MastersHoping

^yeah, the plan was to get a masters first ^__^

Arghhh what gives!?!?! UCLA said they would release decisions by today, but still nada for me!

Thanks for the advice everyone! Very helpful, merci! I was looking up grad programs, and saw this: http://jsis.washington.edu/phd This sounds like it's pretty suitable for my interests, plus it's relatively short! Also, University of Washington is one of the best places in the country for this kind of stuff. What do you guys think?

Saltome, yes I got the email too. Should I even bother applying??? Duke is not high on the list of places I want to go, but then again, the only place I got in so far is well below it.

Just called Duke East Asian Studies program. They said they're meeting on Thursday and will be releasing decisions within the next two weeks.

Thanks for your response! Very helpful. I am actually a heritage speaker of Chinese and have attained functional fluency in French (can read newspapers, watch TV, talk to people, etc) with no problem. But still far away from the ability needed for the U.N. So cool that you're in Korea! What kind of work are you doing there and do you like it? I definitely want to visit this summer!

Hello all, I was just wondering, is there any use in pursuing a PhD if one does not intend to go into academia? My parents really want me to get a PhD (don't worry I'm not making life choices based on their opinion and can make my own decisions but want to at least consider their input) but I'm not so sure. My major is East Asian Studies, I am highly interested in modern Korean history/politics and human rights issues in general. Career-wise, I am interested in becoming a translator/interpreter/ someone who writes reports on these kinds of issues (the recently released report from the UN Commission of Inquiry about North Korea, for example, is the kind of work I'd be interested in doing, as well as translating reports like that). Would it be a good idea to get a PhD, probably in modern history or political science or something along those lines, if this was the kind of path someone wanted to take in life? Why or why not? Thanks!

Hello, what did you find out? And my language skills for the program I want to do (Korean...) are actually quite subpar :'( I said in my S.o.p. that I'd do a language program to get my skills up. Traditionally, Yale seemed to release decisions around the second week of March and Stanford around the third week or late March.

Arghhh well a fellowship would be nice but since I plan to complete each program in one year a little bit of debt isn't the end of the world. Haha it's interesting how for you Yale being one year is a disadvantage whereas for me it was one of the things I was looking for when applying! But I guess it makes sense since you're applying to Ph.Ds. I don't plan to get a Ph.D so one year is super helpful. Kanaganarana, in my (completely uninformed, unknowledgeable opinion) UC Berkeley would be better. Though I don't know much about South Asian Studies, just browsing through the websites it would appear to me that Berkeley is better.

Wow you have quite the impressive application! Good luck on Stanford, hope you get in! I applied there too. Hmmmm yeah I definitely didn't put as much effort into my UCLA application as you did Now, if only Yale would get back to me

Well first congrats on the UCLA acceptance! I'm out of state as well. Currently in Illinois for college but from New York. They seem like a good program (I mean, it's UCLA after all!) but I agree the website is shoddy. I think my biggest weakness was my language background. By the time I graduate undergrad, I'll only have one year of my target language (Korean). Although I did propose to do a summer program to up my language skill. What were your stats? And what'd you mention in your SOP?

WAIT WHAT THE.... Someone on the results page posted saying they got into UCLA East Asian Studies master with a 15k funding package!!! Did anyone else hear back? If we haven't heard back yet, what does that mean?

Well my Verbal of 163 and a.w. of 5.0 aren't bad but my GPA arghhhh 3.3 something Thanks for the reassurance Saltome! I guess you're right - it's very hard to gauge the subjective factors involved Still rather unnerving though, but at least some guy with a 3.1 GPA got into U. Oregon with a fellowship, albeit he had really high GREs.

Holy crap, so I looked through previous admissions results and didn't know you could see peoples' stats too! They were highly discouraging, with people with 3.8's and 165+ GREs getting rejected from the programs I applied to... (UCLA, Yale, Stanford, etc.) With my low stats looks like I won't be getting into my top choices. :( Oh well, at least Binghamton accepted me - maybe I'll end up going there after all!

Hmmm my major GPA (not listed anywhere) is around 3.7. The last two years, I'm not actually sure haha. There is a general upward trend in my transcript, but a few dips still along the way (I would have a higher GPA but personal relationship issues got in the way during my 3rd year arghhh oh well can't change that now).

Hopefully UCLA releases decisions soon! Last year they released Feb. 20th.

Thanks for the reassurance! I think my S.O.P. is good , but since I'm applying for masters and don't intend to do research in the future I don't have much research to speak of. Unfortunately, my recs are probably very average Does the reputation of my undergrad make up for the GPA at least a teensie little bit? O:)

Thanks guys! So scores like these aren't high enough for a Ph.D program? Or are you saying that it would simply be a good idea to study and retake it to get better scores since I didn't study the first time around? And is my GPA really that low?

I basically winged it and got scores I'm happy with. 163 v 162 q 5.0 w. I think it's because test-taking skills from the SAT transferred over still.

Hi everyone, So I took the GRE without any prep (other than two practice exams just to see how I would score) and got 163 v 162 q and 5.0 writing. How are these scores for masters programs in a humanities field (specifically east Asian studies). Would they be seen as competitive for a fellowship at top places? Are they high enough that they can at least partially compensate for my low GPA (about 3.35 at the time of application, but from a very reputable undergrad institution).

I really wish I applied to these places that sent out decisions already!!! (i.e. washington, berkeley, uiuc, cornell) Minnesota eh? Guess it won't be too different for you! If I don't go somewhere warm for masters (hopefully I won't because my first choice is in the northeast) then I definitely plan to move to a milder climate after graduating!!!

Congrats to you both on UIUC! Great school and I had a very good impression when I visited. Brace yourselves for the winters though

Hello all, I was thinking about sending an email to the director of my first-choice program about clarification for some language requirements. It's information that is explained on the website, but there is a part that is a little unclear to me. Would this been seen as enthusiastic on the part of the applicant? Or merely annoying? Or even pretentious that I'm looking at the program's requirements without even being accepted yet?

I am applying to masters programs in East Asian Studies, with a primary interest in Korea and a secondary interest in China. For my top choice, the classes I listed as being interested in taking and the faculty that I'd be in interested in working with were all China-related. Probably not a big deal, but still arghhh. Also for my top choice (the first time around) I basically said "blah blah blah and that's why i'd be a great fit for Stanford University" (the application wasn't for Stanford). Luckily I emailed the administrator for the program and he told me how to resubmit it and change the error.

Congrats on Oregon! Guess Saltome's prediction was correct!