Internships, Careers and Graduate School
The Political Science Department will support and help you in your search for successful internship, graduate school, and career opportunities.
In addition to our alumni network and faculty members, who serve as excellent resources, connections, and advisers, the Betty and B. Frank Matthews II ’49 Center for Career Development (Matthews Center) also provides a large number of online and in-person services.
Internships
Internships allow you to explore your interests in meaningful ways with real-word applications. We maintain a strong network of contacts in Washington, D.C. and among our alumni nationwide and across the globe. Our alumni have been exceptionally helpful in sharing internship and job opportunities, giving career advice and even mock interviews to our students to best prepare them for internships and careers in diverse fields.
Recent student internships range from the Brookings Institution, to Habitat for Humanity International, to American Enterprise Institute and the State Department, among many others.
"My experience at ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø helped me get through law school," writes Emily Palmer '17 in a recent blog post. While clerking at the Family Violence and Major Crimes Divisions of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, Palmer reflects on the ways ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø's coursework and mentorship prepared her for a career in public service and criminal prosecution.
Post-ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø Success
Our majors have seen great success after graduation, and many have won national awards and fellowships. Since 1995, the Political Science Department has produced a Rhodes Scholar, a Marshall Scholar, multiple Truman Scholars, a Pickering Fellow, a Luce Scholar, numerous Fulbright Scholarship recipients, and multiple Watson Fellows. Most recently, two of our 2015 graduates received Fulbright scholarships and one earned a Truman Scholarship.
Additionally, political science alumni have been accepted to top graduate programs and law schools, including: Harvard University, Princeton University, Johns Hopkins-SAIS, University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, University of Virginia, University of North Carolina, The Ohio State University, Emory University, University of Toronto, Wake Forest University, Boston College, University of Florida, and University of Oklahoma.
The department both attracts and cultivates students with a commitment to public service and a desire to lead. Our majors routinely assume leadership roles in student government and other student service organizations on campus, including the and the Center for Civic Engagement.
Anmar Jerjees '18 will be attending Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business to pursue an MBA in the fall of 2024 on a full-ride scholarship as a Thomas F. Keller Scholar. Anmar Jerjees graduated from ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø in 2018 as a political science major and an Arab studies minor.
Fellowships are competitive awards and programs that provide funding and other resources for meaningful immersive work, like research, teaching, or service. Like scholarships, fellowships can also support academic study.
These featured fellowships support a variety of experiences in and outside of the U.S. Interested candidates should contact ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø’s Office of Fellowships to learn more about these fellowships and other programs.