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@Nellypooh
0 answers, 10 votes
 • 4 years ago •
Harvard prospective students

How challenging is the Political Science major

I plan on majoring in Political Science because I want to become an attorney.

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5
@EliasMiller
expert
144 answers, 158 votes
 • 4 years ago

@Nellypooh, Harvard doesn't technically have a political science major! If you're interested in political science, you would most likely concentrate (major) in government, and you might consider pursuing the optional public policy program within that department. If you want to learn more about that program specifically, you can find the information here: https://undergrad.gov.harvard.edu/public-policy.

In terms of the government concentration's difficulty, it really depends on what kinds of courses you take. Some professors are known for leading more difficult classes, while some courses are known to be relatively easy As. Basically, you can make the program more or less difficult for yourself depending on which classes you decide to take. In general, Harvard is known for its "grade inflation." (The average GPA at Harvard is quite high, and many non-STEM courses at Harvard are known to give out a great deal of As and A-s.) While I was a student at Harvard, I heard that the median grade was an A- and the mode grade was an A (although I cannot verify this). This doesn't mean that there aren't some very challenging courses, or that there aren't some professors who insist on giving out lower grades to many of their students. But, you should be able to structure your pathway through most concentrations at least in the humanities and social sciences in a way that is doable for you.

5
@FinnJacobson4 years ago

Hi! I'm curious about what effects this has on political education-- is the Government major more geared towards US issues or is there still a general focus on political theory and concepts?

@EliasMiller
expert
4 years ago

The nice thing about the Government (Gov) concentration is that it's super flexible! You can build your own field of focus by taking whichever gov courses you'd like. If you want to focus on theory, you can take a whole bunch of political science courses. If you want to focus on US politics, you can take a bunch of classes on US Government. If you want to focus on IR, you can do that too. There are some light distribution requirements...

@EliasMiller
expert
4 years ago

... 2 classes related to “Political Theory”, 2 classes related to “Comparative Government," 2 classes related to “American Government,” and 2 classes related to “International Relations," but these descriptions are vague, and lots of classes fit these categories, and they don’t even have to be directly within the gov department. (You might also take classes in the Social Studies and Economics departments, for instance.)

@EliasMiller
expert
4 years ago

Gov classes on average do have tons of reading and writing, and your final paper (often 15-25 pages double-spaced) will usually make up 65% of your final grade or more. That said, the concentration is not known for being particularly difficult, and you should be able to do what you want with it.

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