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As a Master's student in the subject, I will definitely say that IR is an interesting subject. I did my undergrad (2008-12) at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. Now I am doing the Master's at the University of Queensland, Australia.
The program seems to be particularly important. Coming from an elite university will connect you instantly within the academic field (which liaises significantly with think tanks and policy makers). I love being at UQ and hearing from my current profs how they met so-and-so from St Andrews at a conference or sat with him/her on a journal editing team.
As for jobs, I will get back to you. I had to turn down that crucial summer internship in between junior and senior year due to family matters. I was accepted to go to Berlin that summer, but my mother was diagnosed with cancer. As she died in early September of that summer, I probably made an emotionally correct choice.
If you have an idea of what career you wish to go into, pick a school accordingly. DC schools feed into government career tracks (there are pros and cons with this system, but that's reality), for example. Find out where the alumni get hired. St Andrews, for example, had an eclectic mix. We had many who went into investment banking, the foreign ministry of their respective countries, NGO's, the UN, think tanks, and a notable contingent into human resource departments.
Consider also the different models of teaching the discipline. IR is taught differently in Europe than it is in the US. And the UK and Commonwealth countries are different yet. In the US, for example, great value is placed on scientific methodology and analytical statistics. In the UK, there is more of a focus on an approach informed by the humanities...ethical discussions and analysis of historical case studies. This is of course broadly and generally speaking.
If considering going into more of the international direction like say the UN or some of the bigger non profits is it better to have obtained your masters in the US or in Europe? Or does it not make that much of a difference?
Id say if you got some great references, internships, past expereince backing you up then your IR will serve you well (though that could be said about any liberal art degree really). Graduating alone though, just IR and nothing behind it, will be tough most likely you will be working at the Starbucks, the Shop Rite till something better comes
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