<p>My son is a high school junior who has always been very interested in military history--he's one of those kids who knows everything about every war plane ever manufactured, and submarines too...as well as all the battles in which they fought. He's also very interested in politics and current events. </p>
<p>He recently asked me how one becomes a security or intelligence analyst, which now that I think about it, doesn't surprise me.</p>
<p>Any one have any advice? What to study or where to study? Any ideas for camps or summer programs?</p>
<p>He is a good but not great student at a very strong high school in central Ohio. He takes a very challenging curriculum--the highest level of all classes offered except for math, which he takes one level down. He just took the PSAT and we don't know how he will do--or how accurate his score will be, as he was diagnosed with strep the day after, He plans to take the SAT, ACT and some SAT II's this spring. Very strong in extracurricular activites and real leadership opportunities but nothing on the level of a real hook.</p>
<p>His college applications should be concentrated in the DC area, and he should look at "area studies" programs, e.g., east Asian studies, near eastern studies, etc. But he should be aware that many of those careers have all the usual tradeoffs associated with long-term careers in the civil service, and think about how to build a civilian career out of that kind of preparation. </p>
<p>There are completely different, and much more varied, channels for going into clandestine work with a "cover" occupation. I don't know much about those, but that kind of work has a much different set of tradeoffs.</p>
<p>This is a great site for intelligence community careers for ALL agencies. Be sure to check out Career/Occupation Mapping Tools under Intelligence Careers.</p>
<p>I don't think there is any specific major but foreign language skills are a definite plus-especially in the rights areas. As you might expect, I think there is a need for people who speak Korean or Middle Eastern languages. International Studies might be a good major-which usually is a interdiscplinary program of courses in political science, language, history, and some econ.</p>
<p>Boysx3, I am in this field, in private industry. As far as summer camps, George Mason usually has some, and George Washington possibly. In terms of what he should study in college or the path to beome an intelligence analyst, the answer is anything he wants, but with (1) a focus on one or two foreign languages; (2) a program that includes study abroad; (3) masters degrees are highly prefered, so a combined program might be best. </p>
<p>The intelligence community is hiring in record numbers and the trend is expected to continue for a long time, but almost any major can be leveraged. For example, a career intelligence officer recently explained to me that his agency is even interested in candidates who have majored in, say, art history - his reasoning was that his agency often needs to place an operative very close to a person that they are very interested in knowing more about, and it is very difficult to thoroughly train a clandestine operative who may possess, say, an engineering degree sufficiently in art history or whatever might be required. He said many disciplines simply cannot be faked, or faked sufficiently to gain and maintain access to subjects of interest. </p>
<p>A 3.0 gpa is practically mandatory, and he needs to keep a spotless background, including credit history. In the interview process and even throughout an intelligence career credit is a very, very serious matter because the assumption is that an operative with poor or mediocre credit will be an easy target for bribery, or subject to recruitment by the other side in exchange for economic favors.</p>
<p>Since you mentioned your S is doing a level lower in math than other fields, I'm guessing he's not engineering oriented? However, if he is, that is another option. DH spent his career in the intelligence field in private industry following BS and MS in Electrical Engineering. It especially might interest your S as my DH's field was electronic/signal/communications intelligence for submarines/planes etc.</p>
<p>I don't know much more because it is such a highly classified field, but be aware that this is one option. The first few years of DH's career were at NSA; the balance in private industry with the government (and other "friendly" governments) as the client.</p>
<p>The intelligence agencies hire from essentially every major. They do so many different things, that they need all kinds of people. From the traditional International Relations, Political Science to Engineers and Scientists.</p>
<p>Many agencies have undergrad and grad internships to be had while in school, which are competitive, will likely require a background check for security clearance, and will get a good foot in the door. In addition to the CIA, there are many other agencies in this area. The GSA and DIA come to mind off the top of my head.</p>
<p>The grades need to be fairly good as someone mentioned, for example a 3.0 GPA in college is required by the CIA. Foreign language skills are definitely a plus, and non romance languages are the hot commodity right now. There was just a deal where the military had some guy in Iraq who had a security clearance and was working with classified information who they arrested because they realized his info was so well fabricated that they didn't know his real name, and they still don't. He's right not labeled as "FNU LNU" (first name unknown, last name unknown).</p>
<p>Schools in the DC area obviously lend themselves to government work and government related internships. You need a school where the child will find success, and put him in a good position to continue to graduate school. Many schools not in DC have DC connections though as well. Especially schools in VA, they have big Northern VA / DC area alumni networks (and programs).</p>