Preparing and Planning

The best major for a prospective law student is the major in which the student will find the greatest enjoyment and earn the strongest grades. Law schools will teach their students everything they need them to know, so no preference is given to students based on their undergraduate major. 

While there is no preferred major or set of required classes that pre-Law students need to take, it is important to focus on strengthening the reading, writing, and analytical skills that will help students to successfully apply for and complete law school. Because of this, it is helpful for students to take courses that will give them opportunities to grow these skills, both within their major and in general education and elective coursework.

Law schools like to see that prospective law students have interests beyond the classroom. Whether you are involved in volunteer work, student organizations, or sports, the quality of your commitment to and involvement in these activities is more important than the quantity of activities. Participating in one organization for multiple years and being able to talk about its value to you and the skills you have developed from your participation is better than joining six clubs and not having enough time to do much more than sign the attendance sheet for any of them. Remember that these activities will eventually go on your law school resume; if you do not have meaningful involvement with the organizations you join, you will not have much to write about. Your extracurricular involvement also does not need to be related to law in any way. You should select activities and organizations about which you are really passionate. Law schools want to see dedication and motivation, and the best way to show those qualities is by getting involved in things that genuinely interest you.

These three interrelated things are extremely beneficial to a student who is preparing to apply to law school, and even more beneficial once they are in law school. So what are they?

• Grit: In simple terms, grit is the personality trait that combines perseverance and a passion for achieving long-term goals. ¹ People with more grit tend to have a greater ability to see the long-term goals they set to completion. Some people have this trait naturally, but anyone can take steps to increase their grit.
• Resilience: Resilience is the ability to adapt to difficult situations. ² Resilient people experience the same range of feelings as everyone else, but they are able to continue to function through difficult experiences. It is important to note that resilient people do not usually continue to function well by just toughing things out; their willingness to reach out for support contributes positively to their resilience.
• Growth Mindset: A growth mindset refers to the idea that the skills, intelligence, and abilities we have are not set in stone. People can build new skills and grow from taking on new challenges, making mistakes, and accepting constructive feedback. People who have a growth mindset are better able to thrive in environments where their natural abilities are going to be stretched and where constructive criticism and correction are to be expected.

It should come as no surprise that students who plan to go to law school - a long-term, high-intensity undertaking that will require them to take on new challenges - will benefit from working to build their grit, resilience, and a growth mindset during their undergraduate career. 

So how can students build and strengthen these traits? Luckily, there is a lot of great information out there. Below are links to just a few of the helpful resources that are freely available:

• Grit:
  • “Grit and How to Grow It”
  • “To Build Grit, Go Back to Basics”
• Resilience
  • “Resilience: Build Skills to Endure Hardship”
  • “10 Ways to Build Resilience”
• Growth Mindset
  • “15 Ways to Build a Growth Mindset”
  • “How to Build a Growth Mindset in Eight Steps”

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^{1 Von Culin, K. R., Tsukayama, E., & Duckworth, A. L. (2014, March 27). Unpacking grit: Motivational correlates of perseverance and passion for long-term goals. The Journal of Positive Psychology.} 

^{2 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2022, July 14). How to build resiliency. Mayo Clinic.} 

Executive function is, in simple terms, the set of skills that allow you to plan, track, and successfully complete the short-term and long-term goals that you are juggling at any given time. ³ If you have little difficulty with effectively organizing your time, managing your priorities, avoiding procrastination, and making sure you still have time for self-care and socialization, then you probably have strong executive functioning skills. If you do not find that these things come naturally to you, then you are certainly not the only one - many people struggle with executive functioning for a wide variety of reasons. Students who were able to get by on underdeveloped executive functioning skills in high school often find that the demands of college require them to be more intentional in developing study, note-taking, and time management skills. ⁴ These skills become even more critical in law school, where no amount of intelligence will make up for inadequate studying and time management. College is a great place for prospective law students to work on developing their executive functioning skills so that they are better prepared to meet the challenges of law school. At UM-Dearborn, Academic Success has many online tools that can help students to improve their executive functioning.

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^{3 Executive function. Psychology Today. (n.d.).} 

^{4 Executive functioning strategies for college students. Dean College. (2020, April 13).}  

When you apply to law schools you will need letters of recommendation from 2-3 people. If you are currently a student, at least one (and preferably two) of these must be academic. Consequently, it is important to start building strong relationships with your professors early on so that they can observe not only the strength of your work, but also how you have grown over time. It is best to aim for quality rather than quantity when it comes to building these relationships; you only need two faculty members to recommend you and you want them to be able to speak in depth about who you are as a person and a student. Taking multiple classes with the same faculty members and going to office hours frequently is a good way to start building these relationships.