Preparation for
Professional Study

Business

The College provides no specific course of preprofessional studies to prepare students for graduate study in business administration. It is advisable for students interested in such study to equip themselves with verbal and quantitative skills and to gain some knowledge of history and the contemporary social sciences. Writing and speaking skills can be developed in a broad range of course offerings; computational skills in courses in calculus, linear algebra, and statistics; and knowledge of the social sciences through courses in such disciplines as economics, political science, and sociology.

Each year a number of business schools send representatives to the campus to speak with potential admissions candidates. These visits are announced in the monthly list of recruiters prepared by the Office of Career and Placement Services. The office also maintains an information file on MBA programs, which students are welcome to consult. An additional resource is the MBA Forum held annually in Chicago.

Most graduate business schools require the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), which is administered several times a year on campus. Students planning to apply to business schools within one or two years of graduation should take this test in the summer preceding their final year in the College or in the autumn quarter of that year at the latest. Application materials for the GMAT are available in the Office of Career and Placement Services and in the Office of the Dean of Students of the Graduate School of Business. Increasingly, business schools also expect that college graduates will acquire significant work experience before beginning graduate studies in business.

Further information about preprofessional studies and career opportunities in business is available from the Office of the Dean of Students in the Graduate School of Business.

Health Professions

A broad liberal arts education provides an exceptional preparation for a career in the health professions. Meeting the general education requirements is an excellent beginning to such an education. Students are encouraged to then concentrate in any discipline in which they have a strong interest, while making sure that they fulfill the common entry requirements for professional school. These include:

The College offers alternative course sequences that fulfill each of these requirements. Some medical and veterinary schools have additional requirements and two additional upper level courses in the biological sciences are strongly recommended as part of a student's preparation.

Students preparing for a career in the health professions are also strongly encouraged to participate in research and to explore their interests in human service through community and/or hospital volunteer work. The University community offers exceptional opportunities for both types of experiences.

Students who believe they may be interested in a career in one of the health professions should consult first with their College adviser and then later in the year with the health professions adviser for their entering class. The health professions advisers offer seminars and workshops, as well as group and individual counseling, to assist each student in preparing for professional education and, at the appropriate time, in the application process itself. R. Eric Lombard, Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, is the faculty director for health professions advising. More information is available from the health professions office in CH 101, and on the following Web site: //prehealth.uchicago.edu.

Law

The College does not offer a prelaw concentration, nor is there a single correct way to prepare for the study of law. More important than a specific area of concentration is the acquisition of certain skills necessary for the intelligent practice of law: the ability to communicate effectively in oral and written expression, a critical understanding of human institutions and values, and the ability to reason closely from given premises and propositions to tenable conclusions. Such skills can be developed in various concentrations and by taking courses in English language and literature, philosophy, American history, mathematics, and economics.

Students interested in a career in law should consult with the prelaw adviser in the College. More information is also available on the following Web site: http://www-doscoll.uchicago.edu/pre_law.html.