Do you love The West Wing? Or maybe you’re more of a Veep type. Either way, you’re drawn to politics and want to study it in college. Political science offers several high-profile career paths, from serving your country as a politician to being a lawyer. Whether your goal is law school or shaking up the political arena, you have to start by getting a poli sci degree. And if you’re here, you probably know (or should know) that poli sci is one of the most competitive majors at top-tier schools – it’s one of the most popular non-STEM major at most colleges!
Most of the big players in the poli sci scene, like Harvard and Yale, are super competitive to get into. You should expect single-digit acceptance rates to be the norm if you’re aiming for top-tier schools. That means you need to get your ducks in a row and use junior year to really shape up your application and help you stand out among all the other poli sci hopefuls. Junior year is your last big chance to make major changes to your qualifications before sending out applications. So, if you’re a junior and trying to pursue poli sci, keep reading for tips on how to maximize the rest of your high school career.
Discovering Your Niche
Figuring out how to apply your skills and interests to your academic career is super important - and we call this finding your “niche.” What we mean by niche is finding that super-specific topic you want to be an expert in throughout your academic career. This is usually one of the first things we work on with students, and we often start with a broad subject (like poli sci) and narrow it down from there.
While we’d love to jump in with a ~vibe assessment~ and assign you your perfect topic, it just doesn't work that way. We’re passionate about helping you figure out what you’re passionate about. If you come to us with an interest in political science, we want to help you discover if that means you’re into international politics, or electoral politics, or political theory. Then we want to take it a step deeper – maybe you start with international politics, but then you realize you’re actually really interested in the differences in electoral systems in Europe. Then, we help you explore, research, and learn about that topic in depth. Maybe you’ll even do some research and get published!
Reading Some Books
So how exactly do you find out what your niche is? We work one-on-one with our students to help develop the perfect curriculum for them and their interests. If you know electoral politics are your jam, we can skip the intro to poli sci stuff and get straight into the meat. From there, as you find topics within electoral politics that you like, we find you more specific books and online classes that allow you to explore deeper and deeper. The goal is to have you find a niche within electoral politics, like the modern history of media influence on elections.
The good news is that this kind of work should be more interesting than your usual homework since you’re studying something you’re passionate about!
Working On Extracurriculars
Having a lot of knowledge about your niche is excellent, but it doesn’t mean much if you don’t know how to apply it to real-world situations. That’s why we recommend that students get involved with extracurricular activities related to their niche. Joining a mock trial club, TA-ing for Civics or Political Science classes, or joining debate are all good in-school options for building your poli sci profile. And while out of school extracurriculars are usually more enticing to our students, we do encourage them to get involved at their school. It’s important to do both.
Outside of the classroom, there are many activities that provide good experience as well, from interning at a local politician’s or district attorney’s office to helping a professor at a nearby college do research. That being said, using a connection to get an internship without doing any of the groundwork will not yield the results you want. You really want to build your profile from the ground up. So be cautious around the “capstone” type experiences.
While it’s never fun to say, we also want to warn students to exercise proper time management with their extracurriculars. We don’t want to tell anyone they should quit sports, band, or theater, but we advise students to be responsible about the time they spend in extracurriculars unrelated to their niche. We don’t hate the band or sports (most of us participated in them, too), but you need to prioritize your academic passions.
Forming A College List
Knowing (or figuring out) what colleges you want to apply to is a big part of junior year. Understanding what college is best for you and your niche is important, so we recommend researching top political science colleges and building your own list. With this in mind, we have a few suggestions for where you can start searching.
Stanford
Harvard
Duke
Columbia
UC Berkeley
We work with our students to make sure that they have a customized college list ready to go for when they start sending out applications. We work closely with students to find a healthy, balanced mix of 10-12 schools that are all good fits for them, their academic profile, and their long-term goals. By getting to know our clients, we’re able to help them make the best college list for them. Once your top picks are sorted, we then help you decide on an Early Decision school.
Summer “Fun?”
We believe summer break is a student’s well-earned time off after 10 months of classes - but it doesn’t mean you can’t do anything during this time. Summer is the biggest block of uninterrupted time you’ll have in your high school career. And juniors, this is your last summer to explore.
One somewhat easy thing you can do to fill your summer is a summer program. They’re great ways to get in-depth knowledge and experience about their niches in safe environments. Summer programs can take several forms, from classroom-based experiences to shadowing a professional in the field. Either way, getting some relevant experience is a major plus in our book.
If nothing else, Juniors, we definitely do not recommend stuffing your summer full of summer programs – BUT we think you can get more hands-on than that. And we’d love to help you find the right things for you! Whether it’s getting an internship or job on a local campaign or working with a local professor on a research project, spending some of that uninterrupted time off is crucial to helping your application.
Sending Out Applications
Our juniors start their Common App essay in June/July. From there, we’ll have them work down their college list in order of application deadlines until they finish them all. We have them do this in the summer before their senior year to lessen the stress of getting ready for graduation. We help students with everything from the supplements, to the Common App, to the activities section, and beyond. And it all gets squared away well before the deadlines.
High school is almost over, but if you aren’t prepared to get into the college of your dreams, you need to make the most of your time. Put in solid work, aim to be an expert in your niche, and rock the college prep process!
If you need help finding your niche, let us know. We’re experts at helping students turn their passions into careers.