Preprofessional Programs

Quick Links

Prelaw Studies

Students who are interested in attending law school should begin preparing long before graduation. The discipline of law is for students who are interested in combining precision in thinking, researching, and writing with a desire to work with people. While many choose to practice law in the courtroom, graduates of law leverage their newly developed skills to excel in other fields. A law education equips students for success in a law practice, public service, teaching, and business.

Through a structured four-year process, the TTU Prelaw Program cultivates the undergraduate to become a confident and articulate law school applicant bearing exceptional qualifications. Participants will focus on the three essential areas identified by law school professionals nationwide:

1. Writing and speaking with comprehension and clarity
2. Understanding social institutions and human nature
3. Thinking creatively and analytically

To excel in these areas, students in the program will achieve the following:

• Connect one to one with an academic advisor who specializes in preparing students for the challenges of law school
• Establish professional relationships with faculty and mentors
• Determine their best-fit academic major
• Rigorously pursue excellence and academic challenges
• Explore service learning and undergraduate research opportunities
• Develop strong time management practices
• Identify options for financing their law school educations
• Prepare for and practice taking the LSAT exam
• Prepare and submit law school application packets
  

Prospective law students need a four-year bachelor’s degree in the academic discipline of their choice. Law schools are generally most interested in applicants who exhibit intellectual maturity and have the foundation of a broad-based liberal arts education. They consider exceptional applicants from diverse disciplines and backgrounds, often providing programs for early admission to qualified applicants. The Texas Tech University School of Law offers four such early admission programs for qualified students. (Visit www.prelaw.ttu.edu/earlyadmit for more information.)

The TTU Prelaw Program works with students primarily via three initial curricular routes:

1. Undeclared/Exploratory Students (PLAW)
   Initially, a student can be designated as PLAW in the College of Arts and Sciences. Using the Advising Center DISCOVERY! tools, students explore best-fit majors through aligning values, goals, and personal objectives. PLAW status allows students the freedom to explore best-fit academic majors to stay on track for graduating on schedule while preparing for law school.
2. Declared Academic Major
   The TTU Prelaw Program partners with students and the academic advisors who specialize in their declared majors. This combined guidance will support the pursuit of undergraduate success while also preparing students for the transition to law school. Prelaw advisors help students navigate the larger process while tracking student progress.
3. Legal Studies Minor
   The interdisciplinary minor in legal studies formally guides and encourages the exploration of law and its influence in society. The curriculum blends challenging course options in students’ home disciplines with relevant interdisciplinary electives to facilitate an interest in and an appreciation for the beneficial application of theory and research through the vehicle of law.
   

Students looking for an extra boost toward the future should consider joining the Prelaw Freshman Interest Group (FIG), which will co-enroll them in a core set of classes during their first semester. The FIG experience is maximized when students also live together in the Prelaw Learning Community, two residence hall floors designated exclusively for prelaw students.

Students can join the TTU Prelaw Program at any time; for the most benefit, it is best to start as soon as possible.

Contact information: 79 Holden Hall, 806.742.2189, prelaw@ttu.edu, www.prelaw.ttu.edu

 

Legal Studies Minor

The 21 credit hour minor consists of six uniformly required courses and three directed electives. The TTU Prelaw Program is responsible for certifying completion of the requirements for the minor in conjunction with the standard graduation certification processes used in each college. Students must have a minimum 2.75 cumulative GPA to declare and a grade of C or better is needed to complete minor requirements. A minimum of nine credits must be completed in residence at Texas Tech University. Service learning options are valued and recommended when available.

Required Coursework

With emphasis on academic and institutional engagement, utilization of resources, intellectual agility, and future application, the following 12 credit hours of coursework will be required for all students.

• IS 1100 Tech Transition: Freshman Seminar (or seminar substitute)
• LIBR 1100 Introduction to Library Research
• IS 4100 Strengths-Based Senior Seminar
• COMS 3313 Persuasion
• ENGL 2311 Introduction to Technical Writing
• PHIL 2310 Logic

Elective Coursework

The remaining 9 credit hours will be divided among the three curricular learning objectives of the minor: Social Science, Communication, and Professional Practice. Courses required explicitly and without alternative by a student’s declared major may not be used to fulfill elective coursework in the legal studies minor. Appropriate alternative courses will be considered. Students must select one course from each of the following areas:

Social Science

• HDFS 4343 Family Law and Public Policy
• HIST 4324 Courts and Capitalism
• PHIL 2320 Introduction to Ethics
• POLS 3351 The Judicial Process
• PSY 4305 Abnormal Psychology
• SOC 3327 Sociology of Law and Policing
• WS 4327 Gender, Race, and Class in U.S. Law

Communication

• COMS 3314 Argumentation and Debate
• COMS 3332 Intercultural Communication
• COMS 3356 Leadership and Communication
• ENGL 2391 Introduction to Critical Writing
• ENGL 3362 Rhetorical Criticism
• ENGL 3365 Professional Report Writing
• MCOM 3320 Mass Communications Law
• THA 2301 Introduction to Acting

Professional Practice

• AAEC 4320 Agribusiness Law
• ARCH 5392 Professional Practice
• BA 3302 Financial and Managerial Accounting
• ECO 3326 Industrial Organization, Antitrust, and Regulation
• EDLD 5340 Educational Law
• ENGR 4392 Engineering Ethics and Its Impact on Society
• HONS 2311 Seminar in International Affairs
• PFP 3301 Personal and Family Finance
• PSY 4384 Forensic Psychology
• RHIM 4313 Legal Aspects of Hospitality Industry

Contact information: 79 Holden Hall, 806.742.2189, prelaw@ttu.edu, www.prelaw.ttu.edu

Back to Top

 

Preprofessional Health Careers

Professional health schools include dentistry, medicine, nursing, optometry, pharmacy, and allied health sciences. Most professional schools in the field of health care require the completion of specific college level science and general education courses prior to admission. The Pre-Professional Health Careers Office maintains a collection of related information on various health careers. Contact information: Pre-Professional Health Careers Office, 340A Chemistry Building, 806.742.3078.

