Reply to Thoughts on international relations major

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Thoughts on international relations major"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Can't comment too much on the major, but the thing to be aware is with an IR major, he will probably have to do unpaid internships during college to get a job afterwards. At least the few people I know who majored in the subject were supported by their parents financially during college & a little bit afterwards. Not sure about your financial situation, but it may need to be something to consider.[/quote]

This is my concern. We have three kids about to go off to college, two years apart and it will be tight. We have a bit saved, hopefully the kids will get merit aid somewhere but we will not quantify for need based aid. Our kids will probably attend state schools. We don't want to tell him what to do but [b]we cant afford to support him much after he graduates[/b]. Thx![/quote]

Tell him this now. But if he loves the field and is willing to do what it takes to break in he can support himself post-collge by sharing housing, keeping expenses as low as possible, and working a night job in addition to grad school or a low-paying internshp.

The other thing to remember is that (slowly) it is becoming harder for places to get away with not paying interns, at least in DC. There is more legal scrutiny as to whether these are really 'jobs'  vs. an academic experience in which the intern is not doing core work of the organization (that a low-level employee would do if interns weren't there) and young people are 'outing'/shunning organizations that don't pay. I anticipate this trend will continue between now and when your DC graduates.

My 17 year old HS senior was seeking an unpaid internship for this spring (in politics or IR) as part of a capstone senior project, and 3 of the 5 places he talked to insisted that they would have to pay him. He is working at a place and making $1 over the DC minimum wage ($15/hour). Not enough to support an independent person, but if your son combined a low paying internship with a waiter / Starbucks / bartending job it is doable for a couple years.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics