How Much is Too Much (Harvard)?

Graduate School
1

This isn’t a “What’s my chances?” question, though I welcome advice or criticism. Instead, I’m here because im concerned I may have an issue with applying to Harvard’s East Asian Masters program (RSEA).

I have a BA from a decent university in my field. I lived with an undiagnosed learning disability for quite some time, but after my diagnosis was able to bring grades up to honors with awards for research. From there, I obtained a masters from a top 20 university in the world here in Europe.

The MA program at Harvard is perfect for what I need both for my education and future career. I am just concerned now after reading up on other students etc. that my already having a masters degree compounded upon my abysmal early performance in my undergrad (3.3 GPA) will ultimately destroy my application.

I cannot find information on their site to deal with this problem, so here I am! Will my undergrad transcripts be taken into account if my most recent degree was already a masters? Is my having a masters already (none of the other students accepted I saw had one) a detriment? I understand Harvard admits only the best, and my CV contains work with think tanks, Japanese schools, two dissertations, and many awards, so I’m not horribly behind there (though more is better!) I’m confident I can handle the work, I just am concerned I’m out on an unwritten technicality here. .

Thank you very much for listening to my long winded question!

2

Why do you need a second master’s degree? Many students get more than one, and I doubt that already having one is going to tank your application - but I think you do need to articulate why you want another one, especially since you got yours from a top 20 world institution.

Yes, your undergraduate grades still count - just not as much. However, a 3.3 GPA is by no means abysmal, especially for a master’s program. I don’t think already having the master’s is a detriment; you probably saw only students who didn’t have one because most people do not pursue two master’s degrees. Like I said, you need to answer the question (in your statement) about why you want another master’s and how this second one will enhance your career.