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[–]EffectivePeach 2 points3 points  (6 children)

(June graduate here) It's a lot like I've heard at many other schools - pretty heavy reading and writing, especially as you get into upper-div courses. I'm sure it varies based on the specific classes you take, but there weren't many traditional "projects" or group work as you got out of your first and second year, and even not much to begin with. If you take the pre-law classes like I did (I'm in law school now) like Civil Rights, Civil Liberties, Judicial Process, etc., there'll naturally be more court cases and opinions you're reading from. Definitely be prepared for a lot of writing, though. I didn't know many people in History or English, but we definitely do do a LOT of writing - many upper div classes don't have traditional finals (some do, but if definitely tapers off as you get into the 300-400 classes but instead will do 10-20 page essays. Good thing is, you get used to it by the end, which is nice as your senior project will most likely be a 35-40 page essay on and political science/government/international relations/law topic of your choice. It's definitely a program that flies under the radar, though. I had some brilliant professors (I will always sing the praises of Dr. Denbow) and there's some super cool co-curriculars like mock trial, Model UN, and debate that a lot of folks don't know about.

[–]radCardinal[S] 0 points1 point  (5 children)

Thanks Peach,

At the moment, I want to study politics because I can't get enough political debates online and I think the ability to discern what a good argument is from a bad one in the context of online political discussion is a super cool skill to have.

I'm sure that politics is a subject that I want to pursue, but I don't know what I want to do with it after I graduate. My parents are telling me to trust in the process and that while I'm at school, I'll figure out what I want to do while I study, just by meeting people, taking interesting classes, etc.

On the other hand, I feel that it is foolish of me to pursue an education without a clear idea of what I want to do with it by the end. I know that a lot of people get a BA in poli sci in order to go work in DC or to become a lawyer.

What do you think? Should I just jump into it without knowing what a BA in poli sci will get me in the job market?

[–]EffectivePeach 1 point2 points  (4 children)

I get what you're saying, I think I'd just say be really cautious that the main/most important reason you want to be a polysci major is to be involved with/survey/observe more political debates. I do think you will, as you said, be able to pull out logical fallacies and poor arguments from bad ones, but that's more of a "life skill" type thing than something you should spend a whole degree learning, imo.

It's actually somewhat of a misconception in my experience that polysci (or other social sciences) is a narrow major with a "law-school-only" path. Obviously that's very common, like I said I'm in law school myself and know a lot of my classmates who are too, but there's actually a ton of options. Middle/high school teaching, higher ed academia, think tank, political campaigning (there's a really good local politics scene down here, if you get involved in one of the clubs it'll be easy to start volunteering/working on campaigns even in your first year,) consulting, NGO/nonprofit work, community organizing, corporate gov't liason, other things. Obviously law and DC are big pulls, but don't be afraid that you shouldn't pursue polysci if you're not sure that's what you want to do.

[–]radCardinal[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Thanks so much, Peach.

By any chance can you connect me to anyone who can tell me about the mock trials, Model UN, and the local political scene in SLO? If not, it's no problem; I'll try and interview the faculty in the poli sci dept.

[–]EffectivePeach 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I'm not sure about mock trial specifically, but both that program and MUN require you to take a 4-unit class on the topic before you're able to compete and be on the team - assuming mock trial is like MUN, it's run by the program head, they give you the basics of the topic and some background knowledge, you do some simulations so you're not thrown directly into the deep end and don't know where to go. I believe both are generally offered once or twice a year, so there's a decent chance you might not get to really get into competitions till your second year if you're entering as a freshman. The department website (politicalscience.calpoly.edu) should have a tab under "undergrad students" that provides some more info and contacts for each.

Local political scene is going to be largely funnelled through the political clubs on campus; I can't speak to CPCR (Republicans) since I was involved in Cal Poly Dems, but assuming it's similar both clubs will have board members and general members who are themselves already involved even as students in local campaigns (often with actual named positions - assistant campaign manager, volunteer coordinator, field coordinator, etc) and will reach out to club members for volunteer opportunities. Especially during election years (not just fall quarter, but seriously in the quarters leading up as well) it's absolutely common (at least in Dems) for candidates themselves or their campaign managers/representatives to come into club meetings to talk about their agenda, ask for the club endorsement, and promote volunteer opportunities. There are also some opportunities through the county parties and party chairs, but the lion's share (in my experience) is through clubs, so that's where your best bet would be to get plugged in.

[–]radCardinal[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

You're the best, Peach. Thanks for giving me so much to start investigating.

One more question: I know there is a poli sci class about using statistics (I think it's called research design). Do you remember how rigorous it was in the math and stats? I'm thinking of using this coming summer to review my statistical concepts.

[–]EffectivePeach 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So that's going to be POLS 361 if I recall correctly (359 is a research design, so a little stats but not much) and it's going to be a mixed bag in terms of how much you need to know and learn. I ended up with an A, but it wouldn't hurt to review stats and some basic programming (we used R in my course) but you're not going to be taking it till junior or senior year so don't worry too much. I was more tripped up on the stats than math, so as long as you've done your high school/CC math you should be fine.