Political Science - Pre-Law
Major Requirements
Major: Political Science - Pre-Law Option
Degree Type: B.A. or B.S.
Required Degree Credits to Graduate: 122
Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Degree Requirements
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Degree – The completion of a minor program of study, a second major, or a second degree is required.
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Degree – Second year language proficiency required.
General Education Requirements
| First Year Experience (F): | ||
| UNIV 189 | Skills For Academic Success (Students transferring in 24 or more credits do not need to take UNIV 189.) | 1 |
| Communication (C): | ||
| ENGL 110 | College Composition I | 3 |
| ENGL 120 | College Composition II | 3 |
| ENGL 320 | Business and Professional Writing | 3 |
| COMM 110 | Fundamentals of Public Speaking | 3 |
| Quantitative Reasoning (R): | ||
| STAT 330 | Introductory Statistics | 3 |
| Science & Technology (S): | ||
| A one-credit lab must be taken as a co-requisite with a general education science/technology course unless the course includes an embedded lab experience equivalent to a one-credit course. Select from current general education list | 10 | |
| Humanities & Fine Arts (A): Select from current general education list | 6 | |
| Social & Behavioral Sciences (B): | ||
| POLS 110 | Introduction to Political Science | 3 |
| or POLS 115 | American Government | |
| Select an additional course from current general education list | 3 | |
| Wellness (W): Select from current general education list | 2 | |
| Cultural Diversity (D): Select from current general education list | ||
| Global Perspectives (G): Select from current general education list | ||
| Total Credits | 40 | |
Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences College Requirements
An additional 9 credits are required by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences for all Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degree programs of study, except the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, the Bachelor of Music degree, Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree, and the Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree:
| AH&SS College Requirements | ||
Courses used to satisfy any general education requirement cannot be used to also count toward the AH&SS College Requirements. A minimum of three credits is required in each of the 3 following areas for a total of 9 credits. Choose only those courses with the prefixes listed for each area. A course with the WGS prefix can only be used in one area. | ||
| Area One: Humanities | 3 | |
ARB, ENGL, FREN, GERM, HIST, HUM, PHIL, RELS, SPAN, or WGS | ||
| Area Two: Social Sciences | 3 | |
ANTH, CJ, COMM, EMGT, POLS, SOC, or WGS | ||
| Area Three: Fine Arts | 3 | |
ARCH, ART, ENVD, LA, MUSC, or THEA | ||
| Total Credits | 9 | |
Major Requirements
| General Education Requirements | 40 | |
| AH&SS College Requirement | 9 | |
| Pre-Political Science Requirements: Must complete the following 12 credits of pre-political science courses with an average GPA of 3.00. | ||
| POLS 110 | Introduction to Political Science | 3 |
| or POLS 115 | American Government | |
| POLS 220 | International Politics | 3 |
| or POLS 225 | Comparative Politics | |
| POLS 240 | Political Ideologies | 3 |
| POLS | 100 or 200 level | 3 |
| Professional Major Requirements: | ||
| Professional courses will require a minimum 3.0 GPA. | ||
| A single International Law course satisfied either a core requirement or an Area 2 requirement, but not both. | ||
| POLS 230 | Judicial Process | 3 |
| POLS 325 | Applied Research Methods | 4 |
| POLS 430 | Constitutional Law-Civil Liberties | 3 |
| POLS 431 | Constitutional Law-Criminal Justice | 3 |
| POLS 444 | International Law | 3 |
| or POLS 446 | Current Topics in International Law | |
| POLS 489 | Senior Seminar | 3 |
| Additional Program Requirements: Complete requirements as indicated from each of the three professional areas listed below for the Pre-Law Option (I, II, & III) | 29-30 | |
| Professional Area I: One 400 level course in each of the following three areas. | 9 | |
Area One: | ||
| Political Behavior-Executive-Legislative Process | ||
| Political Behavior-Political Parties | ||
| State and Local Politics | ||
| Public Policy Analysis | ||
Area Two: | ||
| Global Policy Issues | ||
| Ethnic Conflicts | ||
| Environmental Policy and Politics | ||
| International Law | ||
or POLS 446 | Current Topics in International Law | |
Area Three: | ||
| Global Policy Issues | ||
| Politics of the Developing Countries | ||
| Politics of the Industrialized Countries | ||
| Comparative Political Economy | ||
| Environmental Policy and Politics | ||
| Professional Area II: Communciation Component - Select 3 courses from the following: | 9 | |
| Persuasive Speaking | ||
or COMM 308 | Business and Professional Speaking | |
| Intercultural Communication | ||
| Argumentation and Advocacy | ||
or COMM 383 | Organizational Communication I | |
| Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences | ||
| Professional Area III: Law Related Courses - Select 4 courses from the following: | 11-12 | |
| Fraud Examination | ||
| Legal and Social Environment of Business | ||
| Business Law I-Contracts, Property and Torts | ||
| Business Law II-Business Organization and Commercial Transactions | ||
| Introduction to Criminal Justice | ||
| Criminology and Criminal Law | ||
| Criminal Law and Procedure | ||
| Legal Communication | ||
| Communication Law | ||
| Degree Requirements Potential of 13 credits to reach 122 | 13 | |
| Total Credits | 122-123 | |
Degree Requirements and Notes
- Students should refer to www.ndsu.edu/cjps for information regarding application to professional program.
- The department will review applications on a rolling basis. Student must apply to be a major or minor no later than the first day of classes of the semester in which they intend to graduate.
- To apply, a student must have completed a minimum of 36 credit hours and achieve a minimum GPA of 3.0 in the pre-political science courses and 2.75 overall in NDSU coursework.
- Once admitted to the professional political science program, failure to maintain a minimum GPA of 3.00 in the professional political science courses and a cumulative 2.75 in all coursework will result in an academic warning issued by the department for the first violation. Students will receive notification of this warning at their NDSU email address. Failure to return to these minimum standards will result in being administratively removed from the program.
- Internal and external transfer students will be handled similarly to students who commence their studies in the pre-professional program.
- Students who entered the University and declared political science as their major prior to fall 2012 will be grandfathered into the program and will not be subject to these guidelines.
- These guidelines apply for all majors and minors of political science.
