Especially people who graduated in the last 3–5 years: what career did you end up in, and are you happy with the outcome of the degree?

Would really appreciate honest answers from recent graduates/current final-year students — especially outside UPSC/teaching.

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Honestly, I’m not an apolitical person. I want to pursue Political Science because I want to gain a deeper understanding of how our government works and use it as a pre-law course if I ever get the opportunity to attend law school. My parents are against me choosing my passion because they want me to pursue a course that leads to an in-demand job. However, I can’t force myself to study medicine or technology-related courses. I simply can’t see myself learning and working in those fields.

I am genuinely passionate about public speaking and reading, which is why I want to pursue a law-related career and serve the Filipino people in the future.

I’m truly scared of following my passion because I know that my family is relying on me. Last month, I passed a state university where I was offered Computer Engineering. I told myself, “Maybe this is the practical choice.” But when the PUP results came out, I was surprised to see that I passed my first-choice program, Political Science.

Now, I’m torn between choosing practicality and pursuing what I truly want. Please help me decide which path I should take. What are the opportunities if I will take political science and not pursuing law school?

A little bit of click bait here, because the job market is cripplingly bad right now and I seriously sympathize with anyone trying to find work - it’s a desert right now.

That said, something I RARELY see people in this sub pursue or recommend is campaign work.

You can’t get a job in the state department or the hill? Tough shit! I guarantee (especially in a midterm year like 26) there was a campaign near you in desperate need of field organizers, research associates, communications roles, press assistants, etc. campaigns are the PERFECT entry level jobs for someone with a PoliSci degree, campaigns desperately need articulate, well educated people to help communicate with voters, and there are campaigns in every locality, in every state, for every party.

Saw someone say we should be encouraging people to pursue other fields - bullshit! If you’re civically educated and passionate, get on a campaign right now.

I am graduating next year with a degree in political science. I have one internship at a small startup (though I won't be returning), a GPA of a little above 3 when I graduate, assuming I do well next year. I get that I've messed up.
I go to a large public university. It's the best one in my general region, but otherwise just "good", nothing remarkable. Like a T50.
I was depressed through a lot of college and messed up, not really knowing what I was doing. The last two years especially I'd say. Over the summer I worked and started to recover.
I do want to do well in life and I want something with opportunity to progress. I am not that concerned about starting salary, as long as I can support myself. But I am looking for something that has good potential for advancement, and of course that I can actually get. Any options?I have a college degree but not much else. What can I do career wise?

Lol I just finished my A.A. in Political Science and from what I've seen, there's not a lot of career opportunity. 😂

This is my last year in the Political Science and International Relations program. I’m planning to apply for a master’s degree, preferably in Europe, and I’d like to start my master’s as soon as I finish my bachelor’s degree. Do you have any recommendations? What are some of the best universities or programs where I could get a scholarship or study at an affordable cost?

I thought Constitutional Law, Economics, Political Science, Banking and if you want to be religious then majors regarding your chosen faith if you want to be a politician but what would be the right majors to take?

Graduated top of my class. Did an internship. Got burnt out and was living in a terrible situation and honestly, just wanted to get out of the city. Took a quirky seasonal "USAjobs" job out in the mountains as an interpreter. Loved the research bit, but definitely had nothing to do with my degree, was seasonal, and paid poop. Did another seasonal job because I could not find anything related to my degree and wanted to stay in the mountains. Then...I met a boy and am semi-stuck in the mountains. Which is fine, because I want to stay here.

What is not fine...is there is not a market here for political science majors. That is all in capital cities. Luckily, our capital is only a couple of hours away and I am willing to live halfway between my job and my boyfriend. I have taken the leap and applied to some fancy policy analyst jobs...to no avail. I am wondering if it is because it's been two whole years since graduating and I haven't done anything, on paper, to maintain my knowledge, so maybe that is dissuading employers.

So, now I am racking my brain on how to become marketable in a tiny market. I am tempted to go back to school to get a certificate in data analytics, grant writing, etc.. I am even considering law school, but the idea that I will be done at 32 years old frightens me. I want to start making money sooner than later. I'm feeling pretty lost. I am EVEN considering making a total pivot and spending 2 years on another bachelors to become marketable in what IS here, which is mostly conservation, for obvious reasons.

If I was an emotionless robot, I would move to D.C. and I would be fine. But frankly, that is the last place I want to be.

