Program Requirements
If you are in the College of Arts and Sciences and plan to enter law school, complete the specific requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree in English (BA5231, BA5232) and take relevant electives in other schools and departments. Consult your faculty advisor. Law schools prescribe no special curriculum. As a prelaw major, you may complete a major of your principal interest. The Departments of Economics, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Sociology have designated advisors assigned to help students interested in law careers.
Preparation for Law
If you are in the College of Arts and Sciences and plan to enter law school, complete the specific requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree. No special curriculum is prescribed. You may complete a major in the area of your principal interest. Select courses from as many of the following as possible: English composition and literature and American literature; history, especially for English and American; political science; economics; sociology; a laboratory science; mathematics; philosophy, including ethics and logic; accounting; psychology; and a foreign language. Courses in speech and training in expression, as well as activities that develop the capacity for independent thought and action, are recommended.
The Departments of Economics, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Sociology and Anthropology designate prelaw faculty advisors. These advisors have information about the Law School Admission Test and can supply applications. See the respective department listings for specific information about major requirements. A further opportunity is the environmental prelaw major offered by the Department of Geography. See Geography—Environmental Prelaw for information. The Department of Philosophy offers an opportunity to prepare for the study of law through a program emphasizing logic and the analysis of social, political, and legal thought. See Philosophy—Prelaw major. The Prelaw program in the Department of Political Science centers on the Law, Justice, and Political Thought track which offers a liberal arts overview for undergraduate prelaw students, as well as those studying political theory and legal institutions from a broader perspective. See Political Science—Prelaw major.
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that to enter law school you must be able to show possession of an undergraduate degree from an approved college if you wish to take the Ohio Bar Examination. Law schools in the state of Ohio require the degree of all entering students, regardless of the state in which they plan to take the bar examination.
The degree in absentia privilege is available if you do not plan to seek admission to an Ohio law school. After you have completed 144 quarter hours at Ohio University with a GPA of 2.0 or above on all hours attempted, and have satisfied the requirements for a B.A. or B.S., you may obtain the degree after completing, at an accredited school of law, a full year’s work of the quality prescribed for a bachelor’s degree at Ohio University, provided you are eligible for advancement without condition to the second year of law school. Before entering the school of law, you must secure a statement in writing from the dean giving you the in absentia privilege.
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