| Master's in International Development
Hi all -
I graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor's in Political Science, and I'm just now considering the possibility of going back to school. I would really like to be directly involved in working with an international organization of some kind, either doing aid work or some kind of country/region-specific development, but the requirements for all such jobs are daunting, to say the least.
I wanted to get everyone's opinion who has some experience or information on getting a graduate degree in International Development. First, do you think that such a degree is practical in becoming involved in international work? (i.e. does having a Master's "make a difference" in the job field?) Second, is there a specific concentration that is particularly useful? It seems to me like going into disaster risk management or human security would be more helpful than, say, studying NGOs, but I don't know that for certain. Finally, are there any schools with exceptional programs that stand out from the rest, for whatever reason (perhaps they just offer something that most other schools do not)? Any information would be greatly appreciated!
(As a side note, I have noticed that the University of Pittsburgh has a joint Social Work/International Development graduate program, which I find really interesting -- I'm interested in both fields, but they don't seem to really "work together" (it seems like an odd combination -- but on the other hand, I guess I would always have the other to "fall back on" if one didn't work out. Would a joint degree in ID/law or ID/public health be better put to use? Thanks again!)
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