MA European and Russian Affairs, Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, University of Toronto

[sherbrooke688]

Hi everyone! Good luck with your applications! Anybody on here applying to the above program? If so, which others are you applying to, and where are you applying from? I only know one other person applying to regional studies, and I'm looking for others to swap experiences and ideas

I'm applying from McGill, and I've submitted other applications to the REECA MA at Harvard's Davis Center and the MPhil in Slavonic Studies at Oxford.

[Lerryk6]

Hi! Good luck with applications!

I have also applied for the REECA MA at Harvard. Are you coming from the Post Soviet region?

I was wondering when are the normally sending out interview invitations / admission decision..

Cheers

[sherbrooke688]

@Lerryk6 Hey!  Good luck to you, too.

It's nice to meet another applicant! No, I'm not from the post-Soviet region - I'm applying from Canada. Are you from the region?

I haven't gotten an interview, but I know somebody who did (although neither of us are sure what that means about the admissions process - it's possible that it isn't necessarily a good or a bad thing). In general, from what I have seen about past REECA application cycles on GradCafe, it looks like admissions decisions typically begin to go out in the last week of February/first week of March.

Edited January 18, 2022 by sherbrooke688
typo

[Lerryk6]

12 hours ago, sherbrooke688 said:

@Lerryk6 Hey!  Good luck to you, too.

It's nice to meet another applicant! No, I'm not from the post-Soviet region - I'm applying from Canada. Are you from the region?

I haven't gotten an interview, but I know somebody who did (although neither of us are sure what that means about the admissions process - it's possible that it isn't necessarily a good or a bad thing). In general, from what I have seen about past REECA application cycles on GradCafe, it looks like admissions decisions typically begin to go out in the last week of February/first week of March.

Hey! Thanks a lot for answering, thought I was all alone at this forum, haha

Nice to meet you! I am from Georgia, so yes thats from Post-Soviet region.

I have been in touch with several students from last year's cohort. They all confirmed being interviewed in the last week of January - beginning of February and the admission decisions came from February 22 to March 5.

Could you please tell a bit about that applicant who was invited to an interview already? Is s/he from the region or US/Canada? and also, when was the invitation sent out?

Thanks a lot!

 

Cheers

[Lerryk6]

@sherbrooke688 and by the way, I have contacted Donna Griesenbeck from REECA concerning the interview dates this Monday but haven't heard back yet which is also very strange. Have you been in touch with anyone from the faculty recently?

 

 

[sherbrooke688]

@Lerryk6 Hi again! The student who got the interview is from the US, and received the invitation a few days ago (I can't remember when). Please keep me updated about Donna Griesenbeck's answer! No, I personally haven't been in touch with anybody.

[sherbrooke688]

@Lerryk6 also, is it possible that interviews happen in two rounds?

[Lerryk6]

@sherbrooke688 Hey! Thanks for the answer well, I see. Donna hasn't replied yet. What I've heard from other students is that they shortlist around 20 candidates and then select 10, not sure if the same applies to this year's selection. Since most of the interview are done by the end of January (and they usually give at least 5-7 days to prepare), this Friday could be the latest date to hear back from them.. I hope for the best but feel a bit upset since they have already sent out interview invitations, not a good sign in my opinion (I don't think that skipping interview/direct admission is a real thing at Harvard) Let's see. Lets keep each other updated

[sherbrooke688]

@Lerryk6 Thanks for your reply! Yeah, I wouldn't say this is a good sign. Let's absolutely keep each other updated  

[Dav13]

Hi everyone, since I can’t find any other similar threads for this year, I wanted to ask if anyone knows about interviews for Yale’s M.A. in European and Russian Studies. I just got a request for one and wanted to see if 1) it’s normal to have an interview 2) what they ask. Thanks and good luck to everyone!

[Katya08]

On 1/27/2022 at 8:05 PM, Dav13 said:

Hi everyone, since I can’t find any other similar threads for this year, I wanted to ask if anyone knows about interviews for Yale’s M.A. in European and Russian Studies. I just got a request for one and wanted to see if 1) it’s normal to have an interview 2) what they ask. Thanks and good luck to everyone!

Hi! Congrats on getting an interview. This is the first I hear of the Yale program doing interviews, but I know they made a lot of changes to the program in the last few years so perhaps it's a new part of the process. I messaged you about it, as I also applied to the program. Would love to hear how it goes! Did you apply to the other regional programs like Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown etc.?

[rach12345]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:54 PM, sherbrooke688 said:

@Lerryk6 Thanks for your reply! Yeah, I wouldn't say this is a good sign. Let's absolutely keep each other updated  

Hi! I also applied to Harvard REECA program, I had an interview on the 3rd - and now just waiting to hear. I heard decisions were being decided last week and emails should be going out this week or next. Have you guys heard anymore?

