What can you do with a Poli Sci degree?

[T B0NE 10]

I am currently majoring in Poli Sci and thinking about doing a double major with history.

But the thing is what could I really do with this?

 

With a political science degree you can either- work in politics, be a teacher, or go to law school if my GPA is high enough. Is there really money in a poli sci degree?

I'm currently on the pre-law path, but I'm not even sure if thats something I want to do. Outside of a foundation for law school, is a poli sci degree worth something?

 

I'm comtemplating heading over to the medical field where the money and the jobs seem to be. I'm still only a freshman but theres alot of things I'll be far behind on if I stay with the Poli Sci degree right now if I decide to switch.

 

So basically I'm wondering if anyone does have a poli sci degree and what they are doing with it.

[paul253]

I know a lot of jobs don't necessarily care what you're degree is in just that you have one. You can be a cop, for instance.

[Teatoe993]

Starbucks

Barnes & Noble

[GAME05]

grad school is my immediate answer.

 

I switched my major I think three times. Looking back, it would have been so much easier to start college by taking general-ed courses first and deciding through those what I'd like to do. you can often get away with taking no/few degree-specific classes for a year or two.

 

PoliSci can be a good pair with anything environmental or geologic (including urban planning). or if you were thinking about getting your MBA.

 

PoliSci/History reads to me "Social Studies Teacher"

 

If you're thinking about "where the money and the jobs are," you could check out one of several publications that list off the fastest-growing jobs, and maybe one of those will click with you as particularly interesting.

[jjkoestler]

Most people I know who majored in political science and/or history ended up going to grad school and there certainly is no money in that.

 

Re Law School: There are no course requirements for law school. They only care about your GPA and LSAT score. If you are thinking about going to law school I suggest that you take courses in logic and writing.

 

Re MBA: You can get into a MBA program with a political science degree, but you will have to take a bunch of undergrad business "foundation" courses before you can start your degree.

 

My suggestion is to major in what you are passionate about. You are only a freshman now so that's bound to change a few times http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[RyDogg66]

I graduated with a Pol Sci and Public Admin double major, but I only switched to that from the business school once I knew I was headed for law school. Pol Sci is certainly NOT a pre req for law school. So if you are not interested in it I would suggest finding something you are interested in. Law schools accept people from any academic background. As someone said above, all they care about are your grades and LSAT score.

[T B0NE 10]

Yeah theres no doubt political science is my best and probably favorite area, its just that what do i do with it.

[dadofandrew]

I was a Poli Sci major, and most of my classmates either did law school, grad school, or just used it as a "I have a degree" to interview for normal jobs. It does show you can read and research stuff, which is probably more valuable in a good economy, but who knows what that will be in several years.

 

I also recall a HIS professor saying that the most common occupation of HIS majors was an insurance agents...even more than teaching.

[SenatorShriv]

I had a double major in Political Science and History. I now work as a lobbyist for a non-profit in Madison and love what I do. I have lots of friends with Poli Sci degrees who work in the capitol (state and federal) as well as several who run campaigns for elected officials nearly full time. Some of them make a ton of money some of them make modest salaries. Many people start by working in government and then taking lobbying jobs later that capitalize off of their connections.

 

Like most liberal arts degrees, you have a lot of general skills that most companies and organizations are looking for. You can (hopefully) read, write and think critically about complex issues. The history degree gives you some perspective on the world that can be valuable as well.

[Beerambassador]

I've always been curious as to how people get these jobs in the capitol. I've never seen them publicly listed (might just be missing where they are). I work in the newspaper business and when I asked someone who works as an aide how they got the job they answered "I was friends with the person who had it before me." Are these people all partisan "true believers" who got these jobs from connections they have from volunteering on campaigns or recruited from the ranks of College Republicans/Democrats? I've never been able to figure it out.

[bbrauch2000]

I was a History/Political science major in college and now work as a commodities broker. My experience with having those majors all comes down to how well you spin the education you received. Part of my job is to travel around the country and give speeches and presentations to current and potential clients. My experience researching, preparing and giving the presentations in school was a big part of why I am where I am. It isn't as clear cut of a route towards a potential career, but there is opportunity there

[homer]

T Bone,

Aren't you a freshman? No hurry to declare. My recommendation is to take a bunch of liberal arts classes and then declare your sophomore year. Amazing how many people start on one track and then switch causing them to graduate in 5 1/2 years.

[T B0NE 10]

T Bone,

Aren't you a freshman? No hurry to declare. My recommendation is to take a bunch of liberal arts classes and then declare your sophomore year. Amazing how many people start on one track and then switch causing them to graduate in 5 1/2 years.

Yeah but if I take these liberal arts classes and decide to switch to the Medical field- I'm just as screwed as the generals are basically wasted.

 

It isn't that big of deal right now, I'm just wondering what really the job market is for a political science degree, or a LA degree in general as I hear from a lot of people it can be worthless sometimes.

[whizkid]

I think a lot of it has to do with your personality. If you are naturally outgoing, network easily, able to schmooze when necessary, you could get into the political world or lobbying etc. If you like poli sci more as an intellectual pursuit, grad school/teaching etc. are more likely. Or as others have said, it's just a degree for getting started in business, general management etc. Taking some econ might help with that and a company may help pay for an MBA after a year or so. I was a poli sci major back in the dinosaur days more as an intellectual interest. Wound up taking a few classes at the real MATC in Milwaukee and got into IT at a time you could do that without a degree or certifications etc.

[hawing]

I work at the U.S. history library on campus (as some of you know), and so have employed my share of history/poli sci majors over the years. Several moved on to law school, others to grad school (various programs - not necessarily continuing with history or poli sci), and yet others work in government at various levels. Several have had internships at the Capitol, which does seem to open additional doors.

