Rising

Thank you, TakeruK! Really appreciate your help. =)

I have other 2 questions, so I will just write it here instead of opening a new thread: Question N1: I will submit 1 professional recommendation as well, however, I cannot decide who to ask. Here are my 2 options: 1. Relatively small NGO (unknown in the USA), which organizes international conferences on security issues (mainly regional security issues). I have interned there for 4 months (I am still there). Expect a really strong LoR from the president of the NGO. 2. The President's foreign policy advisor (or someone from his team, if he is busy). I interned there for 1 month but that was 2 years ago.We communicate quite often will people from his team, I visit them regularly and expect very strong LoR as well. So here's my dilemma: high-ranked person or someone who knows me better? Question N2: Under which category falls "volunteer work" in the application? Write in under "Extracurricular activities" in the CV? Any feedback will be greatly appreciated! Thanks and have a wonderful day everyone!

TakeruK, rising_star, thank you both for your replies. They have been very helpful!! P.S. Still looking for someone who has applied for one of the programs mentioned in my first post.

Thank you for the reply, TakeruK! Yes, the role of the tutor in my university is exactly the one you mentioned: to do research and provide small group tuturoails to supplement the students' instruction from professors. So, in your opinion, submitting 1 LOR from a professor outside my region of interest will not hurt my chances?

Hello everyone! I am planning on applying for MA in Eastern European and Russian Studies in Harvard, Yale, Stanford an Oxford (by the way, looking for people who have applied/are planning to apply for any of these programs). My GPA is not that great, so I am trying to compensate with the rest of the application. I would like to ask whether I am allowed to submit a LOR from a tutor? She knows me very well, she taught me several relevant classes and she has PhD. I also have hard time deciding who to ask for LOR. I will just briefly mention my options and I would be very grateful, if anyone could give any feedback. 1. Eastern European and Russian Politics professor - did well in his class and expect a strong LOR. He is also fairly known in this field. 2. My tutor as I already mentioned above. She knows me and I expect a strong LOR from her. 3. Russian language teacher at university. I expect a super strong LOR from her but there are 2 problems here: She has no PhD and she left university to take a break, so no uni e-mail address. 4. Soviet History professor - did well in his class and he is well-known in the field. However, I took his class in my first year and I am sure that he doesn't remember me. Thus, I don't know what to expect. 5. Migration Policy professor - did really well in her class and expect a strong LOR. However, her subject had very little to do with my region of interest. Nevertheless, I wrote all my papers on regional topics, so I guess she could mention that in the LOR? Would it work? 6. International Security professor - did well in his class and expect a strong LOR. However, his subject again had very little to do with my region of interest but I would like to conduct research on regional security during my MA. I am stuck and would really appreciate any feedback I can get. Thank you!

Sorry for spamming but... really no one? :/

Hi Keya, Thank you for your reply. Well, she had to leave cause her contract was over and the uni didn't renew it. Currently, she is not teaching anywhere. I am worried it might have a negative effect on my application because a number of unis have it written in their admission pages that the recommendation letters should be sent from a professional/uni e-mail address. Guess it is a kind of safety measure for them to be sure that there are no fake recommendations or at least that they are limited to minimum. Anyway, I was just wondering, if anyone else has been in the same situation?

Hello, I was planning on asking my Russian language teacher to write one of the recommendation letters I need (for a MA program with Russian/Eastern European concentration). However, she left uni in the beginning of this academic year. I am sure that if I ask her for a recommendation letter, she'd definitely write one for me but I don't think she has access to her uni e-mail anymore, so it will probably be her personal e-mail address in the application. What should I do in this situation? I did really well in her classes and her LoR will be a very strong one but I am worried it might rather have a negative effect on my application. Does anyone have experience with dilemmas of this type? Thank you!

Hello everyone! I am a rising senior about to apply to graduate school. I have several concerns about my chances but let me give you some basic information first: Program applying to: MPP/MIA Schools considered: HKS (this is the dream), SIPA, Jackson, Georgetown Major: International Studies GPA: 3.20 (It is a 3-years Bachelor degree in the a top Dutch uni. My GPA for the first year was 2.8. I had a very hard time adapting to the new environment (I am not Dutch) but I managed to improve during the second year and achieved an average GPA of 3.6) GRE: Have just started preparing for it but I do believe that I am capable of reaching 158+ scores (no surprise, if I score much higher on the quant. section, but the verbal one will be a challenge) Undergrad school: Leiden University, International Studies program. Study abroad: I am not from the Netherlands and I do my bachelor here, I guess that counts even though I am not planning on spending a semester abroad? Years since undergrad: Rising senior Work/internship experience: I have done 3 internships. I have used all the vacations I had from uni to do internships. At the Presidential Administration of my country of origin, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Ministerial Council (Prime minister's office). However, two of them were monthlong and the third was two-month-long. Coursework: Political sciences courses, Russian culture/history/language/economics/politics (specialized in this region), macroeconomics (barely passed it. Was during the 1st semester of the first year), microeconomics (will take it in my last semester) Languages: French (Upper-intermediate), Russian (Upper-intermediate), Western Armenian (almost fluent/kind of native) SoP: Think I can write a decent one LoR: I can get very strong LoRs. Especially professional ones. Can't decide who from my professors should I ask for an academic LoR. A professor, who I am convinced that will write an extremely strong LoR but whose subject is not very relevant (Russian language for example) or a professor, who I don't know that well but teaches a relevant course? Extracurricular activities: 1 year member of the Advisory Board of the biggest student organization in my university and 1 year head of the same Advisory Board. Have spend 1 summer in Armenia studying the language and culture (I am Armenian myself but was born elsewhere and have never lived in Armenia). Concerns: My main concerns are connected with my GPA and my lack of professional experience. I do realize that the admission process is quite subjective but I would really appreciate any feedback you can give me on my chances for admission. Thank you!

If you are also looking outside the US, check Sciences Po in Paris out. They offer a really nice program in International Security (MA).

Hello, Is anyone planning on applying to Russian and Eastern European MA programs (especially to REECA or Oxford) for Fall 2016 admission cycle?