<p>do they all wanna be foreign service officers or something, cause we all know that's not going to happen, too many people apply each year as it is. Or is everyone planning on going into business? just saw this trend and found it interesting so i thought i'd ask what the plans are.</p>
<p>I used to want to go into the foreign service but ultimately found another career path. Anyways, you’re one of those people that give up on your dream because it’s hard, right? Not many people have what it takes to be a neurosurgeon, banker, news anchor, actor, etc. But if everyone just gave up because there’s little chance of making it, then we’d have no one to fill those positions. People make it.</p>
<p>it sounds like a “cool” major, but it is really just a poly/sci major. while it is in vogue with some , it is seen along the same lines as sociology, gender studies , criminal justice , communications etc…</p>
<p>That’s exactly my plan.</p>
<p>International Studies (which is a more accurate description of the typical undergraduate major; international relations is a subfield of political science and just part of what an undergraduate major learns) is an interdisciplinary field where one typically studies international relations, international economics, history, area studies and one or more languages. It does not train you for a profession; it is a form of liberal arts education. Some IS majors do go on and earn a professional graduate degree in international studies, but most do not. Also, there are a handful of professional schools of international studies that also offer an undergraduate degree (Georgetown’s SFS, for instance) but that approach is the exception, not the rule.</p>
<p>There are some “cool” and “sexy” sounding majors that are super popular right now.</p>
<p>IR is one of them. I think the appeal is that there’s an assumption that the career will involve jetting off to exotic and interesting countries on a frequent basis. </p>
<p>I think in a few years we’re going to see a glut of degreed people with the following majors without jobs related to their fields…</p>
<p>1) Neuroscience
2) Sports Mgmt
3) Int’l Relations
4) Bio Medical Eng’g
5) Anthropology
6) Film Studies/Film Making
7) Game Design</p>
<p>bio degrees have long been a popular choice, and there will likely continue to be a glut of those grads as well.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids… agreed minus number 1 and 4. not many can handle those majors and they are much needed.</p>
<p>My daughter is majoring in International Studies along with a foreign language. She is also considering linguistics. She is doing it because it is what she loves and has wanted to do for many years. She just started her freshman year so she may change but will most likely stay in the realm of humanities/social sciences. She is interested in teaching.</p>
<p>For some reason, IR majors tend to do better on the LSAT than political science majors, according to [LSAT</a> Scores of Economics Majors: The 2008-2009 Class Update by Michael Nieswiadomy :: SSRN](<a href=“http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1430654]LSAT”>http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1430654) .</p>
<p>zobroward…</p>
<p>Without grad degrees, degrees in Bio-medE and Neuroscience won’t likely lead to good employment. </p>
<p>That’s why I think there will be a glut…not all will be able to go to/afford/get accepted to grad schools.</p>
<p>“Why are so many people majoring in international relations?”</p>
<p>The popularity of majors goes in cycles. At one time, it seemed everyone wanted to be a clinical psychologist or an investigative journalist, either due to the influence of the popular media or to events in the news. IR has been popular since the “war on terror” and the rise of China. Students think there will be lots of jobs in these areas and that’s a major concern for students right now. IR can be a good liberal arts major, but most who major in it won’t end up working for the government in a related position. For one thing, most IR majors don’t do the serious work to master a foreign language or to get a solid grounding in a discipline like economics. Also, their notion of an international career seems limited to wanting to be in the foreign service, CIA, etc. and they don’t explore other fields that provide real skills that might be more valuable internationally. IR just happens to be trendy right now. Heck, I suppose it sounds better to the friends and family to say you’re majoring in IR than to say you’re majoring in sociology.</p>
<p>If I was to name any one thing that would contribute to your supposedly-true trend (I would like to see the evidence for your statement), I would say the increasing prevalence of more academic clubs in high schools, and specifically Model UN. I imagine that it exposes students to pathways they wouldn’t otherwise know had existed, and influences them into thinking that it is a very real option. I am majoring in International Relations (with a minor in French)and my participation in Model UN in high school had a lot to do with it. </p>
<p>I don’t appreciate the negative view that is being shared, in my case I don’t think the choice was made superficially or because it was “cool” (prior to Model UN, I had a really avid love for history and geography, which dovetailed nicely with International Relations, but I didn’t think there would be a career in either one) but I recognize that there is some foundation for it. </p>
<p>There is something to be said for people looking very superficially at their interests and having the reaction, “Well, I guess I’ll do that”, in the way mom2collegekids pointed out Sports Management and Film studies. Most people like movies or sports, and they look very basically and believe they’ll just make a career out of it. </p>
<p>And, no, we don’t all want to be foreign service officers. I get more than enough skepticism about the likelihood of attaining a job; however, there is a variety of opportunities, in both public and private sectors. There’s opportunities in NGOs, think tanks, lobbying groups, and various areas of government, and I maintain a flexible view of my future career.</p>
