I’d appreciate your help in deciding whether to major in History or Political Science at a UC.
About me, I’m a freshman at a California community college, planning on transferring to a UC (In order of preference: UCB, UCLA, UCSD, or UCSB) in Fall 2016. My long term goal is to attend a competitive law school, work as a lawyer, and then transition to a career in politics. Which bachelors degree would suit this plan best?
I’m very interested in both History and Political Science, so I don’t necessarily prefer one major to the other. I’m currently enrolled as a History major, but I’m open to switching to Pol Sci. I think I’ll have a better chance at earning admission to the more prestigious UC’s as a History major because there is less competition for this major than Pol Sci. Additionally, I’ve heard that History majors tend to be more successful in law school because their curriculum emphasized critical thinking and analysis more than Pol Sci, how true/significant is this?
Once I graduate college I plan to intern/work in a law-related field to gain experience, and then after a couple years, apply to law school. Will a History or Pol Sci degree offer a significant advantage in securing an internship/job? I figure that if I don’t like law I can become an elementary school teacher or pursue a career in business.
There is enough overlap at the UG level that it isn’t going to matter. Study history with an emphasis on politics. It ca. Get you to the same place as a poly sci degree.
It really won’t matter. I personally think a History degree is more interesting than a Political Science degree and there’s probably a lot less Type A strivers in History than Political Science. (Political Science majors are known to be pretty argumentative and abrasive.) You can always major in one and then minor in the other. Or you could double major. Or just take history intensive Pol Sci classes or history classes with an emphasis on political climate.
For what it’s worth, they’re pretty much the same in terms of their value relative to law school admissions. Since major doesn’t matter to law schools (bar “law” majors like “legal studies” or whatever) you should pick a major that you enjoy and you know you will do well in. If you’re looking for a major that’s gonna translate into skills tested on the LSAT then majors like Philosophy, Mathematics, and Physics are more relevant.
Don’t worry about what majors do well in law school and what majors don’t - there are literally so many Political Science majors and History majors flocking to law school every year that their performance is going to span top of the class at Yale to bottom of the barrel at East Podunk School of Law. Your capacity to perform well in law school will have a lot more to do with you individually and your own skill set and work ethic than whatever you majored in.
I appreciate your response! I’m thinking I’ll stick with history as you said. I like your profile picture haha, I’m writing an essay on Roosevelt right now.
Good choice. I was also confronted with deciding between history and politics as I loved both. The tipping factor for me was the feeling history would give me a broader education than politics. That and I enjoyed the writing styles of historians in academic journals and textbooks/monographs much more than the tortured long-winded jargon-filled prose common in many politics journal articles I had to read in undergrad.
I also didn’t completely give up on Politics, either as I took more than enough courses for a minor including 3 advanced seminar classes.
As for interning in a law firm, you can try doing that while you’re an undergrad. One thing for sure, there’s very little match between how lawyers are in reality and how they’re portrayed on TV/mass media judging by my experience working IT at a biglaw firm and seeing the attorneys and paralegals in action.
I’m sorry, I didn’t complete my full thought above.
A core skill that is taught in law school is developing analytic skills (ie taking facts, applying them to law, reaching conclusions). Before you can “take facts” you have to gather facts by asking questions, researching out facts in part by reading documents and communicating/interviewing people. You will need to learn art of interviewing people (eg how to ask who, what, where, when, why). You will need to learn to write clearly and effectively. Once you have facts you’ll have to absorb and process (ie analyze) facts. At core, isn’t this quite similar to core skill taught in law schools?
@youngdro Don’t worry about the LSAT now. Focus on your GPA. Your undergraduate GPA is set in stone after graduation - the LSAT usually requires less than 6 months of consistent preparation and can be retaken.
I’ve never heard that history is better than political science and I doubt that it is; both majors require a lot of reading, critical thinking, analysis, and writing. You’ll be fine with either.
Political science may make it slightly easier to get post-college placements because it’s a social science - there are lots of think tanks, NGOs, government agencies, and other organizations that hire BA-level social scientists to do some analysis for them. This is particularly true if you beef up your statistical analysis skills. Either will help you pursue a career in business, but you must realize that if you want to be an elementary school teacher as a backup, you’d have to return to school. Elementary school teachers must major in something specific (usually early childhood education) and get certified.
@Jugulator20, I think that history or political science majors are better kinds of preparation for law school than journalism. The kind of dense, complex readings that political science or history majors have is more akin to the kind of reading you’ll have in law school than the readings that journalism majors have. And while lawyers do gather information by asking questions of everyone, it’s my understanding that that’s not what you focus on in law school. Law school is more about the scholarly study of the concepts of law and legal studies. You can learn interviewing people after law school; you learn the principles of it in law school, but not the actual act. And the kinds of analysis and writing that journalists do is quite different from what lawyers do.
Your UG major doesn’t matter when you apply to law school. They only care about your GPA and LSAT score. I advise to major in something where you will be able to gain employment in the chance you either change your mind about law school or don’t get accepted!
im in a similar boat as you, I’m definitely leaning towards history. Im an incoming freshman to a junior college (turned down UCSD because it was too expensive for all 4 years) But in your experience do you hear that history is a really cutthroat major? I don’t think it is nearly as competitive as polsci. I want to go to UCLA as well but it is discouraging hearing how cutthroat it is, and how hard it is to get an A. My counter to that though, is that it is mostly pre med/engineering. I read that UC Irvine may be a less stressful environment in terms of competition (that’s my backup school as yours is most likely Santa Barbara to compare) have you considered the idea that getting a HIGHER gpa in SB being more beneficial than going to UCLA and working the cutthroat environment? After all, highest GPA is the most important aspect along with LSAT’s. Can’t imagine history being like “battle your classmates to academic death” but its been something I’ve mentally been kinda struggling with haha.
Wow, how things have changed since I last posted here! So, I decided on History for sure with either a minor or dual major in Political Science. Currently, my TAG has been approved to UC Davis and I still need to complete my application for UCLA and Berkeley. Regarding the cutthroat environment, I haven’t heard about that, although I know little about the academic environment of these schools. I do know that the average transfer GPA for UCLA and Berkeley is higher for Political Science than History, so I’d assume that Political Science majors are under greater pressure. After taking a Political Science course that centers on a primarily philosophical perspective of law and it’s function in society, I’ve lost some interest in pursuing that profession because it seems much more frustrating and demoralizing than I had previously thought. Best of luck to you!