Political Science, BA or BS; Pre-Law Concentration

Print Degree Planner (opens a new window) |

The optional pre-law concentration of the Political Science Major requires completion of HIST 222 , and POSC 100 , at least one credit of an internship or directed research, and 37 credits in additional courses, including 31 credits in political science, 3 in psychology, and 3 in philosophy.

The Political Science major also offers an option with no concentration, Political Science, BA or BS , and a Political Science, BA or BS; Global Politics Concentration .

Political science majors may earn either the Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree.

No grade below “C-” will be accepted for courses applied to the major.

Civitae Core Requirements (39-40 credits)

Political Science majors in the Pre-Law concentration may count

Civitae Core

courses satisfying major requirements as also satisfying their respective Civitae Core requirements, up to two Pillar courses and one Perspectives course. The following are the courses in this major that may be used in this way:

HIST 222 , among others, fulfills the Historical and Contemporary Insights Pillar requirement
MATH 171 fulfills the Quantitative Reasoning Pillar requirement
POSC 100 fulfills the Human Behavior and Social Institutions Pillar requirement
POSC 200 fulfills the Global Citizenship Pillar requirement, for students who place into a 211-level language course or above
PSYC 101 fulfills the Scientific Reasoning Pillar Requirement
A 212-level language course fulfills the World Languages Perspectives requirement

Courses satisfying major requirements that are designated as Civitae Core courses subsequent to the print deadline of this Catalog will not appear in the above listings but will be eligible to also satisfy Civitae Core requirements, subject to the same rules as the others. (If doing so would otherwise decrease the total credits required for the degree below 120, General Elective credit must be substituted to restore the total.)

Additional Degree Requirements (3-4 credits)

Additional Degree Requirements BA Degree: 3 credits

Additional Degree Requirements BS Degree: 3-4 credits

Major Requirements (47 credits, plus 6 credits counted in Civitae)

HIST 222 - United States History 1877-Modern Times 3 credits
MATH 171 - Statistical Decision Making 3 credits
POSC 100 - The American Political System 3 credits
POSC 200 - Global Politics 3 credits
POSC 250 - Political Science Research Methods 3 credits
POSC 270 - Introduction to Public Administration 3 credits
POSC 275 - The American Judiciary 3 credits
POSC 305 - International Relations 3 credits
POSC 331 - Ancient and Medieval Political Philosophy 3 credits
POSC 332 - Modern Political Philosophy 3 credits
POSC 350 - The American Presidency 3 credits
POSC 353 - The American Congress 3 credits
POSC 357 - Constitutional Rights and Liberties 3 credits
POSC 455 - Constitutional Law 3 credits
POSC 461 - Senior Seminar 1 credit
PSYC 101 - Introduction to Psychology 3 credits
PHIL 300 - Logic 3 credits

Choose three credits from the following courses:

POSC 314 - Political History of Africa 3 credits
POSC 335 - Western European Politics and Government 3 credits
POSC 343 - American Foreign Policy 3 credits
POSC 375 - Latin American Politics and Government 3 credits
POSC 442 - International Law 3 credits

One credit from one of the following three courses

POSC 490 - Directed or Independent Study in Political Science 1-6 credits
POSC 492 - Internship in Political Science 1-15 credits **
POSC 498 - Senior Thesis in Political Science 3 credits (must be approved by the Senior Honors Research Committee)
**A minimum GPA of 2.5 is required to enroll in an internship.

General Electives

General Electives for BA (30-31 credits)

General Electives for BS (29-31 credits)

Pre-law students are advised that they should present at least a 3.0 GPA (as well as a good LSAT score) to the law school admissions committees in order to be competitive law school applicants.

Total Credits Required

BA, BS in Political Science with a concentration in Pre-Law 120