<p>I think zapfino and mom2collegekids have some interesting insight as well into this supposed phenomena.</p>
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<p>^ This! {four more characters needed to post.}</p>
<p>In the last post I only mentioned my situation in conjecturing a correlation between Model UN and a speculated trend in International Relations. However, if you were to ask many of my classmates, you would see a solid percentage who were also influenced by Model UN to pursuing a career in International Relations, but yet again this is still anecdotal evidence</p>
<p>And I am confused by your post GolfFather</p>
<p>I know I have posted this before in response to a similar question (for the record I have kids in both IR and game design!) My D has had a long history of interest in international study. She was a founding member of her high school’s Model UN. She attended our state Governor’s School for international Affairs. She graduated in May with a double major - Intl Affairs and Economics and is very well employed in DC. She did not pursue the major expecting frequent international travel, though she has done a lot of that on her own. I think kids study what they are interested in studying - so what if their jobs are not directly related to what they study? That is what a liberal arts education is for.</p>
<p>Now my S in game design - he knows jobs are tough, but he will have computer skills enough to land a job somewhere. He too is studying the only thing that interests him, and we are hoping for the best but realistic in our expectations.</p>
<p>Majors can be new and cool yet still be demanding. </p>
<p>For instance: D1 went off to college intending to be an IR major. It’s a school with a well-respected IR department which requires its undergrad majors to take a curriculum rich in political science, economics, and foreign languages (a four-year language requirement). She was interested in policy/government/NGO/what have you type of work, and the IR major would’ve been just fine for giving her those critical thinking and writing skills that serve students well in the work world. </p>
<p>Or, consider the students who enroll in the game design program at USC and who are given the opportunity to demo their senior projects to groups of companies and investors. It’s no wonder, given the caliber of the work that comes from the program and the rigorous curriculum.</p>
<p>Which isn’t to say that all IR and game design programs are rigorous…but not all history programs are rigorous, either. It’s a good heads-up to anyone who wants a specific career to see how graduates from that program fare in placement, rather than assuming that degree translates immediately to cool job. </p>
<p>Most people end up doing work that’s not at all related to their major. And the high expectations that students might start out with–write a bestselling, critically acclaimed novel, win a Nobel prize, join a startup and pay your dues for a couple years before cashing in on stock options when the company goes public, direct a major motion picture, serve as a Supreme Court clerk before your first successful run for the US House of Representatives–generally don’t work out, either. That’s true for people majoring in English, Econ, Math, and a slew of other sober-sounding majors. Same advice for everyone: have the big dreams, study what you love, but have a bunch of fallback options, and make sure you acquire the skills and experience that covers them.</p>
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<p>I was agreeing with mom2collegekids.</p>
<p>I think that SlitheyTove said it well. There are some kids who go to college with a career plan firmly in place. Most however, only know the broad areas that they enjoy learning about for whatever reason that it appeals to them. If it happens to carry the “cool” major label, who cares? The kids who major in IR thinking that it is a ticket to jetting around the globe probably aren’t mature enough to be in college yet but I think that they are the minority. People should study what excites them. It is their passion that will lead them to excel in whatever their chosen field is. I’m not totally impractical. I do believe students need a plan B and a plan C when they graduate.</p>
<p>The reality is that there will always, ALWAYS be government-related jobs. Whether on Capitol Hill, within state governments, international corporations, within an agency or with think tanks and lobbying groups, government-related jobs are among the most plentiful, stable positions. (Have you checked out the DC metro area’s job reports? Housing market? Economy?) Benefits beyond health insurance and retirement plans are plentiful. An IR major/minor is a broad and beneficial academic path that prepares one for a wide array of positions, both in and out of a govt. job track, especially when combined with a concentration in a foreign language of particular import in today’s global mkt. I would not be so quick to diss IR majors as “trend followers” or as less-than-clever wannabes. In uncertain times, where students have watched their parents lose high-paying jobs and watched newly-graduated friends and relatives be unable to find work, I think the students pursuing IR, particularly in well-respected programs, are making a wise choice that can, in many instances, provide job security and career growth opportunities in an era where such opportunities are few. Just my opinion…</p>
<p>I’m planning on majoring in IR, because it contains three of my favourite subjects- history, politics (I’m most interested in politics) and languages (I went on exchange for three months to france in year 10 so already speak pretty good french). Coming from australia, I had no idea the major was so popular in the US. First choice would be to work in the foreign service or an NGO. But may change to wanting to work in government generally, I’d also be very happy with that. (foreign service and government could be in either US or Australia, dual citizen) I’m planning on possibly double majoring in English because I’m a very good writer and would be happy to work for magazines or newspapers of most types (political to fashion). If all else fails, I’d be perfectly happy to be a dance teacher.</p>