What master's degree is right for me?

juillet
Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:04:26 +0000

Are there no jobs in the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Affairs for bachelor’s degree holders? Investigate those first.

Also, do you have to work specifically for that office? What you mean, surely, is that you want to do a certain kind of work - work in immigrant issues and U.S. relations. You can certainly do that with a BA. You can work for the foreign or the civil service. You can work for the UN or other NGOs that assist immigrants. You can work for an immigration lawyer as a paralegal.

I advise you to try to find a job first - rather than ask what master’s degree you need, ask what jobs you can do with your BA within your field. Then after that, you can use your work experience to get into a master’s program. What kind of master’s program you go to depends on what you want to do.

Do you want to administer government programs for immigrants? Maybe an MPA.
Do you want to do clinical or community social work with immigrants? Think about an MSW.
Are you interested in issues of policy and legislation surrounding immigrant issues? Think about an MPP.
Are you interested in issues of immigrant health? An MPH may be the degree you want.
Do you want to defend immigrants in court? Think about a JD.
Do you want to go on to do research on immigrant issues in a think tank or university? An MS in a variety of fields, leading onto a PhD, is your best bet.

Or you may find that you need none of these degrees because you can do what you want with your BA.

It all depends on what you want to do.