Individual advising regarding preparing students for admission to professional health schools is done by advisors in the Pre-Professional Health Careers Office up to the time students file a degree plan. Most professional health schools do not specify particular majors as part of their admission requirements. Texas Tech does not offer degrees in premedicine, predentistry, or other prehealth areas. Each preprofessional health careers student who intends to earn a baccalaureate degree must choose a major by the junior year and complete the courses required for admission into the professional health school. Preprofessional health careers students are advised to choose a major offered within any of the colleges at the university. The major should suit the student’s individual interests and abilities and offer alternative career options in the event initial career plans change.

Courses listed as prerequisites for professional schools must be college-level courses taken for letter grades. However, credit by examination, using the standardized tests described in this catalog, is also acceptable for certain courses. Science courses required by professional health schools are those required of science majors. Students are responsible for knowing any special requirements of the professional schools they plan to attend. The Pre-Professional Health Careers Committee will assist Texas Tech University students in coordinating their evaluation packets for application to schools of dentistry, medicine, optometry, or podiatry. Evaluation forms are available in the Pre-Professional Health Careers Office.

 

Predentistry

The minimum admission requirements for most dental schools in the United States are 14 semester hours of biology, 8 semester hours of general chemistry, 8 semester hours of organic chemistry, 8 semester hours of physics, and 6 semester hours of English. Applicants to dental schools are required to take the Dental Admission Test and submit their applications approximately one year prior to the planned matriculation. For admission requirements of a specific dental school, students should consult the dental school’s Web site. A formal minimum of 90 semester hours is stated for some schools. However, students should plan to complete a baccalaureate degree in the field of their choice before entering dental school.

 

Premedicine

The minimum admission requirements for most medical schools in the United States are at least 90 semester hours in an accredited college or university, including 6 semester hours of English, 3 semester hours of calculus or statistics, 14 semester hours of biology, 8 semester hours of general chemistry, 8 semester hours of organic chemistry, and 8 semester hours of physics.

All applicants to medical schools are required to take the Medical College Admission Test and submit their applications to the schools approximately one year prior to the date of the planned matriculation. For admission requirements of medical schools, students should consult the latest edition of Medical School Admission Requirements or the medical school’s Web site.

Students should plan to complete a baccalaureate degree in the field of their choice before entering medical school.

 

Preoptometry

Admission requirements differ among the various optometry schools. These courses fulfill requirements in general: 8 semester hours of biology; 4 semester hours of human anatomy; 4 semester hours of physiology; 4 semester hours of microbiology; 8 semester hours of general chemistry; 4 semester hours of organic chemistry; 3 semester hours of biochemistry; 8 semester hours of physics; 3 semester hours of calculus; 3 semester hours of statistical methods; and 3 semester hours of general psychology. For the admission requirements of a specific optometry school, students should consult the Association of Colleges and Colleges of Optometry or the optometry school’s Web site. Applicants to optometry school are required to take the Optometry Admission Test and submit all admissions-related documents in a timely manner. Some optometry schools require the completion of a baccalaureate degree prior to matriculation.

 

Prepharmacy

The specific admission requirements for schools of pharmacy differ, but most include 8 semester hours of biology; 8 semester hours of general chemistry; 8 semester hours of organic chemistry; 4 semester hours of physics; 4 semester hours of microbiology; 3 semester hours of calculus; 3 semester hours of statistical methods; 6 semester hours of English; 3 semester hours of literature; 3 semester hours of economics, 3 semester hours of public speaking; and 15 semester hours spread across humanities and social sciences. For the admission requirements of pharmacy schools, students should consult the Web sites of the pharmacy schools. The Pharmacy College Admission Test is required for admission to the professional schools.

 

Allied Health Sciences

Some allied health professional schools require bachelor degrees, and other professional programs require sixty to ninety hours of college-level courses prior to entrance into the professional school. Application deadlines vary, but applications are usually submitted six to twelve months prior to planned entrance. Additionally, some allied health sciences professional programs require an admission test. Upon completion of the professional allied health sciences program, students are awarded degrees. Admission requirements for allied health sciences programs vary, and admission requirements change; therefore students should consult the Web sites of the schools of allied health sciences.
Schools of allied health sciences include clinical laboratory science, speech language and hearing sciences, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and physician assistant studies.

 

Prenursing

Admission requirements differ among the various nursing schools. These courses fulfill requirements in general: 6 semester hours of English, 3 semester hours of statistics, 8 semester hours of human anatomy and physiology, 4 semester hours of chemistry, 4 semester hours of microbiology, 3 semester hours of nutritional sciences, 3 semester hours of visual and performing arts, 3 semester hours of humanities, 6 semester hours each of U.S. history, and political science, 3 semester hours of psychology, and 3 semester hours of lifespan growth and development. Contact information to obtain admission requirements of a specific school of nursing can be found on the Web sites of the nursing schools.

Applicants to schools of nursing are required to submit all documents related to admission.

Back to Top