hj2012

Hi there, Are you looking into applying for Fulbright? I assume that there's a partnership award with York available. You can also browse through the list of funded MA programs (a Google search should bring 'em up) and see which ones offer strong medieval offerings. Purdue and New Mexico come to mind as places with strong Medieval Lit programs (and funding), and maybe Georgetown or BC as well? I'm not a medievalist, so others should definitely chime in here. ^^ Good luck on your search!

Hah, good point. I've always just associated the Committee on Social Thought with a number of folks who work on Chinese philosophy and thought, and that's why I brought it up.

m-ttl hit the nail on the head. Furthermore, as an MA student you probably didn't have the opportunity to design your own class or teach upper-level seminars. Because you will be competing with American students who spend 5+ years working on their CVs, a UK PhD will likely have fewer conference presentations, publications, and other professional experiences that help candidates stand out.

Hi Francophile, Generally speaking, you will be better off with a PhD from an American institution if you're interested in eventually working in the U.S. This has to do with prestige and name recognition, but also because a UK PhD will likely not give you the requisite teaching experience that American hiring committees look for. Also, from what I understand, it is quite difficult to secure funding as an international student in the UK. All in all, an American PhD will probably serve your needs better if you're looking to compete for a teaching position at an American university.

I'm also no financial expert, but I think it would only make sense to consolidate if you have private loans that won't defer while you're in school, and you think you'll have a tough time making monthly payments on the loans and/or you think you can get a better interest rate by consolidating. As juillet mentioned, you can still work on paying off deferred loans.

Hi there, I don't know specifically about South Carolina, but I'm doing some work as an admissions consultant and our (admittedly limited) data shows that students who are offered tuition remissions are much more likely to receive paid stipends down the road. If you're literally getting nada (expected to pay tuition as well) then I would be very wary. The best place to ask this kind of question, though, is the department itself. Email the DGS or a secretary and ask, or email some grad students in the department. This will vary wildly depending on the school. Good luck!

He worked on his PhD while he was in the reserves, worked active duty for a number of years, then left the service to take a tenure-track job at a non-military affiliated university. He eventually accepted a professorship at a military academy and ended up leaving university #1. He's also in engineering, where I think this kind of movement (between the academy and the "real world") is much more common. Hmm... If you're looking for online, your best bets are probably going to be places like Harvard Extension, and, to a lesser extent the UC Extension programs (Berkeley, UCSD, etc). I also know people who've used SUNY online (http://open.suny.edu/) as well. You could also look into upper-level undergrad classes, as I think that'll probably help you accomplish more or less the same thing as grad-level classes. Good luck! And happy memorial day!

I see. Very cool! I'm currently teaching in Korea, too, and it's always interesting to see others here who are doing the same. Frankly, I'm surprised that schools still care so much about your uGPA considering that you've already gotten an MA and have so much work experience. Depending on how your interests swing, you might also look into some rhet/comp programs with an emphasis on TESOL.

Certainly not insurmountable, though I highly encourage you to look at taking a few grad-level English classes as a non-matriculated student, particularly if you have the financial wherewithal to do so. I think that'll do a lot to demonstrate that you are seriously committed, help you narrow your research interests and allow you to work on creating a strong writing sample (I'm assuming that the work you did as an undergrad will be dated). And definitely don't sell yourself short. This is 100% anecdotal, but my dad has a long career both teaching and working in the military (he's currently a professor at one of the military academies) and when it comes to getting a job, I think you'll find that a number of places will value your diverse experiences. So it's definitely possible to balance a military career and an academic career, if you so choose.

For your letters of recommendation, I think you would be best off with professors who can speak to your abilities as a literary scholar; perhaps the work supervisor can be a fourth supplemental letter if the school allows four letters. Sad to say that your extra-academic accomplishments are usually inconsequential in gaining admission. You'll need to gather LOR writers who will explicitly talk about your ability to succeed in the academy, which means that the English undergrad professor may be a better bet than the MBA grad professor. I wouldn't worry too much about your lack of conference presentations and explicit "research experience," as this is much less important in the humanities. You will definitely need to develop a strong set of research interest(s) and perhaps even a potential dissertation topic. Your writing sample should be closely related to your stated research interests as well. I still maintain that your major-level GPA of 3.4 will be viewed as problematic by admissions committees at the tippy-top schools, though perhaps less severely so because you are many years away from undergrad. That said, there are no "safety" schools for English programs (I was accepted to schools in the "top 10" and rejected from a school in the 30s), and I would simply apply to all the schools that have a good fit with your research interest regardless of rank. Good luck!

I see. Thanks for taking the time to explain. I wish I could offer more help, but I don't know anything about the programs you're applying to. That said, I can't imagine it being too competitive as long as you do well on your GREs. Good luck!

What is the "policy-related field" that you eventually want to get a graduate degree in? I'm curious why you're opting for an MA in Economics rather than in your chosen field of study itself.

I see. I still have to reiterate that it will be next to impossible to find a job in the States post-graduation, and you should not consider that to be a viable option. I don't think taking out 20K in private loans is particularly wise, either, especially if you're looking to go into a PhD program. (Interest will still continue to accrue while you're a student, and it'll be difficult to keep up with loan payments on a grad student stipend.) Would it be possible for you to defer GTU for a year and apply to fellowships or scholarship programs (Fulbright, etc)?

