<p>HI
ill major in poli sci and i wonder what courses might be good in general.
what are you guys taking now?</p>
<p>Make sure you take comparative government, take a lot of courses on the governments of other countries (Russian politics, Canadian politics, Mexican politics, UK politics, French politics) because that will make you much more knowledgable about the world. International relations theory is good. Take political philosophy which is more practical.</p>
<p>You’ll have to take some required courses like: Comparative Politics, Political Theory, Research Methods, etc. A philosophy course was required for me, and an introductory sociology class gives you a look into the social sciences. You have a lot of free reign when it comes to electives. Sometimes taking a few courses in business or international relations could give you a better context. Poli sci is a lot of reading, writing, and analysis which can be tedious but not too difficult.</p>
<p>I’m assuming you’re still in high school. Take AP History’s, AP Government, Economics, AP English Language and/or AP English Lit, and Speech/Communications. Your Political Science Major requires strong reading, writing, and research skills. Learn how to write a research paper the correct way–including how to site your sources. Many of the classes will be discussion based (class participation counts towards your final grade). Learn how to communicate well–learn the art of defending your view point without coming across as obnoxious. Be able to defend your arguments through knowledge rather than strictly opinion. READ A NEWSPAPER OR TWO EVERYDAY!!!</p>
<p>Read, write, research, analyze, and communicate.</p>
<p>One more thing–If you have the chance to take AP Statistics–do it. If not, definitely take it as your Math requirement in college. Some understanding of the subject is needed for a couple of the Political Science classes and research.</p>
<p>i’ve just graduated from highschool that doesn’t offer AP courses in Korea.
oh my… i’ll attend a big public school but actually i’m considering transfer…to a small liberal arts collge. (i cant afford expensive schools now)
i’m so nervous. i know that i need a good gpa to transfer.
i think i should subscribe to a magazine or newpaper again then.</p>
<p>can you give me some more advices??
is there anything… like you guys think that…“i should’ve done this before college!”</p>
<p>Stay up to date with current events. There is a Political Science journal called “Foreign Affairs” that may be of interest to you. I think their website is: foreignaffairs.org </p>
<p>Read a couple of books for fun. As long as you stay current with the news and read for fun over the summer break, you should be fine when you start college.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about going to a public university. The large school will offer a broad range of Political Science courses and it really won’t limit your opportunities at all. </p>
<p>When you do start college, I recommend that you choose Intro. to Statistics as your Math.</p>
<p>< Polisci Major</p>
<p>Take courses with a quantitative component. Statistics, political economy, public choice theory, micro and macroeconomics.</p>
<p>I recommend taking at least one course in American politics, one in international relations, one in political theory and one in quantitative political science. Only then can you really guage what area you want to specialize in. Too often, people just assume that they want to specialize in IR or American politics… until they try the other areas</p>
<p>Most colleges have a CORE set of specific Political Science science classes that are mandatory to all Political Science students. Examples of these mandatory classes are: Comparative Politics, US National Politics, History Political Idea,and International Relations.</p>
<p>An example of the concentrations are: Law, American Politics, Public Policy, and World Politics. You’ll have to take a course in each of the concentrations and later declare a concentration in one of them. To complete the Political Science Concentration, you’ll have to take approximately a total of 9-12 credits in one specific area. Above and beyond the CORE set of requirements, one class in each of the concentrations, and completion of the concentration, you’ll have to take about 6 credits of Political Science electives.</p>
<p>In addition, at my son’s school, all Political Science majors must complete a Minor, a Cognate outside of their major, or a specific number of Foreign language credits</p>
<p>While you’re trying to complete the requirements for the Political Science Major, you’ll also have to complete a set of General Education requirements such as a Math class, Writing Class, Oral Communications class, Art/Music class, Social Sciences, Lab Science, Foreign Language, Literature class, etc. Each college has their own set of General Education requirements.</p>
<p>The trick is to never take less than 5 classes per semester at the college. If your college offers online classes in the summer, I recommend taking 1 or 2 of them each summer to help get some of the General Ed. classes out of the way. This will help to free up your schedule during the academic year. </p>
<p>Because of the strong emphasis on reading and writing, it’s important to continue reading during the summer. Reading for pleasure over the summer will not only help to maintain your reading skills, but it will increase your vocabulary.</p>
<p>The curriculum sounds overwhelming but it is manageable. Planning of the schedule is key. You will be assigned an academic advisor to help you. </p>
<p>What I’ve outlined here is based on what my Poly Sci son must complete at his public university. Each school will have their own requirements but they’ll be similar to what I’ve stated.</p>
<p>Here’s an idea: Perhaps you could call the admission’s office of the school that you will be attending in the Fall and ask them if it’s possible for you to register for one online class this summer.</p>
<p>oh! i’m especially interestd in international relations.!
i used to major in that but you know, internatinal relations is included in political science field. i wanna learn more about human rights if i go graduate school. </p>
<p>btw do many people take high level math courses??
i mean beyond the school requirements… don’t like math that much…</p>
<p>ps : nysmile! online course?? well… but if i transfer to other school, the online course credits can not be evaluated.</p>
<p>The online class credits will count the same as if you attended the classroom section. It counts the same as any other class at the university.</p>
<p>As others have said, econ classes–at least micro and macro–are almost essential supplements to a poli sci major. Also consider going far in a foreign language and taking any special topics class in ANY major that seems like it could complement your work–history, American studies, psychology, etc.</p>