gumbikim

Thanks a lot Haowanr ^^ So are you going to attend UW? Oh gee..I have so many questions !! I have a harder time reading traditional characters (although I can sometimes guess if they look similar to the simplified ones). Is there a textbook that you would recommend for me Haowanr? I've never studied with Chinese books that use traditional characters before! And I haven't practiced writing essays in Chinese since 2004 so..I guess I might have to attend some classes in Korea for my essay writing.. or do you think I should go on and study with the HSK advanced books like you? I don't know how to look up Chinese scholarly articles and how to get access to Chinese books, yet. Do you think they'd teach us at grad school or would I have to learn on my own? Once again, Thanks for the useful info, Haowanr

I have a question on the chinese language classes at UW . I want to take some Chinese language classes during my MA studies, but don't really know where my level of Chinese stands. I received a level 8 on the HSK test last June, but aside from preparing for that test, I haven't been able to maintain my Chinese lately because of admission stuff and all. I'd like to polish up my Chinese before the fall semester starts, but don't know where to start or what kind of preparation would be best for grad school. Also, I've never taken a Chinese language class at a US institution before so I was wondering how the courses are conducted and whether I should take language courses from the third-year level or the fourth. Any comments or suggestions would be very welcome. Thanks in advance guys.

ummm Difficult to understand. Were you notified by e-mail?

I haven't either. If it's next week...OMG do I have to cancel my trip to Singapore..

Harvard and University of Hawaii at Manoa are probably two of the best programs in Korean Studies. Heard that University of Washington at Seattle has a great Korean Studies program, too. I know that a professor who taught at Seoul National University's 외교학과 (Sorry, I don't know what the English name for their program is) for 20-some years has moved to UW one or two years ago. His name is 하용철 or 하영철 or something. And you might look into the academic works of maybe Professor Lee Hong Yung for Berkeley and Samuel S. Kim for Columbia (that is..if you're interested in Politics) Since you haven't taken any undegrad courses, it might be good to sit in on some courses so you can get the feel of what you would be studying later on. Also, it might help you in writing your application essays. If you're living in Seoul, you might consider auditing some courses at Yonsei University's Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS). I know that the professors there warmly welcome students to audit their classes. A professor their named Michael-something graduated from Harvard. Or you might like to take some courses at Seoul National University's GSIS. But I think Yonsei might have a better Korean Studies program. Hope this helps !

Hmm..[uCLA EAS} info below: The M.A. in East Asian Studies is not intended to provide the kind of advanced scholarly training in language and in a specific discipline necessary for advancing to the Ph.D. level though it may enable those with insufficient backgrounds to prepare themselves for the M.A. and Ph.D. programs offered by the Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures or other departments. In most cases, the M.A. degree in East Asian Studies is suitable for those who seek to develop a general range of knowledge of the area as preparation for careers in fields such as journalism, business, law, government service, public health, or secondary school education. So..probably NYU would be better for you. But then you have the situation with your girlfriend so..

Nope. I've already asked Paula about funding several months ago and she said that they rarely give out funding for international students. So I'm assuming I won't get any. You should probably ask Paula via e-mail or phone her about their funding situation. Anyhow, hope that all works out well for you, haowanr~

Haowanr ! Are you definitely going to Washington or are you still waiting to hear from Stanford? I checked Washington's program and faculty interests again yesterday and I actually think it'd be a better fit for me than Michigan. I'm no longer going to wait for Michigan (although I'm guessing that I've been rejected) and am sending out the form that Washington has asked for us to fill out tomorrow. Hope we'll be classmates! Congratulations to everyone and for those who are still waitng for results! I enjoyed exchanging information with all of you guys and best wishes for everyone in their future endeavors !!

Thanks !! Fighting! kkk..화이팅!!

I'm in, too ! It's my third choice, but hey !! I only applied to the three schools that I had most interest in and I've got admission to one of them !! Looks like we'll be classmates Haowanr (unless I hear good news from Michigan)!!

Thanks for the info Haowanr! Michigan is higher on my list, so..if you can,.. Could you decline Michigan as soon as you can? I e-mailed Michigan, but haven't received a reply. I'm trying to keep my hopes up high by telling myself that things are going pretty sluggish for me since my language recommendation arrived at Michigan around the time you received Michigan's acceptance. (My other materials arrived on the deadline or just a little past) Has your status changed on the woverline website?

Congrats ! So are you definitely going to decline Michigan? (Too bad Lieberthal retired. I really wanted to take one of his courses..hmm) Can I ask when you sent your application material? I sent all of mine one day before the deadline date for Michigan and on the deadline date for Washington so.. I guess my application documents would probably be reviewed the latest.. But still... This waiting is like really agonizing~and I haven't heard anything from UW and Michigan.

Did Carol notify you? That's strange cuz she told me that results would be out around March 15th or so. Or does this mean that I'm out Well...my language recommender sent his recommendation pretty late.. around February 17th or 18th probably.. That may be the reason my admission review is taking so long.. Do you know if the decisions have been finalized or not? Anyways congrats !!! Michigan is such a great school~ !!!

I'm interested in China's politics and society. The content of all of the SOPs I wrote slightly differs according to the schools' faculty I can receive guidance from. I've only applied to Berkeley, Univ. of Washington, and Univ. of Michigan and have already been rejected from Berkeley. I'm still waiting for UW and Michigan's results though. I think I have a stronger chance at Michigan, but you never know. Still, am having my fingers crossed! Hope you hear some good news from Washington and Michigan as well and congrats on getting accepted into Indiana !!

Congrats! Have you decided on which school to go to?

Hi, i applied to Michigan as well. Did you apply to the "m.a. asian studies : china" program and are you native Chinese? Also, can I ask you what field you are interested in? Just like to know what type of competition I'm in for.. As for me..I'm native Korean~

Just received a rejection from Berkeley The mail was sent on the 4th of February. Looks like decisions have been finalized. Good luck to those who got in~

Thanks ^^ I just saw your posting. Congrats on your getting into OSU

I didn't apply to Harvard, so nope! But to those of you who applied to Michigan.. in case you're wondering.. I called Carol Stepanchuk yesterday and she said the results for "M.A. Asian Studies: China" will be out around March 15th.

Okay, thanks for the info

Well,,, in fact I don't know a lot about how their programs are run or anything in detail. The reason I applied to UW was because the professors' research interests coincided with mine. Plus, a professor I know who teaches Chinese Area Studies in Korea was there for about a year as an exchange professor and he told me that the programs there are pretty sturdy and the campus is quite lovely. I didn't know UW was really competitive to get into because most Koreans who apply to Asian Studies or East Asian Studies programs only praise top schools like Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and so on. My former academic advisor from the grad school I attended for about a year in Korea suggested I apply to Harvard, but refused to write a recommendation for me. He was at Yenching last year . I still can't understand his intentions.. Harvard's too expensive for me anyways. Considering my personal circumstances and research interests, I applied to only public schools. I don't know much about the Japanese Studies field so I won't be able to comment on that one. Sorry ~~ If anyone knows anything about the programs at Ohio State University and the University of Hawaii at Manoa I'd appreciate it if you tell me anything about them..~

Congratulations ! Wish you all the best at UW as well !

Wow! Chinese AND French, Spanish, German...!! That's quite a lot of languages you got there ! Thanks for sharing the info and wish you all the best at Berkeley