Pre-Law Majors & Courses
Carthage offers a variety of academic offerings for students who are considering law school after graduation.
Academic Concentrations
Those majoring in either criminal justice or political science can add a concentration in legal studies:
PRE-LAW CONCENTRATION IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE MAJOR
Students who pursue the pre-law concentration within the criminal justice major must take these three courses for 12 credits:
- POL 1500 American Government: National, State, and Local (4 credits)
- POL 1910 Law and Society (4 credits)
- POL 3920 Constitutional Law and the Separation of Powers (4 credits)
PUBLIC LAW AND JUDICIAL POLITICS CONCENTRATION IN POLITICAL SCIENCE
Students who pursue the public law and judicial politics concentration within political science must take at least three of these courses (12 credits):
- POL 1900 Constitutional Rights: Freedom of Expression (4 credits)
- POL 1910 Law and Society (4 credits)
- POL 3900 Comparative Law (4 credits)
- POL 3910 Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (4 credits)
- POL 3920 Constitutional Law and the Separation of Powers (4 credits)
- POL 3930 Environmental Law (4 credits)
- CRJ 3300 Mock Trial may also be counted as part of the Public Law and Judicial Politics concentration.
Suggested Courses
Carthage also offers many individual courses that can introduce you to the main topics you’ll encounter in the study of law and help you to assess whether you want to pursue it as a career, including:
- CRJ 2700 Criminal Law
- CRJ 3300 Mock Trial
- ECN 3300 Law and Economics
- MGT 3600 Legal Environment of Business
- MGT 3730 International Legal Environment of Business
- POL 1910 Law and Society
- POL 3910 Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (4 credits)
- POL 3920 Constitutional Law and the Separation of Powers (4 credits)
- POL 3930 Environmental Law
Contact a pre-law advisor to learn about other possible law-related courses and internships. Students should also consider taking courses in expository composition, accounting, American government, American history, economics, ethics, logic, psychology, and statistics to prepare for the complexities of a modern law school curriculum.
Common Majors for Pre-Law Students
The most important thing is to choose a major that most interests you. If you’re still undecided, these are a few popular options: