The Political Science 5 Year B.A./M.A. Program offers highly qualified UW students with the opportunity to begin graduate study while they complete their bachelor’s degree (whether B.A. or B.S.) and thereby earn a graduate degree more efficiently. Political science majors with a cumulative major GPA of 3.5 or higher may be invited to apply at the outset of the second semester of the junior year.
Interested students will submit an application and 2 letters of recommendation, at least one from a political science faculty to be reviewed, along with unofficial, current UW transcripts, by the M.A. Director and Committee. Upon provisional acceptance into the program in the junior year, students will be required to take the GRE. GRE scores will be considered for full and final acceptance to the M.A. program, which will be made once the student has completed the bachelor’s degree.
Provisional acceptance to the 5 Year B.A./M.A. program in Political Science will allow students to apply up to six credit hours of 5000-level courses toward both the B.A./B.S. and M.A. degree programs. To earn graduatelevel credit, students must achieve at least a 3.000 in the course. By successfully completing up to six credit hours of graduate coursework during their senior year, these students will have demonstrated their ability to do graduatelevel coursework as undergraduates, easing their transition into the Master’s Program in Political Science. Interested students may reserve up to six additional credits for graduate study that do not apply to the undergraduate degree by securing appropriate approvals as explained in the Registrar’s “Request to Reserve Coursework for Graduate Credit” prior to taking the coursework.
Students will be granted the BA/BS upon completion of the credit hours required for the undergraduate degree in political science. Students must complete the BA/BS before formally entering the MA program. To remain in good standing in the program, students must maintain a cumulative and departmental GPA of 3.200 and earn at least a 3.000 in all 5000-level courses. Failure to meet the GPA requirements places a student on probation for one semester. If the GPA requirement is not met after that semester, the student will be suspended from the program. Students in the program are encouraged to take the Plan B option. Please see the Graduate Study section to find the degree requirements of the M.A. in Political Science.