ashlee_liu31

oh nice to hear that you are from Harvard RSEA and they do give funding! it will be impossible to afford without funding. I want as many options as possible at this point so i hope RSEA accepts me. maybe you can tell me more about it if I do get accepted =) do you know when one can expect to hear from them? i haven't gotten any interview or email from schools other than UPenn yet so I am getting worried

Rejected by the Harvard EALC PHD program but they transferred my application to the RSEA M.A. program.

haha i was surprised too! the prof said he couldn't reach my phone. that's because i didn't realize that i needed to watch out for phone calls from grad schools in early January lol it was an interview. the prof said he really wants me and will fight for my case. it's for PhD I think Upenn needs to compete with top schools like Harvard and Columbia for the best students so they try to make decisions early. apparently they sometimes finish accepting people by end of January!

i got a phone call from Upenn =) So early!

i just submitted my last application! i feel so relaxed =) haven't felt this way in a long time

wow thanks, that sounds wonderful. I honestly havent really been thinking about berkeley because i thought they dont have much fundings. now i'm interested!

that is super weird and i guess it depends on the field. my field is East Asian history and literature and it is absolutely essential to contact the POIs beforehand. our department chair even carefully screens my emails before i send them. what is your field??

Great idea about changing the title of this thread, but I don't think it can be done =(

Thanks for the input! 2 of the profs who will be writing recommendation letters for me are from Harvard, the other one is from Stanford, so i have a decent amount of access to information about these schools. (all of them study China) I never heard about Harvard's particular reluctance toward cross cultural studies, but I never specifically asked about it either. I just assumed that EAS students generally are encouraged to develop knowledge in more than one country since PHD students are required to have more than one or two areas of expertise. At this point, I am not sure to what extent I want to do cross cultural studies because I have never done it. My research experience is exclusively on premodern China. My knowledge of Japanese has been useful only when I read Japanese scholarship on China. I am also aware that most scholars who study premodern China, especially the pre-Ming and Qing period, focus exclusively on China. (I literally can't think of any Song-Yuan studies scholars who also study Japan or Korea). So if I were to stick with my current research interests in the Song-Yuan period, I don't think I'll find an adviser who personally does cross cultural studies on Korea and Japan. I am not looking for a prof who studies the Song-Yuan period AND Japan and Korea because they probably don't or barely exist. What I am hoping for is to study with a Song-Yuan scholar but have some freedom to do some cross-cultural studies with the help of other faculty members; that's why I want a comprehensive department like Harvard. Although I would really like to study Japan and Korea on the side, I think I would still be very happy with a top Song-Yuan scholar who doesn't do cross cultural studies as long as s/he doesn't disallow me to explore my own interests. I am also open to studying with scholars who focus on cross cultural studies like the ones in UCLA you mentioned and Karen Thornber, but the problem is that I have never read their works and am unfamiliar with the field because I have only done research on China. Talking about Karen Thornber, I know that she mainly writes about modern literature, but do you know if she's interested in students of premodern literature at all? Her official Harvard page says that she also reads classical Chinese and Japanese, which makes me wonder if she could be a POI to me.

It seems that no one has created an EAS thread for this year so I decided to do it. Let's get in touch with other EAS people! You don't have to be applying in the 2014-2015 admission cycle to post. I would love to get to know those who are already in grad schools. Please let us know what and where you study and other related things you would like to share! My name is Ashley and I am studying at McGill in Canada. I am applying to a bunch of American school this year this but I have never been to the states >< I have very broad research interests and I hope to get into a school that accommodates my interests. I have been doing quite a bit of research on Song-Yuan Chinese intellectual and literary history and my interests extend far beyond that, I know Chinese (modern and classical), Japanese (modern and some classical), and Korean and am definitely interested in studying Sino-Japanese-Korean literary and cultural exchange in grad school. The only school I know of that can has competent Chinese, Japanese, and Korean faculty and resources is Harvard (and maybe Columbia). My top choices of grad school include Harvard, Columbia, and Stanford. Anyone here studies or has studied in these schools? =) My preparation of the grad school application is going well but I have a few concerns. The first is the fact that I don't already have a M.A degree and I am worried about funding. I'm not sure how possible it is for undergrad students to get direct PHD entry offers, especially at schools like Harvard or Stanford; and M.A programs don't have much funding. In other words, I am worried that as an undergrad student, I might be disadvantaged in the funding game =( I have taken 2 graduate level classes in Chinese history and gotten As in them and the language skills of a PHD student. I'm hoping that these can make up for my lack of M.A degree and give me some advantages. My second concern is the scope of my research interests and how to match them with an adviser. I have some POI interests in mind who study literary and intellectual history of the middle period in China (e.g Peter Bol and Stephen Owen at Harvard, Ronald Egan at Stanford) but I haven't finalized a list. I am waiting to talk to my profs once school starts. As expected, I can't find any prof that studies Song-Yuan history AND Korea and Japan and I am not sure how I should approach this dilemma and how to phrase my statement of purpose. Any advice?

