Honor societies offer validation of your scholarly performance, opportunities for leadership development, and mechanisms for professional networking.
An invitation to join an honor society is in itself a mark of distinction. Participation in an honor society can offer insights about fields of endeavor within and related to political science, and can help pave the way to career opportunities.
- Pi Sigma Alpha
Pi Sigma Alpha is the national political science honor society. Pi Sigma Alpha hosts chapters on nearly 850 campuses, with a mission to empower students achieving academic excellence with a passion for exploring politics, policy, and government.
Member students get access to exclusive scholarships to graduate school and internships in Washington, DC. Other opportunities include entering a national research conference, receiving awards and scholarships for research, and more. Students will receive a certificate of election upon their induction to Pi Sigma Alpha, and can also purchase pins, stoles, medallions, and honor cords as regalia for graduation from the national organization. Once invited and inducted, Pi Sigma Alpha is a lifetime membership.
We are working to revive the UC Davis chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, and the Delta Upsilon chapter received a "Best Chapter" award for 2024-25! Read more on our website. If you’re interested in public service, political science, or just want to build community with like-minded students, we’d love to have you involved! Plans for the year include a speaker series, political movie nights, pizza and bowling socials, and more. Follow us on Instagram @ucdpsa or email us at deltaupsilonpsa@gmail.com to stay in the loop!
Who is eligible to join Pi Sigma Alpha?
Membership in Pi Sigma Alpha is open to juniors and seniors who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in political science, international relations and public administration. Graduating seniors and recently graduated students are eligible to apply. Students must meet the following requirements in order to qualify:
- Junior or senior student status (minimum of 90 quarter units or the equivalent, completed as of winter quarter)
- Completion of at least 6 courses in political science, at least half of which must be in upper division courses (courses numbered 100 or above)
- - Community college transferees and students recently transferring to UCD from other universities must have completed the equivalent of 24 quarter units in political science and must have completed at least 3 upper division political science courses at UCD before being eligible for election
- Achievement of a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.2 for all work in all courses completed at UCD (as of winter quarter)
- Achievement of a minimum grade point average of 3.0 for all political science courses completed, either at UCD or other institutions (as of winter quarter).
Students satisfactorily meeting all requirements will be invited to join Pi Sigma Alpha. In order to become a member, elected students must pay a one-time $35 initiation fee, which includes the cost of national and local chapter dues and the membership certificate.
How to join Pi Sigma Alpha
Applications for Pi Sigma Alpha will be processed each spring quarter. Emails will be sent to the Political Science major listserv with the application link; if you would like to join the listserv, please email us at poladvising@ucdavis.edu.
Spring 2025: Students interested in and eligible for election to Pi Sigma Alpha are encouraged to complete the following application form at: https://ucdavis.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eLDitACOhHyRA2y. Please submit this form by 11:59pm on May 7, 2025 to be considered for invitation to Pi Sigma Alpha this year.
Please contact our advising department at poladvising@ucdavis.edu with any questions.
- Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society is America's oldest and most prestigious national academic honorary society. The Society was founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia; the UC Davis chapter, designated Kappa of California, was chartered in 1968.
Each spring, Kappa of California sends invitations to the ucdavis.edu email account of eligible juniors and seniors. Kappa of California recognizes by election as "members in course" juniors and seniors who have compiled outstanding academic records in a curriculum including the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. Election and initiation take place annually in the spring.
Criteria for election to Phi Beta Kappa at UC Davis
• An overall UC grade point average of 3.7 for seniors and 3.8 for juniors. For transfer students, the total undergraduate record and cumulative GPA must meet this standard.
• Knowledge of a foreign language at an "intermediate level," the equivalent of one year of college-level study. Extensive high school study, i.e., four years or AP credit, is accepted.
• College of Letters and Science units totaling 135 for seniors and 90 for juniors.
• 75 units completed for letter-grade credit at UC Davis.
• College preparatory level mathematics.
• Three courses or 12 units completed for letter-grade credit in the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences, reflecting breadth in the course record.
Selection process
The Committee on Members in Course, composed of academic members of Phi Beta Kappa, reviews transcripts and recommends to the resident members of the society students whose records meet the criteria. There is no automatic right to election. The committee may apply judgment, for example, in cases involving extensive student-option pass-fail grading, especially in the major. Questions about qualification are welcome and will be considered.
Transcripts of juniors and seniors in the College of Letters and Science are automatically reviewed if the GPA and units in residence requirements are met. Names of additional students who may meet the requirements are solicited from faculty members.
Notification of election is by (a) email to the ucdavis.edu account, (b) posting at the Phi Beta Kappa website, (c) through the academic department of the major. Potential members in course who have been elected to Phi Beta Kappa, as indicated on the lists posted, and wish to be inducted into the society — even if retroactively — are cordially invited to contact the secretary.
Enrollment information
Visit the Kappa of California website to learn more.