So the three major areas of study I’m interested in are journalism, philosophy, and political science. From what I’ve seen the average poli sci major (graduate at least) makes far more than their philosophy or journalism counterpart, and so I’d like to major in there as my level of interest in all three areas is roughly equal. Would a philosophy or journalism minor be more helpful in furthering my studies and making me more attractive to employees? Does one or the other lend themselves towards more specific jobs within the political science field? Thanks!
I don’t know that I would choose political science based on typical salary alone. Even if you are as interested in that as anything else, I’d caution against making a rash decision.
Thanks; I figured I would add the minor to keep my options open and not be rash like you mentioned.
Do philosophy if you want to go to law school.
Otherwise, it’s basically up to you. Neither one will help you much with employers.
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-Degrees_that_Pay_you_Back-sort.html indicates that pay levels in survey responses for philosophy and political science majors are similar. These are from Payscale, so take into account the limitations of its surveys.
Political science may have some applicability to political jobs (e.g. working on political campaigns, polling, lobbying, etc.), but it is likely that most political science graduates are looking for non-specific jobs like most philosophy graduates. Philosophy majors do get in their major more practice in logical thinking than most other humanities or social studies majors; this may be valuable in general, including in the LSAT and law school.
I recommend that you minor in Statistics, and write for publications to get your journalism experience.
@ucbalumnus I think the key in that payscale study is that they only focused on those with bachelor’s degrees. According to the research I’ve done, a graduate degree is the standard for jobs in the political science field.
Wait until you get there- for both the major and the minor… You can make a logical argument for any of them, but none of them will in and of themselves make you more attractive to employers. Fyi, the vast majority of employers see Minors as, well, minor.
When you get to whatever college you go to try courses in each area (for major and minor)- that is the beauty of the Liberal Arts approach. You will find that some courses/professors are more interesting to you than others. Follow that interest. Use it to find professors to get the contacts and LoRs that will help you get summer internships and jobs that are interesting to you. Follow those opportunities into the job that you will need to have for 2-3 years before you can get into any of the good grad programs.
The good news and the bad news is that there are no clear pathways for you: it’s your job to chart your own course. There are lots of hybrid possibilities (for example, Foreign Policy magazine has internships = journalism + polisci), but the important part is figuring out where your interests and aptitudes lie. It’s a long working life: you might as well start off by heading in a direction that you are actually interested in and enjoy!
It is in philosophy and journalism, too. It kind of depends on what you get the graduate degree in and what you do. A philosophy major can get the same kind of lucrative graduate degrees (law, business, public administration, international affairs) that a political science major can. About the only difference is that a philosophy major couldn’t do an MA in political science without some additional coursework, but a philosophy major with an MPP or MPA could probably do most of the same jobs (and more) than a political science major with an MA in political science.
Aside from that, I don’t think it matters whether you minor in philosophy or journalism. I do agree with the suggestion of a statistics minor - political science is a quantitative field and having some statistical skill will give you a leg up in the job market.