Leafytea

Did you get one after the 5th?

Thanks for your input, everyone. I think I've decided!

So I got into two top programs in my field. So far, so good. At one school, I'd be working with an advisor who I know really well, and whose work I like, but is just starting to engage with the field I'm working in. (He works in a related field, and his next book concerns my field in a different genre.) At the other school, I'd be working with an advisor who not only knows the field well, but has established connections there. His work is authoritative, but I don't like it as much. Trouble is, I simply like the first school better. I think I may be emotionally attached to the profs in that department as a whole, and also the people I already know there, having done my Masters in a related department. I have a support network there. I understand the personalities in the department. I like living in that city. I don't know if I'd be giving up better job prospects down the road by not going with the guy with the connections. But I find myself really wanting to say yes to the first school, and be finished with the aggravation of ruminating on a life decision! Please tell me if I'm crazy or not to be voting with my heart! Especially in a profession where just going into it is rolling the dice, pretty much....

Hm, yes--I've been a FLAS baby for my whole time here =) It helps if you're studying a lesser-studied language...I got it for Korean, and the other person I know who got it for AY is doing Urdu. It's probably more difficult to get it for Chinese or Japanese. It's just more competitive. For housing, I know someone who got a studio for $700, so that seems pretty decent. However, if you don't mind living with a roommate, you'll be able to get more space for around the same price. I'm actually living in slightly more expensive housing, which was made doable by the fact that I'm on the FLAS, and also the fact that I worked as a reader (a paper grader) my first semester. I've actually made it work, since then, by taking other odd jobs here and there to supplement the stipend.

Hey congrats everyone! If anyone, like kandeya, is considering coming to Berkeley--let me know! I'm actually finishing up my MA here this spring.

I am a small woman, also! I would say definitely A. And definitely save up a wad of cash to get people to help you move/deliver stuff. Usually you can hire a couple of people from the yellow pages, or online, to move. Because it's not worth hurting yourself trying to save money via DIY strategies. What you should do, maybe, is get an air mattress or sleeping bag to sleep on until you get a bed; everything else is going to be less urgent.

Hrm, slightly off topic...but has anyone heard from Columbia EALAC, PhD? Specifically Chinese lit?

Has anyone heard anything yet?

I'm about to go from an MA program to a PhD, having been accepted for the Fall semester. But I keep hearing things such as: women who have kids during their PhD programs never finish; women who have kids when they are junior faculty can't expect to get together in time for tenure review, and will be stuck in a non-tenure spiral forever; no one, regardless of sex or gender, should expect to be a parent--except by adoption--if they are gunning for an academic career. Sounds very grim, is what I'm saying. Any good news out there at all? I mean, I've heard the standard lines, about how people who are really good at what they do manage to make things work. How there are women who manage to have it all. But these predictions for my future family life seemed to be largely outshadowed by the grim portents of life-long barrenness or thwarted academic trajectories.

Okay, so I applied to 3 comparable PhD programs, and have heard from 2 of the 3. The third one has not made a single peep, and I'm already planning prospectives visits to the other schools over the next month. Would it be a really bad idea to contact people from the third school, and tell them I already have offers? I mean, even if they are going to reject me, I would like to know just so that I can make a decision earlier. Perhaps I could just email and ask when they are making their decision? It seems like some people on the forums have contacted departments and asked this question in recent weeks, so I assume I wouldn't be the first to do so.

It's still competitive. Sometimes they also put you on a waitlist for it, because sometimes people who get it also receive better funding packages last min and decide to not take it. You have a better chance of getting it, too, if your language is less studied, ie the government wants more speakers of that language.

I'm at a MA program within the UC system right now. From what I gather, it kind of depends on which department at which school you're talking about. Some are better insulated than others, due to different funding sources. As a whole, I feel like grad students who enter with packages are a bit insulated from the budget crisis. Only a small portion of grad students got involved in the protests against budget cuts in the fall--and that also seemed to depend on department.

