#41: Majoring in Political Science Just Because

If there is one major at Notre Dame whose students have a complete lack of focus and direction in this world, it is PLS; but if there is a similar but more popular major, it is Political Science. While PreMed students are preparing for Medical school, business students are preparing to work in the financial industry be unemployed, engineering students are praying that the auto industry doesn’t completely collapse (uh oh), and architecture students are painting things; most Arts and Letters students are preparing for Law School, Grad School, or to do service work. Many Political Science Students, however, don’t necessarily want to do any of these things.

Notre Dame Students love to major in Political Science because they have no better ideas of what they should be majoring in. They take one class with the likes of Christina Wolbrecht or Kier Lieber and figure out that they can easily make it through the major without doing anything that resembles real work; so they sign up.

Many students even pick up Political Science as a second major just because. They might be majoring in Accounting, Spanish, PreMed, or Peace Studies, and realize that they need a second major to satisfy their soul (and to justify their high tuition payments). These students will always name Political Science as their second major because it sounds less rigorous. By referring to Political Science as their second major, these students bring legitimacy and respect to their studies despite the feeling deep down in their hearts that Political Science is more enjoyable.

Conversely, Political Science majors need to pick up second majors to justify these high tuition payments. Oftentimes their parents realize that the major is a joke, or they realize that their job prospects with only Political Science as a major are slim. Such secondary majors include Economics, History, American Studies, and Peace Studies. These majors will help the confused political science major get a job such as a high school teacher . . . or maybe even a Notre Dame Blogger.

Regardless, Political Science majors will never regret their choice of a major because it will allow them plenty of time for things such as drinking . . . and drinking. They might think they learned something about politics, but they will have to get really lucky to become a successful politician like Mark Sanford or John Edwards.