Hey guys I have trouble measuring and grading my profile and letter of intent/purpose of study/personal statement for the master degrees I would like to apply for.
To be honest i’m really desperate to get out of my current situation and would like some advice on how I should establish what schools I should aim for and if the Letter of intent/Purpose of study/personal stud I have written can be considered “good” or "great.
A little about myself:
-Double citizenship(U.S & Romanian(U.E)).
-Graduated this year with a 3 year finance degree from a Romanian University.
-Currently enrolled in a CS program since I was rejected from the only MSc( Warwick University MSc Economics) program I applied to.
-Took the GRE on the 2nd of December got a bad score will retake.
-Can pay the program in full.
-No work experience and not currently living in the US. Trying to get a job relevant to my degree would probably be really hard and chances are the best I could hope for would be a bank teller or customer support.
-Relevant extracurricular activities but probably not enough.
-GPA could be considered between mid and lower 3.0 more likely a 3.3 or 3.4 but got max grade on my thesis.
I have a list of programs I would like to apply for both in the US and Europe. Now, I noticed that most US schools would like their applicants to have a 4 year bachelor degree, does it count if I have a 3 year bachelor degree and completed 1 year out of a 3 year computer science bachelor degree? I enrolled in the computer science program to further my math and programming skills and have a more attractive profile.
Most of the programs I am aiming for are pre-experience programs.
I also look at other applicant’s profiles or people who studied at programs I would like to apply for and i’m like “How am I supposed to compete with that.” They either come from international prestigious schools, have an engineering, math or science background or have an year’s worth of work experience or internships.
I majored in finance because I was interested in finance and economics but it feels like I made a mistake. I didn’t even know it was possible to get a master’s degree irrelevant to your bachelor’s when I made my decision.
The extra year of CS can be valuable to your application if you can justify it as something that furthers your goals for graduate school. This is important to include in your personal statement and should have a rational explanation.
I guess I am a bit confused about what you are seeking. Is it a Masters in Economics or Finance? Were you planning to switch to CS for a Masters degree?
The reality is that most European bachelor’s degrees are 3 years and U.S. universities understand that. In many cases, there is an extra year of secondary school compared to the U.S. and that makes up the difference. In most European degree programs, there are no general education requirements since they are presumes to have been completed in secondary school. All U.S. universities have about 1 years worth of these GenEds. The bottom line is that you are not necessarily at a disadvantage with your 3 year degree.
The real issue is your GRE and GPA which will be a disadvantage in being admitted to the most selective programs. However, there are lots of universities in the U.S. and if you are determined to get your Masters degree here, you can certainly find a school which will admit you. Do a bit of homework on different programs and find ones that meet your interests as far as curriculum goes. For the purposes of getting a job afterward, you have an advantage being a U.S. citizen and so you might want to look for a school in a major financial center, such as New York or Chicago where there are local internship opportunities.