kandeya

woohoo congratulations! I got nothing here, so I guess I'm out.

That is entirely too nervewracking, given the cohort size of 6!

thanks! we'll see how it goes!

The NYU interview was me. I'm a bit of a strange applicant: my advisor was poached by MCC last year, and so if I wanted to continue working with him, I had to apply and see what would happen.

Anybody hear from NYU's Media, Culture and Communication department?

Going off on a (well, mostly unrelated) tangent, does anyone ever shell out for the season student football tickets? I assume it's mostly crazy undergrads that do, but surely there must some crazy grad students as well? I'm kinda tempted to...but that may just be my sports-deprived undergraduate life speaking.

Oh no! That's terrible. >__< I applied in a different language, so I've no idea what the funding allotment looks like, and now I'm a wee bit scared to call them--it would kinda kill me to be dumped after such a long wait. ughhh. maybe i'll just grit my teeth and wait for bad news to come to me instead..

I didn't hear anything yet--my departmental secretary told me two days ago they received word on how many fellowships in total they could deliver, and now they have to do some number-crunching to figure out who would get how much funding, so it would take a few days. Maybe today or tomorrow?

Awwww, thanks! I haven't started looking yet--if I get lucky I might know by the end of the week, but I'm not counting on anything until I receive word. One of my friends goes to Berkeley for her Ph.D, so I figure if it comes to it, I could get something with a September lease and crash with her for a few days--I'm moving across the country if I go to Berkeley, so it's just weird to think I still don't know what's going to happen with less than a month left.

So, what are the chances of getting a safe place to live if I start looking now? Berkeley still hasn't gotten back to me with my FLAS fellowship information (delays at the Department of Education what now), so I haven't bothered looking for a place yet, since I can't go if I don't get the fellowship. I assume I'll hear back some time this month because it'd be absurd if I didn't, but I'm worried there won't be places left to take by the time they get back to me. Any advice for room-hunting on such short notice?

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's been suffering a long wait--I was admitted back in February! It's waiting for godot, graduate school style. haha.

I read your previous post--it honestly sounds like you don't have much to worry about, as A-'s aren't the end of the world, and your B.A record looks to be near flawless, and your GRE scores are good. Just focus on your language preparation (languages, above all else, are critical for area studies programs) and completing your MA for now--you seem smart enough to do well in your M.A program if you just take it easy and try not to overload yourself. While I'm not NELC (I'm a South Asianist), I can assure you that most programs don't look for flat out perfection by the numbers, but good research fits. So make sure your desired programs fit what you want to research. Other than that, I'm not sure what to tell you--your stats are a lot better than mine, so I can't really tell you there's much to improve there.

When do people start looking for housing for the fall semester? I'm wondering because I won't find out my fellowship results (and thus, whether I'll be going at all..) until mid-June, and I'm wondering if it'll be too late to find something decent. On the other hand, I've heard of people coming to Berkeley the day before classes start and ending up with a place. and is cal rentals worth the $20?

http://gismaps.oaklandnet.com/crimewatch/ that's the link for Oakland's crime stats map, in case anyone's thinking of living down there. I've been looking at listings in the Rockridge and Temescal areas myself.

Wow! Thanks, Jae B. and appliqed! Now I'm a wee bit worried I'll end up eating my stipend away in all those places, hahahaha. I'm sure it'll be worth it, though. nothing better than a happily full stomach. (and Jae B., no food post is too long, in my opinion.)

I'm super pumped to see that people love Berkeley so much. yay! in the interests of hunting out places to eat (and because I'm watching iron chef right now and getting kinda hungry...) I wanted to throw this question out to current/former Berkeley-ites. What are your favorite places to eat out in Berkeley? and are there any good places for late night eating and studying, like some late night cafes or diners?

I would've liked to live on campus, but it just looks really pricey compared to the stuff you find off-campus, and I anticipate being supremely broke most of my time in grad school. that being said, I-house looked like a really pretty building, I would've liked to live there! I'll probably end up house-sharing with a bunch of strangers, which could go either way, but I figure as long as there's a door between me and any potential crazies, I'll be okay. I'm not sure where I want to live though, I haven't really researched neighborhoods that much...>_<. I figure I should wait to hear final word on funding before making any moves.

