Brutally Honest Opinion About Majoring in Political Science?

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>I was just wondering what the job prospects were for someone who majors in Political Science and graduates (from somewhere like, for example, the University of Massachusetts, Suffolk University, Bride Water State U, Framingham State U, Fitchburg SC) with a Bachelor's. I'm more than a little skeptical of the field, especially as a college major. Looking at statistics in articles or websites like "**************" or "Payscale", it seems like a fairly promising major salary-wise, but I'm very wary of majors that seem too good to be true, especially if they aren't something like pharmacy, engineering, or statistics-related. </p>

<p>Pardon me if what I'm saying is hard to understand or is just ludicrous.</p>

<p>I've also noticed another major, referred to as "Government" reoccurring in the above websites. It is ranked separately from Political Science, yet I don't think I've ever seen it looking at available majors (at colleges); sometimes I have seen Political Science listed as "Political Science and Government", however. Can anyone offer clarification?</p>

<p>EDIT: College Confidential censored the name of one of my sources, it was just another salary website that was a competitor.</p>

2

<p>What kind of job do you want after college?</p>

<p>Who do you want to work for?</p>

<p>Political Science is good if you want to work in politics or government, if those aren’t your aspirations you could find something with more broad appeal.</p>

<p>Political Science/Government majors are usually pretty interchangeable.</p>

3

<p>That’s what I wanted to go into, and I’m going to law school after getting my bachelor’s. I think a little more summed up, my question is: “how is the job market in this?” Is it hard to get a job or move up with a degree from somewhere like UMass, Bridgewater, or Suffolk? What kind of specific jobs would be available?</p>

4

<p>Political science is hit and miss. Hit if you can get into government. Miss in the private world. In the private world, it will just be a piece of paper that gets you in the door. Seriously think about law school. A lot of people are saying that a Law Degree is worthless now.</p>

5

<p>As someone with a degree in political science, I feel apt to respond to this! I found political science to be best at explaining how to think and use reasoning. Classes were less concerned with rote memorization than they were with understanding and, more importantly, the ability to make an assertion and defend it when questioned on the spot.</p>

<p>I am now a very proficient reader, especially with regard to large volumes of complex information. I am also relatively well versed in statistical analysis and current events.</p>

<p>Political science has a wide variety of subfields; the four at my college were Political Theory, American Politics, International Relations and Comparative Politics. I focused on political theory and American politics, and I found VERY different courses within these subdisciplines. Political Theory involves intense reading of classical philosophers, related to both historical and current political ideas and events. American politics alone is very diverse. Some people focus on the qualitative aspects of politics: the history, the ideas and the trends. Others focus on the quantitative aspects of politics: how Congress passes laws (i.e. analyzing who votes for what, when and why to the point that you can essentially predict congressional votes before they happen), how people get elected (how much it costs, who votes, when, why), and other things like that.</p>

<p>Political Science majors often go into higher studies (graduate/professional school), but they also become paralegals, investment bankers, consultants, foreign service officers, DHS acquisitions analysts, teachers, political advisers, and that’s just the beginning.</p>

<p>Political science is extremely broad, and it is generally up to the individual to decide what direction to follow!</p>

6

<p>People are saying every degree is worthless lately - which is just non sense. There are some with legitimate value and some without value. A law degree is a degree with value, but as with almost everything, there are qualifications. A law degree can only have value if:

  1. You graduate with a high GPA.
    AND (not OR) 2) You get your degree from one of the Top 14.</p>

<p>OR 3) You don’t care about being a poor lawyer with lots of debt.</p>

7

<p>You can go to some university web sites and find career surveys listing by major outcomes for graduates. Universities with such career survey information include:</p>

<p>Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
CMU
Georgia Tech
MIT
Purdue
UC Berkeley</p>

8

<p>I’m doing a senate internship, for what I’ve learned, most people, in fact almost all of the staff, on all levels, don’t actually hold a poli sci degree. Most it’s law, science, even aggie degrees. You’re major doesn’t really matter, and I can;t see poli-sci as really anything but limited for other things, and not helping to get in politics itself.</p>

9

<p>The only corporate related function Political Science overlaps is communications/public affairs, but if that’s what you want to do you’d be better off just majoing in Marketing or something like Communications/Business.</p>

<p>I have a Political Science degree and I work in Politics. I can definitely say that the career I have isn’t because of my major. I could have gotten this career with any major, political science wasn’t necessary.</p>

<p>There is not specific job you can get after college with a Poli Sci degree. It’s not like Electrical Engineering or Nursing. I enjoyed the program but overall it limits you when you are searching for your first job.</p>

<p>Figure out what career you want after college, more than likely it will not require a Political Science degree. In fact, very few jobs actually require a degree in Political Science. It doesn’t provide you with any real on-the-job-skills unless you intentionally seek them out on your own. Learning about political philosophy and the structure of government is interesting, but it doesn’t translate very well into the real world - especially in this insanely tough job market.</p>

