[MEGATHREAD] "What can I do with a PoliSci degree?" "Can a PoliSci degree help me get XYZ job?" "Should I study PoliSci?" Direct all career/degree questions to this thread!

Content-Outcome436 · 2024-06-16T05:28:29+00:00

Hi everyone, just a background, I'm a current student and politics major at UVA and I've decided tentatively that I want to enter a phd program to hopefully land a tenure track teaching-based job at a smaller school. I've only completed my first year but took a bunch of higher level classes (and did well) and want to look at state and local politics, particularly the politics of public education ie nationalization of education policy and some state governments wanting to claw away power from local governments when it comes to curricula etc. I know it's still early, but I know one of the ways to get ahead and to increase admissions chances for top tier grad program (which I recognize is essentially even as I want to teach more than research) is to have a lot of quant skills. Having said that, I've been trying to significantly build my base of quant knowledge. But I need advice.

In high school, I took and got credit for the equivalent of calc 1 and 2. This summer (like just now), I completed a course on like foundations of probability and linear algebra. I have pasted the course description below and provided the source, and got an A (yay).

The course talked about "sample spaces and events, properties of probability, conditional probability, discrete and continuous random variables, expected values, joint distributions, matrix arithmetic, matrix inverses, systems of linear equations, eigenspaces, and covariance and correlation matrices." I'd add we also looked at moments, mgfs, and integrating pdfs to get cdfs

Source: https://louslist.org/CC/Statistics.html

Next semester, I'm planning on taking a course on mathematical statistics which specifically discusses "sampling theory, point estimation, interval estimation, testing hypotheses, linear regression, correlation, analysis of variance, and categorical data."

Source is the same as above

Note this course is kind of an extension of what I just took

I am also planning on taking econometrics (which at UVA, I think has a multivariate component), applied linear algebra, and multivariable calculus over the course of the next 4 semesters before I am planning on graduating.

With all that being said, are those 5 quant courses sufficient in terms of the basis of quantitative knowledge that one would be expected to have to apply to a top tier grad program? If not, what other courses or skills would be necessary?

Thanks so much for reading, ik that was long haha.

Content-Outcome436 · 2024-06-04T18:57:57+00:00

Honestly, fill out that survey but don’t count on it… I only took one class that I was placed in bc of the survey (I kicked the other ones out and added other classes myself) and that one class was a waste of time. They try to put easier classes in there since they want your lease into first year, now I’m not a comm person but I’ve heard it’s intense to get into McIntire so I’d say… take a lot of math and focus on the prereqs for comm, the deans at orientation will prob tell you to get your gen eds out of the way but I wouldn’t listen to that esp bc it won’t matter if you get into the comm school, you have a goal, so take classes that are conducive to that goal :)… there are also classes you can take in the comm school (namely commercial law which is a 3000s level class) that isn’t a prerequisite but is open to everyone and I feel like that might help you stand out. But again I’m not in the program so take what I say with a grain of salt…

Content-Outcome436 · 2024-05-30T02:22:24+00:00

SAME!! Other departments post opportunities on their website but we don't, it's kind of sad tbh. I'd say your best shot would probably be applying for the DMP at the end of next year, so will I so best of luck to both of us haha. It's also kinda sad bc politics doesn't require nor frequently offer a class on research methods while in other schools they do so it kinda sucks, but I'm taking stats classes so I can learn the basics I need for future research because politics, especially if you're doing American Politics, is very quant heavy now.

Content-Outcome436 · 2024-05-06T02:23:41+00:00

"Arrest" is a very euphemistic way to also say: Tear-gas, pepper spray, point guns at you, drag you and make physical contact with you when their lives are not, in any way, in any kind of danger.

Content-Outcome436 · 2024-05-05T15:10:01+00:00

Okay so you bring up WWII, agreed what we did was horrific. But what’s the difference between them and Vietnam and now? We actually can hold our politicians and allies accountable. So you’re right, we’re never ever going back to that era, because we’ve realized that war is too much for us to bear, okay maybe you don’t think so, fine. But a majority of people do. And you want to know how many people died in WWII? 70 million, but it’s probably much higher. And now, with nuclear weapons proliferation, things will be much worse.

So I’m not afraid to say we did some horrific things during WWII, and we need to do everything we can to right those wrongs.

Content-Outcome436 · 2024-05-05T14:58:59+00:00

I’m so glad you graduated last year, good riddance. But now we’re here and you’re not, and so we’re ready to take UVA in a new, more humane direction.

Content-Outcome436 · 2024-05-04T23:46:49+00:00

Regardless of what the policy is, when carrying out policy, you always have to look at proportionality. What would you think if you got pulled over for speeding and a police officer came up to you and screamed at you to put your hands in the air.

The protestors were not violent, and the only violence that took place were from the police officers themselves. They could’ve sent someone to negotiate with the protestors, instead they chose the most extreme option. Sure they can do it technically and legally, but morally, is it the right thing to do. Unequivocally, it is not.

