Studying Law for somebody who wants to become ambassador?

<p>Hey!</p>

<p>I have a question about choosing a college mayor. I want to work in the diplomacy field, and someday, hopefully, become an ambassador of a country. The thing is, I am unsure what to choose as my college mayor. Would studying law be useful? I am not sure which USA universities are best for studying law but right am now aiming for Oxford’s Law program. Any other suggestions?</p>

<p>Would you suggest any other fields of study for me? Maybe you can also give me advice about the universities who are the best in the particular field? It would be very helpful!</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>Georgetown would be another good choice.</p>

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<p>Before I comment - are you a U.S. citizen?</p>

<p>First, in all likelihood, you’re only going to be an ambassador for the country you’re a citizen of. Second, if you want to study law, do so in your own country (unless your country is a minor one, in which case you might want to study abroad). </p>

<p>It sounds like you’re looking to major in law as part of your undergraduate degree. You cannot major in law as your undergraduate degree in the United States. You earn a bachelor’s degree (4 years) and then attend a JD program (3 years). Oxford, as is standard in Europe, offers law as undergraduate program, but it is complete different from law in America.</p>

<p>You cannot study law in the United States until you already have a bachelor’s degree (with the exception of a few schools that allow you to submatriculate into a law program as an undergraduate). US universities award bachelor’s degres for undergraduate (BA, BS, BSE, BSN, etc) and other degrees for graduate/professional; a law degree is a juris doctor (JD).</p>

<p>If you are applying to American universities, you likely don’t need to know a major yet; if you are applying to European universities, you may have some serious trouble because many European universities assume you have already taken a lot of the distribution courses, and you jump right into studying your major course of study when you matriculate (but I could be wrong… not terribly familiar with the European system of higher education).</p>

<p>At American universities, someone with your interest would probably study political science with a concentration on international politics OR a straight international relations major (I am biased, though… I see no purpose for the IR major to exist; for me, it is a subset of political science). You could also consider studying a foreign language either as a major or at least a minor.</p>

<p>As for a plan to become an ambassador, yes a law degree will help you achieve that goal. Your best bet for getting your foot in the door, from what I understand, is to work for the State Department (if you are a US citizen). In order to have a serious chance at getting a job with DOS straight out of undergraduate, you should aim to have fluency in a target language (for example, Manderin, Farsi, Arabic, etc.) as well as experience in other countries (study abroad is good; work experience is even better, and it is all better if it is in a target country). It would be sensible to spend two years with State, then get a law degree, then get back in with State.</p>

<p>Note that it is VERY difficult to get jobs with the department of State if you don’t have a master’s degree, so it could be in your interests to pursue a master’s in either foreign language or international politics (just an extra year of school!) before applying.</p>

<p>The track that is most likely to get you to where you want to be is, therefore:
Undergraduate (political science, IR or language, with foreign experience) → Master’s degree → Department of State → Law school (if necessary) → Department of State</p>

<p>THAT SAID, you can find PLENTY of different ways of getting involved with international politics without coming even close to following the above track. Any number of different paths can lead you to an ambassadorship, but know that you will not be in a real position of real power for another twenty years (at least), in all likelihood.</p>

<p>I should have mentioned this - I am not a U.S. citizen, and I come from a small country (Latvia). My target country would probably be France (I have been working on my knowledge of French lately, too, and I fully intend to become fluent in it just because I like it) but I am interested in other possibilities too, since diplomacy is where I can really see myself in the future. Language learning comes easy to me, and I think I am taking appropriate subjects at school, such as IB Higher Level history.</p>

<p>Thank you for your answers! :)</p>

<p>I don’t think you’re going to get the answers you need from this website. Your best option is to try to connect to someone working in the appropriate government agency and ask them for their opinion.</p>

<p>I come from a small country (Latvia)</p>

<p>Sveiki! Cool! Been to Riga a couple of times.</p>

<p>Probably should contact your country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs about a career in the diplomatic service.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>I would say that to become an ambassador, you first need to have donated BIG money to a presidential candidate, who then wins.</p>