milktea1993

@kyjin Just to add onto this bit of intel but Harvard's EALC PhD program has already met and made their decisions. Letters should be out soon. Good luck to everyone!

@costevens Sorry for taking so long to get back to you! Yes, I was funded by Harvard. I would say that it's hard to ask about funding this early as most MA programs will tell you in their FAQ that funding is limited. Schools tend to be very good at letting you know how well you'll be funded when you get your acceptances--this will happen on a rolling basis usually too. Hope that helps!

Hey! I'm in the RSEA program at Harvard and based on my own experiences applying to grad programs back in 2015, would highly recommend you apply to schools with funding--unless money is no issue. Based on what you're interested in, I'd consider the following: *Harvard: I would suggest you apply to the PhD only if you already have an M.A. or if you have a significant enough background in EALC (ex: 5+ years of work experience in Asia, a translated book, etc.) *Columbia: It's not a well-funded program right now but definitely reach out to professors (as you should already be doing) and students to get their own perspective on it. *UChicago: For the PhD program, it pretty much only takes students with M.A.'s already (as they've directly told me) and they'll most likely give you the option of doing their MAPH. *UCSB: Great program but not enough funding. DO NOT accept a PhD offer if they do not give you a good financial package. A PhD is a job and your financial package is your salary. Wherever you get in though, (I'm looking at the UChicago MAPH especially) it is not worth it to pay your way through an M.A. in EA studies. I applied to about 10 schools (including 3/4 you mentioned being interested in) and got into all of their programs and you notice immediately which schools will offer you the financial support and resources to succeed. So I would suggest also considering the following schools: UCLA, WUSTL, Duke, Stanford, Harvard (RSEA). All of these offered me financial support in some way with UCLA being the most generous offer. Hope this is helpful! Let me know if you need any other help or advice.

Hi @spicyramen! Have you considering the RSEA program at Harvard? I'm currently doing media studies in it and it seems like you'd be a good fit.

No I'll be funded so I won't have to take on any loans.

I'm not sure! I'm leaning torwards the M.A. though so that when/if I reapply for PhDs I'll get into a better funded program.

Hi everyone! I posted here before but I have an update on my decisions... a. Tuition grant + living stipend (it's a small amount=$5000) for 2 years at the RSEA M.A. program at Harvard b. Tuition+living stipend (12K)for my first year but I would have to TA every year (guaranteed TA-ship for only 4 years) at the EALC PhD program at UCSB Thanks! I'm having trouble deciding however...

I live in LA so 15K would actually cover all of my tuition...a TA-ship would be enough for food, supplies, etc. I'm hesitant on accepting UCSB's offer only because it's not very much funding at all for a PhD program and I would also have to work every quarter to cover all of my tuition. Also, it's a fairly new program (9 years old) so there really hasn't been much placement of students anywhere.

Hi everyone! I'm hoping to study Chinese TV/Film/Media and trying to choose among the following: a. Harvard Regional Studies-East Asia M.A. (no funding) b. UCLA-East Asian Studies M.A. (15K, Ta-ships) c. UCSB-East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies MA/PhD -Year 1: 18K + Full tuition coverage -Year 2-4: TA-ship I am leaning towards UCLA because of the generous funding for a masters program but I love the faculty and environment at UCSB for my research. Harvard's just a great school overall and I believe the prestige doesn't hurt. Let me know what you all think!

Thank you @kyjin! I'll definitely keep this in mind and try to see if Harvard can give me some funding.

Congrats! I'm not sure about funding actually...but I'm going to assume I didn't receive it.

Thank you so much! @daniel345 I think you're right on counts. Both UCSB and UCLA have amazing and very encouraging professors.

I also just got into Harvard RSEA but with no funding! I'm narrowing things down to Harvard and UCLA now...but any opinions on what would be better for Chinese film/tv/media and whether Harvard might be worth the investment would be great! Thanks!

No problem! I'm glad this thread could be of help. I would personally choose Columbia only because I'm from UC Berkeley and we're rival schools ya know? Hahaha But in all honesty, maybe you can see what funding is like for each school and make your decision based on that? Both are very expensive schools to go to after all...it may also provide you with leverage if you can say that you're considering other ("better") offers from other schools.

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been posting but I'm currently facing a dilemma and was wondering if any of you could offer me some advice. I've gotten into the following programs: *UCSB-East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies MA/PhD----Fully funded for 1 year, guaranteed TA-ships for 5 years *UCLA-East Asian Studies MA----Fully funded for 1 year *UChicago-MAPH (East Asian Languages and Civilizations)----No funding *WUSTL-East Asian Studies MA-----75% remission tuition, guaranteed TA-ships *Yale-East Asian Studies MA-----No funding *USC-East Asian Area Studies MA----No funding I'm assuming *Duke-East Asian Studies (CAH Track) MA----Scholarship but not fully covered I'm narrowing my choice to UCLA's MA and UCSB's PhD...but I can't decide whether or not it would be better to go to a higher tier MA at UCLA (then apply to PhD programs later) or go straight into an MA/PhD at a middle tier school (UCSB). I know that my choice should be based on my research interests mostly but realistically, school ranking has made a difference for many hoping to secure tenure track professorships. Oh! I forgot to mention that my specialty is Contemporary Chinese Film/TV/Media. Thanks guys!