|
Alright let's see, where to begin... I'm an undergrad at UCSD. Next quarter, Spring 09 is going to be my last at UCSD, although I'm staying an extra quarter to do the UCDC program, which is a quarter-long internship program sponsored by the UC system where students intern in Washington DC; gonna be interning with the state department probably.
I know that after that I'm going to take the rest of the year to hopefully find some kind of job and get work experience and money before I ship off to some kind of grad program, but that's the problem.
(btw I'm a political science major)
Well ever since I started college 3 years ago, I sort of had it in my mind that I wanted to go to law school, but lately I've been rethinking that. I've begun to lean more and more towards a masters/PhD program in international relations. If I studied law, I would most likely do an emphasis/concentration (don't know what they call it in law school) or specialization in international law.
I know that I want to do some kind "international" work, but I'm not quite sure. For example, being a diplomat, an international lawyer, conflict resolution, working with the UN... all these kinds of things sound SOO appealing to me.
So I'm sort of confused, I don't know which route to take - law school or a graduate study program. I know both routes can take me where I want to go.
Perhaps TL can help me make a decision! What do you guys think I should do?
 
|
You need to
1) Take the LSAT
2) Apply to Law Schools
3) Get your JD in International Law
4) Enjoy
EDIT: You can do any of those things listed above that you wanted to do. A PhD will most likely only land you a teaching job. The PhD also will cost you more money to get, will take longer to get, will lead to a less lucrative job, and believe it or not, will force you into a very, very difficult job market.
|
On February 19 2009 14:43 Qwertify wrote:
You need to
1) Take the LSAT
2) Apply to Law Schools
3) Get your JD in International Law
4) Enjoy
EDIT: You can do any of those things listed above that you wanted to do. A PhD will most likely only land you a teaching job. The PhD also will cost you more money to get, will take longer to get, will lead to a less lucrative job, and believe it or not, will force you into a very, very difficult job market.
This is true about the PhD, my mom has one (along with like six other degrees) and she makes no more doing the same job as my dad. However, it does add a certain "weight" to it, just the fact that there is a "PhD" slapped on your title adds a lot of credibility. This will help if you plan to start your own business in the future.
|
see that's another problem...
Masters = professional training (trains you to go directly into the work force)
PhD = mostly academic, etc
I'm really interested in both aspects of international relations. I'm doing a senior honors thesis right now, and the research has been really fun and exciting for me and I'd like to pursue that farther to a dissertation length piece, but at the same time I want to be actually INVOLVED in the stuff I'm learning about in my research.
So I'm torn
|
Hey Duran.
I would take a safer route if I were in your position. I recognize the dilemma you have between pursuing law school and graduate studies. Personally, as another person just mentioned I would take the LSAT to see how well I do (Of course I am going to give it my all ie. put in the MANY MANY MANY MANY grueling hours).
Then, you get your LSAT results back.
If you did well on it, you're probably ready to enter law school (given your other credentials like extracurriculars, undergrad GPA and whatnot meet the cut-off for where ever you want to go -- I read in another thread you wanted to go to Yale or Harvard Law -- sry side note lol, I have a friend who got accepted into Harvard Law)
If you don't do well on it, that's okay too. I'm sure you can take it again (depending on where you stand on taking the LSAT a second or third time.. hell you may not even want to repeat the LSAT). Anyways, If you do not do well, perhaps grad school IS your only option now since you may only get accepted into a second-tier/third-tier law school based on your LSAT. Yes, I'm prioritizing Law School over Grad School but that's how I would go about it.
If anything, after your completion of grad school, you may want to reconsider taking your LSAT and applying to Law School. In any case, the decision is up to you. Hope that helps, Duran.
Ken
|
damn congrats to your friend Ken, Harvard law is insaneeeeeeeeeeeeee! =D thanks yo
|
United States22883 Posts
On February 19 2009 14:50 emperorchampion wrote:Show nested quote +On February 19 2009 14:43 Qwertify wrote:
You need to
1) Take the LSAT
2) Apply to Law Schools
3) Get your JD in International Law
4) Enjoy
EDIT: You can do any of those things listed above that you wanted to do. A PhD will most likely only land you a teaching job. The PhD also will cost you more money to get, will take longer to get, will lead to a less lucrative job, and believe it or not, will force you into a very, very difficult job market.
This is true about the PhD, my mom has one (along with like six other degrees) and she makes no more doing the same job as my dad. However, it does add a certain "weight" to it, just the fact that there is a "PhD" slapped on your title adds a lot of credibility. This will help if you plan to start your own business in the future.
It depends on the field.
The two main options for poli sci/IR grad school are teaching/academia and government/agency/think tank work. There are of course other things, but those are the main two that come to mind. If you get picked up by an agency/gov't while in grad school, they'll often times cover the cost of the Masters and PhD.
My personal goal right now is to do Americorps for a year or two, grad school for IR and then into a government job. Another option for you is to apply for the foreign service. The exam is free and being a FSO is a pretty good career, besides the bureaucracy.
Do you speak farsi or another language? If you speak it, you'd probably be a lock for the CIA once in grad school.
|
You won't necessarily have to pay for your Ph.D., if you can get a fellowship from your university or an outside source then it'll be free with a stipend
Or, you might have to TA at least once a year, but better to get paid 15-20k a year than pay 30k in tuition every year
|
On February 19 2009 15:12 Jibba wrote:Show nested quote +On February 19 2009 14:50 emperorchampion wrote:On February 19 2009 14:43 Qwertify wrote:
You need to
1) Take the LSAT
2) Apply to Law Schools
3) Get your JD in International Law
4) Enjoy
EDIT: You can do any of those things listed above that you wanted to do. A PhD will most likely only land you a teaching job. The PhD also will cost you more money to get, will take longer to get, will lead to a less lucrative job, and believe it or not, will force you into a very, very difficult job market.
This is true about the PhD, my mom has one (along with like six other degrees) and she makes no more doing the same job as my dad. However, it does add a certain "weight" to it, just the fact that there is a "PhD" slapped on your title adds a lot of credibility. This will help if you plan to start your own business in the future. It depends on the field. The two main options for poli sci/IR grad school are teaching/academia and government/agency/think tank work. There are of course other things, but those are the main two that come to mind. If you get picked up by an agency/gov't while in grad school, they'll often times cover the cost of the Masters and PhD. My personal goal right now is to do Americorps for a year or two, grad school for IR and then into a government job. Another option for you is to apply for the foreign service. The exam is free and being a FSO is a pretty good career, besides the bureaucracy. Do you speak farsi or another language? If you speak it, you'd probably be a lock for the CIA once in grad school.
I speak French. Don't speak Farsi very well at the moment, but over the next 2-3 years I'm hoping to achieve fluency and continue to improve my French. I guess my goal by the time I'm 25 is to be fluent in English (check), French (half a check), and Farsi (1/3 of a check).
|
I took an International Law class in law school, and I don't even know what an "international lawyer" does. The whole concept of international law was a big joke to me because it's only binding on nations to the extent they allow it to be. The US can just say "fuck that treaty" and what's anyone going to do about it?
Useless post I know, but I'm actually a lawyer in California and would be glad to answer any lawyer / law school related questions you might have. 
|
I took an international law class for undergrad and ya I learned kinda the same thing =D!
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
