isma93

Hello everyone! I'm thinking of applying to the MPP next year or the following year. I'm 25, already hold a MSc in political science from LSE, and I have1.5 years of internships in the UN and EU, intitutions including in a post-conflict development. I would like to ask what is the broad profile of applicants to the MPP? I see many of them have substantial work experience. Could I have a chance to get in?

Hi everyone! I am 25 years old, I already hold a BA in communication from an italian uni, and a MSc in political sciences from the London School of Economics (LSE). I am currently working in international organizations such as the UN - it's now been almost 2 years. I would like to study again, most likely next year or in 2020, and I always wanted to go to a top tier US university - Harvard being the top choice. The fact is, my family cannot afford to pay me a Master at Harvard uni at the Kennedy School of Government or the GSAS, and as an international student I would never receive financial aid to totally cover the expenses of one of their Master programs. That being said, I still want to go to Harvard, and experience studying in a US university. So I casually found out about Harvard Extension School: a part of Harvard university, that offers special Master degrees (Master of Liberal Arts, AML) in a variety of disciplines, with the possibility to follow partly online an partly on campus, the possibility to take a maximum of 5 years to complete the program, and obviously reduced tuition fees. A Master at GSAS would cost me around 160.000 USD for two years, while a Master of Liberal Arts at Harvard Extension School would cost me a mere 55.000 USD. But admissions to the Harvard Extension School are way easier: you only have to pass a general reading and comprehension test, and then not let your GPA sink below 3.0 to complete the program. You spend half of the program on campus, you also have a final thesis to prepare, and graduate from Harvard during the May commencement ceremony. I am interested in the AML in International Relations (https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academics/graduate-degrees/international-relations-degree), and I already emailed Harvard Extension School for more information, but one thing that is not completely clear to me is: how valuable is such kind of degree for employers? I know many students blatantly lie and pretend they earned a Master of Arts from Harvard instead of a Master of Liberal Arts from Harvard Extension School, and employers, especially in the USA, are annoyed by this kind of behaviour. Let me be clear: I am not doing the program to mislead people into believing I earned a Master of Arts from Harvard Kennedy School of Government or the GSAS. I would just like to experience Harvard and a top US university, pursuing a degree which is more affordable for me and my family, can be completed while working, and that can give me some new skills and knowledge (being a political science graduate, I never took courses in human rights law, public policy law, international development, which I would find in this AML program, really giving some meaningful contirbution to my professional growth). Has any of you ever pursued a Master of Liberal Arts at the Harvard Extension School? Or is there any of you that could provide more information and more advice on the topic? Thank you!

Nope, no salary and no reimbursement for expenses :/ They now started paying some interns at UNICEF in NYC, but only like 20 poistions a year maximum (rest is still unpiad), plus they receive 1500 dollars which is ridiculous, you cannot survive more than 2 weeks with that amount of money in Manhattan ahaha

Just got rejected for the internship at the Counter-Terrorism Division! It seems at least odd to me, after I interned at the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre in NYC and currently dealing with the matter in Kosovo First and last time I apply to NATO internships ahaha!! Really cannot make sense of their selection process! All the bets to the rest of the candidates

I still am still waiting for a response from: NATO Office of Resource - Capability Implementation Branch (last update: 6 August) Emerging Security Challenges Division - Counter Terrorism Section (last update: 12 July) Political Affairs & Security Policy Division - NATO & Multilateral Affairs Section (last update: 25 June) Political Affairs & Security Policy Division - Middle East & North Africa Section (last update: 10 June) Political Affairs & Security Policy Division - Arms Control & Disarmament Section (last update: 10 June) Operations Division - Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center (last update: 7 June) Joint Intelligence & Security Division - Policy Oversight Branch (last update: 31 May) Defence Investment Division - Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance, Land & Maritime Section (last update: 15 May)

I see my application to NATO Office of Resource - Capability Implementation Branch has been last updated 6 August 2018, they're still shortlisting for a lot of positions, they're super late this year!!

Same here! Even though the interview went well, they didn't choose me in the end for PASP.

Wow cool that you called them! I already had the impression they're very late this year ahah Thank you!

Still haven't head anything after my interview, and it's been 2 weeks. They're slooooowwwww

I asked to the people who interviewed me, and they told me working environment and daily life are similar to an international organization like the UN

I think by the end of July (next week) we should know for all positions. At least I hope so! It's taking too long. I expect to hear from PASP by the end of this week, though it may take longer than that. For instance, for my last place here at OSCE it took 2 weeks for them to decide after the interviews

They didn’t tell me and I forgot to ask?? how stupid ahaha but this week I think I’ll know, they’re pretty late with the selection process so I think they’ll move quickly now!

The clearance is fundamental, I don’t think you can start the internship at NATO without it Many people told me they went crazy to get it in time. I’m also worried about the same thing, in case I get the internship, also because I live abroad now and I’d have to harass embassies and so on I guess!

It was through Skype, and lasted around 30 mins

Hello @VTheo! The interview went pretty well I guess, there was just one guy interviewing me and he was very chill and fun. He had a set of 10 questions for me: 1) Introduce yourself and your academic and professional background 2) Why did you apply to NATO and why are you the best candidate for this internship? 3) Are you a team player? Give me a practical example 4) Do you prefer to plan your work or work under pressure? Give me examples 5) What is one of your biggest achievements during your studies or your professional career? 6) Tell me about one problem you had during studies or work, and how you solved it 7) Have you ever worked in, or on, Post-Soviet countries? 8) Do you have any experience in project management and monitoring and evaluation? 9) Which skills do you birng to NATO and which skills do you want to learn from this internship? 10) What do you know in general about NATO and about our division? As I said, nothing too technical or too scary. The guy was fun and the athmosphere relaxed. I hope I'll get it, but even in case I won't, I'll remember it as a positive interview experience. Cheers, Isma