 

I didn't major in either myself, so I don't have first-hand experience; but I can tell you that I do virtually nothing with my undergraduate major (linguistics), and I agree with homer in that your college career is unlikely to be messed up if you don't decide this year.

[FVBrewerFan]

I agree, Poli Sci to me means either Civics teacher or a job in politics. So ask yourself, do you want to be a teacher at any level? That's usually a fairly easy yes/no for most people. Are you interested in working in politics? If you are, you will need to start networking in a year or two (or even NOW) to get a job after college. Jobs like that have everything to do with "who you know." If you do go into law school, that would work too.

 

The only other thing you could do is sales. Again, this has to do more with who you know, and representing yourself well. Most companies won't care what your major was. I work with a sales guy that has a poli sci degree and he makes around $180,ooo a yr, so anything is possible.

 

I noticed from your other posts you're not exactly sure what you want to do, and that's ok. Most people your age don't. Heck, a lot of people in their 30s and 40s don't know what they want to do. Just expose yourself to a lot of different people and experiences. That's the best advice I have. Go to job fairs on campus. Nothing wrong with talking to employers now, in fact they would welcome your interest. That will give you a good idea on what jobs are out there, which ones you like, and what thoe employers are looking for. As always, good luck!

[FIPS133]

I've been in politics for now over 20 years - started in High School - and earned a degree in Political Science and English. I truly enjoyed my course work in Poli Sci as I love philosophical study. However outside an understanding of the foundations of political ideals from all spectrums - which is valuable - I can truly say it has little impact on my career in politics. It is a degree and is a great lead in to grad school but as a stand alone degree preparing for a specific job it doesn't slot you anywhere.

If you enjoy it I would stick with it, because graduating with good grades is the most important thing in giving you an edge in the job market. However if you are looking for a second major I would recommend thinking about what you'd ideally like to do.

For example if you're interested in politics there are a number of sectors you could target - policy work, campaign consultant, polling, lobbying (as mentioned earlier), foreign service, agency work etc...

In my experience having an understanding or a particular discipline is helpful, specifically on the statistical or business managment side. A second major in something like Mathematics, Stats, Engineering, Marketing or anything that provides a bit of real world application or discipline of thinking will be helpful in politics or any career.

In terms of getting into politics here's my recommendation - if you're in college it's the perfect opportunity to get your foot in the door because you can either work cheap or volunteer. Think about who or what you'd like to work for and then either directly contact the office/campaign you're interested and say you'd like to get involved. You have to be prepared to do grunt work to start, but show up early, stay late, do the job well and work hard and you'll surpass 90% of your peers in a period of a year. Also don't look for glory, glory in politics is winning on election day or winning a key vote. You do your job well you'll get to know everyone you could possibly want to.

Politics respects hard workers - especially at the ground level. As you progress through the levels the meritocracy begans to be challenged by other interests, but you have a long way to go when you enter, so don't worry about that now.

We need as many bright people as possible to consider public service, I hope you pursue it.

[SenatorShriv]

I have other friends who graduated with political science degrees that do research for think tanks, interest groups, businesses or government agencies that want to study X, Y or Z to improve their operations. One example of this type of work is a friend who does analysis of media coverage on health care issues for a national think tank. She tries to figure out which media messages are most effective in certain markets and how deeply the core messages of the interest groups working for (or against) health care reforms are infiltrating into the national and local media coverage of the topic. Another friend works for the equivalent of the Public Service Commission in another state evaluating how effective their PR campaigns are at achieving results (promoting energy efficiency for example) and makes policy or programmatic recommendations to improve their results.

There are others who have ended up in public relations type roles for PR firms that do campaign consulting for businesses, politicians, organizations and interest groups.

If any of the potential career paths I've mentioned in previous posts sound interesting I would be happy to make some recommendations about resources that would give you more background / perspective on those types of options.

The most amazing thing to me after graduating was realizing how many options and opportunities there are out there even in what seems like a very specific field. I knew I wanted to work on energy policies (which I thought was extremely specific at the time,) but now it seems like new and different opportunity come up weekly that offer me the chance to play a slightly different role within that specific or a related field.

[GAME05]

I knew I wanted to work on energy policies (which I thought was extremely specific at the time,) but now it seems like new and different opportunity come up weekly that offer me the chance to play a slightly different role within that specific or a related field.

[off-topic] my knowledge of the industry is a pinhead to yours, but i worked for an energy-information publisher for a while and it was the most interesting job i've ever had. I got to work during the whole deregulation scam, too. very fun.

 

[back again] if you need good contacts to get into the capitol, then four years is a lot of time to make them. i got my unrelated internship by walking up to a dude and saying "Hi. My name is J and I'd like to help you out this Fall." it's amazing how much you can get from just walking up to someone and asking for it. just word it to how they can be helped out by you and not the other way around.

 

you'd be amazed at how many contacts you can make by just being there and getting people coffee. it sounds cliche, but smile, be genuinely happy and do a good job on even the simplest of tasks and you'll make a million friends.

[dadofandrew]

smile, be genuinely happy and do a good job on even the simplest of tasks and you'll make a million friends.

This explains why my grumpy, anti-social self is where he is.

[GAME05]

smile, be genuinely happy and do a good job on even the simplest of tasks and you'll make a million friends.

This explains why my grumpy, anti-social self is where he is.

don't get me wrong, it's exhausting. if i get three hours of sleep i'm still there the next day as chipper as ever, only faking it. reasonable, though, that a full-time employee (i.e. a person with value) having a bad day should be able to phone it in here and there.