Any Political Science Majors out there?

[Prince Abubu]

If so, what do you guys think about it? Is it hard to balance your poli sci classes with your science pre-reqs?
Freshman year is about to end, and i'm considering switching majors from Neuroscience to Political Science. What do you guys think?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[MomTo2Boys]

I was a political science major! Of course, this was a zillion years ago (graduated from Univ of Tx in 1996), but I loved my classes. I was a chemistry major until the beginning of my junior year, which is when I switched to poly sci. I was able to take all of what would be called the "premed" classes during my freshman and sophomore years, so scheduling wouldn't really have been an issue.

I also minored in criminal justice.

You really should do what you enjoy. You can work your "premed" classes in among your other classes required for your major whether you major in political science or chemistry or underwater basketweaving.

But here's the catch: you major in poly sci and you are qualified to do NOTHING after you graduate. Really. I learned the hard way. A major in sciences can qualify you for jobs. A major in poly sci qualifies you for law school or, if you've taken the classes and gotten the stats, med school but in the end a poly sci major itself qualifies you for.... nothing. Whereas engineering majors and science majors are employable upon graduation. That's my big beef with declaring humanities majors. It's easy to be idealistic when you're young and in college but when you graduate and the workforce yawns at your major it's disconcerting.

 

[DrMichelle]

Do it. Stick with it. It's been great for me - I've been able to tie together all of my interests and it has played incredibly well at interviews.

Plus I've been much happier in undergrad with my major rather than doing something that woulod "help" me be a better applicant.

PM me if you want more input.

 

[kstreet]

Double major in Bio and Poly Sci. Honestly, both were a blast and I'm glad that I took a vested interest in PSci after taking an intro course.

Any classes that broaden your interests and make you more "well rounded" cannot hurt.

 

[chevaliermalfet]

Yeah, I'm a poli sci/biochem double major too. The fact is, the poli sci major really helped keep me balanced academically; I really enjoyed the classes, and it gave me some non-science things to concentrate on for a change. I think it's best to choose to major in something you enjoy. If that happens to be biochemistry or some stereotypically pre-med major, more power to you. But if you enjoy political science, there is no reason why you shouldn't go with that. The bottom line is, if you enjoy yourself, you'll walk out of college having had a good time, and really, no one cares what you majored in when you apply.

As for handling the course load, at my school poli sci is a pretty wimpy major, and so it really wasn't too hard to do both the pre-med stuff and the poli sci together. As long as you plan it out early, you should be able to nibble away at both the pre-reqs and the poli sci major without too much trouble. Hope that helps!

 

[PullMyFinger]

I'm a political science major. I can honestly say that I'm 100% glad I've majored in this. It's so interesting and definitely gives me a break from the science classes.

Aside from engineering, just about any major is hit or miss in the job market if you have a bachelors. The idea that science majors will have a good job falls flat IMO because I know several people who majored in the sciences and are really upset right now. I'm not trashing the science majors either, I'm just saying that to assume a Humanities major won't get you anything whereas being a Bio major will is expecting a little too much.

Poli Sci is flexible in that you can also try Law School if thats what you want.