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Is my application good enough for Leiden?

Hello,

I posted this in another thread, just reposting here as it may be better as an independent thread.

I am a U.S. undergrad in my final year studying Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut and I am interested in Leiden's MSc program in Biology and Science Communication and Society.

My mother was born in the Netherlands and moved to the U.S. in her 20's and as a result I have dual citizenship though I have lived in the states my entire life. I have many family members scattered throughout the country and I can also speak a little bit of dutch. I have traveled to the country numerous times growing up and recently visited this past March to go to Leiden's masters day open house with my grandfather where I talked to advisors and toured the city.

I desperately want to spend an extended amount of time in the country to improve my dutch and receive a fantastic education, which I know Leiden can provide for me. The program is perfect for what I am interested (museums e.g. Naturalis and communicating science to the public) in studying in addition to location (my grandparents live in Barendrecht just outside of Rotterdam, my Uncle and cousins live in Rotterdam, more family in Delft, etc, all very short rides by train if I want to visit them).

Obviously I am first concerned with getting in, though I am completely unfamiliar with applications to Masters programs in the Netherlands so forgive me if my questions seem silly.

Does GPA play an important role in your application? My first two years I had a very poor academic performance and as a result my cumulative GPA is 2.70/4.00 though my past 3 semesters show an average of 3.10/4.00 which is much more reflective of where I am now. I am currently taking graduate level coursework which will hopefully bolsters my transcript. Leiden ranks high in world rankings so I worry that my academic transcript will not be sufficient for admission.

I have great letters of recommendation from faculty members who have seen my growth over multiple years and I do research in an Entomology lab at my university. I studied abroad in South Africa this past summer in addition to being president of an organization on campus. I also work as a campus tour guide where I have held a leadership role training new guides. Obviously I go into more depth on my CV but this is just to give you an idea as to what else will be on my application.

I am currently working on my motivation letter and getting writing advice from my professors and other friends/family who I trust to review my work.

Is my application good enough? Any reassurance or advice would be greatly appreciated 😅 thank you for reading and taking the time to respond!

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