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"PC has encouraged me to step out of my box and become the person that I always wanted to be. The PC community has opened so many doors for me and given me so many opportunities that I could not imagine being anywhere else!"
Hollis Chappell
Political Science Major from Columbia, S.C.
Student Government Association vice president and member of Student Volunteer Services and Celtic Cross
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PC provides the finest preparation for law school and enjoys an acceptance rate above 90 percent. Majors who elect to pursue a career in law have been accepted into some of the top law schools in the nation at institutions such as Harvard University, Duke University, Emory University, Vanderbilt University, the University of South Carolina, the University of Georgia, and the University of Virginia.
The political science department has also had majors accepted into top masters of public administration programs at schools such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte, the University of Georgia, and the University of South Carolina.
Other graduates have entered graduate school to study political science for careers in specialized governmental areas such as foreign service, intelligence, defense, trade, and the United Nations. Three political science majors from the Class of 2000 entered the Peace Corps to make the most of their focus on public service.
PC boasts alumni currently teaching at the college level, as well as those serving in corporate work, military service, and careers such as lobbyists, campaign coordinators, political party officials, state agency directors, and city administrators. Some majors have gone on to graduate school en route to successful careers in communications, including one recent alumna who, following graduate studies at the University of Missouri, is a publication editor and another, after studying at the Syracuse University, is now a television journalist.
The political science faculty members are experts in their respective fields. In addition to challenging students to reach their full potential, the faculty still finds time to conduct research which has led to scholarly papers, articles, and monographs -- ranging from a much-heralded book on American "third party" politics to analyses of Middle East politics, democratic theory, and Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution.
However, political science majors at PC quickly discover that the learning experience is not limited to the classroom. You may have the opportunity to view the workings of government first-hand through the Washington Semester Program in affiliation with American University in Washington, D.C. Or, as a Hansard Scholar, you might spend a semester in London working with members of the British Parliament. Students also earn course credit for supervised work in a Washington congressional office or an administrative office of national, state, or local government.
Certain classes at PC offer unique opportunities for hands-on experience, such as a class in media and politics which traveled with two political science professors to New Hampshire for the four days leading up to a presidential primary. Another group of PC political science students were panelists on a South Carolina educational television program, "Test of Political Fitness."
Student delegations from PC participate in the Model United Nations Conference held at Appalachian State University, as well as the South Carolina Student Legislature. The department also offers opportunities for membership in two campus partisan organizations, the College Republicans and the Young Democrats. Students interested in the field of law may also join the Pre-Law Society, a student organization open to individuals considering a career in law.
Of course, academic excellence should be recognized and rewarded. The department annually awards a cash-value scholarship, the Witherspoon Award, to one or two upperclassmen in recognition of outstanding achievement in political science.
