Explore Pre-Law
What is pre-law?
Pre-law is a field of study that prepares students for admission to law school. There is no specific pre-law major or set of courses required for admission to law school, and there’s no official pre-law designation at Charlotte. If you want to stay up-to-date with pre-law programming, opportunities, and events, join the Pre-Law Email List.
The admissions process for law school is highly competitive, so it is important for pre-law students to start planning early (often 2 years before planning to begin law school). You should take the LSAT, the standardized test required for admission to law school, and begin researching law schools that they are interested in attending. Here is an example timeline:
- Start law school: Fall 2028
- Submit applications: Fall 2027
- Work on applications (write statements, get references, order transcripts): Summer 2026
- Take LSAT (2nd time, if needed): Summer/Fall 2026
- Take LSAT (1st time): Spring/Summer 2026
- Study for LSAT: Fall 2025/Spring 2026
Pre-law can be a challenging but rewarding path. By taking the right courses, getting involved in extracurricular activities, and starting the admissions process early, pre-law students can increase the chance of success in law school and a career in law.
Explore the field
Learn about law
Engage in campus activities and organizations to gain access to guest speakers, professionals to shadow, and other experiences to help you learn more about the legal profession.
Build experience. Law school candidates aren’t required to have law experience, but getting exposure to the legal field can be helpful. Law school admissions committees look for candidates to have experience, which may be leadership experience, community involvement, internships*, undergraduate research, or other forms of experiential learning. *Note that most legal internships are for current law school students (internship descriptions may use the terms 1L, 2L, or 3L, which indicates that they’re seeking a current law student in a specific year of law school). Students may look for an internship related to the area of law they’re interested in (a business internship if interested in business law, a nonprofit internship if interested in civil rights law, etc.)
Get additional support through meeting with your academic advisor or career coach.
(through Hire-A-Niner)
Meet with the Pre-Law Advisor (current students and alumni):
You can set up an appointment with Brooke Brown, Charlotte’s Pre-Law Advisor, through your Hire-A-Niner account. Once you’ve logged in, click Appointments at the top, then Request a New Appointment.
On the next screen, check the box next to Brooke’s name and click Check Availability. Then on the right, you’ll see available appointment times. Select an appointment and complete the pop-up form (appointment format and notes). In-person and virtual appointments are available.