kyjin

I used a section of my MA where I translated a primary source. I then added a section to the essay talking about how I would be using my source in my in-process MA thesis.

I moved to SoCal for my PhD, and now I feel the same; I don't want to leave the sunshine!

In addition to looking into FLAS, have you approached the Spanish department at your university for assistance? Perhaps they have some funding available, or at least would be familiar with funding sources that you could look into. As an alternative to going to Spain, have you looked at Middlebury's Language School? The tuition is also steep, but they do provide financial aid, and it looks like there are some scholarships available. Might be another option to investigate.

Do you mean applying for your PhD while completing your Masters, so you'll begin as soon as you complete your MA? (Ie apply fall of your 2nd year of your MA to enter the fall of the following year?) If that's the case, that's fairly common.

Are you interested in Premodern or Modern Japanese history? I can recommend a few on the Premodern side. That said, I would recommend looking at East Asian Studies Masters programs as well; you may have high Japanese reading schools, but those programs may help you work on your speaking skills. (As well as Classical and/or Kambun if you're doing Premodern, or beginning Chinese or Korean if you're doing modern.) You also may want to take a look at IUC (the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies) as an alternative if you don't get into a grad program next year.

Unfortunately I really can't say. I know this year they only had four TA spots available. Three of them went to second year students, one to a first year. I assume they will have those four spots next year, and assume at least one going to a second year. I'm sure you have a chance!

Ah, I forgot to mention, but USC's EASC* MA has some funding available as well. They offer TAships to some of their incoming TAs, which also includes tuition and medical insurance in addition to a stipend. (Not as much as PhDs in the same school are offered, but still pretty good.) *Not to be confused with EALC, which only offers PhDs.

Since you don't have a History BA, I'd recommend looking at some MA programs. You might also want to look at some East Asian Studies/East Asian Languages and Cultures MA programs. (That could allow you to take more history courses and also work on your Korean language.) The fact that you're already fluent in Japanese is extremely helpful though!

I'm not sure what the current situation is, but in my cohort of 13, most of us had TAships. There were also one or two students who did not have full stipends but were offered a one-semester TAship since they had spots.

Confirming the UAlberta funding- I graduated from the MA there in 2013, and was fully funded with TAing. I only had about 14K stipend in addition to tuition/insurance etc (not sure about exact numbers; I think that's about the amount), but I had another small job and I managed it. They do not offer this to everyone however. Good luck to everyone applying this year!

Like proflorax said, many early graduate students don't apply for enough funding. I ended up applying for two fellowships last summer and received both, and the one was through History and had no competition. (Other students didn't think to apply? I don't know.) I spent half of my summer in Japan doing research and attending a seminar at a local university in Tokyo, and the other half in a language workshop for Sino-Japanese at my home institution. The money from my two fellowships covered all my trip expenses and my living expenses back in LA for the summer. Next year I'm planning on doing the same language workshop and prepping for quals, so I hope to apply for the same fellowships again.

Catching up on reading. And I fly home to visit my family for a couple weeks or so since my summers tend to be filled with research trips or workshops, so I can't travel then. (I relocated from the east coast to the west coast.)

I dress in business casual when I'm TAing or attending talks or other events. (Lots of skirts and blouses, dresses, etc.) When I just have class, I don't worry so much and stick to jeans and tshirts and the like. I'm dressing a lot nicer than I did in undergrad, but part of that has to do with personal preferences and being in my late-20s now compared to an 18-year old undergrad. My department is a good mix of this casual and business casual, so it really depends on the nature of your program and persona preference.

I keep trying to make the switch to digital, but haven't quite made the jump yet. I used a paper planner from high school through my MA and the first year of my PhD. Last semester I started putting things in the calendar on my iPad since it syncs between that and my phone (and I tend to bring my iPad to classes in lieu of my laptop), but after a summer away from it and using my paper planner exclusively again, I don't know if the transition will happen. Perhaps I need to get into the habit of logging things at the end of the day into my digital calendar after I've written it down... it's a work in progress.