Im applying to a bunch of schools too, but my focus will be on the few schools that i truly want to go and highly match my research interests: Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and perhaps Columbia. Although my list is also ambitious, my advice for not freaking out is 1) to start preparing early (too late for this?) and 2) to know exactly why you want to go to these schools 3) to know exactly why these schools should want you specifically. For me, Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton have profs and resources that fit my interests very very well and I know I have specific assets that will make me attractive to them out of all other applicants. The more specific you can be, at least in your mind for now and later in the statement of purpose, the less freaking out there should be. I see that UofT is on ur list! I'm from Toronto myself but I study at McGill. You might have known already, Toronto and UT are heavily populated by...Asians =P If you are from parts of the USA other than places like UCLA or UCB, you probably have never been in an academic environment with so many Asians. But don't worry, we mostly speak English very well =D Other than that, UT is enormous with three campuses...many Canadians, including me, actively avoid going there due to the size and lack of faculty-student interaction. I'm not sure about grad schools. One of my high school friends studied evolutionary biology there and rocked a near perfect GPA. However, since the classes, even upper year ones, are so big, she could not get meaningful recommendation letters from UT profs. Probably as a result of that, she didn't get accepted to a prestigious university despite her rocking GPA and tones of research experience. Just sharing some experience =p

thanks! I'll check it out

Hello, I am currently studying hard for the GRE, especially the verbal part, and I find myself stuck on one particular aspect. I'm good with the textual completion and reading comprehension parts, but I frequently make mistakes in sentence equivalence. The reason seems to be that, although I have learned enough advanced vocabs, I am unfamiliar with less common meanings of common words. For example, "involved" actually can be a synonym of "complicated" and I didn't know that. All I could see was that it meant to be involved in something. Is anyone experiencing the same problem?? Does anyone know how to quickly get a hold of these less common usages of common words? I have looked at KAPLAN and Manhanttan Prep but they don't seem to have a section dedicated to this purpose. thanks!

Hello fellow history students I am applying to study pre-modern Chinese history and literature in grad school this December and I have a few questions about “fit”. We all know that matching interests between the student and the adviser are very important, but it’s a bit confusing what match means. The student-adviser matches I’ve seen suggest that profs do accept students whose research interests are quite different from their own. For example, Prof. Peter Bol at Harvard, who mainly does intellectual history of the middle period, has taught one of our profs, Prof. Jeffrey Moser, who studies art history of the same period. Moreover, our department chair Prof. Robin Yates does early Chinese history but is known to take students who study later periods. I have heard that it is not uncommon that profs want someone who can teach them something they didn't already master. My research interest is a bit unique and it will be hard to find someone who does exactly what I do. However, there are many profs whose research converge with parts of my research. My B.A thesis will be about the connections between historiography and vernacular fictions in the middle period. It is rare that a prof studies both historiography and vernacular fiction; they mostly do one or the other. Moreover, my knowledge of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean will allow me to study the literary and cultural exchanges among all three nations, but very few profs, especially those who study the middle period, study more than one of these culture. One thing I’m sure about is that I will need a school with a comprehensive East Asian studies department that covers all three cultures to realize my full potential. I feel that the uniqueness of my interests can be a great asset but can also be a bit troubling when looking for an adviser. How did/ will you guys deal with cases like this? Do you think profs have a preference for students whose research interests overlap with theirs more substantially? Do they prefer students whose research incorporates their theories or research?