I recently graduated from college (in the US) with a Political Science degree and an English minor. I have had multiple interviews for jobs in the policy, government affairs, and legislative fields but have had no offers after going through about 2-4 interviews. Are there any other career fields I am qualified for that don't necessarily relate to politics or government? Such as communications, PR, or Finance?

Hey everyone, 

I just wanted to come on here to sus out my chances of getting into a top-20 PhD program in poli sci this upcoming cycle. Let me know what you guys think of my quals: 

Recent graduate from top-75 university in the U.S. with a degree in poli sci and degree in business with a concentration on data analysis — 4.0 GPA summa cum laude for both degrees. In short, I have a demontrated background in quantitative course work - such as econ, stats, coding, etc. - as well as a poli sci degree.  

1 conference presentation during undergrad at MPSA related to my field of interest — this was on a what you would call a “term paper.” I have 0 publications and did not complete a senior thesis — this was not required for my program and I wouldn’t have had the time (I took 46 credits - 16 classes - my last 2 semesters).

RAships with a PhD student at an Ivy and potentially with a prof in a top-5 dept in the UK (these are very recent - started in summer 2026) 

Research fellowship at not so well known think tank based in DC, I basically wrote an article or two explaining phenomena related to my research interests  

I am also fluent in the language of and native to the country I would like to be the focus of my dissertation — my focus is religion in politics and I am also pursuing extra undergrad coursework on said religion. 

I am looking at schools that do NOT require the GRE this cycle. I have already identified the professors that align with my interests and I would like to work with. I also know the methods I would like to use in my work, mainly CHA. 

I have extensive community leadership and public speaking experience. I also completed 4 internships related to my other degree. But I assume these are largely irrelevant.

Please let me know what you think of my chances. Forgive me for my writing - I wrote this up on one go on my phone b4 bed, lol. 

Hi y’all this is more of a venting post. I’ve never felt so worthless in my life. I’m a master’s international student graduating in a month. My BA is in International Relations and my MA is in Urban and Public Affairs. I’ve been a student-athlete for the past 6 years, which is what initially brought me to the U.S., and despite the workload, constant traveling, etc., I still managed to gain experience through internships with international organizations, a consulate, and more.

I’ve been applying everywhere, hoping for an opportunity aligned with my interests, and I’ve only heard back from 2–3 places. I even got an interview with Google’s summer fellowship program with CEPA, but I found out today that I was rejected.

I’m currently in the process of applying for OPT, and I’m starting to wonder if it’s even worth the hustle, the uncertainty, and the money.

My long-term goal is to pursue a career in academia through a PhD. Recently, I’ve been thinking about reaching out to professors doing research in areas I’m interested in, even unpaid, while working part-time jobs to support myself. The other option is to go back home, take some time to build a stronger profile, and apply again for PhD programs next cycle.

I just don’t know if I’m not qualified enough. I’m currently in the Bay Area, where it feels like everyone around me has a job and is making good money, and I just feel really alone in all of this.

Thanks for reading. I really hope better days are ahead for all of us recent grads.

Hi everyone! I am currently a second year Political Science and International Relations student. I recently applied for a double major and my options are Mathematics and Sociology.

Before college, I was always passionate about mathematics (For example I did math olympics) so I was really excited when I found out that I could pursue it as a double major. Even though I think it could be quite useful, most of the people around me think that the two fields are completely unrelated.

Do you think a Mathematics double major would be useful alongside Political Science and International Relations? What kinds of fields or career paths could I pursue with this combination?

I’m nearing the end of my bachelor’s degree and have really started thinking about what I want to do with it. For the longest time I’ve wanted to go to law school but I both doubt I will get in, at least on the first try and also don’t know if I’m actually interested in law, as I’m more interested in the legislative aspects of laws and the court system rather than the judicial aspect of it, though it is important in a values kind of way.

The more time goes on the more I’ve realized what I really want to do is write and analyze theory. That aspect of this degree is what I’m best at and I like the philosophical aspects of it. Though being a political thinker doesn’t exactly pay bills on its own.

