kyjin

I focus on Heian and Kamakura period, though I only have one application left in a history field (Michigan); everything else is in East Asian since my approach is really interdisciplinary.

There's only one interview notice on the results board, so I wouldn't throw in the towel yet. No news is no news.

Got my email from Harvard today- they're knocking me down to consideration for the Regional Studies MA. You know, I'm glad Yale and Harvard are still considering me, but seriously, can they tell me yes or no already? And I'd really like to hear anything from the other four schools I applied to. :/

Welcome to the thread! And congrats on the good news! I still hope we'll hear more from Harvard. Looks like they accepted their top picks, so maybe we still have a chance? At the least there isn't a reject yet. *positivity!*

I'm an Eagles fan, so I don't have rooting interests in either team. However, I really hate the Steelers (it's a Philly vs. Pittsburgh thing) and am sick of my friend getting excited over them winning all the time, so I hope the Packers cream them. Sadly, I doubt I'll be able to watch the game. I'm desperately looking for a bar that will air it here, but that's hard to do when it'll be 6 or 7 am my time.

I'm in Japan till the middle of June, finishing the 10-month language program I started back in September. During the time I'm still here, I want to travel around different areas in Japan that I haven't been to, and just enjoy the culture! I'll move back to the US in the end of June and spend the time before grad school readjusting to American culture, buying everything I need for school, and spending some quality time with my family and friends.

Congrats! :DDD *keeps checking email in hope of news*

Feeling the same. I'm in Japan, so 14 hours ahead of EST. I keep having to remind myself not to check my mail sixteen times a day since the adcomms are all asleep!

Man, that would be awesome. I got a phone call when I was admitted to my undergrad and it was amazing. I'd totally wake up in the middle of the night for that.

Ouch; I applied through East Asian Studies for Princeton. (Actually did East Asian for all my apps except for Yale and Michigan.) Now I'm getting worried! D:

Congrats! This is excellent news! And don't give up on Yale yet, you never know! I keep wanting to check my email multiple times a day to see if I get any notice, but then I remember that I'm on a near-opposite time zone, so that's not going to happen. I hope we hear more news soon!

Thank you! I hope good news is on the way for you too! Just saw on the results page that Harvard and Stanford might not be out till March. Hope the rest of the results come out sooner! *crosses fingers*

Phone calls would be wonderful for admittances. When I got into undergrad, I was called by the school on my cell phone on the way home from school! Sadly, I'm abroad right now, so that's not going to happen. That being said, I definitely prefer email. Letter stink for me right now since I have to wait for them to be sent to Japan.

Yep. I actually applied to the History program there. Received a very nice email from one of the professors in the department, talking to me about the East Asian Studies MA. They're sending my application over there since they don't have room for me in the PhD. The biggest deterrent for me for the MA is that I probably won't get funding, but it certainly makes me feel better than out-right rejection. Hopefully I'll get an official notification from them soon.

It sounds like you're in. I'm in a similar situation for one for one of my programs- potential advisor and department said yes, now just waiting for the official decision from the graduate school with my funding package. If the prof said you're in, you're in. Congrats!

"Well, it's their loss." Then have a drink and move on.

There's a bunch of us in my program who are applying to a myriad of programs, so we're all going to go out to celebrate after we've all heard back. Probably going to an izakaya (Japanese bar kind of thing) or something like that.

Sure thing! I'll pass it on when if I see him this week. And we probably will run into each other at some point. ^^; Good luck to you!

It's really fine. I already have one fantastic option for the fall that I found out about last month, so I'd rather hear the rest of the news quickly, good or bad. I stressed out a ton last year when I was applying for programs in Japan, so I'm trying to be more relaxed about things this year. Yep, I'm at IUC. Even though I'm advanced in Japanese, Yale's history program requires mastery of other languages as well. Maybe they expect me to pick up Chinese? No problem! And thanks for the well wishes! Now to wait to hear from everyone else.

I posted the Yale rejection just a bit ago. Here's the email: I write with disappointing news. The history department's East Asia wing met today, and, because the PhD pool is so competitive, we realized that we will not be able to offer you admission to our Ph.D. program. I am writing to ask if you would give us permission to transfer your file to the MA program in East Asian Studies. This is a completely separate admissions pool, in which we think that your application would be competitive. Unlike our PhD program, the MA pool is not able to give all students a stipend or a tuition waiver, but it does offer the top applicants a handful of fellowships every year. One year of study at Yale will give you a chance to do more language work. Many of our MAs have been admitted to Yale or to other top graduate programs. If, on the other hand, you have been admitted to a PhD program elsewhere, you may decide that it is best not to apply for our MA. If you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer them by email or on the phone I already have a fully funded MA offer elsewhere, so unless I get funding this isn't even a consideration, but I asked to have my application forwarded anyway, just to see. On the bright side, this means they're looking at everyone's applications, right? Good luck to everyone still in the running!

General silly one:

If you like urban fantasy, check out the Newford series by Charles de Lint. He writes a ton of short stories and novels set in the same area, and you can read them in any order. Sara Douglass is my favorite fantasy author, especially her Battleaxe/Wayfarer Redemption series.

Only one I heard from was UIllinois, but that was because I emailed the department asking questions. One of the profs emailed me back, and I actually met him for coffee in Tokyo last month. We're not in the hard sciences, so strict interviews don't really happen. If anyone else applied to UAlberta, I heard from my potential advisor today that they're going through the apps now, and it looks like they'll be a really strong group of students for next year. They're also working hard to get funding for everyone. I hope the other schools we're applying to are just as industrious!

I've talked to a lot of current graduate students in East Asian Studies (the program I'm in right now in Japan is mostly graduate students), and they've said it really depends on your luck in any given application cycle. Even if you're a highly qualified applicant, if there isn't a professor who's really interested in your research and/or has funding for you, you won't get accepted. Don't worry about the numbers and the stats comparing yourself to other applicants; when it comes down to it, it's really in the hands of the departments and what kind of students they want to have. I don't know your specific stats, but I'm sure you're more than qualified for one or more of your potential programs. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Everything happens for a reason, right?

The GRE is not the only factor for financial support. I scored under 600 in verbal and over 600 in quantitative, but I have an unofficial offer with full funding for an MA already. (Prof in the department let me know early; I'll get the official offer next month.) Don't worry, you'll be fine!