Is it worth it? And what are the job opportunities like?
The University of Michigan is one of the best places to study political science. Whether it is worth it is up to you. Career opportunities include placement into top graduate programs (if you maintain a great GPA and get good research experience), placement in a top consultancy/bank (if you maintain a great GPA, network like everyone else interested in banking/consulting, have great involvement, and keep your quantitative skills sharp), placement as a staffer for state/federal legislators, and many other opps.
Great school to study political science - but it’s political science. It is one of the easiest majors at UM. If you don’t have postgraduate studies plans, I think it’s worth double majoring. Very easy major to double major with.
To put into perspective, political science is a 30 credit major if you have AP Gov/Pol credit coming in. Biology is around 50 credits, Physics is around 55, Chemistry is 65-70.
Just because it is a less demanding major, doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing. If you excel and have an interest in political science, there is simply no reason to do a major in Physics or Chemistry just to have that on your transcript. You would possibly be miserable working in those fields (and anyway, you would need a graduate degree to do much in Chem or Physics). Years ago I graduated from U of M as a Linguistics major. When I chose that major, my father didn’t even understand what the field studied. He wanted me to “stay the course” in microbiology. I had lost interest in micro, and to be honest, to this day I have never looked back and regretted that shift.
My “short” major gave me time to pursue other interests: computer science, psychology, photojournalism, history, etc. Since my major was a flexible one, UM let me take graduate courses for most of my Junior year in Linguistics and Psychology. This allowed me to see that I could be successful in grad school. One internship I did led to a job offer in the very early Internet, which I did not take up as. Instead, I got into a top doctoral program, and have managed to carve out a career ever since. The point is, these less course intensive majors allow one to become broadly knowledgeable and versatile. You learn critical thinking, writing, and navigating through mixed demands. Unless the world has radically changed (and I believe it has not), employers like knowledgeable, versatile employees. And if all else fails, you can do what I did ultimately, and start your own business.
Good luck.
In no way was I saying OP should study chemistry, physics or biology. I was just using other LSA majors as a baseline to show how relaxed the credit requirement for political science is. I agree with everything you’ve said @psycholing. My original suggestion was absolutely to study political science, but to consider double majoring with an additional major if OP did not want to pursue postgraduate education. Going directly into the business world with only a political science major could lead to troubles in early employment if said student did not nail down fantastic internships as an undergraduate.
My point however was that there is no reason to do a second major, when one can use the additional time to obtain a broad based education. This is especially true at a place like UM, where one can access engineering, the Arts, and even graduate courses without being in the particular school or major. This is your chance to take courses in any area that you may want to explore. Employers want to know what you can do, and what you have done, rather than what your listed major is. Pre-grad school, I was able to ace many interviews just based on the diversity of my courses and previous work experience.
Article on point: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/08/the-humanities-face-a-crisisof-confidence/567565/
I agree that majoring in the humanities can be very versatile. However, if you are majoring in the humanities at a non-elite college/program, your employment prospects are not too bright. Luckily, this is not a problem for Michigan students.
Hmm, I definitely see your viewpoints. I guess I’m just really scared of being unemployed after graduation (I don’t plan on getting a master’s degree). I was thinking of maybe majoring in economics instead. And @psycholing the article was pretty fascinating; it’s an unfortunate truth that the job market today seems to only embrace STEM fields.
Your concern is very real and job prospects are not great for poly sci majors no matter where they graduate. You would probably have to get a job that has nothing to do with your major (and that is not a good thing). Having said that, adversity is the mother of invention and you might find what you really want to do through that adversity.
“You would probably have to get a job that has nothing to do with your major (and that is not a good thing)”
Why on Earth is that “not a good thing”? It’s much better for your long term prospects to be at the top of your class in a top college by studying something you enjoy than to do badly (or even mediocrely) in something you don’t.
And Poli Sci pairs well with Economics as a double major anyway.
Try to be honest with the OP, this is the reality of today. Double major with economics will make the OP much more marketable. Graduating from UM does not guarantee employment with a quality job, far from it.
OP, if you like the idea of double-majoring, Econ and PoliSci together is definitely doable and would make you much more marketable immediately out of college. Those two majors are great complements!
If you are interested in Econ, also look into PPE (you have to apply into the program last time I checked, however).
Thing is I wouldn’t be able to double major because I’m a transfer student and unfortunately wouldn’t have the time. 
Also @CU123 what if I just majored in economics? And that’s a bit scary - I’m going to UM over schools that are much closer to me in the hopes that’ll get a better job.
@yikesyikesyikes yeah I also looked into PPE. I feel like a plain econ degree would be more marketable though? Unless I’m wrong.
I have friends who have done both programs and are doing well for themselves - do what makes you happier. Unless you are trying to get a PhD in Econ or something quantitative, it does not matter.
This is always the eternal question for someone going to college, and its really not something I or anyone else can answer. I have friends that stand by there humanities/social science degrees as essential to who they are (but they seem to have been successful doing something other than what they got there degree) and I have friends who lament that they didn’t get a more practical degree and would do it differently if they had a chance. I would say this, if you LOVE the area that you want to get a degree in and are SURE that this is what you want to do after graduation, I would encourage you to get whatever degree that is. However if your not sure about it, then I would encourage you get a more practical degree as these degrees that tend to have more STEM courses (including economics) will open more doors to different careers. In the end, the degree you get does not define you, you will define it.
You don’t need to add an Econ major to make your poli sci degree marketable. One skill Econ majors have is more expertise with stats and statistical packages. Take more than the min in terms of quant skills and find out what other departments are offering in terms of data management and introductory data visualization courses. Or go in a different direction and beef up your communication skills, web design, etc. And start getting some good work experiences starting with volunteering for a campaign this fall.