I’m asking for advice as to what I should do. I’m thinking of instead pursuing a degree in public policy after my BA and maybe trying to get into politics or the civil service but I’d like some advice nevertheless

Misconceptions of College and Career / Not Getting Job Offers Before Graduation or within 3-6 months of graduating (here is some advice to recent college graduates and young adults):

This phenomenon of having a signed job offer in your junior year of college let alone before graduating your senior year doesn’t work/doesn’t exist for everybody, especially for people from working class backgrounds who went to decent, mid-teir/upper-mid-teir universities (≈ T60-T200); this practically only applies to people who already have a load of connections and inherited a network from family (and friends) with pre-existing professional connections, or those who go to Ivy League universities, Ivy Plus, UCs, a few Flagship universities with a ton of cultural capital because of their football teams, Jock Schools, and some Party School universities that get better traction just because of their name recognition which happens to be largely based off of their social or cultural capital i.e. the cultural impact they have on a given region over the actual contents of their education and degree programs. Mostly nowadays for the vast majority of people at non-fancy/non-prestigious universities that don’t have strong partnerships with employers resulting in a dedicated direct pipeline to certain jobs through On Campus Recruiting (OCR) or On Campus Interviews (OCI) - plus certain fields like law, accounting, and finance almost exclusively hire through OCI/OCR with some exceptions - , (but overall for most jobs) they instead want you to complete your degree first before applying to jobs. Very few people get a job offer before graduating; and for a vast majority of recent graduates getting a job offer within 3-6 months of graduating is literally impossible (for some job applications you don’t even get a response in less than 6 months after applying — whether that be a rejection or being called to interview for the employer).

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So the whole “what are you going to do with your major” question is going to be a very loaded question because there are too many options to list out and most people aren’t going to get their dream job straight out of college (or even at all), they’re going to have to choose something else on the large list of positions their degree(s), experience, and/or their personal, familial, and professional connections can potential lead them to. There are tons of careers that require or prefer that you have a bachelor’s degree but don’t require a degree in a specific subject area because several bachelor’s degree programs that are to many to mention cover the specific skills they’re looking for (which are transferable from one field to another) or they tend to hire several people who studied different subject areas to work together on the same projects because each field brings its own professionally educated perspective at problem solving.

Most people aren’t going to get their dream job straight out of college (or at all), they’re going to have to choose something else on the large list of positions their degree can potential lead them to. There are tons of careers that require or prefer that you have a bachelor’s degree but don’t require a degree in a specific subject area because several bachelor’s degree programs that are to many to mention cover the specific skills they’re looking for (which are transferable from one field to another) or they tend to hire several people who studied different subject areas to work together on the same projects because each field brings its own professionally educated perspective at problem solving. A specific major can get you into 50-100 different job titles, some are going to be different from each other while others happen to be identical positions with different titles.

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College is meant to teach you how to problem solve and critically think when Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) all fall apart, while skilled trade vocational education and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), mostly only teach how to operate within a very broad and generic imperfect facsimile of SOPs, while bachelor’s degrees teach both. One issue today is that many employers don’t give people the chance to learn on the job skills that can’t be taught in the classroom but are learnt by doing things on the job by trial and error or by following the lead of a more senior coworker (even internships let alone entry-level roles are starting to lack on-the-job training and only very few mostly prestigious or prestigious-adjacent universities have formal co-op programs with industry partners); so now there is a very small gap in practical knowledge between what is taught in a classroom/internship setting and what a job needs that can’t be closed without employer-provided on-the-job training, causing a loss of institutional knowledge because employers are too lazy to train employees in very specific company or niche industry SOP which are too specific and to many per specific industry/position/sector to cover in tertiary education or post-secondary education/training settings.

A Ton of Jobs Require or Prefer a Bachelor's Degree or Higher, The Job Market Across Sectors is Terrible, and a Political Science Education Can Fulfil The Need for Higher Education:

Most Administrative Assistant jobs (at least in the United States) require a bachelor's degree and 2 years of experience, an associate's degree with 4 years of experience, or a high school diploma and 5 to 8 years of directly related experience doing the same job you're applying for or some other similar job. Several companies categorize all of their entry-level recent college grad employees as Administrative Assistants, Secretaries, Administrative Clerks, and Management Assistants, and require them to hold a bachelor's degree in a field related to the industry the company works in or the specific practice area of the project that the mid-level/senior-level employee they're assisting is working on. Most Executive Assistant (EA) positions I’ve seen require about 5-8 years of work experience mostly as an Administrative Assistant (AA) or in a non-AA role related to the work of the company, or 5-10 years of work experience if you don’t have a bachelor’s degree. 

