in Portland. Transportation is provided.
Prioritize academics! Creating a strong academic record is critical to your future as a law student.
Participate in at least one or two activities beyond your studies while at Bowdoin. These activities include a part-time job, athletics, student clubs or community work and volunteering. Law admissions officers understand that it can be difficult to pursue both part-time work and extracurricular activities. If you need to work part-time, that may be your activity. Your extracurricular activities will not make up for classroom success so don’t spread yourself too thin.
Take classes that encourage a great deal of writing and analysis; these are skills that are necessary for success in law school.
Receive info about law-related events and internships in CXD’s Government, Law and Policy newsletter. To receive the newsletter, just be sure to select “Legal” as a Career Interest in your Handshake account.