Political Science BA + MA SF State Scholars Roadmap
The San Francisco State Scholars program provides undergraduate students with an accelerated pathway to a graduate degree. Students in this program pursue a bachelor’s and master’s degree simultaneously. This program allows students to earn graduate credit while in their junior and/or senior year, reducing the number of semesters required for completion of a master’s degree.
This roadmap is a suggested plan of study and does not replace meeting with an advisor. Please note that students may need to adjust the actual sequence of courses based on course availability. Please consult your Degree Planner and an advisor for further guidance.
To avoid taking additional units, it is recommended that you meet the SF State Studies (AERM, GP, ES, SJ) requirements within your GE or major.
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall Semester | Units | |
| PLSI 200 | Introduction to American Politics (Major Core, USG/CSLG) | 3 |
| GE Area 1A: English Composition 1 | 3 | |
| GE Area 1: English Communication | 3 | |
| GE Area 2: Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning 2 | 3 | |
| GE Area 3: Arts and Humanities | 3 | |
| Units | 15 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| PLSI 250 | Comparative Politics (Major Core) | 3 |
| GE Area 1: English Communication | 3 | |
| GE Area 5: Physical and Biological Sciences 3 | 3-4 | |
| SF State Studies or University Elective - Take Two | 6 | |
| Units | 15-16 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| PLSI 275 | Introduction to Political Theory (Major Core) | 3 |
| GE Area 3: Arts and Humanities | 3 | |
| GE Area 4: Social and Behavioral Sciences 4 | 3 | |
| GE Area 5: Physical and Biological Sciences 3 | 3-4 | |
| SF State Studies or University Elective | 3 | |
| Units | 15-16 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| PLSI 303 | Fundamentals of Political Science (Major Core) | 3 |
| GE Area 4: Social and Behavioral Sciences 4 | 3 | |
| GE Area 6: Ethnic Studies | 3 | |
| SF State Studies or University Elective - Take Two | 6 | |
| Units | 15 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Summer Semester | ||
| SF State Studies or University Elective - Take Two | 5 | |
| Units | 5 | |
| Fall Semester | ||
| PLSI 302GW | Writing for Political Science - GWAR (Major Core) | 3 |
| PLSI 304 | Scientific Inquiry in Political Science (Major Core) | 4 |
| GE Area 5UD or 2UD: Upper-Division Sciences or Upper-Division Mathematical Concepts | 3 | |
| SF State Studies or University Elective - Take Two | 6 | |
| Units | 16 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| Breadth Requirement - Take Two 5 | 6-8 | |
| GE Area 3UD: Upper-Division Arts or Humanities | 3 | |
| SF State Studies or University Elective - Take Two | 6 | |
| Units | 15-17 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Summer Semester | ||
| SF State Studies or University Elective - Take Two | 6 | |
| Units | 6 | |
| Fall Semester | ||
| PLSI 700 | Political Science: Theory and Methods (Graduate Core) | 3 |
| Breadth Requirement 5 | 3-4 | |
| Major Electives 6 | 3-4 | |
| Political Science Subfield Seminar 7 | 3 | |
| GE Area 4UD: Upper-Division Social and Behavioral Sciences | 3 | |
| Units | 15-17 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| Major Electives - Take One to Two 6 | 3-6 | |
| Political Science Subfield Seminar 7 | 3 | |
| Culminating Experience 8 | 3-4 | |
| Graduate Elective 9 | 3 | |
| SF State Studies or University Elective - Take One to Two | 3-6 | |
| Units | 15-16 | |
| Fifth Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| PLSI 891 | Culminating Experience Design and Prep (Graduate Culminating Experience) | 3 |
| Graduate Electives - Take Two 9 | 6 | |
| Units | 9 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| Select One (Culminating Experience): | 3 | |
| Supervised Field Internship in Political Science | ||
| Preparation for Written Comprehensive Examination and Culminating Experience Examination |
||
| Master's Thesis | ||
| Graduate Electives - Take Two 9 | 6 | |
| Units | 9 | |
| Total Units | 150-157 | |
- 1
Students should use their Pathway/Category to determine the appropriate GE 1A course option. For directions on how to view your Pathway/Category, visit how to find your pathway. Questions? Contact Gator Smart Start.
- 2
Students should use their Pathway/Category to determine the appropriate GE 2 course option. For directions on how to view your Pathway/Category, visit how to find your pathway. Questions? Contact Gator Smart Start.
- 3
Consider taking a class combined with a laboratory or a separate lab to fulfill 5C if not already satisfied.
- 4
First-time freshmen must take one lower-division Area 4 course that meets US History (USH).
- 5
Breadth Requirement (9-12 units)
A full list of courses that can fulfill this requirement can be found in the Degree Requirements.- 6
Major Electives (7-11 units)
A full list of courses that can fulfill this requirement can be found in the Degree Requirements.- 7
Political Science Subfield Seminars (6 units)
A full list of courses that can fulfill this requirement can be found in the Degree Requirements.- 8
Bachelor Culminating Experience (3-4 units)
A full list of courses that can fulfill this requirement can be found in the Degree Requirements.- 9
Graduate Electives (15 units)
Coursework of choice in area of interest in PLSI and/or partner departments. Per CSU rules, 6 units must be graduate “stand alone” OR paired courses. The remaining 9 units may be upper-division undergraduate, paired, or graduate stand-alone.Within the above parameters, Electives may be fulfilled with:
- Additional courses from the PLSI subfield seminar area not used to fulfill that requirement.
- Any PLSI-prefixed course that is upper-division, paired, or graduate level.
- Graduate and paired courses outside the Political Science department closely related to political science, from approved partner department course list or with prior approval by the graduate coordinator.
- Only 3 units of PLSI 899 Independent Study and 3 units of PLSI 708, College Teaching of Political Science may be applied to Electives.
- For students who do not have a Political Science BA and/or are seeking more writing instruction in political science, we strongly recommend PLSI 302GW.