PS Personal Statement: The personal statement focuses on your abilities and preparation to do graduate level work, your interests related to public policy, and your professional career goals. Fee Pay the $75 nonrefundable application fee (drawn on U.S. funds) using Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express or an electronic check. RL Letters of Recommendation: Three letters of recommendation are required from individuals qualified to assess your promise of success in a graduate program (e.g. college or university faculty, individuals at research or other scholarly institutions, teaching assistants, etc.). Please request letters of recommendation through the grad portal, instead of sending them directly to the department. If you have difficulty with this or any further questions, please contact Karen Battin, Graduate Programs Assistant, at battink@msu.edu Transcript Information on Chinese Graduate Applications: During the application process, applicants submit certified copies (sealed and stamped by institutions) of all post-secondary transcripts, graduation certificates and degrees directly to the Department of Political Science. MSU requires these documents in the original language (Chinese) as well as an official English translation. Official transcripts should be sent directly to the Department of Political Science: Michigan State University Department of Political Science 368 Farm Lane, S303 South Kedzie Hall East Lansing, MI 48824 Transcripts uploaded through the portal by the applicant are not considered official. Effective Spring 2015, Michigan State University will require all incoming ADMITTED students pursuing degrees or who have earned degrees from universities in China to submit a verification report (English version) through the China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center (CDGDC) for their final bachelor degree transcripts(大學成績單) and bachelor degree (本科學位證書). All verification reports need to be sent to the MSU Office of Admissions directly by CDGDC. For those Master degree granted students, we only need the undergraduate level verification report from CDGDC.