Navigating the World of Politics: A Comprehensive Guide to the Political Science Major at UCLA

Choosing a major is a pivotal step in shaping your academic and professional future. UCLA, with its vast array of undergraduate programs, offers a landscape of opportunities for students to align their interests with their academic pursuits and career aspirations. Among these diverse options, Political Science stands out as a field that equips students with the critical thinking, analytical, and communication skills necessary to understand and engage with the complex world of politics. This article will serve as a comprehensive guide to the Political Science major at UCLA, outlining its requirements, curriculum, and potential career paths.

Exploring Academic Options at UCLA

UCLA boasts over 140 majors, catering to a wide range of interests and academic skills. These majors reside within the College of Letters and Science and various professional schools. The College of Letters and Science emphasizes a broad liberal arts education, encouraging students to think creatively and critically. It offers over 100 majors across four academic divisions: Humanities, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences.

When applying to the College, prospective students are asked to select a major of choice, but can also apply as "undecided/undeclared". This flexibility allows students to explore their options before committing to a specific field of study.

Political Science at UCLA: An Overview

Political Science & Government is a popular major within the social sciences program at UCLA. The program offers Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees in Political Science. UCLA's Political Science program consistently earns high rankings, placing it among the top programs in the nation. According to College Factual's rankings, UCLA's Political Science program was ranked #12 in the country. It is also ranked #1 in California.

The popularity of the Political Science program at UCLA is evident in the number of degrees awarded each year. During the 2021-2022 academic year, 671 bachelor's degrees in political science & government were awarded, although this represents a 4% decrease from the 699 degrees awarded in the previous year. In 2022, 13 students received their master’s degree in political science from UCLA, making it the #29 most popular school for political science master’s degree candidates in the country. Additionally, 10 students received their doctoral degrees in political science in 2022, making the school the #14 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Curriculum and Requirements for the Political Science Major

The Political Science major at UCLA is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of political processes, institutions, and concepts. The curriculum is structured to encourage critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and effective communication.

Lower Division Preparation

Students are admitted to pre-major status while completing lower-division preparation courses. To declare the Political Science major, students must complete all five preparation courses with a 2.0 GPA or complete four preparation courses and be enrolled in the fifth course during the current term. Note that AP Statistics credit does not fulfill the statistics requirement for Political Science.

Upper Division Requirements

Starting Fall 2024, the major requires ten upper-division courses (minimum 40 units) selected from Political Science M105-199. These courses must be taken for a letter grade and be a minimum of 4 units each. Political Science majors should be aware that the upper-division course requirements in the major (40 units) do not meet the upper-division requirement of 60 units (effective Fall Quarter 1997) for graduation.

Core Competencies Cultivated by the Program

The Political Science major at UCLA aims to cultivate several core competencies in its students:

Critical Thinking: Students learn to think critically about basic political processes, institutions, and concepts as they operate in different national and cultural contexts.
Information Literacy: Students develop the ability to locate, evaluate, and use information and scholarship needed to place particular political events in broader historical, cross-national, and theoretical contexts.
Theoretical Knowledge: Students acquire knowledge of diverse theories of politics by engaging critically with texts, media, and contexts.

Career Paths for Political Science Graduates

A degree in Political Science from UCLA can open doors to a variety of career paths. While some graduates pursue careers directly related to politics and government, others apply their skills in diverse fields such as law, business, journalism, and education.

Salary Expectations

The median salary of political science students who receive their bachelor's degree at UCLA is $34,392. This is less than $35,631, which is the national median of all political science majors in the nation who earn bachelor's degrees.

Student Debt

While getting their bachelor's degree at UCLA, political science students borrow a median amount of $37,036 in student loans.

Unique Course Experiences

One student writer from Her Campus at UCLA shared their experiences with standout courses taken during their time at UCLA. These courses include:

A Political Science course taught by Professor Sherrer, which broke free from the standard dry lecture material and engaged students with questions and clear communication.
A challenging course with Professor Kassabian, an attorney, that simulated a 1L law school course and involved reading briefs of major Supreme Court cases.
FILM TV 4, which fulfilled a Diversity Requirement and offered a welcome change of pace with lectures and film screenings in the James Bridges Theater.
Courses focused on the music industry, such as "Music Business Now," which provided hands-on experience in managing real-life artists and developing marketing strategies.
A marine biology course with Professor Dines, which made learning about marine mammals fun and engaging with dad jokes and hands-on experiences like handling a baleen sample.

