Rising senior with questions about MAIR

Graduate School
1

<p>Hey all,</p>

<p>Just happened upon these forums. I've been bouncing around from thread to thread soaking up some information, but now I've got a question or two of my own. For reference, I've got one year left in my undergrad IR degree, and I'm spending the summer studying abroad while also studying for the GREs. I'm interested primarily in the intersection of Security Studies, ConRes, and HR.</p>

<p>1) It seems there are two "classes" of IR grad schools: those that are geared towards freshly minted undergrads (GW, American, etc) and those that generally require more experience before acceptance (Fletcher, etc.) Is this perception correct?</p>

<p>2) I'm thinking about not going directly into grad school, but rather trying to find some entry-level work in the field to gain practical experience. I've been trying to figure out what kind of entry-level work my BA alone would qualify me for, but many positions seem to require a higher level of education. It's a bit of a catch-22, and any clarification on the situation would be most welcome.</p>

<p>Thanks for any and all help!</p>

2

<p>I just graduated and I’m pretty burned out so I decided to take a year to recover/boost my application chances. Have you done any internships–any contacts you might have at prior internships or jobs might come in handy. I’ve gotten a few interviews that way. I’m dealing with the same work experience for MA/MA needed for job catch 22 that you’re going through. Getting in touch with past associates might be a way around that. Alternatively, you could take the time to work or live abroad, or learn a language. You could also take extra community college or local college courses to cover up any deficiencies you might have had in undergrad (statistics, economics, or the like). Also, find it if Professors need research assistants or even copyeditors for books or something. I’m doing this now and while it doesn’t bring in cash, it does show that you can do research.</p>