Accelerated B.S. to MGIS (Environmental Systems Track)

This accelerated program gives outstanding bachelor’s degree students in the Geosciences a “fast-track” option to pursue their Master of Science Geographic Information- Professional Concentration degree.

Students accepted into the accelerated program may take up to 12 credit hours of 5000-level courses during the last two semesters of their bachelor’s program that will apply to both the bachelor’s and master’s degree requirements. Students have to meet all requirements for both the bachelor’s degree and master’s degree.

Additional requirements for students in this program are:

Students must earn at least a “B” (3.0) in each graduate-level course counted for the program.

Eligibility for this program:

  1. Completion of at least 64 undergraduate credits applicable to the Bachelor of Science in Earth and Environmental Systems, Environmental Systems Track at the time of application.
  2. Overall GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale at the time of application.

Application Process to take undergraduate and graduate courses in a student’s senior year: Students who wish to enroll in this program should apply no later than the end of the second semester of the year prior to their intended undergraduate degree conferral.

Applications should be sent to geology@isu.edu with the following:

  1. A letter of intent to express how this accelerated program will enhance your academic and professional pathways to success
  2. 2 letters of recommendation
  3. Include “Accelerated BS to MSGIS” in the subject line of the email

Graduate School Application Process: Students will apply to the graduate school to become a MSGIS student during the year prior to their intended undergraduate degree conferral.

* Meeting these eligibility requirements does not guarantee acceptance into the accelerated master’s degree.

Program Admissions Requirements

There are no program admission requirements for the BS Earth and Environment Systems, Environmental Systems Concentration

Course Requirements

Each student is required to meet all course requirements for the BS degree in Earth and Environmental Systems, Environmental Systems Track. Students are required to take 30 credit hours at the graduate level, with 15 credits at the 6600 level to complete the MSGIS degree (approved courses shown below). Students will be required to pass a written and oral capstone exam in their final semester to be awarded the MSGIS degree.

For more information on this program, including admission into the accelerated program and undergraduate degree requirements related to this program, please reference the accelerated program description in the undergraduate catalog.

Section A - Core Courses
GEOL 5504Advanced Geographic Information Systems3
GEOL 5507GPS/GNSS Applications in Research3
GEOL 5508GeoTechnology Seminar2
GEOL 5509Remote Sensing3
Total Credits:11
Section B - Electives
ANTH 6641Research Project1-3
BIOL 6651Advanced Studies in Ecology3
INFO 5507Database Design and Implementation3
CS 5532Data Science and Applied Machine Learning3
CS 5533Applied Neural Networks3
CS 5578Machine Learning3
CS 6634Advanced Methods In Artificial Intelligence3
GEOL 5502Geomorphology4
GEOL 5555Geologic Data Methods3
GEOL 5527Information Technology for GIS3
GEOL 5528Programming for GIS3
GEOL 6628Advanced GIS Programming3
GEOL 5580Special Topics in GIS1-3
GEOL 6604Watershed Modeling3
GEOL 6607Spatial Analysis4
GEOL 6608Geostatistics Spatial Data Analysis and Modeling3
GEOL 6609Advanced Image Processing3
GEOL 6611UAS Applications for the Geosciences3
GEOL 6612GIS Internship1-3
GEOL 6628Advanced GIS Programming3
GEOL 6648Research Problems1-3
Total Credits:19