Engineer Major to an International Relations Major

College Majors
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Hello all,
So I’ve been on here for years. You all helped me choose mechanical engineering a few years back and just recently opened my eyes to grad school options outside of engineering. Now I just came across a very interesting major that has me thinking to switch schools and majors - International Relations. I don’t know if I should or if it’s even possible - that’s the question.
About me:
I love creating things. This is why I went into engineering. I love understanding how things work. I don’t really like physics though - I love the concept of physics and understanding basically how everything works, but it bores me to death. I just took my first high level engineering physics final and think I aced the class. I have a 3.75 gpa. Point is, I can do hard engineering work, but I am just bored by it. Most people I talk to who aren’t engineering majors often say “oh, you’re an engineering major? I could never do that!” But I know I can, and quite easily, I just don’t have much interest; though, this ability to do engineering is why I haven’t switched majors yet. I have talked with juniors and seniors in ME who say the same thing “I don’t really like all of the engineering work, but I know I can do it and it will pay well so that’s why I do it.” I don’t have weekends during the semesters - I don’t have a great social life; but I’m fine with that. I am a very social person - from my first year alone in school, I probably have made close to three-hundred friends and met thousands of people. I was the lone freshman who dared run for student government. I was the student body president in high school.

I absolutely love politics - understanding how the government works - but have not become a political science major because I have been deterred by the corruption and ignorance of people running the world. I founded a constitutional club on my campus and was the chairman in charge of all colleges in Central California over this last year for a prominent US presidential candidate. I’ve already made contact with top politicians and journalists - naturally - by just expressing interest and asking questions. I just don’t feel like majoring in political science will get me any closer to a job in politics than an engineering degree would. Besides, my current school is known for its criminology, nursing, and agriculture programs - the political science department sucks.

I love writing (though this post does not express my writing abilities - it’s almost midnight and this is merely a forum) and was going to switch majors my first semester in college but my professor asked that I not switch because my writing abilities were already so good. He was like, “what would you improve? Don’t major in English if you don’t want to be a teacher. Go for engineering and write research papers,” So that was that. I also love making films. That’s my biggest hobby. I guess I like understanding things, but I don’t like the gritty math and such behind it all; though, I do like pure math like calculus.

Back story:
I wanted to join the military. My family came from corrupt Yugoslavia where my grandpa and relatives were imprisoned for merely expressing their faith in God. My grandfather escaped from prison and brought my family here to the states. I know what it’s like not to have freedom. I know what it’s like to gain it. So, long story short, right before I graduated high school, I got really sick, almost died, and then was diagnosed with a disease that exempted me from service. Now I’m stuck trying to figure life out.

Came across an international relations major this week and it’s really interesting. Would I be able to switch to an Ivy League (or other notable university) and double major in engineering and IR? My school does not even offer it, and I’m now a sophomore in engineering. Or could I major in engineering and go to grad school for IR? I still love understanding how things work, and I think engineering is a great major for me to gain much understanding of the world’s workings. Logic and science, basically.
I’ve been looking at history of science and JD programs as well which are both interesting areas I could see myself working in, but not as interesting as IR.

Thanks to whoever reads this insanely long outpouring of my soul.

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Ugh, this is so irritating because it’s bad advice. 1) Every writer can improve; even published authors frequently talk about improving their work. 2) English isn’t just about writing or learning to improve your writing. 3) English majors very often do other things besides become teachers; in fact, I would say that most English majors don’t actually end up being teachers. This statement exhibits an extraordinary lack of imagination on this professor’s part. 4) Professional engineers don’t usually write research papers (not in the traditional sense, wrt publishing them in academic journals). 5) Academics in MANY fields write research papers, so he could say that about virtually any major you thought about.

Anyway.

Could you transfer and double-major in international relations and engineering? Maybe, theoretically, but practically speaking that will probably add at least a year onto your degree program. Engineering is already difficult enough to finish up in 4 years. International relations majors very frequently require language study and sometimes study abroad, depending on the college. So I’d investigate this very carefully and think about whether you want to stay longer than the traditional four years (there’s nothing wrong with that - it just costs more money) and how long it would practically take you to finish an IR + engineering degree.

Can you do a master’s in IR if you did an engineering undergrad major? Again, in theory yes. Most IR master’s programs don’t require any specific majors. In practice, you’d probably need to fit in a couple of social science classes during your degree and also take a language through proficiency (so at least 3 years, or 6 semesters, in college). Studying abroad would help a lot but it’s difficult to do with an engineering major. Most IR master’s candidates also have a couple years of work experience before they get the master’s.

That said, there’s a lot of ways an engineer can meld that interest with international studies/relations. Many resource-poor nations need a lot of help building infrastructure or solving engineering problems in creative, innovative ways that don’t require as much capital or expensive resources that they don’t have. There’s actually a group called Engineers Without Borders - much like Doctors Without Borders, it’s the engineering counterpart of course. Plus there are all kinds of international projects and issues that involve science and engineering - like the Suez Canal, Panama Canal, Channel Tunnel, etc.