I’m returning to college in the Fall. Unless I can pull a bunch of "A"s in my remaining classes, my GPA won’t be high enough to get into graduate school (I’d do a M.Ed). What kind of jobs can someone get with just a BA?
Most likely a government job could fit.
Working at City Hall or the State Capitol, or going to Washington DC with a local/state official you might have contacts with.
Working on an election campaign.
Working for a non-profit.
Working for a PAC.
Working for a national political party in their local/state/national offices.
Run for office (City or County Commissioner is a good start.)
Immediately start sending resumes to find the perfect internship…yes, most are non-paying positions, but it is the fastest and easiest way to get your foot in the door. Think big. Contact at least your state Senator or Congressman to get as high a position as you can possibly get. If there is ever a profession where “who you know” counts, it is politics!
BTW, I would be surprised if - even if your grades are not the best - you couldn’t find some school that would allow you to get a Masters Degree. Might not be from Harvard, but sometimes that doesn’t matter all that much, depending on where and for whom you work.
Get an internship or other entry-level position with PBS maybe?
Seriously, I had a double major in PolSci and History; they came in useful when I got a job as a radio newscaster (I had a lot of theatrical experience, but none in broadcasting).
I also am grateful for my undergrad background since it’s relevant to my translating and editing work (though again, I have other skills since I decided to get my graduate degree in Russian).
Remind me how many credits you are away. Do you have time to pick up a more quantitative minor, or to pull a few more stats/analysis-heavy classes? Softer polsci degrees are harder to sell, but degrees with a bit more skill in terms of data analysis can set you up for analyst jobs. It’s definitely harder to sell a polsci degree than other social science degrees due to the stigma that polsci kids are either prelaw or didn’t know what to major in.
I also think you’ll have better luck applying for an M.Ed. than you expect, but be cautioned that teaching history and social studies isn’t a great market move right now. That may, of course, change over the next few years.
I got into grad school with a 2.51 undergraduate GPA. Yours can’t be worse than that.
Many Federal Civil Service jobs require simple a BA degree. In anything.
How? 
I’m about 20 credits away with a 2.21 GPA. I have a Women’s Studies minor. I’d do my grad work at the same school awarding my BA.
If you get more or less all As you can finish with a 2.5, assuming you have 100 credits right now. If you can’t pull close to straight As in an undergraduate program, you may not be cut out for grad school anyway.
I did really well on the LSAT and had lots of relevant work experience. Also, I posted the first draft of my personal statement on the SDMB and asked people to help me fix the bad parts (which turned out to be all of them. 
You’ll be fit for white collar clerical work. If you can do that clerical work in a politically-related field, your BA will help. DMark has great suggestions. You’ll have to build upon your resume, not so much your education.
I’m dropping in because I also have a BA in Poli Sci, with a minor in Sociology and a concentration in Women’s Studies. :: fist bump::
I work in the field where I got my masters.
So, uh, good luck.
[QUOTE=Jr. (DNA test)]
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[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright]
I got into grad school with a 2.51 undergraduate GPA. Yours can’t be worse than that.
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How?
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I did the same thing, into a fairly competitive school, btw, with a slightly lower undergrad PolSci BS GPA. My work experience, GRE score, interview, and last 60 hour GPA (3.6ish) was what earned me a spot. In grad school, I ended up one “B” shy of a 4.0, and I wasn’t unique in that aspect. I think many grad schools realize a cumulative undergrad GPA isn’t always indicative of grad school success.
I agree with everyone else, that a PolSci degree on its own, isn’t very competitive unless you have good connections into local governments or not-for-profits.
Become a Communications Manager at a large financial institution. That’s what I did with mine.
I started out doing various internships and fellowships with legislative bodies, got involved in communications/technology, and ended up here.
What were those work experiences? Also, for Really Not All That Bright ( 
), it didn’t seem that he loaded the high grades in the last year, year and half… or did he? :dubious:
When he says “grad school” he means “law school” and law schools basically don’t care about anything but your LSAT score. They say they do, but they are lying.
He got a good LSAT score. Case closed.
You can teach in private schools and sub in public schools, depending on the state. YMMV. Houston and Bibb counties in Georgia only require a high school degree for substitute teachers.
Can’t hurt to take the Civil Service Exam, though.
You know, shit like that is very, very significant knowledge.
You should have seen my GPA after the *first *two years. 
That’s not true. Median undergrad GPA is one of the four most heavily weighted factors on the US News rankings, so GPA counts for a lot.
My graduate degree is in healthcare admission, (not directly related to PolSci, I know, but I made the case it fits), so the applicable work experience involved me being a firefighter, EMT, and working in a physician office for a couple years. All experiences that allowed me to bring a different perspective to class discussions and projects.
You know what one of the principal things I don’t like is? Misleading descriptions and explanations. :mad:
Huh?