1Fower

How would I go acquiring experience Now that there is a recession? How long should I wait before starting studying for the GREs and preparing for graduate school? Thank you.

I am going to graduate soon with a bachelors in political science and religion. I always wanted to go to grad school, but I don’t know how. I am a first generation immigrant and almost everything I know about graduate school, it was from my own research. I did not know that there were resources at the university to help you and I did not know you could ask professors for help. In fact, I did not know about the GREs until last year. I really wanted to go to grad school for a masters of international affairs or a MPP with an international affairs focus. But now I don’t know what to do. I don’t have a spectacular number of experiences and I don’t know how to acquire them. My parents do not speak English and I don’t have any connections. I currently live in the Orange County/LA area and I don’t know of any available opportunities. I have applied for internships in the past, but I got rejected from almost all of them. Same with jobs and positions. What should be my next step? There are not a lot of areas that are hiring at the moment due to the pandemic.

What if my interests are in something that is completely unrelated to what I have been doing for the last few years? It is hard to relate about how International relations is related to bar tending and waiting tables for example.

I heard that Masters programs in IR and MPP/MPA programs like to hire after a couple years of relevant experience. What if you did not get any real relvant experience after getting your BA? If you got an undergrad degree in political science and a decent gpa/gre, but then did not work in policy or politics, will programs look at that negatively? A lot of the jobs that revolve around politics and IR are very location based and are competitive. It is difficult to get those positions if you live in the suburbs and cannot afford to relocate to NYC, DC, etc. If I spent the last few years working in an unrelated field or waiting tables is it just better to not apply? Thanks.