UCSD IR/PS Career track and Regional Concentration

[mei]

I will be joining UCSD IR/PS for the Master of Pacific International Affairs this Fall 2010, and I would like to seek out some advice/opinions/insight in regards to the issue of choosing a career track and regional concentration. If any other IR/PS students out there would like to share their background, their career track/regional concentration, career aspirations, and why they chose their career track and regional concentration, I would really love hearing it. I am having a bit of trouble deciding, and I think that learning about other peoples' decisions and/or concerns would definitely help me.

Thanks!

[Luke]

I will be joining UCSD IR/PS for the Master of Pacific International Affairs this Fall 2010, and I would like to seek out some advice/opinions/insight in regards to the issue of choosing a career track and regional concentration. If any other IR/PS students out there would like to share their background, their career track/regional concentration, career aspirations, and why they chose their career track and regional concentration, I would really love hearing it. I am having a bit of trouble deciding, and I think that learning about other peoples' decisions and/or concerns would definitely help me.

Thanks!

As of right now, I'm planning on focusing on China and Southeast Asia for regional and International Politics for career. China is the logical choice for me since I studied it a bunch in undergrad and am learning Mandarin. I'm thinking about also focusing on Southeast Asia because you can use Mandarin to fulfill the language requirement. As for international politics, I'm thinking that I'd like to do government or consulting work after IR/PS and so IP seems like a better choice than international management. However, from what I've heard, you really have a lot of time to decide because your 1st year is primarily core classes. So basically I would say don't worry too much about deciding quite yet!

[mei]

As of right now, I'm planning on focusing on China and Southeast Asia for regional and International Politics for career. China is the logical choice for me since I studied it a bunch in undergrad and am learning Mandarin. I'm thinking about also focusing on Southeast Asia because you can use Mandarin to fulfill the language requirement. As for international politics, I'm thinking that I'd like to do government or consulting work after IR/PS and so IP seems like a better choice than international management. However, from what I've heard, you really have a lot of time to decide because your 1st year is primarily core classes. So basically I would say don't worry too much about deciding quite yet!

Thanks! Yeah, I think I will focus on the core classes and take a bit more time thinking about it before committing to a decision.