Hi everyone. I will be entering UW - Madison next year as a freshman, and wanted to share my current thought process about my major/minor and hopefully get some opinions. My father is from Papua New Guinea, and has many connections with people who work in the PNG Embassy in D.C., as well as some foreign service jobs in CA and Australia. I would like to work for the Embassy one day, or at least do something to further help PNG, and will be heavily relying on these connections to get my foot in the very competitive and narrow door.
My current plan (that I thought of 15 minutes ago) is to major in Economics and have a minor or concentrate in Southeast Asian Studies. After college, I would go to UCSD or Australia (hopefully!) to get my masters in International Relations. I’ve read that it’s better to major in something different, and then go get your masters in IR, so that’s what my current plan reflects. Does this sound about right to you, or am I thinking about it completely wrong? Please feel free to give me advice, I really am not an expert, and my plan was cobbled together by what I’ve read on the internet.
Thank you!
Economics is a good choice. It’s viewed a solid and respected major for your stated career interests and would offer good preparation for a grad program in IR. If you take a different career pathway, it offers relevant options, too, e.g., business, law. IMO, a major in a traditional discipline often is a better choice than an interdisciplinary IR major at the undergrad level since the IR major may not provide a solid background in the theory and methods of any particular field. I also tend to agree that the master’s degree in IR gives an advantage over just an undergrad IR major. Having said that, you should still use elective choices for coursework in fields such as political science and history. The minor in SEA will provide the regional focus, including language study, and would be a good choice since the obvious trading partners for PNG would include the countries in that region. UW is a great place for both economics and Southeast Asian Studies.
While your connections and background naturally will lead you in certain directions, don’t prematurely close off other career and post-BA educational options. For example, it’s rather specific at this stage to decide that you might go to UCSD for an IR master’s. There are many other professional schools for IR and several other schools that offer a focus on SEA for you to consider as you go through your undergrad studies.