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.