Question about SIPA, SAIS, and graduate school in general

Graduate School
1

<p>I want to do human rights/humanitarian aid/international law. </p>

<p>I'll be headed to McGill (should I get a B.A & Sc or just a B.A) or UVA college of arts and sciences. Which school would be better? </p>

<p>Considering what I want to do in the future, what should I major in? Most people going into this field seem to major in political science while minoring in a foreign language or something. </p>

<p>I was also considering transferring to Columbia for their 5-year joint program for international affairs that could get me a BA and MIA...what do you think of this? Should I just complete 4 years at one institution w/o transferring or should I pursue this route? Also, what's up with people who are enrolled in this 5 year program going straight into SIPA right after their undergrad at a young age? How common/beneficial is this?</p>

<p>If most people graduate undergrad at ~21, and the average age at SIPA and SAIS is 27, what do they do for 6 years? I can understand taking a couple years to go abroad and gaining professional experience...but I can't imagine what people would do for the remaining 3-5 years between undergrad and grad. </p>

<p>Speaking of age and admissions, what are the most important factors for getting accepted? College GPA, GRE, professional experience, internships, recommendations... any other key or inside info. that I should keep in mind while in college? </p>

<p>ALSO! another big question...if I want to work with human rights/international law stuff, and possibly the UN, would it be best for me to choose this route of:</p>

<p>College --> Experience --> SAIS/SIPA??</p>

<p>What if I chose an easy major in college, stack up on GPA and LSAT and go into law school for international law...? What would this route entail for my future? and what would be the main difference between doing this and going to SIPA/SAIS,etc?</p>

<p>I understand I am only 18 and that plans could largely change...but I want to know my background info. before taking classes, declaring majors, etc. Also, I really do want to transfer to Columbia for the location and its 5 year program, so the more info I have, the quicker I can act. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any insight/answers/feedback/comments</p>

2

<p>Here are the facts:</p>

<p>If you want to do international relations, your undergrad doesn’t matter all that much. You’re going to need a grad degree, and you’re going to want some sort of hands-on experience before going for it. If you want to work for the UN or do anything “cool” in IR like that, you’d better have some family in some key political positions - it’s not what you know or where you learned it, all that matters is who you know. The most important thing for you to realize is that the job market in IR sucks, and most people never even get close to their dream job. If you absolutely insist on getting involved in IR but you don’t have political connections, your next best bet, honestly, is to go for a PhD and enter academia in IR. Most high level diplomats and international law experts started as professors, made connections, and got pegged to move into government service.</p>

3

<p>Your best bet in terms of how you should prepare yourself is to actually do some kind of volunteer work in a developing country. A lot of people who think they want to go into aid/development work tend to have romantic notions about helping people and living in poor countries. The reality of such work is very, very different. You have no way to know if it’s the right field for you until you actually go overseas and see what it’s like.</p>

4

<p>…but I can’t imagine what people would do for the remaining 3-5 years between undergrad and grad</p>

<p>They work? 6 years is actually not that long of a time to gain professional experience in the international world. You make connections, you improve your language skills, you learn how to do different things. Two years is actually a very short period of time, and if you think about it if you only take two years off that means you only have one year of experience when you’re applying for SIPA.</p>

<p>“easy major”? Pick something that’s interesting. International relations is popular but anything can work depending on what you do. Maybe you’re interested in international environmental health and you could major in environmental sciences or a natural science. Maybe you’re interested in improving business systems and infrastructure and you do international business or business or economics. Pick your major based upon what interests you and you can build a career from there.</p>