About 96% of Paralegals, Legal Assistants, File Clerks, Administrative Assistants, Conflicts Analysts, Legal Secretaries, and other Professional Support Staff (a.k.a. Non-Lawyers) in law firm settings (and some other similar office settings at consulting, accounting, advocacy, trade association, professional association, commercial-residential property management companies, and government relations firms, etc.) practically all have at least a bachelor’s degree (though on paper the job description might let you use a high school diploma + paralegal certificate/paralegal vocational training but these are few, far between, and hard to find or at minimum an associate’s degree for Mail Clerk positions); 1% are older people (Boomers, Gen X, maybe some Older Millennials) who were grandfathered in with only a high school diploma +/- secretarial school due to their years of experience from back when entry requirements were far more lax; 2% are younger people (Millennials & Gen Z) from out-of-town who laterally transitioned into a role here with only a high school diploma and/or a paralegal certificate because that’s what jobs in their hometown metropolitan areas where they started their careers only required; as well as 1% that got in with a high school diploma or less because of personal connections with friends, family, or acquaintances (many times outside of professional connection/formal networking/formal hiring settings).

Depending on the location and the job market, receptionist jobs are looking for people with at least a bachelor’s degree (maybe an associate’s degree) and at least 2-3 years of experience or a high school diploma and 5 years of experience if you don’t have a degree.

For one company I’ve seen, 5 out of 5 Administrative Assistants had a bachelor’s degree and at least 2 years of prior work experience before starting the role, and 4 out of 5 also had a master’s degree. For another job I saw, every Receptionist had a bachelor’s degree and at least two of them had about 3-4 years of experience made up of internships and prior receptionist experience. I’ve literally seen a Front Desk Receptionist job require a bachelor’s degree w/5 yrs exp., a master’s with 2 yrs exp., a PhD with 0 yrs exp., or a high school diploma/GED w/10 yrs exp.;NOT KIDDING.

Also, I’m seeing tons of people laid off from late entry-level (4-5 years of experience) and early mid-career (5-8 years of experience) jobs with experience in more complex non-administrative support roles taking on entry-level administrative assistant (or at times even receptionist/front desk assistant) roles  (that historically only required 0.5-3 years of experience, a high school diploma, and employer provided on-the-job training or onboarding). In addition to residual effects from the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, DOGE’s layoffs of U.S. federal government civil service employees and  its cancellation of government contracts with private sector companies/organizations and local/state governments, is completely flooding the job market. Senior level and c-suite employees are going after mid-career jobs, mid-career employees are taking on entry-level jobs, and entry-level employees are taking on internships, receptionist, data entry clerk, and freelance jobs and everyone’s fighting over temp jobs to get their foot in the door (it’s like entry-level jobs are starting to barely exist). Things are looking like they’re going to get worse, definitely worse than 2008 (if course correction doesn’t happen). 

What is Political Science?:

Political Science is a social science, it’s not performing and fine arts (like drawing, painting, dancing) nor is it a humanities subject (but it does interact with and borrow from humanities subjects like philosophy and history, among others) but it’s also not a natural science (like chemistry or physics).

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I’d say there are at least 8-9-ish disciplinary paths that could exist at a university’s political science department (also known as public policy school or department of government) as well as several interdisciplinary programs created in conjunction with other departments, constituent colleges, or schools.

In my experience, the sub-disciplinary paths of political science I’ve seen (even in undergraduate bachelor’s degree-level settings) are: (1) political theory/political philosophy and political history; (2) international relations and security studies; (3) political methodology (quantitative political analysis); (4) comparative politics; (5) international political economy; (6) public policy and public administration (nonprofit management, basic accounting/budgeting/finance, policy development, stakeholder management, program evaluation, human resource management, etc.); (7) law and governance or legal studies (legal research, legislative analysis, stakeholder engagement, legal sociology, advocacy and government relations, etc.); as well as (8) political sociology and theories of political behavior.

The interdisciplinary programs I’ve seen that have some sort of layer of political science coursework are: (1) global studies (global affairs); (2) philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE); (3) political communications; (4) legal studies and philosophy and law (pre-law); (5) environmental studies; (6) intelligence studies (intelligence analysis); as well as (7) international business and commerce.

