Concentration in Pre-Law

PreLaw_web

 

 

Undergraduate Degree Concentration

The Concentration in Pre-Law provides the opportunity for students to develop a unique program of study combining courses from multiple University of New Mexico departments and/or colleges. This concentration is available to all students and does not necessarily lead to admission into a law program but is a good undergraduate option for students interested in legal careers and/or eventual graduate law school admission.  No official minor is required to be declared with this concentration, but the use of existing departmental minor(s) outside LAIS is encouraged.

Graduation Requirements
Students must receive a grade of “C” or higher in all the following requirements:

 

 

Credit Hours

1.      

PHIL 1120 (Logic, Reasoning, & Critical Thinking) or PHIL 2140 (Professional Ethics)

PHIL 381 (Philosophy of Law)

6 hours

2.      

MATH 1300 (Statistical Literacy) or MATH 1350 (Introduction to Statistics)

3 hours

3.      

Completion of 3 of the following 4 options

3 hours

  

12 hours from the following:
     • COMM 1130 (Public Speaking) or COMM 2120 (Interpersonal Communication)
     • CJ 323 (Nonverbal Communication)
     • CJ 327 (Persuasive Communication)
     • CJ 332 (Business and Professional Speaking)
     • CJ 333 (Professional Communication)
     • CJ 334 (Political Communication)
     • CJ 337 (Rhetorical Theory)
     • CJ 344 (Interviewing)

12 hours

   

12 hours from the following:

  • ENGL 2110 (Traditional Grammar)
  • ENGL 2210 (Professional & Technical Communication)
  • ENGL 2220 (Introduction to Professional Writing)
  • ENGL 315 (Interdisciplinary Literary Studies)
  • ENGL 319 (User-Centered Design and Usability)
  • ENGL 320 (Topics in Advanced Expository Writing) or one of the following
  • ENGL 413 (Scientific, Environmental and Medical Writing)
  • ENGL 414 (Documentation)
  • ENGL 415 (Publishing)
  • ENGL 416 (Biography and Autobiography)
  • ENGL 417 (Editing)
  • ENGL 418 (Proposal and Grant Writing)
  • ENGL 419 (Visual Rhetoric)
  • ENGL 420 (Topics in Professional Writing)
  • ENGL 441 (English Grammars)

12 hours

   

12 hours from the following:

  • SOCI 1110 (Introduction to Sociology)
  • SOCI 2120 (Introduction to Criminal Justice System) or SOCI 2210 (Sociology of Deviance)
  • SOCI 312 (Causes of Crime and Delinquency)
  • SOCI 415 (Inequality and Power)
  • SOCI 416 (Sociology of Law)
  • SOCI 424 (Race, Class and Crime)
  • SOCI 425 (Crime Through the Life Course)
  • SOCI 426 (Drugs, Crime and Social Control)

12 hours

     

12 hours from the following:

  • POLS 1120 (American National Government)
  • POLS 303 (Law in the Political Community)
  • POLS 311 (The Legislative Process)
  • POLS 312 (The American Presidency)
  • POLS 313 (Women and the Law)
  • POLS 315 (Constitutional Law: Powers)
  • POLS 316 (Constitutional Law: Liberties)
  • POLS 317 (Constitutional Law: Rights)
  • POLS 373 (Politics, Policy, and Management in Local Government)
  • POLS 376 (Health Policy and Politics)
  • POLS 377 (Population Policy and Politics)

12 hours

4.      

Completion of 2 of the following 6 options

 

 

Completion of the 4th option from requirement #3 above

12 hours

 

12 hours from any of the following subjects:

  • Accounting (ACCT)
  • Communication & Journalism (CJ/COMM) other than the 12 hours used above
  • Community and Regional Planning (CRP)
  • Community Engaged Learning and Research (CELR)
  • Computer Science (CS)
  • Criminal Justice (CJUS/CRJS)
  • Economics (ECON)
  • English (ENGL) other than the 12 hours used above
  • Environmental Science (ENVS)
  • Geography & Environmental Studies (GEOG)
  • History (HIST)
  • Management (MGMT)
  • Philosophy (PHIL) other than the 6 hours used above
  • Political Science (POLS) other than the 12 hours used above
  • Psychology (PSY)
  • Public Administration (PADM)
  • Public Health (PH)
  • Sociology (SOCI) other than the 12 hours used above

12 hours

12 hours from any cultural studies course from the following subjects:
  • Africana Studies (AFST)
  • American Studies (AMST)
  • Chicana and Chicano Studies (CCS/CCST)
  • Family and Child Studies (FCS/FCST)
  • International Studies (INTS)
  • Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies (LLSS)
  • Latin American Studies (LTAM)
  • Medieval Studies (MDVL)
  • Museum Studies (MSST)
  • Native American Studies (NATV)
  • Peace Studies (PCST)
  • Religious Studies (RELG)
  • Sustainability Studies (SUST)
  • Women Studies (WMST)
12 hours
12 hours from any Military Studies department (excluding labs and physical training):
     • Aerospace Studies (AFAS)
     • Military Science and Leadership (MLSL)
     • Naval Science (NVSC)		12 hours

 

12 hours from any Honors College courses (HNRS and/or UHON)

12 hours

 

Completion or testing equivalent of second-semester intermediate non-English language course from:
      • Arabic (ARBC)
      • Chinese (CHIN)
      • French (FREN)
      • Greek (GREK)
      • German (GRMN)
      • Italian (ITAL)
      • Japanese (JAPN)
      • Latin (LATN)
      • Navajo (NVJO)
      • Portuguese (PORT)
      • Russian (RUSS)
      • Signed Language Interpreting (SIGN)
      • Spanish (SPAN)
      • Swahili (SWAH)

3-12 hours

 

Total

75 hours

 

We may also count Honors College (UHON/HNRS) courses as a group option via exception. 

Please note, all baccalaureate degrees from UNM require a minimum of 120 overall hours, along with the completion of a New Mexico General Education curriculum and 45 upper division hours, so some additional electives beyond the specific requirements listed above may be needed. 

Sample degree roadmap