[sherbrooke688]

11 hours ago, rach12345 said:

Hi! I also applied to Harvard REECA program, I had an interview on the 3rd - and now just waiting to hear. I heard decisions were being decided last week and emails should be going out this week or next. Have you guys heard anymore?

Hey! Nope, never heard back. Definitely a rejection. But I got into a program that I'm very happy about and might even be a better fit in the end:)

[EYA]

44 minutes ago, sherbrooke688 said:

Hey! Nope, never heard back. Definitely a rejection. But I got into a program that I'm very happy about and might even be a better fit in the end:)

12 hours ago, rach12345 said:

Hi! I also applied to Harvard REECA program, I had an interview on the 3rd - and now just waiting to hear. I heard decisions were being decided last week and emails should be going out this week or next. Have you guys heard anymore?

 Hello! I'm happy you've been admitted to the program you like, congratulations!

Haven't you been interviewed? Maybe that's a good sign. On a question "Why do you need a MA? Why not just go straight to the career path you chose?" I answered, that it was hard to get a job, so now I believe that my chances are pretty small. ??

 

Let's just keep each other updated:)

 

[sherbrooke688]

2 minutes ago, EYA said:

 Hello! I'm happy you've been admitted to the program you like, congratulations!

Haven't you been interviewed? Maybe that's a good sign. On a question "Why do you need a MA? Why not just go straight to the career path you chose?" I answered, that it was hard to get a job, so now I believe that my chances are pretty small. ??

 

Let's just keep each other updated:)

 

Thanks! Now I'm just waiting on funding (big yikes). Good luck with REECA:)

[coxlse]

Hello!

I also applied for the GSAS REECA program at Harvard.
I had an interview with Dr. Vacroux at the beginning of February.

Could you, please, tell me is there any news or updates?

So nervous:( checking application portal many times a day for the last 3 weeks

If someone has already received an admission decision from Harvard, sooo most likely I just have to wait for a rejection ?

On 2/14/2022 at 11:41 AM, EYA said:

 Hello! I'm happy you've been admitted to the program you like, congratulations!

Haven't you been interviewed? Maybe that's a good sign. On a question "Why do you need a MA? Why not just go straight to the career path you chose?" I answered, that it was hard to get a job, so now I believe that my chances are pretty small. ??

 

Let's just keep each other updated:)

 

 

On 2/14/2022 at 11:44 AM, sherbrooke688 said:

Thanks! Now I'm just waiting on funding (big yikes). Good luck with REECA:)

 

On 2/13/2022 at 10:55 PM, rach12345 said:

Hi! I also applied to Harvard REECA program, I had an interview on the 3rd - and now just waiting to hear. I heard decisions were being decided last week and emails should be going out this week or next. Have you guys heard anymore?

 

On 1/20/2022 at 12:44 AM, Lerryk6 said:

@sherbrooke688 Hey! Thanks for the answer well, I see. Donna hasn't replied yet. What I've heard from other students is that they shortlist around 20 candidates and then select 10, not sure if the same applies to this year's selection. Since most of the interview are done by the end of January (and they usually give at least 5-7 days to prepare), this Friday could be the latest date to hear back from them.. I hope for the best but feel a bit upset since they have already sent out interview invitations, not a good sign in my opinion (I don't think that skipping interview/direct admission is a real thing at Harvard) Let's see. Lets keep each other updated

 

[EYA]

1 minute ago, coxlse said:

Hello!

I also applied for the GSAS REECA program at Harvard.
I had an interview with Dr. Vacroux at the beginning of February.

Could you, please, tell me is there any news or updates?

So nervous:( checking application portal many times a day for the last 3 weeks

If someone has already received an admission decision from Harvard, sooo most likely I just have to wait for a rejection ?

 

 

 

 

Hello! I heard of two people who received unofficial admission letters on different days, so it’s not clear yet, whether they already admitted everyone they wanted to admit or not

[Katya08]

I think they sent out acceptances (letter from director) last weekend. At this point, even the rejections seem late. Not sure what the hold up is, but it would be highly unusual to hear anything good at this point, unfortunately. I don't think the GSAS portal has been updated for anyone. 

 

EDIT: Just want to say for people searching for information in future years, there is a post from a few years back that suggests "20 applicants get interviewed and 10 admitted" or something like that. It seems to be completely false. Most people on Reddit / Gradcafe seem to have been interviewed, yet only a few are admitted. Keeping in mind that not everyone who is admitted uses these forums, it's likely the interviews are around 10 minutes because they're given to most applicants. Because they're rather informal and short, I don't think they're particularly impactful on the application but of course we have no way of knowing. 

Edited March 3, 2022 by Katya08