These courses highlight the diverse and engaging learning opportunities available to UCLA students, both within and outside their chosen major.

Additional Undergraduate Majors at UCLA

To provide a broader context of the academic landscape at UCLA, here's a list of other undergraduate majors offered within the College of Letters and Science:

African American Studies (B.A.)
African and Middle Eastern Studies (B.A.)
American Indian Studies (B.A.)
American Literature and Culture (B.A.)
Ancient Near East and Egyptology (B.A.)
Anthropology (B.A.)
Anthropology (B.S.)
Arabic (B.A.)
Art History (B.A.)
Asian American Studies (B.A.)
Asian Humanities (B.A.)
Asian Languages and Linguistics (B.A.)
Asian Religions (B.A.)
Asian Studies (B.A.)
Astrophysics (B.S.)
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (B.S.)
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences/Mathematics (B.S.)
Biochemistry (B.S.)
Biology (B.S.)
Biophysics (B.S.)
Business Economics (B.A.)
Central and East European Languages and Cultures (B.A.)
Chemistry (B.S.)
Chemistry/Materials Science (B.S.)
Chicana and Chicano Studies (B.A.)
Chinese (B.A.)
Classical Civilization (B.A.)
Climate Science (B.S.)
Cognitive Science (B.S.)
Communication (B.A.)
Comparative Literature (B.A.)
Computational Biology (B.S.)
Data Theory (B.S.)
Disability Studies (B.A.)
Earth and Environmental Science (B.A.)
Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution (B.S.)
Economics (B.A.)
English (B.A.)
Environmental Science (B.S.)
European Language and Transcultural Studies (B.A.)
European Languages and Transcultural Studies with French and Francophone (B.A.)
European Languages and Transcultural Studies with German (B.A.)
European Languages and Transcultural Studies with Italian (B.A.)
European Languages and Transcultural Studies with Scandinavian (B.A.)
European Studies (B.A.)
Gender Studies (B.A.)
Geography (B.A.)
Geography/Environmental Studies (B.A.)
Geology (B.S.)
Geology/Engineering Geology (B.S.)
Geophysics (B.S.)
Global Studies (B.A.)
Greek (B.A.)
Greek and Latin (B.A.)
History (B.A.)
Human Biology and Society (B.A.)
Human Biology and Society (B.S.)
International Development Studies (B.A.)
Iranian Studies (B.A.)
Japanese (B.A.)
Jewish Studies (B.A.)
Korean (B.A.)
Labor Studies (B.A.)
Latin (B.A.)
Latin American Studies (B.A.)
Linguistics (B.A.)
Linguistics and Anthropology (B.A.)
Linguistics and Asian Languages and Cultures (B.A.)
Linguistics and Computer Science (B.A.)
Linguistics and English (B.A.)
Linguistics and Philosophy (B.A.)
Linguistics and Psychology (B.A.)
Linguistics and Spanish (B.A.)
Linguistics, Applied (B.A.)
Marine Biology (B.S.)
Mathematics (B.S.)
Mathematics, Applied (B.S.)
Mathematics/Applied Science (B.S.)
Mathematics/Economics (B.S.)
Mathematics, Financial Actuarial (B.S)
Mathematics for Teaching (B.S.)
Mathematics of Computation (B.S.)
Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics (B.S.)
Middle Eastern Studies (B.A.)
Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology (B.S.)
Neuroscience (B.S.)
Nordic Studies (B.A.)
Philosophy (B.A.)
Physics (B.A.)
Physics (B.S.)
Physiological Science (B.S.)
Political Science (B.A.)
Portuguese and Brazilian Studies (B.A.)
Psychobiology (B.S.)
Psychology (B.A.)
Religion, Study of (B.A.)
Russian Language and Literature (B.A.)
Russian Studies (B.A.)
Sociology (B.A.)
Southeast Asian Studies (B.A.)
Spanish (B.A.)
Spanish and Community and Culture (B.A.)
Spanish and Linguistics (B.A.)
Spanish and Portuguese (B.A.)
Statistics and Data Science (B.S.)
Individual Field of Concentration (B.A./ B.S.)
Undeclared

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