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Pre-Law Program
Welcome to UTRGV's pre-law program. To be clear, UTRGV’s pre-law program does not constitute a pre-law major or a course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree. Any UTRGV student no matter their major can participate in the pre-law program. There are no specific requirements for entering the pre-law program except for the requirement to apply for admission to the Law School Preparation Institute (LSPI) described below. Beyond applying for admission to UTRGV in general, students do not need to apply before they can participate in the two major components of the pre-law program: 1) the Minor in Legal Studies as well as 2) the Pre-Law Student Association on the Brownsville campus and the Pre-Law Society on the Edinburg campus. Although it is highly recommended that students in the program take advantage of both components, they do not need to be Legal Studies minors before being members of a pre-law organization. Likewise, students need not be members of a pre-law organization before they can take courses toward satisfying the Legal Studies Minor.
The following are details on these two programs. First, the Pre-Law Society is a student-run organization that is open to students of all majors. At the general meetings for the Pre-Law Society, participants dialogue with speakers, such as leaders of the local legal community as well as law school admission officers or engage in other activities designed to facilitate their application to law school. Current information about the Pre-Law Society is available at:
Pre-Law Society
Second, the Minor in Legal Studies develops student skills in analysis and writing while introducing them to the knowledge that they will more extensively acquire in law school. The course requirements for this minor are available at the following web address.
In pursuing this minor, you should give priority to taking the course that is required or taught only once every two years, such as HIST 3329 American Legal History.
Finally, there is the Law School Preparation Institute (LSPI), which consists of two rigorous courses administered over the summer. This program is designed to introduce students to the analytical skills that they will employ in law school. In addition, law school admission officers visit with LSPI students. LSPI admission is by application only, and applicants must have at least 45 hours of coursework completed and generally need at least a 3.2 GPA to be admitted.
One of the goals of the pre-law program is to facilitate entrance into law school. Applicants to law schools are selected primarily on the basis of these factors:
1) the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score,
2) undergraduate grade point average (GPA),
3) a personal writing statement,
4) letters of recommendation, and
5) such additional factors as extra-curricular activities and work experiences.
Admission officers give most weight to the LSAT score and the GPA, which are considered the cake and the other factors are merely the icing. A perfect score on the LSAT is a 180, and students should aim for a 3.2 GPA or higher. The more that a student’s GPA falls below this level, the more that admission possibilities decrease until law school admission is highly unlikely. Law schools are more likely to admit applicants who apply early in the application process or at least before March if applying to start law school in the subsequent fall. As the application period progresses from the beginning toward March, fear of not filling all the class seats switches to pickiness among law school admission officers. Applicants generally must apply to law school via the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). Below is a link to the LSAC’s excellent tool for discerning the probability for admission to a certain law school based on your LSAT score and GPA.
https://officialguide.lsac.org/release/OfficialGuide_Default.aspx
For more information, contact:
Dr. William A. Gordon, Pre-Law Advisor for Brownsville
william.gordon@utrgv.edu
Office: Edinburg, ELABN 226
Phone: 956-665-3322
Dr. Andrew H. Smith, Pre-Law Advisor for Edinburg, Director of the Law School Preparation Institute (LSPI)
andrew.smith@utrgv.edu
Office: Edinburg, ELABN 204
Phone: 956-665-8854
Dr. Andrew H. Smith (in red shirt) and participants in the Law School Preparation Institute (LSPI) at the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR), a project of the American Bar Association Commission on Immigration, Texas State Bar, and American Immigration Lawyers Association.
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