External Credit

The links below answer most of the standard questions regarding external credits toward the political science major. If you have reviewed the information below, as well as the information posted on the course approval page and study abroad page, and still cannot find the information you need, please email polisci@barnard.edu. 

Advanced Placement Credit

Barnard awards Advanced Placement (AP) credits toward the 120-credit requirement for the B.A. degree. The Department does not credit an AP course toward the ten-course requirement for the major or the five-course requirement for the minor.

Students who have passed the AP in American national government with a grade of 5 are exempted from the requirement to take an introductory course in American politics, provided they take an upper-level course in American national government listed in the Barnard catalogue. Where UN 1201 "Introduction to American Politics" is listed as a course prerequisite, an AP score of 5 in American national government counts as an equivalent.

Students who have passed the AP in comparative politics with a grade of 5 are exempted from the requirement to take an introductory course in comparative politics, provided they take an upper-level course in comparative politics listed in the Barnard catalogue. Where UN 1501 "Comparative Politics" is listed as a course prerequisite, an AP score of 5 in comparative politics counts as an equivalent.

If a student wants to take the introductory American Politics or Comparative Politics course, she may do so, but she then will forfeit her corresponding AP credit.

Policy on No Exemption from General Education Requirements through Advanced Placement and/or International Baccalaureate Credits: 

Students entering Barnard in fall 2016 and thereafter will receive points of credit for Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) credit, but these credits will not exempt students from General Education Requirements requirements. 

Further information may be found on the Registrar's website: 

Transfer Credit

No more than three of the ten courses required for the major can be taken outside of courses listed in the Political Science section of Barnard and Columbia's course directory. Within the three-course limit of courses taken elsewhere, the following caps traditionally apply: three transfer courses; two study-abroad courses from one semester away or three study-abroad courses from a full year away; two Reid Hall courses; one summer session course. On rare occasions the Associate Chair of the department may grant an exception. At the discretion of the department, courses that do not meet Barnard standards for workload or intellectual rigor will not be granted major or minor credit. 

See an overview of the approval process. 

Study abroad

You can find all of the information you need regarding study-abroad approval and credits.

Internship Credit

Barnard does not award academic credit for internships. 

The political science department does not award academic credit for internships.

Please note that the co-curricular credit offered by the Career Development Office does not count toward the political science major. Refer to the Career Development Internships page for a description of co-curricular credit as well as for other useful information.