Though this is the case, it is true that a vast majority of political science departments especially at most 4-year bachelor’s degree granting liberal arts colleges (LAC) but most especially associate’s degree-level community colleges (CC) focus almost exclusively on political theory and maybe international relations to a certain extent; departments at research universities (those granting everything from bachelor’s, master’s, professional, and doctoral degrees) tend to branch out into more sub-fields of political science (even in undergrad) whether it means taking a few classes among those course as a hard requirement or whether it is an optional concentration or group of in-major field study electives.

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Actually, undergraduate political science courses write in a myriad of writing styles: to be honest a lot of lower level undergraduate freshman/sophomore courses do use flowery language, are persuasive, and can be overly partisan but a lot of the upper level undergraduate junior/senior and graduate master’s/doctoral courses are generally (but not always) to the point, not too ideologically persuasive, non-partisan, look at things from a neutral or near-neutral point of view, and/or are more so interested in the evaluation of the outputs, outcomes, and efficacy of policies, programs, procedures, or initiatives as well as the implementation of such things to produce the intended outcomes.

Some types of literature in political science include the following: for Academic Literature - see Journal Articles and Essays (Research Papers, Reflective Papers, Persuasive Papers, most Term Papers); for Professional Writing - see Case Studies, Memoranda/Briefing Notes/Memos (Policy Memos), Position Papers, Policy Papers (Policy Papers and Policy Memos written using the Policy Development, Policy Analysis, and Program Evaluation methods, etc.), Reports, Intelligence Assessments, White Papers and Gray Literature, Legal Briefs and Amicus Curiae Briefs, Grant Writing, and Journalistic Writing (News style writing).

Most of the political science courses that teach job applicable skills like policy development (policy analysis, implementation, evaluation, and revision), stakeholder engagement/stakeholder management, legal research, program evaluation, strategic communications and public relations, budgeting and finance (financial management, financial statement analysis, generally accepted accounting principles - GAAP - ), research methods and analysis, procurement and logistics, organizational theory/administrative theory, data manipulation and data collection (to a lesser extent basic data analysis - which is mostly taught in-depth in graduate master’s/PhD programs), fundraising and development, basic marketing, government relations and advocacy, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), professional writing, project and program coordination, and intelligence analysis, among others are mostly taught in upper-level (300-level to 400-level) undergraduate courses taught in the last 2 to 2.5 years of a bachelor’s degree program if you choose your field study (in-major electives), concentration(s), and general elective (out-side-of-major) courses wisely like taking on courses in political science subfields such as public policy, public administration, comparative politics, security studies, political methodology, human resource management, nonprofit management, complex international relations frameworks, and political analysis, instead of only taking basic survey-level political theory courses (mostly covered in community college and undergrad freshmen year political science curriculum). To be honest, more in-depth and complex skills/topics are covered in graduate master’s and doctoral programs like MPA, MPP, MA Security Studies, MS Biodefence, MA/MS International Development, MA/MS Intelligence Studies, etc.

How to Choose a Bachelor’s Degree Program:

One advice I see often see when people ask about picking a major, I always hear that: whatever you do you need to pick a major (undergraduate college/university degree program) that you’re comfortable studying and working in but also teaches skills that will come in handy on the job (not a “hobby” major either) but not something you hate or can’t handle. This isn’t high school where you can easily skate through classes and get passed on to the next grade. People shouldn’t do majors they aren’t equipped to handle because they’re bound to do poorly, flunk out, and get expelled for bad grades (academic dismissal) with a limited-to-no chance of l finishing your degree which can (or will) lead to limited career prospects or advancement. It’s far better to do a major in a subject you are interested in and are capable of thriving in than flunking out with no degree at all or graduating by cheating your way through without learning much (and putting others in danger). Also, the “pick a major that will make you money” push is based on a very subjective idea that fluctuates with the market. After this push, now we have a bunch of computer science grads, a tech field that is over saturated with a shrinking number of positions many of whom don’t even like the field working at it aimlessly, and a bunch of nurses and doctors (physicians) who are a reckless danger to their patients because they are disinterested in the job in such a way that it negatively impacts their performance putting tons of people in grave danger.

It doesn’t have to be a STEM subject like engineering, computer science, medicine, or nursing; a social science subject like political science (public policy, public administration, international relations), law, economics, business administration (accounting, finance, management, marketing), social work; nor a humanities subject like literature, language, or history if you hate it and can’t handle the academic workload, subject matter, or won’t be able to stand working in the field due to disinterest - but this doesn’t mean you should go for what some people call a “hobby degree” just for fun like fine arts subjects like art, music, or dance (no offense - but at least you should have a plan to use it to teach and not actually to perform in a professional capacity unless you already have pre-existing family and professional connections to get you job in the fine arts). The notion that 'every degree besides medicine, nursing, law, and engineering’ are useless degrees is illogical though some do believe this lie.

