I want to do something with Homeland Security or possibly FBI/ CIA. I’m extremely interested in counterterrorism. I’ll be attending college this fall and am trying to go ahead and decide on a major (currently undecided). My options are either Political Science or International Studies. Both of these majors have a focus area of national security. International Studies requires the student to pass proficiency in a language as well. Would knowing a language make me significantly more marketable? If so, what key languages should I look into?
If you’re into CIA/FBI, you should’ve applied to the Institute for Intelligence Studies Mercyhurst University (IIS-MU) in Erie, Pennsylvania. I’ve heard that many CIA agents go through this school. You could consider majoring in Arabic, or PoliSci. Georgetown is also a good bet. Try to see if you can take some classes at Mercyhurst too, unless you are attending college far away.
You can look at this thread too: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/911402-whats-a-good-college-major-to-work-for-cia-or-fbi-p1.html
There are several majors that would work; you don’t absolutely need PS/IR. A foreign language would definitely help; which one would depend on your level of comfort/ability and geographic area of interest (e.g. Arabic, Pashto, Persian, Mandarin, Korean, Russian, French, Spanish).
–What are your best/favorite subjects?
–Do you have a foreign language background from high school?
–What college will you be attending?
FBI and CIA agents come from a variety of backgrounds. In fact, political science might not be the best major to get into that. From the [FBI website](https://www.fbi.gov/saltlakecity/jobs-1/employment_info):
The FBI is currently seeking skills and degrees in: hard sciences, such as biology, chemistry, physics, etc.; all engineering fields; computer sciences; information systems; international studies; business, finance, and accounting; and military intelligence. Those with political science, criminal justice, and psychology degrees must have another critical skill in order to be more competitive (for example, military intelligence background, a graduate degree, or a special skill).
Sounds like international relations/studies is better for the FBI because they are specifically seeking that. You will need a language - the critical languages are Arabic (all dialects), Chinese, Korean, Russian, Hebrew, Swahili, Albanian, Indonesian, Pashto, Punjabi, and Vietnamese. Spanish is also considered a critical foreign language, but you need high proficiency in it to be competitive.
It also sounds like [most positions at the CIA are analytic, business-related, or computer science/technology-related](https://www.cia.gov/careers/opportunities). Language will be an important qualifier if you don’t have expertise in these areas.
[Homeland Security](http://www.dhs.gov/topic/homeland-security-jobs) jobs also seem to value international relations/studies experience over political science. So I’d go for the IS major over the political science major for sure.
A common thread is that these high-level positions have strong preference for people with military or law enforcement backgrounds. So one way to get to your goal is to work for several years doing intelligence in the military or in law enforcement.