I am an undergraduate student majoring in Political Science. My plan is to either attend law school or enroll in a PhD program. I am trying to determine how involved I should be. I have signed up for one organization, and it is taking up too much time, and I really do not have an interest in the organization. It is called Community Council. I am a member of another organization where I am not required to attend the meetings. I am also enrolled in a 6 week leadership program at my university. Is this enough for one year?
If it makes any difference in one’s response, I am looking to attend a TOP law/grad school, e.g., Princeton, Northwestern, Columbia University, etc.
Thanks!
@hechtbwallace
I can’t speak for law schools quite as much (even though my son is lawyer) but certainly the mantra you hear all the time is that all the law schools care about is GPA and LSAT. Everything else is minor to non-existent. Is it really that extreme? I think it is pretty close.
I can say for most grad school programs I know of, which are in or related to the sciences/engineering, EC’s don’t mean squat. Far more important there are not only your GPA and test (GRE) scores, but your GPA within your major will be looked at closely and any recommendations from profs in your field of study. Very positive in those cases is any research you have done, and if you happen to have your name on a published paper that is golden.
For an area like Poli Sci (and I could see something similar being true for Sociology and Education, and perhaps others I am forgetting for the moment) I could see where experience outside the classroom would carry weight, but I am not sure it would be an EC as much as field experience. Now some very political clubs of course can provide that. But I feel pretty confident saying that for law school you really need to focus on the highest GPA possible and great prep for the LSAT, and for grad school focus on GPA and GRE scores, as well as any research projects you can get involved with your junior and senior years. Recs can go a long way in grad school admissions.
EC’s might help a little bit, but I think that major GPA, LSAT, and where you intern will be more weighted on a law school app. I’m not in the field so these are assumptions, but I’ve looked into a wide range of grad programs and lots of different schools.
Activities don’t matter for PhD programs. If you don’t want to do the organization, then don’t do it!
The only “extracurricular” that matters for social science PhD programs is research experience. So if you want to get a PhD in political science, you should try to assist a professor in his/her research. It’d be great to start freshman year, but I think most people begin around sophomore or junior year once they have some prerequisites under the belt.