<p>One nice thing about Poli Sci/Politics is that there are alot of volunteer opportunities available to you. Campaigns are always looking for volunteers to assist with their operation and it’s a good way to build experience and network. Some of the people I graduated with had a very long resume going into the job hunt. Sure, it was mostly all volunteer and part-time work, but it shows that you are ambitious. One of those volunteer jobs might turn into a paying job, or will open a door for you down the road.</p>

<p>I’d re-consider law school. It’s not the path to a great job it use to be. Hiring is down and recent graduates can’t afford to take some jobs because of their debt. Plus, being a lawyer kinda sucks. It’s not like on TV, you do lots of hours and it’s pretty stressful.</p>

10

<p>

</p>

<p>Hmmm, I’m not sure if the daytime TV ads from law firms looking for clients for personal injury lawsuits really helps lawyers’ image…</p>

11

<p>^ I was referring to shows that depict drama, not ambulance chasers.</p>

12

<p>Political science doesn’t open any doors that another liberal arts degree would (ex: history, psychology, economics). If it interests you, major in it, but unlike majors such as accounting, economics, or finance, there are no “built-in” career paths that make it easier to find an entry-level job.</p>

13

<p>A Political Science/Government major might be alright to get you into Government work, but just understand that “working for the Government” does not mean “on the career track to becoming a politician.” Many of the Poli Sci majors from my tier 1 regional school end up working for a pittance as Fellows in the State Capitol or as interns in local gov’t. You are doing the drafting, the editing, the research, etc., and you are being trained for a long-term career in being an aide, with the miniscule chance that you can hitch yourself to the star of a successful politician and then become his/her…aide.</p>

<p>While it is true that yes you really should give a second, third, fourth, and ninth thought to law school, even if you are absolutely convinced it is for you, I would say that is almost more of a reason to stay AWAY from Poli Sci. Poli Sci majors on average do not do very well on the LSAT compared to their counterparts in Math and Econ etc. and have absolutely no advantage once in law school. A Poli Sci major in a lot of ways can be considered a disadvantage in terms of LS because a) it does absolutely nothing to set you apart from the zillions of other Poli Sci majors applying to the same schools and b) it gives you extremely little practical knowledge that would be useful to a lawyer. An engineering major is going to have a whole world of patent/IP law open to him or her that is completely closed off to a Poli Sci major. Solid math/communications/econ/accounting/finance skills are going to be a lot more valuable in the practice of law than generalist poli sci knowledge.</p>

<p>That last point actually holds true for jobs in politics as well. If a congresswoman is on a committee writing agricultural policy, my guess is that she would rather have someone with fairly solid knowledge of Agricultural Science or even Biology or Environmental Economics on her team before a Poli Sci major. As someone who majored in Poli Sci (thankfully as a second major) and deeply regrets doing so, I’m going to say avoid it.</p>

14

<p>As an aside, I have noticed that IR grads from the better national programs have a much easier time breaking into the business/finance/consulting side of things than Poli Sci majors do. I have no idea why.</p>

15

<p>^ Good points about Poli Sci.</p>

<p>Before you decide to work in politics, find out what working in politics means. As the previous poster mentioned, it’s mostly working as an aide, unless you have some specialized skill like polling or IT.</p>

<p>There are political consultants, but that isn’t a career you prepare for, you more or less fall into it and it comes after having years of experience in a certain field (finance, fundraising, IT, ect.)</p>

<p>Working for the government is so broad that it’s hard to really address. I have to say, I wouldn’t want to work for the government. If you are an ambitious person I’d stay in the private sector where you don’t have a ceiliing or cap. Plus, would you rather work in an environment that creates, or one that keeps things from being created? No matter how good the intentions are, governments establish barriers to creation. After awhile you notice that you are just a professional stand-in-the-wayer, rather than a get-something-doner.</p>

<p>Now, if you decide government work is for you, a Poli Sci degree isn’t required. In fact, having a more practical degree (Computer Science, Accounting) will actually open more doors.</p>

<p>Few people really create lasting careers for themselves in politics (remember, politics and government aren’t the same). It’s a tough life. You stand the chance to lose your job every 2 or 4 years due to elections, that’s scary. </p>

<p>I’m just offering up food for thought, the other side. Sure, university websites will say, “A Political Major can lead to XYZ”, XYZ being marvelous careers and dream jobs - well, it could, but that doesn’t mean it’s likely.</p>

<p>For the most part, a Poli Sci degree leads to working in a separate field.</p>

16

Studying political science and international affairs can relate to the study of political campaign management–sales and marketing of a political campaign, fundraising for the campaign in person, obtaining money from people around the world, speaking foreign languages to sell and fund-raise, networking, and data collection. Local small businesses are struggling to survive in face of globalization–the globalizing of local economies into fast pace movement of currency between countries.