I find conferences to be invaluable for networking, even if you don't present. Like others have said, you'll see tons of calls for papers and conference announcements. Talk to your advisor about which ones you should attend, and apply for a few if you have papers that will work for them. I try to attend the major conference in my field every year (AAS) and go to smaller conferences at my university and neighboring institutions when I can. I didn't apply to any conferences during my first year, but have already applied for one for the fall now and am looking at a few others.

Like rising_star, I have a basic frame, nothing fancy. However, I spent a lot of money on my mattress. Considering how much time you spend sleeping and how important decent rest is, this is the one piece of furniture I would not skimp on. Instead of ordering a mattress or bed online, I'd get an air mattress for your first few days. Go to a mattress store (or Ikea or Macy's, etc) and try out some beds. You'll get it in a few days, and I'm sure you'll appreciate it more than just going by online reviews.

As random17 said, check the international forum. I'm an American who did their MA in Canada (UAlberta!), so if you have any specific questions I'd be happy to help.

I don't think a used rental is any worse for wear than any other used car. And yes, you need to do your research, look at the CarFax, etc. I personally had a great experience with Enterprise, and my used rental is basically like a new car without paying the sticker price. A lot of used car lots have used rentals; they're harder to avoid than you'd expect in the used cars market.

I ended up going with a used 2012 Ford Focus when I needed a car last year. If you're going for a used car, I highly recommend looking at Enterprise Car Sales division. No haggling, good financing, warranties, and the people who work there don't work on commission, so you aren't pressured like when you go to a dealership. The biggest thing for me was fuel economy (I'm in LA so gas is insane) and something not too small, but big enough to have a few others in the car. Plus I got a hatchback, which is great for groceries.

If your study permit is valid till November, then you're fine. Don't worry about going home for a few days. One of my friends took longer for her MA in Canada and also had to put in for a permit extension; apparently it was no big deal at all.

I have a Nook that I use for fun reading. Text books and PDFs don't format well on it, but it's wonderful for novels and such, and I love reading with e-ink. That said, I still read normal books. I just choose ebooks if they're easier to get a hold of instead of physical copies, and when I'm traveling. For PDFs, however, in the last year I switched to using my iPad to read them. I have a wonderful PDF software that allows me to annotate, and I love not having to drag a ton of papers around.

If you haven't looked at it already, I recommend padmapper for looking for places. It gets most of its info from craigslist, but it also maps where apartments actually are, as well as price comparisons for the area, and you can filter by size/location/price etc. It also searches for sublets, which may help in your case PhDerp! turbina- It really depends on the apartment. All in all it took me two days to have my application approved and put in my deposit, but I didn't move in until a month later because I found the place mid-month and the current resident didn't move out until the end of the month. (I also had to wait a little longer because they were fixing up the place after the last resident's move out- new flooring, repainting, etc.) Some places will be available for immediate move-in, but if you have somewhere to crash for a bit, you'll have more options on rooms!

Adding to what others have said, don't discount the native Chinese students and their GRE scores. Of the members of my cohort who hailed from China during my MA in East Asian Studies, all the ones who discussed their GRE scores me scored incredibly high- at least a couple with perfect or near-perfect scores. However, the entirety of your package is most important, not just your GRE scores. Good luck!

I picked up a PS3 when I started my PhD last year, though admittedly, it is mainly used as a Bluray/DVD player and Netflix device at this point. I have a number of RPGs I play now and then to unwind (I grew up a Final Fantasy addict), plus some things on my PSP and DS. Since I only just got to the last generation of consoles recently, looks like I'll be waiting before I go for a PS4.

I've lived in Canada and Japan for extended periods of time. I absolutely adore living in Tokyo and can't wait to live there while doing dissertation work. I've also traveled to France, but that's the extent of my travel abroad at this point.