Program Overview

GSAS BA/MA Option

The Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) offers highly qualified Columbia undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue and obtain a Master of Arts (MA) degree in an academic discipline of their choice. Accepted students will receive their offer of deferred admission in their junior or senior year.

Degree Offerings

The BA/MA option is available in the following academic disciplines:

• African-American Studies
• American Studies
• Classical Studies
• Classics
• East Asian Languages and Cultures
• East Asian Regional Studies
• Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology
• English and Comparative Literature
• European History, Politics and Society
• European History, Politics, and Society (MA/MSc with London School of Economics)
• French
• Germanic Languages
• Global Thought
• Human Rights Studies
• Islamic Studies
• Jewish Studies
• Latin America and the Caribbean: Regional Studies
• Latin American and Iberian Cultures with a concentration in Hispanic Cultural Studies
• Medieval and Renaissance Studies
• Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies
• Oral History
• Philosophy
• Political Science
• Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences
• Religion
• Religion-Journalism
• Russia, Eurasia, and Eastern Europe: Regional Studies
• Slavic Cultures
• Slavic Languages
• Sociology
• South Asian Studies
• Statistics

Curriculum

Students who are offered admission under the BA/MA option will work with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) or program director to determine an appropriate selection of graduate courses during their remaining undergraduate semesters, and can be granted up to 1 Residence Unit (RU) of the 2 RUs required for a Master’s degree.

Upon enrollment in GSAS, BA/MA students may be granted up to four courses (12-15 credits) of transfer credit and up to 1 Residence Unit (RU) for graduate courses (4000-level and above). Students transferring fewer than four courses will be granted a partial RU based on the number of courses.

Transfer credit will be granted ONLY for courses taken in excess of the 124-credit requirement for the Columbia or Barnard bachelor's degree (i.e., courses that did not count toward undergraduate major or other program of study, or general education requirements).

Transfer credit courses must be taken for a letter grade, and the grade received must be B or better.

Students will then complete the remaining RUs and coursework as GSAS students. For more information on completing Residence Units as part of fulfilling degree requirements, see Residence Unit and Other Registration Categories.

Admissions

Undergraduate students interested in the BA/MA option are advised to consult the DGS and their GS academic advisor in the earlier stages of their undergraduate degree, prior to applying. Applications should be submitted by the admissions deadlines and definitely by the semester prior to the one during which students will begin taking classes that will be applied to their MA. Students will not be eligible to apply during their final semester of the senior year to the BA/MA option. At that juncture, they may apply for regular admission to the MA program of their choice using the GSAS online application. Applicants interested in the BA/MA option should not apply to the program using the regular admissions application found on the GSAS website.

Admission Deadlines

Please refer to the following admissions deadlines.

Contact Information

For more information regarding the BA/MA option, students should contact their respective undergraduate academic advisor and/or relevant DGS.

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