Pr 2013: Fill & Download for Free

Public relations, communication marketing. I see a lot IR graduates work on those field, and excel on it. I think it's almost the second natural domain for any IR graduates to work on those field. I started working in PR in 2013, but eventually went to digital marketing in 2018. Most of my jobs were related to research and analytics. I am currently aiming to shift my career to data science as I naturally enjoy quantitative research. Although it's not a common example of IR graduates future, but I can tell you we're the most versatile graduates, and can do anything if given an opportunity

Probably the main reason that filing taxes is complicated is because governments try to use tax policy to achieve complicated objectives. Laws are passed to reduce taxes on transactions that the government sees as desirable (e.g. mortgage interest deduction, long-term capital gains) and to raise taxes on transactions seen as bad or less desirable (e.g. sales taxes on tobacco and alcohol, short-term capital gains). Once you carve out a few special interests, things get very complicated indeed.*Beyond the fact that U.S. tax policy is complicated, there's clear evidence that the tax-preparation software industry has lobbied to keep tax forms complicated and tedious and redundant.Intuit (makers of TurboTax) has allied itself with anti-tax/small-government groups:Tax-prep software makers want to keep taxes complicated because they'd lose customers if it were easier to file your taxes without their software.Anti-tax groups want to keep taxes complicated because they think the complexity and hassle of tax filing supports their grievances against taxation in general.Evidence for this:ProPublica report: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax FilingNice summary from Slate: The Sleazy PR Campaign to Prevent the IRS From Making Your Taxes Simpler* For example, every year when I do my Oregon taxes, I check a box that says that I haven't lost any money due to wolves attacking my livestock. A total of 3 cows and 30 sheep were killed by wolves in Oregon in 2013. (Report: Oregon wolves up, livestock attack cases down)

I graduated in Spring 2013, so I have a pretty recent perspective on things.Your mileage may vary, and this depends on the kind of person you are. Disgruntled students have already given their piece in some of their answers, and it's a valid, if controversial, perspective.* I don't need to go into that because it's already been said. If you are a very outgoing, socially active person who enjoys the nightlife and all that, you'll probably have a blast at Vanderbilt.I should also add that if you are female, there is a lot more pressure on you to look good than you might have at other schools. While I cannot provide statistics from an official source, eating disorders are allegedly a serious problem among the female students. I was having lunch with a professor of sociology who regularly consults with the administration on these matters and he told me this.While I'd agree that the fraternity/sorority scene is a rather large part of the social scene, it is possible to get a good group of friends without being involved in Greek life. However, it might take a bit more creativity and effort in going out and making friends. I don't drink alcohol, which severely clamped down on the ways I could hang out with my peers (alcohol is a big element of the social life at Vanderbilt). Nevertheless, I still made meaningful friendships. Could my social life have been better? Maybe, but by nature I keep to myself. My experience at Vanderbilt brought me in touch with a wide variety of people I'd never have imagined meeting or becoming friends with in high school.What you'll get out of academics and whatnot depends on your preferences. If you want to study political science, the American Government program is unquestionably the strongest (compared to theory, IR, comparative). In addition to having popular programs in the life sciences, economics is also very popular (no surprise), but the most popular major on campus is supposedly HOD (Human and Organization Development). It's offered by the Peabody school of Education (Education related majors are also very common, no surprise there). HOD could be imagined as a pre-business/consulting/PR type of program, and it tends to get a lot of shit from other undergrads, especially engineers, who think it's a BS major.If you want to work in consulting/financial services after graduation, the career center will have loads of job listings in that. If you are an engineer, you are also going to have a fairly easy time landing a job. If you study something like PSCI/history but don't intend to go to grad school (the vast majority of psci grads are interested in law school) you will have a somewhat tougher situation and will have to work a bit harder in looking around.*These answers seem to have been deleted.