Political Science BA

keking so god damn hard

>I'm graduating next year with a BA in Poly Sci

Switch majors to something viable to the world, for the sake of everything holy

>>18244013
I tried. I live in Florida, they make you pay double the tuition if you go over your credit hours. This includes double majors (my advice to everyone is to stay out of Florida).

>Getting a degree in a hobby
Might as well get a certificate in Video Gaming Ideas for all its worth.

> I have no self-esteem, so doing well academically is my only source of pride, yet my own laziness and depression often retards my work ethic.

Grad school would kill you, OP. It is not a kind place to people who have this kind of mindset. Get out and find a job.

>>18243433
notice chomsky doesn't look american or european? He looks like non state actor from bollywood a illiterate borat playing a einstein jew. In other words just CIA homo from undisclosed location.

>>18244054
I'm realizing that. I know I can market the BA as data intensive and that it trained me in research and technical/academic writing. These are positives. I just feel lost nowadays.

>>18243433
Shouldn't you be going to grad school as a step to accomplish whatever goals you have, not just to gather pride? Like what's your life plan? Why did you go to college in the first place? What were you trying to accomplish by getting your degree?

>>18243433
Hey man.

I was in 4th year poli sci when i dropped out of uni.

Im doing fine. I ended up getting a trade skill and i own my own pest control business.

Finish your undergrad so you dont regret ti, plus its a major plus on a resume.

Then make your decision.

Im not saying leave your program. Im saying if it doesn't pan out there are literally a million things you can do. Take some pressure off and do whats good for you.

>>18244094
I've wanted to teach at a university since I was 15.

>>18244125
*An university
That doesn't exactly make my case.

>>18244136
University starts with a consanant sound. "A university" is correct.

>>18243433

You need to figure out what you want from life, and who you are, so that you feel good about yourself no matter what choices you make, and no matter how life's dice fall for you. Thats the only guaranteed way to be happy.

Why do you have no self esteem? Thats more important than figuring out all this career shit. Just based off what you said you seem like a dude who is engaged and passionate about something in the world, actively seeks to learn and understand, and has found success at something you sent your mind to. What is there to doubt or feel bad about? You're doing what you're doing. Stop comparing yourself to other external shit and dwelling on perceived short comings. Accept who you are, figure out what you want, and then figure out how to get it. Then execute.

>>18243433

Regarding the career stuff.

Please note I am not a grad student, but I'm working towards entering grad school, my SO is in an ivy league phd program, and many of my friends are grad students. So I am a little familiar, at least.

Grad school is way different than undergrad. The work you are doing is less structured for you and you have to rely on your own knowledge, creativity, and passion for your work to motivate you. I'm not sure why you say you don't ahve the work ethic when you also said you passionately pursue your independent studies of your chosen field.

You should ask your professor why he thinks you show promise if you really doubt yourself. I'm sure he isn't just blowing smoke up your ass.

Another possibility for you might be working in washington, I would imagine there are lots of think tanks and research and consulting firms that hire poly sci people. If it is anything like other fields I know of (like economics) you probably will need a Phd to get above an entry levle position at firms like that.

Umm actually have almost no idea what Im talking about with your field on second thought

>>18244148
I even doubt my own grammar.
>>18244157
I love politics and political theory. I more than likely would have gone into economics if my math skills were better, but this is still great. My low self-esteem has haunted me since middle school.
>>18244167
I've thought about entering law, but talk about a tough, oversaturated field.
>>18244106
I know there options. I just don't want to be taunted by my parents for being underemployed. They already make fun of so many other apsects of my life.

>>18244210

Try and work on your low self esteem thing and I think you will be thinking much more clearly about all of this. You seem like a pretty successful and interesting person, who has some really fantastic opportunities. I'm sure you aren't perfect, as no one is, but there's no shame in being a flawed person... since everyone is. If you want to change something about your life, identify it clearly, and work out real concrete steps you can take towards realizing that change.

Try and be mindful of how 'useful' your day to day thoughts are. Like if you find yourself thinking "I am shit", or "I don't think too highly of myself", stop and think: how useful is that to keep dwelling on? They really don't offer you much insight or any concrete benefits at all. So take a breath and let that shit go, and move on to something that is going to propel you towards your goals. Do not let that shit haunt you. What do you think are your personal shortcomings, and what can you do to overcome them?

Of course life won't be put on hold while you work this stuff out, but I think this is the most important thing I could tell you

I don't get why Americans make fun of political science degrees, in my country that degree is among the more prestigious and if you don't fuck up totally, you're going to get a well-paying job afterwards. Also one of the uni educations with much higher entry requirements than the average

>>18244442
It's watered down here. I pride myself on being extremely rigorous in my own research and attempt to draw on a wide berth of research, but that can't be said for the rest of my classmates. I'm sure at the graduate level it gets better.

>>18243433
Professor writing here.

Work toward an MA is not very much harder than upper-level undergrad courses, so you shouldn't have trouble doing it.

The question is really what you want to be when you grow up. Any grad work past the MA would be pushing you toward the academic life (Not a bad choice - I like it). With either a BA or MA you could think about

law school
politics
civil service (State Dept, CIA, etc)
a multinational corporation needing people with political savvy

>>18244547
Yeah, poly sci isnt difficult. I have terrible time management skills, so that's why my GPA isn't higher. If I just killed my bad habits I could potentially improve my situation (a high GRE score wouldn't hurt either).

>>18244442
This is 4chan. If you're not a computer janitor or making $100k a month working the oil fields or owning your own trade business, they'll think you're a waste of space.