Pre-Law
Advisor

Pre-Law Services
& Activities

Preparing for
Law School

Applying to
Law School

Links &
Resources

Mission and Purpose

The mission of the Pre-Law Program at Wheaton College is to serve students who are exploring or confirming a call to build the Christian church and improve society worldwide through the study and practice of law.

The Pre-Law Program provides students with access to a variety of resources, activities, and events that focus on mastering the law school admissions process, preparing for a legal education, and understanding the various career paths in the legal profession.

The Pre-Law Program represents a menu of choices rather than a specific program of studies, and students who are thinking about becoming a lawyer or who are interested in the law may select their own level of involvement in the Pre-Law Program.

Pre-Law Advisor

At the center of the Pre-Law Program is the Pre-Law Advisor. The William Volkman Chair of Business and Law, a chair endowed by alumni in honor of a former professor at Wheaton College, is held by a tenure-track professor who teaches law-related classes in the Department of Business and Economics and Department of Politics and International Relations and who serves as the Pre-Law Advisor. The photo at left shows William Volkman, left, with the Pre-Law Advisor, Stephen Bretsen.

Pre-Law Program Services

The Pre-Law Advisor is available to counsel and mentor students and alumni individually on programs of study for law school, the law school admissions process, and the variety of professional roles available to lawyers.

Pre-law students are able to:

• Enhance their pre-professional development through a variety of activities and events, such as:
  
  
  • Taking free, proctored, on-campus LSAT practice tests.
    
    
  • Attending law school fairs and workshops on law school applications and financing a legal education.
    
    
  • Participating in roundtable discussions with Wheaton College graduates who are currently law students to learn about their experiences in law school and to answer questions about the transition from a Christian liberal arts college to a secular law school.
    
    
  • Listening to speakers who represent a variety of career paths in the legal profession, such as solo practitioners, associates and partners in large law firms, in-house counsel from corporations and non-profit associations, attorneys with public interest organizations, and government attorneys.
    
    
  • Attending the Kamm Memorial Lecture, an endowed lecture given each year on a subject related to jurisprudence by a prominent scholar or practitioner in the legal field.
    
    
  • Watching and discussing feature films that portray attorneys with other pre-law students.
    
    
• Serve in leadership roles in the Pre-Law Society, a student organization that fosters Christian fellowship among students at Wheaton College interested in law school and the legal profession.
  
  
• Have access to a Pre-Law Library with LSAT preparation materials and practice tests, law school catalogs and guides, and books on the legal profession.
  
  
• Develop one-on-one relationships with attorneys to obtain firsthand experiences in a law related setting. These relationships range from one-time informational interviews to longer “shadowing” experiences, internships, and mentor relationships. The attorneys are drawn from alumni, friends of Wheaton College, and members of the Christian Legal Society.
  
  
• Explore various facets of the law through several undergraduate law courses in various departments, such as Introduction to Law, Business Law, Constitutional Law, International Law, and Philosophy of Law. In addition, students can supplement their major course of studies with the Pre-Law Studies Certificate Program, an interdisciplinary program designed to provide a concentration of course work that supports the future study and practice of law.