Accelerated MA in Philosophy

Catalog Year: 2023-2024

Banner Code: LA-MA-ACEL-PHIL

The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on program requirements and courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes. Requirements may be different for earlier catalog years. See the University Catalog archives.

Philosophy, BA/Philosophy, Accelerated MA

Overview

Highly-qualified Mason undergraduates may be admitted to the bachelor's/accelerated master's program and obtain a BA in Philosophy and an MA in Philosophy in an accelerated time-frame after satisfactory completion of a minimum of 139 credits.

See AP.6.7 Bachelor's/Accelerated Master's Degrees for policies related to this program.

Students in an accelerated degree program must fulfill all university requirements for the master's degree. For policies governing all graduate degrees, see AP.6 Graduate Policies.

BAM Pathway Admission Requirements

Applicants to all graduate programs at George Mason University must meet the admission standards and application requirements for graduate study as specified in Graduate Admissions Policies and Bachelor's Accelerated Master's Degree policies.  For information specific to this accelerated master's program, see Application Requirements and Deadlines on the departmental website.

Students will be considered for admission into the BAM Pathway after completion of a minimum of 60 credits and after completing the following:

  • 9 upper level credits in philosophy.
  • At least two of the following with a grade of B or higher in each: PHIL 301 History of Western Philosophy: Ancient, PHIL 303 History of Western Philosophy: Modern, or PHIL 173 Logic and Critical Thinking

Students who are accepted in the BAM Pathway will be allowed to register for graduate level courses after successful completion of a minimum of 75 undergraduate credits.

Accelerated Master's Admissions Requirements

Students already admitted in the BAM Pathway will be admitted to the MA program, if they have met the following criteria, as verified on the Bachelor's/Accelerated Master's Transition form:

  • Minimum overall GPA of 3.25
  • Minimum grade of 3.00 in each advanced standing course
  • Successfully meeting Mason's requirements for undergraduate degree conferral (graduation) and completing the application for graduation.

Accelerated Pathway Requirements

To maintain the integrity and quality of both the undergraduate and graduate degree programs, undergraduate students interested in taking graduate courses must choose from the following:

Advanced Standing courses (up to 12 credits with a minimum grade of B in each)

600-level PHIL courses, with the exception of PHIL 600 Proseminar in Philosophy and PHIL 693 Directed Readings in Philosophy, with the advice and approval of the department.

Advanced standing courses may fulfill the requirement in the BA in Philosophy for Analytic Tradition, Continental Tradition, or Ethics and Social and Political Philosophy, if content is appropriate and with permission of the department.

Reserve Graduate Credit courses (up to 6 credits) taken while an undergraduate and will only count for the graduate degree program

600-level PHIL courses, with the exception of PHIL 600 Proseminar in Philosophy and PHIL 693 Directed Readings in Philosophy, with the advice and approval of the department


For more detailed information on coursework and timeline requirements see AP.6.7 Bachelor's Accelerated Master's Degree policies.