I agree that a second bachelor's wouldn't be necessary for something like accounting or supply-chain management. I understand your frustration, but, if you're only 20 years old you are extremely, extremely young! You have so much time ahead of you and I really encourage you to take a few breaths and try to look at the overall picture, beyond just wanting a prestigious job title. To be totally frank, I don't know how much the business world will take you seriously at your age. You say you lack internships / work experience, which means that MBA programs probably aren't right for you right now. I'd encourage you to look for (relatively) less competitive opportunities to get your foot in the door. Go abroad and teach in a foreign country, apply to an Americorps program, anything that gives you experience and allows you to start building that resume. If you're willing to take some risks, I really think you'll find rich opportunities for growth and development, and perhaps a new career path that you haven't thought of yet. Good luck to you!

The degree might help your chances for employment in your home country, I don't know. But you shouldn't take out loans expecting your MA in Islamic Studies to help you land a job in the States. Frankly, finding jobs stateside with a humanities degree is tough for American citizens, but nearly impossible for international students.

No, you could use taxis to return home on occasion. It's usually not too difficult to hail a taxi on the Corner (strip of bars close to grounds) or on the Downtown Mall (more "grownup" nightlife options). People get used to the distance between North Grounds and the rest of grounds, but I personally would find it a pain to have to get from North Grounds to my building every day. If you're in politics I'm assuming you'll be in the South Lawn building complex most of the time. There are definitely closer (off grounds) options if you look for them.

I think it matters less on the M.A. level, particularly if you're planning to go on and get a PhD. Usually it's not a good idea to receive your BA/MA/PhD all at the same place, from what I've heard. Others may want to chime in here, though.

Hey there! Copeley is on North Campus and is pretty far removed from where all the action goes on. It depends on how close you want to be to nightlife and bars and such. From what I remember, nearly everyone I met who lived at Copeley was an international student or a visiting student. So if you're looking for that kind of community, Copeley might be a good fit. Would it be possible for you to contact others in your cohort and see if anyone is interested in splitting an apartment? That'll probably be the best option, and probably more affordable as well.

Some schools might still require you to take the TOEFL. I would email to ask. Anecdotally speaking, my cousin, though born abroad, spent 15 years of her life living in the U.S. and graduated from an American international high school. She still had to take the TOEFL for some schools.

If you have a regional focus on East Asia, particularly the Koreas, it may be worthwhile for you to apply to schools with Korean studies centers, many of which bakalamba mentioned. If you're interested in some "less competitive" PhD programs, I've met people (researchers from the States working in Korea, or Koreans who earned doctorates in the States before returning back) who studied at Florida, Hawaii, George Mason and Lehigh. I'm curious, though: what's your primary purpose for earning a PhD? Do you want to be a professor at a U.S. university? Continue in your career in Korea? Good luck!

I'm sorry to say that I have no idea what a tor browser is, though my Google search results sound intriguing. VPNs have been spotty at best (at least for me), but I'm not the most computer savvy person in the world.

Interesting, and congratulations on all your offers. I can't really speak to the Ivies from a personal perspective, as I was either waitlisted or rejected at the top private schools that I applied to (further proof that high GRE scores will not get you accepted ). All the schools that offered me fellowships were large public universities. I don't know about UCLA, but receiving a fellowship at Berkeley boosts you quite a bit above the standard package. At Michigan, the stipend amount was the same for everyone in the department (~25K), but the fellowship freed me from teaching responsibilities for all but 2 years.

I would still expect there to be more active male users than female users, as this is the case for nearly all dating sites across the board. During my foray into online dating, I was consistently surprised by how uneven the male:female ratio was. I never really figured out why this is the case, just something that I noticed. Yes, I am also making a number of heteronormative assumptions here, haha. I'm curious enough to want to visit the site, but the country I live in has blocked access to it for being "immoral and pornographic." womp.

If the school really wants you, your GRE score probably won't matter if you're above the cutoffs (which are probably around 310 combined, I would think). But I think it isn't wise to go in assuming that you're going to be the number one candidate that schools will fight over (though this very well may be true!). From what I understand, schools like Yale, Harvard, Princeton, etc give pretty standard funding packages across the board. Thus, your GRE might matter more for top public schools like Berkeley, as spellbanisher mentioned earlier, where funding packages can vary greatly. I scored 170V 168Q, and I've been explicitly told (from multiple DGS's) that this was a leading factor in why I received competitive university-wide fellowships. For these fellowships, the rigor of your writing sample matters less than the numbers, at least in the eyes of many university administrators. Also, I wouldn't discount those applicants applying directly from China, haha. I do some grad school admissions consulting in Asia and most of our clients applying for humanities, even if they are not native speakers, pull perfect TOEFL/GRE scores all the time. It's absolutely amazing. That said, you're definitely right that the GRE is not the most important part of the application process. If it's a choice between a better writing sample and a higher GRE score, I'd choose the writing sample hands down. But if you have the time and resources to do both, I would aim a bit higher than what you've stated here.

FWIW, the article that Scarf in the Wind posted earlier said that the site is 70% men, 30% women.