Political Science Pre-Law - B.S.
The Political Science Pre-Law major, offered by the Department of History and Political Science, enables students to develop skills in both theoretical and practical analysis, understanding, and evaluation of the American federal system of jurisprudence and the constitutional nature of the civil-social order, in preparation for the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT).
Purpose
Students majoring in Political Science Pre-Law students are trained in the fundamentals of political science while receiving additional preparation in the foundations of American legal processes and procedures. Elective courses are designed to prepare students for specializations in legal studies. Additionally, students majoring in Political Science Pre-Law are encouraged to take a second major. The following companion majors are frequently chosen by Pre-Law students: Business, Criminal Justice, Economics, English, History, Psychology, Philosophy and Theology, Social Work, and Writing.
General Education
Students majoring in Political Science Pre-Law will complete the following General Education requirements and competencies with the listed courses. Where no course is specified, students are free to choose courses that meet the university requirements.
Communication Competency: COM-100 (division requirement)
Intercultural Competency: GEO-202 (core requirement)
Math Requirement: MAT-112, MAT-204, or MAT-305 (pre-requisite for Research Methods)
Social Sciences: POL-100 (pre-requisite for some upper division POL and HST courses), ECO-213 (core requirement)
Overview
The Political Science Pre-Law major consists of 36 credit hours in political science and related fields and a cognate of 12 credit hours. The core of the program consists of required courses focusing on fundamental political and legal concepts and skill formation. The cognate can be a group of courses from a second major or a minor. Otherwise, the cognate credit hours must be completed from major electives, selected by students for professional and LSAT preparation or personal enrichment.
Requirements (48 credits)
Common Core (15 credits)
Courses listed at the 100 or 200 level should be taken in the freshman/sophomore years. Courses 300 and above should be taken in the junior/senior years.
| POL-100 | American Government | 3 |
| POL-215 | Foundations of Political Science | 3 |
| ECO-213 | Macroeconomics | 3 |
| POL-322 | Research Design and Methods in Political Science and Economics | 3 |
| POL-471 | Political Science/International Relations Capstone | 3 |
Lower-Division Courses (9 credits)
| POL-291 | Introduction to Law | 3 |
| GEO-202 | Political and Cultural Geography | 3 |
| POL-200 | State and Local Government and Politics | 3 |
Upper-Division Courses (12 credits)
A minimum of 12 credit hours of upper-division courses (numbered 300 or higher) offered by the department and selected from the following:
Cognate or Major Electives (12 credits)
Twelve credit hour cognate (group of courses from a second major or a minor) OR any courses listed below not previously taken. If the student does not have a second area of study, the major elective must be completed from the courses below:
Major Electives for Pre-Law Majors only:
Students majoring in Political Science Pre-Law must sign up for POL-275 for 0 credits at least once and may repeat up to 7 times. They may opt to take the tutorial for 1 credit in the semester the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is completed.
Major Electives for all Political Science and Political Science Pre-Law Majors, unless already part of required courses:
| ECO-270 | Comparative Economic Systems | 3 |
| ECO-315 | Urban Economics and Policy | 3 |
| ECO-340 | Globalization and Economic Development | 3 |
| ECO-365 | Public Administration and Finance | 3 |
| ECO-454 | International Economics | 3 |
| GEO-202 | Political and Cultural Geography | 3 |
| HST-300 | Western/American Intellectual and Social History | 3 |
| HST-301 | American Foreign Relations | 3 |
| HST-302 | American Political Parties | 3 |
| HST-400 | American Constitutional History | 3 |
| INR-332 | International Peace and Security | 3 |
| INR-375 | Foreign Policy Analysis | 3 |
| INR-432 | Global Governance | 3 |
| MAT-204 | Applied Statistics I | 3 |
| MAT-304 | Applied Statistics II | 3 |
| MAT-305 | Statistics for Social Sciences | 3 |
| POL-200 | State and Local Government and Politics | 3 |
| POL-220 | Issues in Political Science | 3 |
| POL-230 | World Politics | 3 |
| POL-232 | Comparative Politics | 3 |
| POL-350 | Political Science Practicum | 1 to 3 |
| POL-354 | Foreign Governments | 3 |
| POL-365 | Religion and Politics | 3 |
| POL-367 | Political Thought | 3 |
| POL-371 | International Studies | 3 |
| POL-399H | Honors College Thesis-Political Science | 3 |
| POL-401 | Political Science Travel Seminar | 3 |
| POL-475 | Independent Learning in Political Science | 1 to 3 |
Declaring and Maintaining a Political Science Pre-Law Major
Pre-Law students need to consult with the Department of History and Political Science coordinator/Pre-Law advisor and then declare a Political Science Pre-Law major in the Residential Academic Services Office. Pre-Law students are expected to maintain no less than a 3.0 GPA in the Political Science Pre-Law major to graduate with the degree.
