Department of Sociology

B.A. /M.A. Program

 

The Department of Sociology offers a five-year B.A. /M.A. program to eligible students with outstanding academic records (minimum 3.5 GP).  Students must apply for and be accepted into this program.  A student starts with a recommendation and sequence of courses from the department chair.  The student must then get approval from the Undergraduate Dean and interviews with the Undergraduate and Graduate Deans.  Admittance to the graduate program will be provisional, subject to review of the scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), which must be taken before the end of the first semester of the senior year. A student admitted into the program and who fails to maintain a satisfactory academic record, or who fails to achieve acceptable scores on the GRE exam, may not continue in the program.

 

Once admitted into the program students are allowed to begin work toward a master’s degree during both semesters of their senior year.  Certain courses within and outside the major field may be waived in favor of graduate courses, which will be counted toward the 40 courses necessary for the bachelor’s degree.  All requirements for the bachelor’s degree must be completed with four years of matriculation and before credits towards the master’s degree may be applied.  All master’s degree credits must be completed within five years of matriculation; otherwise the double course credits are forfeited.

 

The following information will be helpful for planning a sequence of courses.

 

• Credits required for Bachelor’s degree: 40 courses (120 credits).

      Sociology has (36 credit hours), 7 required courses SOC 101, 102, 202/501, 301/503, 352/512, 451, 452 plus five electives (up to four courses can be taken at the 500 level and counted toward both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees.)  Students are required to take a comprehensive exam or write a thesis paper their senior year.

 

• Credits required for the Master’s degree: 30 credit hours.

      Required sociology courses SOC 501, 502, 503,512, 601, 604 plus six credit hours for a thesis (or 2 research papers) by the fifth year.

 

• Suggested Course Sequence

 

      Sophomore/Junior Year            SOC 501 ─ Research Methods

                                                 SOC 503 ─ Social Statistics

                                                 SOC 502 ─ Social Science Data Analysis

                                                 SOC 512 ─ Theories of Comparative Societies

                                                 Other 500 level electives

 

      Senior Year                            SOC 451 ─ Senior Coordinating Seminar – Fall

                                                 SOC 452 ─ Senior Coordinating Seminar – Spring

                                                 SOC 601 ─ Social Organization

                                                 Other 500 level electives

 

      Fifth Year                              SOC 604 ─ Intermediate Social Statistics

                                                 Remaining 500 level electives

                                                 Thesis and/or Comprehensive Exam

 

For more information see the Graduate Schools’ guidelines in the Advising Handbook – The School of Arts and Sciences.