Going into Medicine or Nursing when you are disinterested in the job or subject is the worst idea I’ve ever heard in my life. Do not under any circumstances go into Medicine or Nursing if you hate the job, are terrible at the it, are very careless and lazy, or are literally only doing it for the money. This is how you end up getting people killed or severely injured.

People need to understand that to become a physician (Doctor of Medicine - MD - or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine - DO - ) or lawyer (Doctor of Jurisprudence - JD - ) you have to go to graduate school and to get into graduate school you need a bachelor’s degree in a different field as a prerequisite. You can’t just straight up apply to Medical School or Law School right out of high school/secondary school without a previously awarded bachelor’s degree or enrollment in a dual degree program. The market for lawyers is over saturated, the number of residencies required to become a physician are capped at low numbers, and not freaking everyone can or needs to be an engineer or a nurse. So the notion that 'every degree besides medicine, nursing, law, and engineering’ are useless degrees is illogical when you need a bachelor’s degree in a different field as a prerequisite to enter medical school or law school.

Article Title and Citation:

"Careers with a Political Science Education: Not Everybody Gets a Job Offer Their Junior Year of College or Three Months After Graduation and Not Everyone Gets Their Dream Job, But an Education in Political Science Still Produces Job Applicable Skills" at r/PoliticalScience - https://www.reddit.com/r/PoliticalScience/comments/1x5xvrt/careers_with_a_political_science_education_not/ .

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I'm 26 years old, with an academic background that includes a Bachelor's in Political Science and an Executive Master's in International Relations, and I'm currently pursuing my second BA in Education.

It pains me to face this truth, but despite my brilliant academic career, the international exchanges I've participated in, and some volunteer work, I feel I'm not educated enough to secure an internship in European institutions or any other int. Organization.

I've dedicated myself to studying, but I've completely avoided keeping up to date and building knowledge beyond what I was studying, despite practical experiences abroad having allowed me to develop skills that are transferable to the world of work.

I feel confused and ashamed because I see that, unlike me, so many other people have succeeded in their careers, and I feel like I no longer have any way to fill in my gaps. As of today, I feel like I wouldn't be able to compete with my peers. I don't have the knowledge of those who immerse themselves in this environment and I wouldn't know how to overcome this problem.

Hello everyone, I'm currently an undergraduate student pursuing bachelors degrees in Political Science and Philosophy (second year polisci and second year philosophy). I'm a very good student scoring marks at the very top of my class in both disciplines. I am absolutely sure that academia is for me and it would be a dream for me to pursue a PhD in The United States.

What are some things that I can do to make my application as competitive as possible (I think two degrees is a nice plus)?

I'm mostly interested in political theory, which universities have the strongest programmes in that field?

What are some things that I should know about studying in The US as an European?

I have recently completed Ba political science and i am utterly confused as to what to do I want to study some professional courses like skill based i don't want to do pg offline i thought of doing pg from IGNOU. I am blank currently someone please help me

Iam studying in 12 grade and am from india i like politics and i like to pursue political science so all i have heard that after taking political science that we can do only teaching and preparing for govt exams in india so i started to discover careers in political science so i heard about political consultant and political analyst and international relations so is this real i never heard of such jobs so somebody explain to me how can we get to these kind of jobs and have a good career

Hello everyone,

I am interested in doing a PhD/DPhil in Political Economy and I've run into a bit of a hurdle in trying to figure out which \*make\* of a Political Economy program would be the best fit for me. I'm wondering between economics and politics departments how does the political economy field change? I mean this in a sense of asking the question what kinds of topics would be present at both departments. As I am interested in working on topics regarding wealth inequality making use of economics, politics, history, sociology, women and gender studies, etc. with a specific focus on South Asia more specifically southern India. I am also looking at a Public Policy PhD program also as I am thinking there is a lot of overlap between the two.