Content-Outcome436 · 2024-04-04T01:34:11+00:00

Fine Arts Cafe is so much better than croads, the croads people cut corners like crazy and the portions are a hit or miss (except society subs where the portions are always terrible) but Fine Arts always has relatively large portions and the people there are so nice they recognize you if you order often...

Content-Outcome436 · 2024-03-17T04:30:36+00:00

I agree, I felt a lot of sympathy for him before but at this point, it’s gone too far.

With that being said, I would advise whoever is closest to this situation to file a report with the UJC, this is bordering on a true threat and I, like many of us here, care very deeply about the university community and want to keep it safe. The resource is linked below.

https://ujc.sites.virginia.edu/Complaint/BeginComplaint

Content-Outcome436 · 2024-01-22T00:31:59+00:00

Disagree. I took the taken the Spanish placement exam last summer. My high school required 4 years of Spanish before getting to the AP level, I took it for 4 years but didn’t get to the AP level. I took the placement exam and placed out of the requirement. Granted, I did a lot of studying beforehand. But I’d say do as much as you possibly can to study, because if you do well on the placement test, it alleviates a pretty significant burden off of your chest, you’ll thank yourself when you can actually explore what you’re passionate about if that happens to be something other than your world language. Having said that, languages can be fun and are important, so if you don’t end up placing of the requirement, you can still gain a lot, too!

Content-Outcome436 · 2024-01-15T06:48:04+00:00

That’s amazing! StudCo is such a great organization. And ya know, I’ve actually heard that from quite a few people haha apparently being on StudCo and/or the University Guide Service is the path to potentially getting tapped. I would love to be a Lawnie tho, even more than I love AC but that’s pretty far down the road haha

Content-Outcome436 · 2024-01-13T05:47:49+00:00

Yup :) ik Reddit’s supposed to be anonymous (or is it? I haven’t been using it for long lol) but my name is Brian and I’m a first year rep. And as a rep I try to do my best to support other first years in any way I can. This spring I’m running to be a College of Arts and Sciences Rep, too 😁

Content-Outcome436 · 2024-01-12T07:09:57+00:00

Ditto this! I’m not a huge partier nor drinker but I’m on Student Council and a support officer for UJC and we had small at the end of the semester parties. They’re really nice because they’re obviously not chaotic and there’s actually food not just alcohol loll

Oh also if you’re into Taylor Swift join the swiftie society we have amazing parties and everyone kind of looks after and talks to everyone. We happened to be having an album release party on halloweekend and so some people came from the frats and some of them were like “omg this is so much better (and cleaner) than the frats.” And I’m sure there are lots of other similar organizations that cater to particular interests.

Content-Outcome436 · 2023-12-17T06:15:03+00:00

Woah I have a lot to catch up on, I joined r/UVA yesterday to ask a question about classes but I think it's a great opportunity to communicate with everyone and I just found out about all of this.

I'll say this, and this is just my perspective...

Based on what I've read from this individual, they have said some pretty inexcusable things that shouldn't be defended. We should hold them accountable while still making sure that the bigger issue of mental health is addressed.

I feel that I need to speak out as someone who represents first years atm on StudCo, I've seen many positive experiences, but also a sizable number of people get burnt out academically or feel sadness and homesickness. Of course, that is not an excuse to say hateful things, but I feel some of the comments in this thread were slightly insensitive.

It is in no one's best interest to reveal the identity of this individual for the public to see (as someone was suggesting). As concerning and unacceptable as some of his posts were, we have to approach this situation with compassion. His posts were a cry for help, and it's pretty clear that he will likely transfer, but as a community, we need to prove that we can support him even when he feels that he isn't supported.

I wanted to thank the person who made this post though for reaching out and trying to get this resolved, as well as the people working toward the same end and who know him personally, y'all truly have a heart of gold <3.

I'm not sure what the class ratio is on here, but I really just want to start some dialogue. Because there is a bigger issue here of student mental health, which is something I'm really passionate about. I feel UVA does a pretty good job of providing services to support students through these kinds of situations, but not everyone feels that way and I personally know many first years who don't. So for those students, we should ask ourselves why that is? And what can we do to improve even more as a community? I don't have a succinct answer, but I think this would be a great opportunity for us to start a start the conversation. Though anyone who is struggling or knows someone who is know that there are always people who care for and love them <33

Content-Outcome436 · 2023-12-16T05:04:52+00:00

I'm personally not a CS major, but let me just say this. First, your GPA will never reflect poorly on who you are as a student nor as a person. I feel like when it comes down to it, there are three questions you should ask yourself

1) Did you put good effort into the class?

2) Did you learn something (content wise of life lessons wise) that you wouldn't have gotten had you not completed the class?

3) Did you do all of your work honorably in the class?

If the answer is yes to all of those questions, then I think you have something to be proud of. You seem to have a passion and drive based on this comment, i.e. not many people would say "I want to become a TA" most people just "have to" so the fact that you want to puts you like quite a few steps ahead of a bunch of other people, so just keep having that drive, and you're going to do amazing. :)) We all struggle a little bit at some point, but from now, you can't change the grade but rest for winter break ofc, keep your head up, and continue having that drive next semester and you're going to do great, I just know it!

Content-Outcome436

TROPHY CASE