I am having a hard time trying to decide between majoring in Business Marketing or International Relations. I alway imagined myself in management, so Business Marketing made sense to me. But now as I started doing research about what programs University of Iowa has to offer, I realized they have a great program for International Relations, that doesn’t involve nearly as much math as Business does which would be good for me considering math isn’t my strongest subject. I am very interested in social work, as well as politics and international studies, which is exactly what International relations would allow me to do. I am also bi-lingual in Russian and English, and have a lot of experience outside of the US, having lived in many different countries. I would also minor in something, such as psychology. In todays world finding a job is crucial, and I was wondering if this would be a solid route to getting a good job considering me being bilingual, and having a major and a minor from a great school. I know business would allow me to have a job almost anywhere, but its not exactly what I’m passionate about. Which route would make more sense to follow?
Privyet! I am also Bilingual Russian/English although I’m thinking about doing Finance undergrad with a minor in Russian or something computer related, and then Polysci Grad.
The thing I would say is that a Business major is always going to be useful, because everybody always needs somebody with a sense of money. Hell even the UN has job openings for business people. However that being said, IR is a more interesting degree in my opinion.
If it were my choice, I’d go for International Business and then minor in IR or Polysci. In most programs, all business majors take the same core classes, so you’d take a lot of the same courses as marketing, but then the international business would put the international tint on it that you’re interested in, and you could add on IR for the political stuff.
I know it’s a bit of a personal opinion, but I think psych is not a very useful minor.
Privet! I would definitely would feel safer with getting a job with a business degree, that I agree with. but unfortunately the school I’m planning to transfer to doesn’t have International Business as a major, only a certificate program. International Relations would be considered school of liberal arts, while Marketing would obviously be school of business. Two totally different career paths, and I just can’t decide which one would be the better choice!
You don’t need a degree in business to work in business. International relations (with Russian minor) and a certificate in international business, along with internships, would be a good path.
Marketing often has poor ROI. Excellence in statistics is a must-have in that field.
You don’t necessarily need the degree to work in business but I see a lot of jobs asking for some kind of business related degree IE Econ, Finance, General Business, etc. That being said, I agree with your assertion that marketing has a poor ROI, and if my choices were between IR and Marketing I would choose IR and then perhaps try to minor in something a little more… pragmatic? Such as Math, General Business, Econ, Stat.
I am definitely interested in International Relations more than marketing, and combining that with the certificate program for intentional business does sound more like the type of path right for me. Since I already have experience in retail, even with these two degrees, would I be able to follow the business path if I chose to later on? Would majoring in IR, doing the certificate program, and also minoring in something be an overload of work? Thanks for your help!
When it comes to major + minor, keep in mind that it can be as spaced out or as packed in as you want. Some minors have a sequence of classes anyways so sometimes minoring can add a semester or two to your education (depending on the school, whether the major is impacted, etc). So really, it doesn’t have to be an overload of work. Just keep in mind if you decide to do a lot of things at once, you might end up having to pay an extra semester or two’s worth of tuition, so that’s a factor to consider. I know that some schools allow you to take your free electives and use them towards a minor, but that’s something school-specific that a counselor from that school would be more helpful for than me 
HOWEVER, that being said, I have no idea how much work a certificate is. A minor is usually an extra 5-8 courses so keep that in mind.