Another International Relations threads

College Majors
1

<p>I have read just about every post that’s been made on this subject, and they’ve all been extremely helpful, but I’m greedy and I want my own thread. </p>

<p>I’ll try to make this short. I went to a no-name state university and studied social work, intending to go straight to a well-ranked grad school. Decided I have absolutely no interest in social work. Please don’t tell me to just do social work like everyone in my life has done. I want to go back to school to study IR and then get an MA. I’m not sure what the best way to go about this is. </p>

<p>Here’s probably my biggest obstacle. I took some (bad?) advice from an old advisor and didn’t apply for graduation last December when I should’ve graduated. I was told that it would be easier for me to just take a semester off and reevaluate my goals, then register for classes in IR. Of course that was when the plan was just to take one semester off…not three. I’m totally ready for graduation with a BSW, I just have to apply. So I suppose my options are: Register for IR prereqs in January or May…I don’t know how this would work. I guess I would graduate with two bachelor’s degrees? Or apply for graduation, then go back and do a post-bacc program at my old university. OR apply for graduation, then do a post-bacc program at a new (better) university. </p>

<p>Also, I know that one of the pieces of advice that floats around this forum is to “be international.” Umm…I’ve been to Greece. I took four years of Spanish in high school (and don’t remember much). That’s as international as I get. Is this going to be a serious problem when I start applying to grad school? I don’t necessarily have a knack for languages, but I’m a quick learner and I’m very open to learning new languages.
Any insight at all would be appreciated. Obviously I’m planning on speaking with an advisor at my old school, but I wanted to make this thread first since there are plenty of people here who are knowledgeable on the subject. Thank you!</p>

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<p>Anyone? :)</p>

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<p>A lot depends on what type of international career you would like to pursue. If you are a wannabe ambassador, you would have a more difficult time entering a good master’s program relative to applicants you are competing against. </p>

<p>Some thoughts off the top of my head:
You will definitely be at a disadvantage without language skills. If Spanish is the language that you’d be most likely to learn, consider going to a language school in a Central American country. Intensive programs are offered and tuition and living costs are relatively low compared to what you’d spend living and going to a university in the US.</p>

<p>Relevant international work experience would help, even if it’s volunteer work or social work experience (e.g., with immigrants or refugees). Have you ever considered the Peace Corps? Taking the long-term view, if you plan a career in IR, two years of that type of experience serve you well for admission to a graduate program and in your future career.</p>

<p>If you return to school for additional coursework in IR-related subjects, you don’t need to complete an entire undergrad IR major. The bare minimum (besides language skills) includes a course in statistics and 2 semesters of intro economics. It would help to have an intro course in IR and a couple of courses in modern or international history or perhaps the history of particular country or region that interests you (e.g., Latin America, if Spanish is the language you choose). You’ll probably have additional social science courses from your UG program in SW.</p>

<p>Your social work background could be advantageous if you emphasize the right aspects of it, e.g., understanding of racial & ethnic minority issues, intergroup conflict, poverty, immigration, refugees, cross-cultural issues, program administration, etc. that might coincide with certain international issues, especially if you have an interest and/or work experience in those issues.</p>

<p>I would recommend that you not delay getting your degree, even if it is in SW, before more time passes. Then you can pick up some additional courses in IR or even complete another degree. Give some careful thought to what ind of international career you want to pursue before you decide that the only pathway to it is a graduate degree in IR. As an alternative to doing additional UG coursework, you also should consider going into other types of grad programs that could lead to international work and might be easier to enter with your particular background, e.g., applied anthropology, public health, international development (e.g., at an ag school at a large landgrant university, e.g., Michigan State, Wisconsin, focused on community development, etc.) and you might use this as a stepping stone to a professional school program in IR.</p>

<p>Whatever you do, you have to demonstrate your interest to an admissions committee for any grad professional school program in IR. It’s more than just particular courses or a particular degree.</p>