A-LEC WORK WITH
PRE-LAW & PRE-MEDICAL STUDENTS

Students who plan to apply to law or medical school face different courses but a common structural challenge: in addition to maintaining an outstanding grade-point average in all their courses, they must build certain skills to a level of strength that will allow them to distinguish themselves in a demanding, nationally competitive environment. There is also a second structural similarity: in each area, SMU provides resources that, used wisely, can prepare our students for these challenges in ways that many other schools cannot equal.

For pre-law students, the Writing Center can be of major importance. Writing develops skills that will be tested in many ways, directly and indirectly, in your preparation for law school. We recommend that you view your writing-intensive courses as opportunities to build your skills in writing and critical thinking to the strongest possible level--not just the level required to pass the course--and that you use the Writing Center to support this process. To our knowledge, there is no better way to learn to be a great writer than to write a lot, in response to a wide variety of assignments, and to work closely on your writing with skilled teachers like SMU's Writing Center faculty.

Beginning pre-medical students, in general, underestimate the difficulty of the science and math courses that they must negotiate in their first and second years. In this area, the transition from high school to college can be especially demanding. Yet, as medical school acceptance becomes more difficult, it becomes ever more important to address problems quickly and effectively, before they show up as less-than-wonderful grades. The A-LEC can provide important support for this process. A-LEC tutoring is also especially strong in first- and second-year pre-med areas.

A NOTE ABOUT BIOLOGY

We are proud of the strength of our biology tutors. But we have found that, in biology, each student's study skills are the most central piece of the puzzle, and we urge you to make use of ORACLE and our study-skills workshops to build your strength in these areas. Additionally, every biology professor we have worked with has had carefully thought-out ideas about how to study the material of her or his course. A secret tip: make it your business to find these out.

A-LEC HOME PAGE

SMU HOME PAGE