econ requirement for MA International Relations?

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi everyone, this is my first post but I've been lurking for a while.</p>

<p>Little background on me:
I want to pursue a Masters in International Relations at one of the top schools, hopefully get a job in govt when I get out. I am studying for the GRE now and expect to do pretty well (scored 600, 710 verbal and quant on my first practice) and just graduated from UCB with a PoliSci degree and a 3.88 GPA. I don't really have much relevant work experience, I spent the last 2 semesters studying abroad in Rome but don't have anything amazing to show for it. I can probably become conversationally fluent in German again pretty quickly (grew up speaking it, just haven't used it in a while). I am a bit late in the game of wanted to go into International Relations, I was planning on law school for a while, took the LSAT and everything, then decided while living abroad that being a lawyer wasn't for me. </p>

<p>So, my real question is: I have been researching schools like SAIS, SIPA, Gtown (MA Intl Law & Global Security or MA in Security Studies) and they all seem to 'highly recommend' if not outright require courses in both Macro and Micro-economics. I took Intro to Econ my freshman year, but nothing besides the usual polisci stat courses after that (didn't even occur to me when I was planning on lawschool). I was planning to take the GRE in a month and apply this cycle for next fall, but am starting to think that my chances would be improved if I take a year off, really get my letters and statements together and take these two classes. Maybe even get some relevant work experience. Am I right or do these not really matter?</p>

<p>That being said, I have graduated and can't really afford to enroll in UCB classes again at this point, so how important is the institution I take these econ classes at? From the FAQs on the school websites, it seemed like community college classes weren't looked down upon.</p>

<p>Thanks in Advance!!!! Also just wanted to say that this forum has proved an invaluable resource to me already, thanks for all the hard work the mods put in.</p>

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<p>anyone? will taking these courses at a cc over the next year hurt me?</p>

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<p>I’m a SAIS graduate, but I don’t really know how admissions there or at any of the other top programs would look at a cc course. My suggestion would be to plan to work for a couple of years at least (I know its true at SAIS, and I suspect its true of its peer institutions, that very few people are admitted right out of undergraduate school). If you can find a job related to the field, it would really help. Overseas jobs are also helpful. During that time, take some economics courses (international economics especially) at the best school you can. While taking a course at a community college won’t hurt your application, I suspect it won’t help terribly either. Good luck.</p>

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