<p>As if you hadn't figured it out, lawyers are trained to follow up every answer with another question!</p>
<p>First, thanks for staying in touch with this board and providing your constant insights even after getting into the school you wanted to attend. Not often we see this kind of follow-up on message boards.</p>
<p>I think you and I might have roughly similar career goals. The State Department, as well as the alphabet agencies, would definitely be on my agenda if I start studying up for the GRE to go down this road.</p>
<p>What kind of internship are you going to be doing at State? Are you going into that internship with the ultimate goal of working in the Foreign Service? What hiring criteria did the State Department base their decision on--i.e., I'm assuming your grades hadn't come out prior to you getting the thumbs up, so it sounds as if your previous educational/work experience coupled with your current studies pretty much got you the job. Is that accurate? What kind of grades do you think the State Department/alphabets require to hire you on full-time after you graduate?</p>
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What kind of internship are you going to be doing at State? Are you going into that internship with the ultimate goal of working in the Foreign Service?
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<p>I'll be working at the embassy in Tokyo doing similar work to an FSO (foreign service officer.) Well, provided that I get a security clearance in time. Darn things are bugger hard to get in time, and if I get dinged...well... And oddly enough...no. I do not want to be an FSO in the long-term. I want to actually work in something more counter-terrorismy. Like the FBI. Actually, the FBI exactly.</p>
<p>But that's a different story.</p>
<p>
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What hiring criteria did the State Department base their decision on--i.e., I'm assuming your grades hadn't come out prior to you getting the thumbs up, so it sounds as if your previous educational/work experience coupled with your current studies pretty much got you the job. Is that accurate? What kind of grades do you think the State Department/alphabets require to hire you on full-time after you graduate?
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<p>To be honest, I don't think grades really make the difference. The State Department/et. al. are interested in skill sets- language, accounting, economics, finance, Excel, Excel, more language, even more Excel. After the 3.3, it all comes down to experience, name dropping, and how good your Arabic is.</p>
<p>To be honest, you'd be a shoo-in at most agencies. With your JD, the FBI would gobble you up in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>I've actually submitted an application to the FBI. Given the snails pace at which the federal government moves on hiring decisions, I'm not waiting by the phone.</p>
<p>I'm also passed the FSWE last summer, and am scheduled to take my oral assessment in February. This will be my second time making it to the oral assessment--bombed it the first time. Turns out that most successful applicants to the State Department's FSO program are second and third-time takers. I think the written exam is no sweat (after the California Bar, I fear no standardized tests!), but most people say it's pretty hard--ex-girlfriend of mine has a masters in international relations and has failed the written exam three times. State is changing the format this year and moving to a more conventional hiring approach, so we'll see how that plays out.</p>
<p>A problem I have (more for the alphabets than State, I think) is that my wife is a resident alien. She's not from Islamistan or anything, but I've heard the FBI and CIA are extremely cautious regarding applicants with foreign brides. <em>sigh</em></p>
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A problem I have (more for the alphabets than State, I think) is that my wife is a resident alien. She's not from Islamistan or anything, but I've heard the FBI and CIA are extremely cautious regarding applicants with foreign brides. <em>sigh</em>
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<p>Ah...yeah. That's tough. I'm not going to sugarcoat this one: you're practically screwed. There was some story a few years back where a general (y'know, the top brass kind) had no problem with his clearances while in the military, but once he got out he was dinged because of a Canadian wife.</p>
<p>Hearings were had. Names were dropped. Papers were filed. And nothing changed.</p>
<p>I think you'd be best off either getting the wife to become Ms. American ASAP or looking into State or even NGOs with similar goals. I'm in enough trouble having lived abroad, let along having a foreign national as a significant other.</p>
<p>I got to the exam portion of the FBI hiring process but decline because I'm not sure I want to try right now. I don't need more stress on top of school at the moment.</p>
<p>LOL. Yeah, you gotta watch those Canucks! Sneaky bastards.</p>
<p>I'm in the same boat--the living abroad stuff and all. Don't you find it pretty retarded that the CIA and FBI actually see living abroad as detrimental (insofar as it makes it harder to get a security clearance). I find that extremely odd. It would seem to me that the CIA and FBI would much rather have properly-vetted people who have lived abroad and know how to adapt to foreign cultures than homebodies who have never lived outside of the US of A. Doesn't make a bit of sense to me. I'm sure when I was drinking gigantic steins of beer at the Hofbrau house in Munchen that I was secretly scribbling down my plan for world domination on the pretzel napkin. Dumb dumb dumb. Seems like they should focus their resources and attention on seeing to it that Mohammed Atta doesn't get his student visa approved AFTER crashing into the WTC. Call me crazy. </p>
<p>In any event, I have told my stubborn, lovely wife several times that her foreign citizenship is going to kill me during this process, but she is reluctant to "become" an American. She didn't come here fleeing persecution or for economic opportunities, and was, by most accounts, quite happy living where she's from. Maybe the fact that we bought a new car this weekend and I completely caved on the choice of model will make her soften up a bit.</p>
<p>Just curious...what NGOs with similar goals to FBI/CIA are you thinking of? That might be interesting.</p>
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How "Math Intensive" would an undergrad poli sci/IR program be?
