<p>It seems that a lot of students were able to get into their school of choice while doing research as an undergraduate. I never really had the opportunity to research with a professor and I always thought researching in my field was a bit odd. I'm a political science history double major..</p>
<p>So my question is, does NOT having a research background during undergraduate studies going to affect my chances of getting into a grad school for IR? Is it just for science or public heath related fields?</p>
<p>International Relations? I know a lot of IR/PS/PA majors (work in aid and development) and I can’t think of one that did research, per se. Definitely not with a prof. Field work and/or internships is much more relevant in these fields, I think. I’m going into public administration with a career background in international development and I talked to the faculty about research as I want to do statistics and they said for the master’s program, most students did more applied research and field work, and that only PhD students would do what you’d call “research”.</p>
<p>So I think you are right, it’s only for some fields and I certainly can’t imagine them expecting you to produce research for an IR degree. It’s hard enough to get on a think-tank after you have a PhD. Imagine trying to do that as an undergrad…</p>