by Alin K. Gregorian
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard Law School is one of the world’s most selective law schools, with an acceptance rate of around 7.5 percent. Those odds did not deter Anahit Melkonyan, a student then at the American University of Armenia (AUA). In fact, not only was she accepted, but with a full scholarship.
Melkonyan, 23, started in September and is acclimating well to life in Cambridge.
In an interview, Melkonyan, speaking flawless English, spoke about her journey from Yerevan to Cambridge and many of her stops in between.
While this is her first time in Massachusetts, she had been to the US before. In 2021, she was an exchange student for a semester at Old Dominion University in Virginia, through the State Department’s Global Undergraduate Exchange Program, the undergraduate version of the Fulbright Scholarship. She was one of three Armenian students selected.
“It was life changing. My roommate was Polish. I visited Poland and she visited Armenia. We developed bonds way after our studies finished,” Melkonyan said.
At AUA, she majored in business with a minor in philosophy, politics and economics. Once she finished her exchange program and returned to Armenia, she started working at the Central Bank of Armenia in addition to attending classes. She served as part of the financial sector regulations team with a focus on insurance.
“We were reviewing the laws written by the government or we were suggesting laws and regulations for the market. Since I was an econ major, I was doing impact analysis. I was trying to calculate the effect on the economy on any of these laws,” she explained. “This forced me — encouraged me — to go to law school, because I knew I could do all this data-driven analysis and I wanted them not to just be on paper. I wanted the law education to empower me to turn them into actual laws and policy.”
Her undergraduate years coincided with the terrible Karabakh war. When the war happened, she and a few classmates studying data science at AUA, through the university’s EPIC (Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center) created a startup called Grandma to detect hate speech in response to the relentless Azerbaijani social media attacks on Armenia, Armenians and Karabakh (Artsakh). “We participated in a United Nations office on drugs and crime incubation as well. We were the winners from Armenia. We were also the speakers on the UN convection for crime and criminal justice,” she noted.
Her next trip to the US, in 2023, taught her a lot but also changed her. “We visited Silicon Valley [in California] with AUA professors and visited successful startups. It was an interesting journey and taught me to dream big.”
Part of that dreaming big was where to apply for law school, and she decided to give Harvard a try.
Certainly getting into Harvard Law School is one battle, but paying for it is another. This year, the cost of attending, including tuition plus housing and incidentals, adds up to around $118,000, eyewatering for most US residents, much less for those from Armenia.
The application is need blind, she said. So, she took her LSATs and submitted the scores, as well as recommendation letters from her professors at AUA and Old Dominion.
The scholarship made her feel “relieved.” She added, “I was lucky that previously the scholarship was limited to a certain amount but when I applied they had instituted this new program called ‘Opportunity Scholarship.’ It just shows how education is an equalizer in society, how you can come from different backgrounds and can attend Harvard.”
First year of law school is general, but in second and third year, students can choose specialization.
She is considering concentrating on constitutional law. “The program I am in, JD, teaches US law. I want to study the US constitution and learn all the benefits it provides to Americans and if I have a chance to help countries like Armenia to rewrite the laws in a way that would give them the opportunity.
“I plan to work for some years in the US and then in Armenia. I want to contribute to my university, if I could have a teaching position,” she said. During her undergraduate years, she was a teaching associate teaching business math.
“I hope to have that opportunity again after to share my knowledge,” she added.
“I studied at AUA, which has Western-style education. I wouldn’t say I had difficulty when I started. I was already informed. We have a lot of Armenians at Harvard. The Armenian community is huge in Boston, at the University and other programs and it also helped to adjust.”
Anahit Melkonyan
She added, “I want to acknowledge the importance of the Armenian community. It didn’t take me much time or effort to discover many connections and friendships among Armenians in Boston. I got involved with the Armenian Law School Association of Harvard, through which we had a chance to invite Armen Tatoyan to Harvard Law School and raise issues and awareness among the university members. Additionally, I was lucky to be selected as one of the scholars of the Armenian Bar Association of the United States, further connecting me with the diaspora. I try to get involved as much as possible, integrating the community in my daily or weekly habits, such as my visits to the Holy Trinity Armenian Church.”
And just how is the workload? When asked if there was a lot to read, she replied with a laugh, “Yes, lots.”
She is living with a roommate and is happy with her situation.
“When I came to Boston, I thought I would not meet many Armenians. I was initially in Watertown. I went to the bank to open an account and I could hear Armenian and asked the lady to open the account and the lady asked ‘Hay es’ and I saw there were Armenians all over,” she said with amazement. “They are reaching out. I am very well connected with everyone. A lot of Armenian shops and restaurants.”
Melkonyan is a third-generation Yerevan native. “All my origins are from Yerevan,” she said.
She added, “I am a first-generation student. Neither of my parents attended college.”
Her father is a warehouse manager while her mother does not work outside the home. She has one sister, aged 10.
Being away means missing her family. “It’s hard for them but they are very proud,” she concluded.
