Irina Dline studied at Pericles ABLE Project at the
end of 1998, took the GMAT and received a 690. So why do we pick her
as student of the month now? Because this month she is graduating from
Harvard's Kennedy School of Government with a Masters in Public Administration.
Congratulations Irina!
Irina worked as a project manager at the US embassy
in Moscow, and, after taking the GMAT, applied for a new program at
Harvard's Kennedy School which offers a one year Masters Degree to mid-career
professionals in the international arena. She was also given a full
tuition scholarship from the World Bank.
Irina describes her program at Harvard as "extremely
challenging." She says she enjoyed her courses, professors and
classmates (although when we contacted her she was stressed by final
exams), and has learned things that will be very useful for her career.
One other activity took up Irina's time at Harvard -- she got married
this year to her long-time boyfriend of 7 years, Aaron Pomerantz. Irina
and Aaron plan to live and work in Washington DC.
A Masters of Public Administration or Masters of Public
Policy is a well respected alternative to an MBA. Those with experience
working for government or non-governmental organizations might consider
this masters degree extremely attractive. Most of the courses are similar
to those that you would get in an MBA, but with less emphasis on finance,
and an added component of international politics and government studies.
MPP or MPA is attractive because financial assistance is easier to obtain
than with an MBA, while the degree is respected by private companies
as well as by governmental and international organizations. Harvard's
Kennedy School offers the world's most respected programs of MPP/MPA.
A one year "Mason Fellows" program is offered for experienced
professionals like Irina, and a Joint Japan/World Bank scholarship program
exists to help applicants from World Bank member countries obtain their
degrees.