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<p>Probably not terribly so. I can't see most undergrad programs wanting much beyond stats or calc I.</p>
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It would seem to me that the CIA and FBI would much rather have properly-vetted people who have lived abroad and know how to adapt to foreign cultures than homebodies who have never lived outside of the US of A. Doesn't make a bit of sense to me.
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<p>Yeah, I've tried to figure this one out too. The logic is that while foreign experience makes for better employees, it also might lead to ties to anti-US organizations and whatnot. Plus, what if we go to war with your wife's country, and you have to take actions that could conceivably lead to harming her family and friends? That leaves you open to being compromised.</p>
<p>But then again, the same organizations are spending millions a year on the polygraph instead of looking for real moles. :rolleyes:</p>
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Just curious...what NGOs with similar goals to FBI/CIA are you thinking of? That might be interesting.
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<p>Well, for intelligence gathering there's the Economist Intelligence Unit. They don't do counter-intelligence or espionage, but with all the open source gathering the CIA is doing nowadays, it's no wonder the EIU has been sourced by the CIA!</p>
<p>There's also CSIS and all the other thinktanks that would get you into that world as well. And it's hard to really break into, but the UN has some interesting work available for those who don't want to be rich. :p</p>
<p>Thanks again, UCLAri!
I've been thinking about it myself and I just couldn't stop thinking that
science po for this time may be the last time that I can study French well in my life. cuz I know that I will barely go to my gradschool to France.....</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me the reputation of the following schools' IR programs please?</p>
<p>university of denver, george mason, university of pittsburg, catholic university, institute of world politics, seton hall, carnegie mellon, university of maryland, and fordham </p>
<p>Denver and Mason are good, as is Pitt. Don't know much about the rest in detail, but Maryland is generally good, as is Fordham. I've not heard much CMU's program.</p>
<p>ya its grad school...and how good are the schools relative to the george washingtons, georgetown, tufts etc etc? are they completely lower tiered or are they still relatively decent? i ask mostly because my gpa wasnt exactly stellar but i still want to go to a somewhat reputable school with a reputable IR program...what are all your thoughts, if any?</p>
<p>my grade point average...it was just a 3.0...but i have yet to take the GRE...i probably will this summer because i want to apply next january for the fall of 2008</p>
<p>I am a little bit confused as to what I should do. I am currently pursuing a major in Spanish Language and Literature. I found out yesterday, I can fill all the requirements at my school, while studying abroad for a full year, and be an International Relations/Global Studies, Spanish double major. Yet, from what I read, having an IR major undergrad isn't absolutely necessary to get a masters in International Relations. I go to Hendrix College ( a very small liberal arts college in Arkansas). The IR major is really just a mix of history courses (usually focused on one area), two econ courses, a cultural studies course, environmental course (i.e. environmental economics), and foreign language requirement. There are no courses specific to IR except the Senior Thesis class for IR majors. Everything else is a mix of other courses in other majors. Would I be better off just sticking with the Spanish major, and instead of taking all of the requirement courses for the IR major, just take a mix of courses that graduate schools may like...such as one or two upper level econ classes, business law, etc. or does having the major look better and more put together in the eyes of a graduate school. Some say a degree in a language alone looks weak. I just returned from Bulgaria, and I am hoping that ISEP will place me there abroad for the fall semester, and Spain for the second. The American University there is ranked for poly sci and IR type courses, especially circulating around European Law, EU Terminology, etc. Are there any IR masters programs focused on Eastern Europe that are well known? I really would like to live there one day, and the need for educated English speakers is great. I really have no idea what I want to do. I just know that I want to live outside of America and work translating, teaching English on the side, or working for the EU, etc. Any advice?</p>
<p>Not one program is necessarily focused on Eastern Europe, but because of the traditional focus on the region, you're fine at any of the big names (SAIS, SIPA, KSG, etc.)</p>
<p>hey...
i'm applying to liberal arts colleges and i've chosen IR or political science as majors.
do you know which colleges are the best for these programs?</p>
<p>hi,
i want to study IR, IS or Poli Sci and i am having trouble looking for good schools and if you could help me out that would be great.
My GPA is 3.0 - 3.5 and my SAT was 1800</p>
<p>i have already been looking at:
Middlebury, Duke, Brown, Georgetown, George Washington, Vanderbilt, Emory, Tufts, UCLA, USC, UM Ann Arbor, UC Berkeley, UW Madison, UT Austin and Texas A&M as a safety. I am looking for a school with a great one of the programmes above but that i can also have a good time.
Any remarks, comments and additions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks</p>
<p>any insight on the london school of economics and political science?
what international schools could I apply to for a masters in IR that have strong programs? I would like to get my degree in Europe, Eastern Europe, anywhere....I am primarily interested in getting a job using Spanish and Bulgarian...I would like to find some sort of school where I can focus primarily on Europe.</p>
<p>Also will it kill me if i dont have internship experience applying to grad school?</p>
<p>I dont think I will have time over any of my summers because I am going to work full time this summer to make money for my full year abroad next year (upcoming august), and since the calendars are different, I wont be back until late June of the summer 2008 which means I wont have enough time to start an internship when most people are required to (late may-july/aug). I have great grades, I will have a year abroad under my belt, and I have been involved at my school. I am not a Political Science, History, Econ, or IR major. I am a Spanish major and I am going to take a bunch of random IR type classes (micro, macro, histories, etc.) and hope that an IR school will accept me....Do I stand a chance?</p>