To become a lawyer, you need to earn a bachelors degree and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school. The South Carolina Office of Bar Admissions specifies that you must receive a J.D. or Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from a law school approved by the Council of Legal Education of the American Bar Association to be eligible to take the state’s bar exam.

There are no strict guidelines on courses that you must take as an undergraduate, but some students have found that courses in criminal justice, economics, political science and government, history, world cultures, communications, and philosophy have helped them the most when they get to law school. You may receive a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) in any major you choose, but majors taken from the above-mentioned course areas are the most helpful to students once they reach law school.

After earning a bachelors degree, you must take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) . The LSAT is a six-hour-long standardized test that all ABA-approved law schools nationwide require you to pass prior to acceptance. The student’s university grades and LSAT score will determine whether they get into the top law school of their choice.

Overall, the majority of prospective lawyers will need to spend seven years in school before they can take the bar exam and become a lawyer. After four years in a bachelor’s degree program, students will spend another three years in law school. With a bachelor’s degree and a Juris Doctor degree, students can take their bar exam and become a practicing lawyer.