Btw 始めまして 私も日本語わかりますよ。13歳の時から日本語勉強していましたから、今はもうなんでもわかる程度です。主に中国歴史研究しますが、日本も興味あります。 私は今MCGILLに通ってます。Professor Thomas Lamarre 知ります？彼は私のClassical Japanese の先生です。あなたは今どの学校？

Ok it makes more sense now. When you said less than 50 percentile I was thinking about 40 something. Just curious, it says in ur signature that you are accepted by MA programs. How are the funding going? I'm quite worried about having to pay for my MA

Congrats on ur acceptances! May I ask, if u don't mind, what was your quant score? It's shocking to me that a quant score can hurt a history applicant. Is your research interest somewhat related to math? (History of science, etc) Were you explicitly told that your quant score was a problem?

wow thanks for the info. i didnt expect to actually find someone in Chinese history here >< it is relieving to know that GRE scores don't affect funding and I only need to reach the basic standard; this is the last thing i wanna spend my time on. can you clarify a bit on what would be considered as "basic standard"? as for some scholars' preference for students with math backgroumds, it is a bit of a surprise to me. i think there is nothing i can or willing to do about my math skills at this point anyways. My research focus is literature and textual history. Although i wont have an edge in terms of math (shame on me), my edge will be my advanced skills in Classical Chinese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese (some Classcial Japanese too), and Korean. Instead of brushing up my math skills or trying to push for a higher verbal score, I think it is better for me to prepare harder for my Korean assessment test in Oct. I have proofs for my Chinese and Japanese skills on my transcript but I need something to demonstrate my level in Korean.

Thanks for the replies!! i'll train a bit harder in the verbal section to get above 90 percentile. But i really dont feel like studying any more math; i rather put the time to raising my korean reading to an advanced level

Hello! I am applying to study pre-modern Chinese history. Anyone else in East Asian history???? We seem to be pretty rare around here >< I really want someone to exchange information with My top choices are Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, and Princeton. I am applying to other safer schools too. I am currently an undergrad at McGill

http://magoosh.com/gre/2013/gre-scores-for-top-universities/ here is the link

Thanks for the reply! As for the Berkeley average, I am surprised because the stats i found here says otherwise http://magoosh.com/gre/2013/gre-scores-for-top-universities/ Can you link me to your source? According to my link, the average humanities students in the top schools barely even hit 50 percentile in math. Are your stats for humanities students? In my link, the verbal average for top-tier history programs is about 95 percentile minimum, but since i am applying to East Asian studies and Chinese history, I figured that the competition isn't as tough in the GRE verbal section since at least half of the applicants hail directly from China. It is hard to imagine that these applicants will have the same level of English skills as historians of Europe and America, who probably constitute the majority of the history applicants. That's why I aim for the average verbal scores of sociology (apparently less competitive than history), which is about 90 percentile. Do you think it is reasonable to assume that I can aim for a slightly lower score because many other applicants in my field aren't native English speakers? What and where do you study? =)

Hello everyone! I want to raise a question about the importance of GRE scores to graduate level funding. I am applying to study Chinese history (in the history or East Asian studies department) in grad school in December 2014. I am giving myself one month to prepare for the GRE and aiming to score around 90 percentile in the verbal section and 50 percentile in the math section. I don't want to aim for higher that these because I want to spend my time working on the research sample. I did my research and found that such scores shouldn't hinder me from getting into my dream schools, which are Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, or Princeton (I am applying to other "safe" schools too), but I have also heard that GRE scores can affect funding after getting admitted. I am wondering if anyone has some insights on whether a 90 percentile in verbal and 50 percentile in math can negatively affect funding in the history/East Asian studies departments in the aforementioned schools. I am hoping to get accepted into a PHD program but can settle for MA programs. I heard that the aforementioned schools are very generous in funding and am wondering if GRE scores play a role in their considerations. I have tried emailing the schools' contact emails on the departmental websites but have only gotten one reply from Stanford. Does anyone know how to get responses from these people? Thanks