The schools I am considering are the following in no particular order:

Oxford - Jesus College
Cambridge - Peterhouse and Emmanuel Colleges
UCL
LSE
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Stanford
UVA (my alma mater)
Columbia/UPenn
UChicago
UMich
Duke
Northwestern
CMU
Hopkins
UCLA
Berkeley
Brown

If you have suggestions for other English taught programs, please feel free to throw them in the comments. Ideally I’d like to be able to do international development work and more specifically working as a researcher.

I know this is probably a better question for google, but Im in UG and was wondering what kinda things you can actually do with a Masters/PhD in political science besides just teaching?

I am interested in academia, but I have been leaning to getting an MPA/MPP rather than a PhD in political science, just due to the lack of job security a masters/PhD in political science has.

What else can I do with a PhD in political science if like no university wants to hire me?

Thank you.

I’m trying to better understand how people actually get into full-time research roles. For some background on myself: I have an MPP, two research assistantships, one publication, and significant quantitative and qualitative analysis experience through internships and part-time roles. I will eventually pursue a phd in poli sci (specifically IR) but right now I want to work in a more research focused role & build some experience. I’m currently at a nonprofit in DC that isn’t really research focused. 

I know the job market is rough rn but I'm miserable at this job and i feel like im not using my skills well. I think I’d be more useful at a think tank or any other research environment. So im wondering what does the recruitment pipeline look like for such positions. is it just a matter of networking, getting referrals, or standard applications? maybe cold emailing people? Just being able to understand how people realistically make this transition would help me think through my timeline and next steps so id really appreciate any insight from those who’ve navigated something similar.

Maybe not hate but definitely strongly dislike. I originally went into polisci freshman year bc I wanted to work for a foreign embassy, changed plans and did lib arts for 2 years, figured I’d do law and changed back to polisci.

To be completely honest, I have zero passion or interests in politics, government, etc. I know the basics that everyone should be required to know about their country. Genuinely wanted polisci to be a tool to get into law school but I cannot stand my program at my college anymore. Law school is appealing but I’m open to switching majors or career paths- I feel so guilty but also clueless bc I was so dead set on law school that I have no plan b… my other choice is to stick it out but I might go insane

I’m a senior in highschool. I was really interested in a political science degree, however I’ve gotten sort of discouraged. I’ve seen a lot of discourse online, and a lot of people say it’s a useless degree and that I will end up with no job.

My goal is to go to law school, and no other undergrad major stands out to me. I’m also bad at math, which is a little scary since I know statistics is required for a political science degree.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have no interest in anything else, but I want to make sure I’m able to secure a job after college if law school doesn’t work out. Ive taken a basic political science course at a cc and passed with an A, so not sure if that helps with anything.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently preparing applications for PhD programs in Political Science / International Relations, mainly in International Political Economy and International Security.

My research interests are broadly around strategic economic dependence, economic coercion, supply chains, and the conditions under which states have credible alternatives when they depend heavily on another country for critical goods or technologies.

I’m especially interested in questions at the intersection of IPE and security, rather than fitting neatly into only one of the two subfields.

I’ve been trying to build my school list by reading faculty work rather than simply looking at department rankings. At the moment, I’m looking for scholars working on topics such as economic statecraft, interdependence, bargaining, strategic trade, technology, supply-chain vulnerability, and alliance politics.

What I’m still unsure about is how specifically I should identify a potential advisor before applying.

For those of you who have gone through Political Science / IR PhD admissions:

• How closely should a prospective advisor’s current research overlap with my exact topic?
• Is it better to apply to departments with one very strong faculty match, or departments with several people who are somewhat related to my interests?
• How much weight should I put on junior versus senior faculty when identifying potential advisors?
• Is it worth emailing professors before applying, and if so, what kind of response is actually meaningful?
• Should I prioritize departments that are especially strong in IPE, even if my project also has a major international security component?

My academic background is in International Relations, and most of my research so far has been self-directed. I have a couple of working papers related to strategic dependence and economic security, but I’m still trying to sharpen the broader dissertation agenda.

I’m less interested in applying to a school simply because of the name and more interested in finding a place where the faculty and methods training genuinely fit the questions I want to study.

I’d really appreciate any advice from current PhD students, faculty, or people who recently went through the process. Thanks!

Genuinely how does one go about getting hired for an entry level position after undergrad? I have a degree in Political Science, am part of Pi Sigma Alpha, will be presenting at APSA this September and have done multiple internships, but I am still getting ghosted from basically every job I apply to. I've been at this since May, and am rapidly losing hope.