Fields & Field Requirements
- Field Requirements
- American Politics
- Comparative Politics
- International Relations
- Political Theory
- Methodology
Field Requirements
To view the requirements that apply to you, please select the year/quarter of your initial enrollment in the graduate program.
- Fall 2021 and later (PDF)
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Fall 2018 - Fall 2020 (PDF)
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Fall 2015 - Fall 2017 (PDF)
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Fall 2013 - Fall 2014 (PDF)
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Fall 2012 (PDF)
PhD Course Requirements Self-Check
Political Science PhD program. Enter the courses you have completed and see which requirements remain.
Unofficial planning tool. It checks course numbers only. It does not check grades, units, or whether a course was approved for credit. The Graduate Coordinator's record controls. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
A. Program requirements (all students)
- Complete the four-course core: POLI 203A, 203B, 204A, 204B. No other UCSD course substitutes.
- Complete 18 graduate courses in total, 15 of them offered by the department and numbered POLI 200–279. Up to 3 may come from outside the department.
- Complete these before the comprehensive exam.
- Complete requirements in two subfields (section C). Your first subfield also requires its POLI 281–286 workshop every quarter in residence.
| Requirement | Rule | Status |
|---|
Typical timeline (from the Action Plan)
| Year | Key objectives |
|---|---|
| 1 | At least 9 courses; start a seminar paper. |
| 2 | At least 18 courses; finish seminar paper; pass the general comprehensive exam. |
| 3 | Choose a prospectus advisor, form a dissertation committee, defend the prospectus, advance to candidacy. |
| 4 | Advance to candidacy by the end of year 4 if not already done. |
B. Your completed courses
Separate courses with commas, semicolons, or new lines. Write Political Science courses as 251 or POLI 251; include the letter when there is one (203A). Write other departments with a prefix (ECON 220A, GPS 435). A seminar taken more than once under different topics: list it once per time taken.
C. Your two subfields
Tick two. Your section B course list is checked against each one.