LSAT Law School Admission Test & Pre-Law Advising - Academic Advising at SUNY Plattsburgh

LSAT (Law School Admission Test) & Pre-Law Advising

Interested in Law School?

You could be early in your college career, just starting to think about law school as an option. Or had your heart set on being an attorney your entire life. It's also possible you are near the end of your undergraduate degree and only recently decided on a new direction toward the field of law. In any of these cases, our professional advisors in the Academic Advising Office can provide one-on-one, pre-law consultations for Plattsburgh students who are law school bound.

Applicants to law schools come from a variety of undergraduate majors, not just one

Partially for that reason, the Academic Advising Office can provide directions and referrals for SUNY Plattsburgh students across campus wishing to pursue law school. 

Some students follow a more traditional pre-law path, with majors such as Political Science, Communication Studies, or History. It is not uncommon for law school applicants to study in other disciplines such as music, anthropology, literature, or ecology. (In fact, it's possible that the issues raised in your major -- such as gender & women's studies, environmental science, economics, etc.--were what ignited your interest in causes and issues with legal implications.)

It is important to law school admissions that you immersed yourself in a "rigorous course of undergraduate study" -- one that challenged and interested you, and facilitated a broad based knowledge of the world (like your General Education program does).

Regardless of your undergraduate major/minor, there are key knowledge and skill areas that best prepare you for the demands of law school, including 

• Oral & Written Expression: analytical/critical thinking, speech/rhetoric, logic/argumentation, technical writing.
• An Appreciation for History: history of the US, history of political ideals, role of economy in history, etc.
• An Understanding of People & Societies: human behavior, societal behaviors, (inter-)cultural or global issues.

How We May Help You

In concert with your primary academic advisor, our advisors can help to guide your curriculum choices based upon your specialty interests, background, and the useful information our office maintains from the American Bar Association and the Law School Admissions Council.

Our staff utilizes a wide variety of resources to assist you, including: 

• The ABA-LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools (a must-see, comprehensive guide to application processes, stats, and pre-law preparation)
• The GRE Information and Registration Bulletin (for those students entering MA programs that could lead to joint J.D. programs)
• A collection of news bulletins and hard copy prospectus booklets from various law schools for you to browse
• Pre-law curriculum guide (an interdisciplinary list of law-related courses offered at SUNY Plattsburgh)
• Referral to SUNY Plattsburgh's Career Development Center (for advice and counseling on pre-law work opportunities, personal essay writing, interviewing skills, and building a credential file)

To discuss your law school intentions, and to review the guidebooks we have available, call 518-564-2080 for an appointment.

Try Some Exploring...

On the Web: For the most up-to-date testing (LSAT) and Credential Assembly (LSDAS) registration information, go to http://www.lsac.org/

At any stage of your law school planning, it's good measure to spend time surfing key websites that describe law school admission trends, timelines for planning & applying, and acceptance rates/average scores for schools of interest.

One of your first online stops should be the Law School Admission Council site - an essential portal of information. There is an especially helpful link on "Thinking about Law School" for those of you in the early stages of planning.

On the LSAC site, you may set up a secure account that gives you access to:

• Test dates, locations, and fees
• LSAT preparation
• Law school research
• LSAT test registration
• Law school applications
• Ordering publications
• and much more!

2011-2012 LSAT Testing Schedule (at SUNY Plattsburgh)

The Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) is administered four times each year (June, October, December, February). SUNY Plattsburgh is a published LSAT test site for TWO of those test dates (June and October); the next closest sites in the US are Canton, NY and Albany, NY.

You may register for the LSAT administered at SUNY Plattsburgh, and you do not need to be a SUNY Plattsburgh student to do so. When you register online using the LSAC web site, select Plattsburgh, NY (test site code 3177).

NEXT TEST DATES (with REGISTRATION DEADLINE):

• Test Date: Saturday 10/1/2011 (On-time Registration Deadline, Aug 30, 2011) -- administered at SUNY Plattsburgh
• Test Date: Saturday 12/3/2011 (On-time Registration Deadline, Nov 2, 2011) -- not administered at SUNY Plattsburgh
• Test Date: Saturday 2/11/2012 (On-time Registration Deadline, Jan 10, 2012) -- not administered at SUNY Plattsburgh

Contact Information

Academic Advising
Office Location: Feinberg 101-103
Phone: (518) 564-2080
Fax: (518) 564-2079
Email: advise@plattsburgh.edu