# What can one do with a political science degree? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044 "2006-06-25T02:48:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044/1 "2006-06-25T02:48:12Z")
Hello all. The title pretty much says it all. A little background. I am about to start my freshman year at Mississippi State, and am currently signed up as having a major in Finance, which is, to me, interesting enough. If I were to change my major to political science, what would change? My freshman core clases for the fall semester would not change, but what about future jobs, pay, etc? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044/2 "2006-06-25T02:59:59Z")
I have a degree in political science as well as a degree in economics. I’ve spent 5 years in standardized testing. Now, I just got a job working for a brokerage firm. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044/3 "2006-06-25T03:07:04Z")
Poli sci kinda falls under the general heading of liberal arts, which tend not to be training for a specific job category. It’ll let you do anything that a general college degree will. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044/4 "2006-06-25T03:08:51Z")
You can do anything with any liberal arts type major. I work in IT consulting and am a behavioral neuroscience dropout from an Ivy League Ph.D. program. My project manager has a degree in criminal justice. My two direct coworkers have degrees in music and political science. I am not reporting anything very anecdotal. It is actually more typical. The stereotypical jobs for political science graduates would be law school, some form of political journalism, or working on campaigns. Just to let you know, there is a huge block in the U.S. between people that have undergraduate degrees and those that do not. However, the specific specialty of degree doesn’t matter much when you are talking about the menu of liberal arts degrees. It does matter for things like engineering jobs and there are specific requirements for medical schools. Other than that, a generic undergraduate degree allows you to open your world to lots of opportunities. ---
**Author:** ![BlakeTyner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@BlakeTyner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlakeTyner)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044/5 "2006-06-25T06:37:07Z")
I think Shag hit the nail on the head. I’m a candidate for December graduation; English major, double minors in religion and psychology. Some of my friends from the English program have gone on to: Medical school Law school Graduate programs in English, philosophy, and history Various professional vocations McDonald’s So yeah, there are quite a few possibilities. Liberal arts degrees don’t tend to pay off as well as hard sciences, but some of us just don’t have the wiring for those. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044/6 "2006-06-25T13:35:12Z")
You can always work for a lobbying group, or in the legislative department of a company. I live in my state’s capital city, and worked in both political operations and governmental affairs for lobbying groups and associations. Most of my coworkers had poli sci degrees. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044/7 "2006-06-25T14:10:04Z")
The U.S. State Department is always recruiting. If you study political science with an emphasis on international affairs, you could fit right in. You get an interesting career with good benefits, and free housing and travel thrown in. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044/8 "2006-06-25T15:09:51Z")
The CIA is also actively recruiting smart, college-educated people. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044/9 "2006-06-25T15:22:47Z")
Just graduate. Buying your job is much more important than worrying about the job you’ll have after you get out. 90% of grads get a job outside their field anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044/10 "2006-06-25T16:12:17Z")
A friend of mine who is a political scientist tells me that a surprising percentage of standup comics have degrees in poli sci. I have no idea what it means, either. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044/11 "2006-06-26T17:49:06Z")
You can do lots o’ cool stuff with a poli sci degree, as noted above. Law school seems to be the typical postgrad route these days, but certainly not the only one. Slight hijack: my college’s Political Science department changed its name to Government while I was there, and then a few years later changed it again, to Politics. I kinda wish they hadn’t - to me, the term “Politics,” as such, leaves out a lot of what one would expect to study in poli sci. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044/12 "2006-06-26T19:26:31Z")
My brother used his poli-sci degree to go into political journalism, but he’d also spent a lot of time in college working for the school paper. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-one-do-with-a-political-science-degree/362044/13 "2006-06-26T19:46:23Z")
I’m working on my Poli Sci degree as well. Did “Political Scientist” ever come to mind? I mean, if you’re studying the more socio-historical side of things, that might not work; but if you’re studying the actual science of it. . .yeah, it’s pretty clear cut.