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Triple Major in Philosophy, International Relations, Economics?
retrohp
4 replies2 threads New Member
Hi all.
I'm having trouble settling on a major. International Relations is my primary interest but I plan to go to law school in the future and feel like philosophy would be able to better prepare me for the logical analysis and reasoning required for it (I am also really interested in the subject).
But I also worry about my changing my mind in the middle of college and deciding to not go to law school. Even if I do plan to go to law school I plan to take a few years off in between and getting some practical job experience. For this I don't think International Relations is a practical enough major to get me a job, so I was thinking of also majoring in either economics or political science to be more marketable.
Would this be doable? Since a lot of the courses overlap? Or am I just being stupid lol
Essentially is international relations marketable though?
10 replies I'm having trouble settling on a major. International Relations is my primary interest but I plan to go to law school in the future and feel like philosophy would be able to better prepare me for the logical analysis and reasoning required for it (I am also really interested in the subject).
But I also worry about my changing my mind in the middle of college and deciding to not go to law school. Even if I do plan to go to law school I plan to take a few years off in between and getting some practical job experience. For this I don't think International Relations is a practical enough major to get me a job, so I was thinking of also majoring in either economics or political science to be more marketable.
Would this be doable? Since a lot of the courses overlap? Or am I just being stupid lol
Essentially is international relations marketable though?
This discussion has been closed.
Replies to: Triple Major in Philosophy, International Relations, Economics?
For employment purposes, econ would help in that it is decently marketable. But if you really don't like econ, don't do it just for employment because it can harm your GPA and it won't be fun spending all this time studying what you don;t like.
A triple major isn't impossible, but it might be a bit excessive. Prehaps major in 2 and minor in the third. Or major in one and minor in the other 2.
I'm not sure how marketable Int relations is. It depends on your school. Grads from top IR programs such as Georgetowns SFS do well in the job market. Check with your schools' career services; they probably have data on 'where grads go' after graduation.
Good luck!!!
Majors, in and of themselves, are not marketable. People - with their skill sets, work histories, and experiences - are what's marketable. A lot of students expect that if they pick a "marketable" major, the work is done; the major will theoretically lead them forward into everything they need to know for work. You can make yourself appealing as a job candidate with many majors, depending on how you use your summers and your time in college. Conversely, I've seen graduates with "marketable" majors flail in the market because they haven't developed the skills necessary to work in that field.
There's not any meaningful gap in the marketability or desirability of an international relations major and a political science major. They're pretty similar majors. And with economics, what's really appealing there is the quantitative skills - which not all economics majors have in spades and which you can acquire with any major, should you take the right classes.
So if you love international relations, want to go to law school but also want to prepare for jobs, go ahead and major in international relations. But then do other things to help yourself:
-Take classes that have rigorous logical reasoning and analysis requirements
-Take classes that will beef up your writing and research skills
-Figure out what skills are in demand in the market and that line up with your interests, and take classes that help you with those
-Do internships in the summer. Start researching them early; visit career services in the early fall of your sophomore year and go to the career fairs. Some internships (including the most competitive ones) start recruiting as early as late September/early October of the fall before the summer they want interns!
-Open your imagination and don't limit yourself. People do work in international relations across ALL fields. For example, not all the IR jobs are in federal government. Some state and even local governments (think big cities, like New York or LA) may want IR specialists as well. There are lots of nonprofits, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations that have international missions and would need someone with your skill set. And I mean, just think - any sufficiently large business is doing business in other countries and needs people to help them navigate that. So look far and wide when thinking about internships and other opportunities.
This is honestly just beautifully worded.
You can put coursework on your CV if you can't minor or use a concentration. I studied philosophy but added my quant classes to my CV under "other coursework". It sounds like IR is what you love. Do it and do it well and take as much econ as you can. You can always get a master's in philosophy later.
Life and learning don't end after your bachelor's.
2) You'll be able to get to know your professors better if you single major. You'll also be able to impress them more, which is important for recommendations.
3) As someone who majored in philosophy, I should clarify that the main benefit of studying philosophy for law school is that it will help you deal with dense and difficult texts and help you understand how ideas hang together. Philosophy doesn't make people much better at logical analysis--it makes them better at reading philosophical tests and at dissecting and constructing philosophical arguments.
4) IR can be pretty marketable, e.g. if you want to work in the state department or elsewhere in DC or abroad.
5) Economics may not be as marketable as you think. Economics is not the same thing as business.
That said, it doesn't seem that OP's real passion is philosophy anyway, and it's a major that is not worth the trouble unless you really love it.
That said, OP I believe was looking at philosophy for law school prep and I agree with you that it's not needed for someone with their goals--at least not as a major.
Look at what the IR major entails at your school. At many, there are lots of economics classes, so you will get that exposure anyway (and load up on more if you like it). Most require FL to a relatively high level. All involve political science and history. My point is that a second major could very easily fall out of the IR major.
Many schools have distribution requirements as well. If you study abroad (great idea for IR majors), you may also be working that in.
In other words, your 4 years will fill up quickly with what you need for your major and to graduate, and a minor or second major could come out of that naturally. Adding philosophy as a major (rather than taking some classes in it) will make your life complicated and will not really add anything for someone evaluating your transcript.
Closing thread. The OP asked this question over a year ago and is long gone. Old threads can be useful for research, but should not be revived.