The College of New Jersey

Prelaw Brochure 2020-2021
Welcome

The College of New Jersey and the Prelaw Advisory Committee at the College are committed to providing students with the best possible preparation for the law school admissions process, for law school itself and for the practice of law. In recent years, our students have been admitted to some of the best law schools in the country. Students thinking of applying to law school should choose a major that seems interesting to them and that challenges them to develop the critical thinking and writing skills that will be important to them in law school and as practicing attorneys. In contrast to preparation for medical school, there is no standard prelaw curriculum in the United States. `Thus, the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) asks nothing about the law and instead exhaustively tests the ability to make valid inferences, to determine what is wrong with an argument and to process and analyze written materials accurately under time pressure. That means that any major can potentially serve as ideal prelaw preparation. Thus, students at TCNJ from many different majors meet with great success in the law school application process. Those majors include (among others): Criminology, Economics, Accountancy, English, History, Philosophy and Political Science. Still other majors that serve as excellent prelaw preparation include African-American Studies, Psychology and Women, Gender and Sexuality. Yet it should be recognized that a major in Computer Science, Math or Physics is just as appropriate for the prelaw student. Students who want to explore different perspectives on the law are welcome to pair their chosen major with either the Law and Society Interdisciplinary Concentration or the Law, Politics and Philosophy Interdisciplinary Minor. (Links to these programs can be found at the top of this page.) These programs do not try to teach students the law – that is the job of the law schools – but rather allow the student to gain some familiarity with the law and to test their interest in the law while at the same time developing a strong background in their own major. Beyond the minor and concentration, another core component of the Prelaw Program at TCNJ is its system of one-on-one advising. Interested students are welcome to contact Professor Melinda Roberts with any questions they have regarding the Prelaw Program and to request a Designated Prelaw Advisor. (Her contact information, and contact information for other members of the Prelaw Advisory Committee, is available in the sidebar.) For more information, please see the Prelaw Brochure (a link to which can be found at the top of this page).
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Need a Dean’s Certificate or Dean’s Letter?

If you require a Dean’s Certificate or Dean’s Letter to apply to law school, please contact Melinda A. Roberts at robertsm@tcnj.edu.

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