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Nov 25, 2024
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2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Pre-Law
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 Return to: Schools and Academic Programs
Minimum number of credits to complete the minor: 20
Minimum cumulative GPA required to graduate: 2.0
School: School of Arts and Sciences
Department: Political Science and Public Policy
Learn more about the program
The Pre-Law Minor is an interdisciplinary minor for students who are interested in attending law school, who plan on pursuing legal related careers, or who want to learn more about different areas of the law that may be relevant to their professional careers or to legal areas they are likely to encounter in their personal lives. The minor provides students with exposure to substantive law courses and topics. For those students interested in attending law school, the courses in the minor will help confirm their interest in pursuing a legal career, enhance the critical thinking, analytical, and other skills that students will need to be successful in law school. The courses provide insight into how lawyers think and analyze legal issues, expose students to the Socratic method and to the unique way of studying the law used in law school, and also provide students with sufficient knowledge and background in the law to be competitive in law school. For students not planning on law school, the minor will provide them with practical information and exposure to the legal system and to the legal issues and topics that will be useful in their careers and personal lives.
The Pre-Law minor requires a minimum of five courses: two required courses, three electives, and an experiential component. The two required courses are an introductory course in the law and a constitutional law course that will provide students with a basic understanding of the U.S. legal and court systems, knowledge of the U.S. Constitution, and an overview of some substantive legal areas both from a practical and theoretical perspective. The three elective courses offer a range of choices to coincide with student interests. The experiential component will provide students with practical exposure to and experience in the law or a related legal area. Students can meet this experiential requirement by participating in an internship, a service learning assignment in a legal area, Moot Court, shadowing an attorney, or by engaging in additional activities that expose students to practical experience in the law (must be approved by the department).
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Minor Requirements
The minor requires a minimum of five courses (20 credits): two required courses, three electives, and an experiential component.
Core Courses
Choose two courses from the pairings as follows, and complete the Experiential Learning Component:
Required Electives
Choose three additional elective courses from the following:
Women’s and Gender Studies
Pre-Law Minor Notes
Under normal circumstances, online pre-law courses do not qualify to meet the five course (20 credit) requirement for the Pre-Law minor. However, due to safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic, all modalities of courses are accepted for the Pre-Law minor from the Fall 2020, Winter 2020/21, Spring 2021, and Summer 2021 semesters.
Only two Political Science courses may be double-counted between a Pre-law minor and a Political Science major/minor, a Public Policy minor, or a Cyber Security minor.
Pre-Law Minor Learning Outcomes
Upon completing the Pre-Law minor, students will be able to demonstrate
- Improved critical thinking, analytical, and problem-solving skills
- A strong understanding of and appreciation for the law and its role in society
- Improved verbal and written communication skills and research skills
- An understanding of the court system and the legal process
- The ability to understand complex laws and court decisions
- The ability to interpret, integrate, synthesize and apply complex information effectively from multiple sources
- An understanding of many of the pertinent legal issues, laws, and court decisions impacting government, business, and society and impacting students throughout their professional and personal lives
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