Prepare for law school with a philosophy pre-law certificate.
The philosophy pre-law certificate is primarily guided by the published recommendations of the American Bar Association (ABA).
The ABA encourages prospective law students to pursue classes that cultivate a set of skills that will enhance the study of law. To this end, Philosophy’s Pre-law Certification requires that students take classes that typically cultivate the ABA’s recommended skill set:
- Problem Solving: involves courses and other experiences that will engage students in critical thinking about important issues, challenge beliefs and improve tolerance for uncertainty and criticism.
- Critical Reading: involves close reading and critical analysis of complex textual material.
- Writing and Editing: involves preparing original pieces of substantial length and revising written work in response to constructive criticism. Language is the most important tool of a lawyer, and lawyers must learn how to express themselves clearly and concisely.
- Oral Communication and Listening: involves the ability to speak clearly and persuasively and excellent listening skills.
- Research: involves undertaking a project that requires significant library research and the analysis of large amounts of information obtained from that research.
Students pursuing the certificate must enroll through an advisor before completing 105 credit hours.
Adding the Philosophy Pre-Law Certificate
In order to add the Pre-Law certificate, students must 1) have less than 105 completed credit hours; 2) have completed at least 1 course towards the certificate program; and 3) have an overall TAMU GPA of at least 2.0.
Because the certificate program is an additional academic program, students should speak with their primary major advisor to ensure they will approve the addition of the certificate.
Students who wish to add the Philosophy Pre-Law Certificate can request approval through this online form. Please allow at least 10 business days processing time for a response. During high-volume advising times (the week before classes begin, the first week of classes, and pre-registration), certificate requests will be suspended.
Program Contact
Ziena Miller, Undergraduate Academic Advisor for Philosophy