<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I am an undergrad student interested in IR. Although my university has a good political science program, the IR program is small and only offers a certificate. I am wondering if should transfer to a university with a larger, more developed IR major. </p>
<p>However, I read a couple threads where people strongly oppose undergrads from majoring in IR. As IR is a subfield of political science, they say it has a narrow focus and deprives undergrads from learning important skills offered in a broader major. I have also read posts that say undergrads should pair a political science major with something like middle eastern studies, asian studies, etc, than go for IR.</p>
<p>My question is; Would it be better for me to stay at my current university and pair political science with something like Asian studies? Or do you recommend I transfer to a university with a better IR program?</p>
<p>(Regardless of whether I choose IR or political science, I am and will continue to study a foreign language).</p>
<p>Thank you for your help!</p>
<p>First and foremost, people are full of crap, as usual. I was once an IR major but I switched to Asian Studies and concentrated in economics. Now I am doing my MS in finance. PolySci and IR are different. Both involve politics, obviously, but the courses are different. IR focuses more of an international education and has elements of economics, business, history, and law aborad. Political Science is the study of politics, philosophies, and history. I believe that IR is more relevant for a number of reasons.</p>
<p>For example, when I was doing my undergraduate degree in Asian
Studies, I had to take several IR courses such as US and Japan foreign relations, Political Economics of China, Interpolitical Economy of the World, International Law, International Business, and a few more. In my opinion, IR offers more than polySci. </p>
<p>Not only do you learn about governments,laws, and policies around the world, but you also gain the ability to apply knowledge to businesses, organizations, and the economy. The average polysci major either goes to law school or education. IR majors join the UN, attend law school, work in government sectors, and work for the FBI,CIA, or DOD. </p>
<p>IR totaly beats polysci majors. My 2 cents… </p>
<p>Either way it is your education. You can choose to attend a different college if you want. Choosing a major and what college you want are things that you gotta do on your own. You are paying for it so. </p>
<p>Think about it. And don’t rush it.</p>
<p>I agree with JapanLand. While I haven’t finished undergraduate yet, I am studying BS Economics/Finance and BA International Relations. I think the global awareness shared amongst IR, Geography, History, and to some extent Economics majors is lacking sometimes in political science, which I think deals much more with the very interesting details of the science of politics, elections, and governing. IR to me is more interesting, but I think in either case, developing other skills such as language, statistics, and internships will be the most important, as these two majors I think are similar but very in their scope.</p>
<p>Thank you JapanLand and WC4Jameson for your input! </p>
<p>JapanLand, you mentioned an IR major can lead to the UN, FBI, or CIA, however, very few people get those jobs. You said an average polysci major goes into law or education; where do average IR majors go after graduation?</p>
<p>I am going by my state university, which was in FL. The government always went to my college and hired IR majors. A lot of them went into law. </p>
<p>The secret to IR majors is to register for internship courses during
Your undergrad degree. I made the mistake of not doing internship but I will be doing a paid internship while doing my masters in finance, which counts as an elective for my degree. Take advantage of that. Trust me.</p>