How is the Political Science Program?

akhbhaat
Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:00:52 +0000

I don’t want to go into the political science field, I just want to go to law school afterwards.



I’m cross-posting my response from another thread:

You should know that the law school admissions process is primarily a numbers game, and your LSAT score and GPA will be the only truly significant admission factors at virtually every law school - only a select few place any real emphasis on “soft” factors like undergraduate major, undergraduate school, extracurriculars, work experience, and so forth. As far as they’re concerned, if you can score a 170+ on the LSAT, then it doesn’t really matter what you majored in or where you went to school - you’re obviously competent (the basic purpose of the LSAT is to greatly simplify the selection process). With this in mind, if law school is the ultimate goal then you will be best served by choosing a major that leads you to a very high GPA (i.e. something you find very easy and/or very interesting), and then helps you succeed after you’re admitted. The more time you spend reading and writing, the better.

Political science remains a common undergraduate major for eventual law school students, both because it continues to be widely perceived as a “good” choice for law school hopefuls and because it’s relatively easy (I mean no offense by that) - a high GPA isn’t hard to come by. It has nothing to do with the major curriculum.

If you don’t have a genuine interest in PoliSci, then I suggest you reconsider your choice of majors. I speak from experience when I tell you that it’s much harder to do well in something you care little for than something that really captures your interest - even if the latter is more difficult on paper (well, to a point).



Is there more of an opportunity for internships and jobs since it’s only a mile from the capital building?

You probably won’t have any real opportunities for a law internship as an undergraduate. Law firms want law students, unless you are willing to work as a courier or basic administrative assistant - which will familiarize you with the law firm environment and little else. You may have opportunities to work in the state legislature, but again consider what those are worth within the context of your ultimate goal: if you can’t produce the numbers, you aren’t going to get into your chosen law school regardless of what your resume says or who writes your LoRs. If you do it, do it because the experience means something to you, not because you think it looks good on a resume. That’s another one I learned the hard way when I hit the job market after earning my first bachelors.

Paraphrasing: “I see that you poached wild boar in the Congo. We like that, but your GPA sucks.”



So which do you think would be the better option for me?

The better option is simply the one that feels more comfortable to you. Your law school prospects are no better or worse at FSU than they are at UF. The student bodies at both schools have noticeably different attitudes (or at least they did some years ago), so whichever feels like the more natural fit is probably the better choice.

I can see that you’re already considering “secondary” factors (e.g. internship opportunities), and that’s a good thing, because that’s where these schools ultimately differ. I can almost guarantee you that in most majors you will have the same basic classroom experience at most any medium to large state school. You’ll start off in the generic intro classes which will more than likely be large lectures or smaller classroom sections run by a graduate TA. You will then eventually work your way into the core classes as a junior and senior, where you will have more opportunities to interact directly with the department faculty. As far as your instructors are concerned, you’ll get your mix of good and bad, with most somewhere in between. That’s just how it works.

That said: having lived in both places, I prefer Tallahassee to Gainesville by a country mile, but that’s me. You may feel differently.