Declaring Political Science

Eligibility to Declare
How to Declare
Transfer Students
Double Majors
Schedule of Declaration Sessions

Minimum eligibility to declare

For the prereqs required to declare Political Science, please see choices below.

For students who entered UC Berkeley prior to Fall 2008, and incoming junior transfers admitted to UC Berkeley prior to Fall 2009...

  • PS 1, Intro to American Politics,* and PS 2, Intro to Comparative Politics must be completed to declare.
  • A 2.0 gpa overall and in courses counting for the major.

    *Students who received a 4 or 5 on the American Government AP exam may substitute an upper division American Politics course for PS 1, before or after declaring the major. The upper-division American politics substitute course taken to satisfy the PS 1 requirement may not also fulfill an upper-division requirement in the major.

For the Incoming Freshmen Class, Fall 2008 and onward, and Incoming Junior Transfers, Fall 2009 and onward...

  • Students must complete two of the following introductory political science courses to declare Political Science. One of these courses should be in their subfield specialization:
    PS 1, Intro to American Politics *
    PS 2, Intro to Comparative Politics
    PS 4, Intro to Political Theory
    PS 5, Intro to International Relations

  • A 2.0 gpa overall and in courses counting for the major.

    *Students who received a 4 or 5 on the American Government AP exam may substitute an upper division American Politics course for PS 1, before or after declaring the major. The upper-division American politics substitute course taken to satisfy the PS 1 requirement may not also fulfill an upper-division requirement in the major.

How to declare

You must attend a Major Declaration Session to get declared in the major. Here's how:

  1. Pick a date from the calendar below
  2. Gather your transcripts and make copies of them to submit. See more on transcripts below.
  3. Arrive early! We will accept the first 20 students who arrive at each session. Sessions held early in the semester and during Telebears time are usually full. Come early to ensure a place.

Declaration Sessions are held in Room 202 Barrows (unless otherwise noted on the calendar).

Do not come to a Declaration Session without all needed transcripts. You cannot declare without a complete set of relevant transcripts. This includes transcripts for courses you have taken at community colleges, other universities, and UCB (an unofficial Bearfacts transcript is okay). DARS reports are not acceptable. We keep the transcripts, so bring copies you can spare. (You need not bring transcripts for courses that do not count for our major.)

A Declaration Session generally takes about an hour and includes a brief orientation to the major and Q&A, after which declaration forms are completed (we supply the forms - you supply the transcripts).

Transfer Students

Transfer students who came to CalSO and attended the Political Science orientation session in 202 Barrows need not attend a Declaration Session in order to declare. Bring your transcripts, including a Bearfacts transcript if you have completed a semester or more at UCB, and come to the Undergrad Office during regular drop-in hours: 9-12 and 1:30-4 Monday - Friday.

Transfer students who did not attend the Political Science orientation at CalSO must attend a Declaration Session. Be sure to bring transcripts from your previous school as well as UCB. Although you may have sent transfer transcripts to Berkeley, we do not have access to them. You can obtain one free set of your transfer transcripts at 110 Sproul Hall (allow 7-10 working days).

Double Majors

To declare a double major, you must complete the Double Major Petition forms. These forms must be signed by an advisor in each department and then submitted to 113 Campbell Hall. Double Major Petitions can be downloaded from the L&S Web Site. Hardcopies are available at 113 Campbell Hall and at the Political Science Undergraduate Advising Office in 296 Barrows. You may declare both majors at one time or declare one major first and add the second major later.

If you have not yet declared Political Science, you must attend a Major Declaration Session (see above) before the Double Major Petition forms are signed. If you are already a declared Political Science major and are adding a second major, bring the forms to the Undergrad Office during office hours for review and signatures. The double major petition can take several weeks for L&S to process (single major petitions take a few days), so be sure to submit it at least one full semester before your intended graduation date.

Schedule of Declaration Sessions

This is updated every three months during the academic year. If none of the sessions fit your schedule, let us know. We can try to accommodate you in the upcoming months.

 

August

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday

8/3

           
8/10


        

Declaration
Session
8/15
NEW TIME:
1:30 pm

  

8/17

            
8/24

Declaration
Session
8/25
2:00pm
in 791 Barrows

  

Fall 2008 Classes Begin

      

 

 

September

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday

8/31
Labor Day Holiday
University closed
  

 

 

  

 

  

9/7

            
9/14

 
Declaration
Session
9/16
1:30 pm
       


9/21

      
Declaration
Session
9/25
10:30 am
   

 

 

October

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday

9/28

    

 

 

  

Declaration
Session
10/3
10:30 am
 

10/5

    

Declaration
Session
10/8
10:30 am
      
10/12


Declaration
Session
10/3
1:30 pm

         


10/19
Telebears Registration begins for Spring 2009

Declaration
Session
10/21
11 am
        
10/26

 

 

    

Declaration
Session
10/30
1:30 pm
    


Sessions are held weekly during the academic year and less frequently during the summer and winter breaks.
They are announced by email on the PSAdvise@berkeley.edu listserv and posted here.