That sounds excellent--it's definitely a change from my undergrad, but in a good way. I'm glad I'm going to Berkeley!

Speaking of the Bears, how big is the football culture? I definitely plan on going to a game or two, but I just wanted to know if it had a larger presence in the campus culture as a whole. Granted the grad students I met from my department laughed off my desire to take in a football game, so maybe it doesn't really affect things. My only points of reference are the teams in the SEC (I'm from the deep south), and Chicago (which spurns athletics as much as it can), so my take on things might be slightly warped.

I laughed out loud when I read that. Yay for (admittedly juvenile) senses of humor! And thanks for all your super-helpful information! I saw in your signature that you've been admitted to Berkeley too. Are you going to attend?

I'm (hopefully!) attending Berkeley for an M.A/Ph.D in South and Southeast Asian Studies. Just waiting on the results of the FLAS fellowships to come out so I know whether I have any funding or not (eek). I'm excited to be going to Berkeley! It seemed like an incredibly friendly and interesting place when I visited, and I think it'll be a fantastic place to be in for the next few years. My initial impressions were that Berkeley's an expensive place to live--is this true? I'm not talking so much about rent (perusing craigslist has convinced me that if one's willing to live with people, rent's not too destructive), but about cost of living--food and transport and such. Any insights? And do people often go to San Francisco? Having gone to Chicago for my undergrad, I really enjoyed having the city to explore when I wasn't sunk in the library.

I don't post to this forum often, but I don't think this level of hostility is warranted, at all. I don't think anybody, when they apply to grad school, knows what constitutes an absolutely perfect fit, especially considering most of us are probably too broke to go jetting around the country visiting places. The point is, you do as much research as you can, and you spread your bets. I think the wisest advice I read on these boards was to not apply anywhere you couldn't see yourself being at, because while your cards may turn up right and you end up at your top choice, it doesn't always happen that way. To all our new applicants about to run the gauntlet: "yield hesitancy" shouldn't be one of the things you consider when you apply--apply to wherever fits your research, fits your academic profile, and fits where you want to be. You may have to dig deep and do a lot of research--and ask yourself a lot of questions!--but you'll find those answers after a while. Don't apply to schools for the sole reason that it's a "safety" school by the numbers, because you'll just be miserable if it's your only option after decisions come out. as for whether candidates can be "too good" to admit, I'm sure it figures into the decision. but so many things constitute the decision-making that it just seems foolish to single one thing or the other out and claim it was the reason for acceptance or denial. The thing is, we can never be absolutely sure if it's the deciding factor. They could've rejected you because they filled their quota for your specialty. Maybe they needed to cut down on people and other candidates filled whatever holes needed to be more urgently filled. Maybe the admission committee threw darts at a board and picked out whoever got hit. The point is, looking a one thing and wondering whether it's the reason you didn't get in seems to be an exercise that'll lead you nowhere. Does "yield hesitancy" figure into the decision? Sure. Is the only reason for a decision? Probably not. (For what it's worth, I was rejected to all the English departments I applied to, except for one waitlist which I turned down. If I get the funding, I will be attending a South Asian studies department at a school I consider pretty good, though I've no idea if it's "top-20" or not.)

I was nominated for a FLAS--and I heard that the federal government would finalize funding for the universities in June, so I'd find out my final status then. I got no other funding from the department as of now, so I went ahead and accepted the offer, making it very clear that I would have to defer/withdraw if I couldn't get funding because I didn't want to go into debt. They seemed to be okay with that, so I hope your department will be as accomodating. My school didn't require me to put down a deposit or anything like that to reserve my place, so I won't be taking any financial risks, as far as I know. It's going to be a long wait, but hopefully it'll be worth it!

Columbia, definitely.

What if you have to back out for financial reasons? I accepted an offer at one school, but from what they've told me, my first year nonresident funding is based on whether I get a FLAS fellowship or not, and those won't be announced till June. If I don't get it, I absolutely cannot go, and I'm unwilling to take on any loans. When I emailed professors and DGS'es at the school, I told them that I would be happy to come if I was financially able to. I plan on reapplying to better-funded programs next year if it doesn't pan out this time round. Is this frowned upon as well?