I currently have two potential advisers, one of whom has an incredible reputation for placing students in good jobs, but is a little more conservative; and one whom I find more intellectually exciting, and is good at fostering an environment of high level discussion among his students. This is from having sat in on both their seminars. (I'm in the humanities). The latter is well respected, but much younger, so not as much of a track record to look at in terms of placing students. What do you think would be a better choice in the long run?

I was accepted to study with David Wang. But I think this is kind of early...they might be accepting more soon.

Hm, thanks for all the tips. I've actually met face-to-face with two of the profs before, having successfully engineered meetings during the application process. One of my current advisers helped out by writing an introductory email. So they *might* recognize me. But I guess this period is actually more sensitive, since they've now seen my entire file, as well as all the other applicants' files. So I'll play it cool. Perhaps I'll "run into" them. =)

I'm going to go present a paper this weekend at a school I applied to for PhD. I'm pretty sure the faculty I would want to work with are involved in some way with the conference, at the very least because their students are heavily involved as presenters and discussants. I also live quite far away from this university. Question: Is it a good idea to contact the profs I'm interested in, and say, "Hey, I'm going to be in town, so if you have any questions in your deliberation process, I will be around to answer them"? Or would that be totally gauche? I mean, I might run into them by accident, anyway. But I might not start a conversation...and I'm pretty sure they would not remember who I am unless I mention my status as an applicant. So basically, it's a question of whether I should offer them an opportunity to interview me without having had to fly me there. Which seems a bit presumptuous.

I am a humanities person, so I really have no idea about your specific program. But Berkeley prides itself on being interdisciplinary. It's true in the humanities, and I've heard people claim it for the sciences, too: that cross-disciplinarity must be cultivated, and that it leads to better scholarship. On the other hand, I am in a cross-disciplinary program at Berkeley right now (Asian Studies), and it's not without its problems. I would say what you need to worry about is whether your department has enough unity to have stable sources of funding, and to have cohesion as a program.

Can't be specific, but I know an envelope stuffer. Expect mail from Berkeley.

Looks like from last year's posts and the results page that Columbia EALC always makes applicants wait fairly late, sometimes into late March. Post here if you hear anything!

Okay, I've been obsessively checking my email for hours, so I might as well re-channel some of that nervous energy! * 3.88 GPA in undergrad major at Ivy league school, in related major, 4.0 so far (3 semesters) in MA program * Good GRE percentiles * Good at learning languages and getting language-learning funding: Chinese, Japanese, Korean and French * 3 well-respected recommenders, including one department chair of a department I'm applying for and a potential adviser * Attending my second conference as a paper presenter next weekend * Teaching experience during MA program * Spoke to profs at each school I'm applying to in person or by email, to (what seems) positive feedback * Leader of a proseminar in current MA program * SOP read and commented on by 2 professors * Professors in current university told me to apply and *trash talked* the other schools (sort of in a joking way); but also sent colleagues emails on my behalf, asking them to respond to my query letter for a fall pre-interview. * Have worked with four professors in current university department, and received good marks My mind says "You have a good shot!" but my cynical side says "You have a lot of competition for very few spots. And you haven't heard anything. Start planning for unemployment."

Thanks for the advice! I probably knew this in some corner of my mind, but I needed someone to help me extinguish the crazy.

Hello, I'm new to the forum. This question may have been addressed somewhere else, but I thought I'd just post a new thread. I am currently a masters student at a university where I have applied to a related PhD program. I actually see the profs who serve on the adcomm regularly, because they are my professors in my current program, and my adviser now would be my adviser if I end up staying for the PhD. I have a pretty good relationship with at least four profs in the department that I applied to. BUT. They have not told me anything about admissions yet, and it is killing me. Should I, or should I not ask them point blank? It seems like some admissions decisions have been handed out from the university, but not in my department. Next week might be it...but this week was increasingly nerve-racking, as the gears in my brain spun furiously whenever I saw one of the profs who *might* tell me the decision. What do you think? Should I just tear off the band-aid and ask? Or is that a bad idea?