<p>First, let me provide you with my basic background information. I'm going to be a freshman at Stanford University. I received a non-binding scholarship from my country that will pay for my undergraduate years and Law school or Medical school years (if I choose to further my study in either of these two fields and just the undergraduate years if I don't). I'm not interested at all in Med school, but I love history and political science and therefore probably law, so there is a strong reason to go to law school. </p>
<p>In my current plan, I am going to major in Political Science, which I love. The problem is that nothing is certain.What if I change my mind after I graduate and I do not want to go to law school anymore? Will I have any backup? Some people told me that a degree from Stanford with a high GPA could land me in any job regardless of the major. Is that true? If I graduate with an A.B. in political science with a stellar GPA, will Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bain, etc. be interested in recruiting me? If that is true, the next question is whether I, a political science major, will be at a disadvantage working among people with an Economics or Business degree? Will my career path in business be hindered and limited by my education in political science? Will my business acumen be as highly developed as people with economics or business major?</p>
<p>When I tell my friends back in my country that I am going to study political science, they all look at me strangely, as if I'm going to waste my Stanford education which, most of them believe, should be used to study engineering and economics instead :( </p>
<p>The last question is: is political science a good preparation for law school? OK. I know that you could go to law school with any degree, but I want to know whether political science specifically trains people to perform well in law school. </p>
<p>Well, this is just what I'd do, but I'd say major in economics. Economics is a good liberal arts major. I'm going to be going to UCLA, and I'll be in the economics department, and they say on the website that economics is good preparation for law school. </p>
<p>what country are u from? From my experience--mid 40s business/technical professional having lived and worked in russia and the middle east--I dont see Economics as being that much of an advantage ove PolySc .... I would suggest looking more broadly</p>
<p>Economics in some foreign countrys is like what in the US would be business administration</p>
<p>I'd say do what you love; the two are close enough that many potential future endevours would take either anyway. You're the one going to Stanford so you should try to make the most of it, and if you only have one life why not do it with what you love?</p>
<p>Political Science is a good major for Law School, but like you pointed out, if you chose not to go to Law School and chose instead to hit the professional world right after your undergraduate years, an Economics degree (which is considered just as good a pre-law major as Political Science) will probably be considered more versatile. I would major in Economics if I were you.</p>
<p>I'm in a similar situation. I feel I'm SLIGHTLY more suited toward PoliSci for an undergrad degree, but am still quite interested in Economics. I'm going with Econ because it IS more versatile, even though at the end of the day it is still another liberal arts degree. As far as law school goes, neither major will play a factor in your admission if you go down that route. They are both completely different fields of study though, so if you genuinely dislike Econ, don't go for it.</p>
<p>Consider the fact that to do almost ANY prestigious job nowadays, you have to have a grad degree. Now, think about the fact that what you do undergrad won't really matter for grad school- so do what you love. </p>
<p>Poli sci isn't a bad major- a lot of corporations think of int'l relations/politics as something that can be scaled down and applied to a company setting. (My dad is a CEO of a company, Uncle owns a non-profit, other Uncle is the owner of a sports team, they all love poli sci majors)</p>