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EAstudies

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  1. EAstudies
    It's true that if you can do MA in the US or Canada, that's much better than doing it in East Asia due to how the application process works. So I wasn't denying that part, and that was not the point. The thing is that newmedianewme asked if there's an MA where he or she can finish without getting into debt. And the chance is very slim at least in the US, and I'd say even in Canada, especially if newmedianewme is not a Canadian citizen. That's why I mentioned another route that is far less popular but nonetheless has been taken by some people in EALC. And I've seen people who did MA in European countries far less often than the people who did MA in East Asian countries in EALC departments. (And by this, I'm not talking about people who did BA in Europe or East Asia.) The vast majority did MA in the U.S. or Canada, which is an ideal option if available. But given that that's not an option due to a financial circumstance or whatnot, I've seen people (who did BA in the United States or Canada) finishing MA in an East Asian country (especially with a full government scholarship) and coming back to the States more so than the people who have done the same in continental Europe. But then, North Americans who go to Asia or Europe to do Masters in East Asian studies and come back are too few in number, so I don't have a reliable sample size to compare the two. So just a grain of salt. But I do have a general doubt that a degree from Europe (unless it's from the UK) will be any better than a degree from East Asia, even by a tiny bit. That being said, I don't know too much about MA programs, so if anyone can recommend MA programs in the US or Canada that's quite affordable, that would be super helpful to newmedianewme because I do think, for an obvious reason, that would be the best case scenario if he/she wants to stay in the U.S. after Masters.
  2. EAstudies
    Yes, that's generally very true. It's risky to do MA in countries other than the U.S. and Canada, and this includes "Western" institutions (and even other English-speaking countries like Australia or New Zealand). Nonetheless, as far as I know, this is an uncommon practice in area studies (e.g., East Asian studies; and note that I'm not saying this is a "common" practice). So, for example, if you want to apply for East Asian studies with the focus on Japan and did BA in the U.S. or Canada, doing Masters in Japan isn't a bad idea. However, if you want to go into a traditional department like history, anthropology, or any other non-Area studies major it can be quite risky and should think about it twice.
  3. EAstudies
    I'm not well-informed about MA programs, but I've seen quite a few people who got their Masters in East Asian countries and came back to the United States for Ph.D. (and successfully entered TT if that's your interest). This can work especially well if you received your BA in the United States or Canada (and perhaps other English-speaking countries--not sure about this part, though) and trying to come back to the United States for a doctoral degree. I was also seriously thinking of pursuing this option as a plan B. Tuitions there tend to be much cheaper than in the United States, and if you get Masters from the country of your interest, your degree will be relevant to your academic trajectory (Of course, how much cheaper it would depend on each country and school (e.g., private vs. public university)). Also, there might be scholarships available from the government or other foundations like MEXT for Japan or NIIED scholarship for South Korea, which will cut costs even further.
  4. EAstudies
    I'm glad it helped! And I know how it feels since I'm originally from S. Korea, which has a national health insurance system for all citizens and some qualified foreigners. It's pretty intimidating to think about the American health care system. But if you get accepted to a Ph.D. program with a full package, you'll also get health insurance from your school. While each school works with a different insurance company, they tend to be pretty comprehensive. And you can also see a general practitioner at a school's health service/center without an appointment, so your situation would be quite a bit different from a regular Americans who do not have health insurance. For example, I got health insurance covered by my undergraduate school, and we had a pretty good package. Also, since we, just like any other school, had doctors on campus, seeing doctors for most little things like cold or stomach bugs were free. So I rarely paid for seeing a doctor off-campus except when I needed a surgery from an injury. And as for the surgery, my insurance package had set $2,500 as a maximum out-of-pocket fee (if and only if you're seeing an in-network doctor, which there were plenty), regardless of a type of surgery and how much it costs. So in some cases, if a surgery costs more than $2,500 in Korea (or Japan), it would be actually cheaper to get it in the States with this specific insurance. So as a Ph.D. student, you don't have to be too worried about health care. You'll get it covered. But if you want to make sure, you can check what type of insurance your school offers on your school's website and go to the insurance website and read the general condition and agreement. You might also want to check if the insurance package covers dental and eyesight if those are something you regularly need.
  5. EAstudies
    Unfortunately, I must say the same since I don't know much about their application process. But Archimon, as a current Columbia student who got into their PhD program, might have some knowledge. And as far as I remember, there was a current Columbia PhD student (might be from history dept. with the focus on East Asia, not EALAC) in this thread. If you want, you can try to go over the earlier parts of our conversation and send him or her a private message.
  6. EAstudies
    Just my personal opinion: The U.S. is indeed in a precarious state, to put it generously. Nonetheless, I don't think the U.S. will completely "eat itself" in the next six or seven years to the point academia will also collapse. Major U.S. schools have large endowments compared to schools in other countries due to how they operate the schools, and they still have influential scholars, resources, and research networks here. State schools are indeed more dependent on the government grant, but if you're a student from the U.S., I don't think your stipend will be affected any time soon. And regional studies like EALC/EAS are not an exception. If any, after doing a Ph.D. in the United States, you can be a professor in another country. Every year, there are quite a few Ph.D. recipients who get a tenure-track job in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, etc. This is a very common practice. However, the other way is simply not an option. There are numbers of scholars who have a B.A. or M.A. from East Asian schools, but all of them (or at least I haven't seen a single exception yet) have their final degrees, i.e., Ph.D., in the United States. This sounds unfair since this is East Asian studies, but this is the reality. So you should consider where you'd really like to stay after graduation. If you are sure that you only want to stay in Japan and nowhere else, then U Tokyo is a great option. But if you seriously want to remain in academia and do not work in an industry, a Ph.D. degree from the United States will open a bigger academic job market for you, and this includes moving back to Japan. Lastly, you should remember that methodologies and the academic trend may differ in the United States and Japan. Even if you're studying the same discipline, let's say Japanology, the U.S. schools are becoming more and more inter-regional and interdisciplinary (though in varying degrees). Also, grad schools here and there have different cultures or vibes (e.g., a relationship between a grad student and professor), so that would be another thing to consider. And congrats on your acceptances!
  7. EAstudies
    By the way, just out of curiosity--Are you an undergraduate student at Columbia or are you attending their Master's program?
  8. EAstudies
    Impressive! Congrats!!
  9. EAstudies
    Congrats, archimon! Terrific program, indeed! It seems like we have a pretty darn strong applicants on this website this year since so many of us are getting into great PhD programs. That being said, I wish everyone luck!
  10. EAstudies
    By the way, congrats on Northwestern and Yale! It seems like you already have offers from solid departments.
  11. EAstudies
    Hey apnew, may I ask how you knew this? I'm expecting the same based on the past results, but I wonder if you heard this from Columbia or sources other than the result board of this website.
  12. EAstudies
    Thanks a lot, Postupostu! I hope everything works out for you, too. I'm still waiting on other schools, so let's keep our fingers crossed!
  13. EAstudies
    I got an offer from Princeton yesterday (Ph.D.). I still haven't heard back from others, but I can now sit back and relax whatsoever. Best of luck to everyone!
  14. EAstudies
    Haha, I'm not too worried at all, to begin with. I was just replying to a question. Things will happen and the process will be over, and I'm pretty certain it will work out one way or the other. And I don't even feel like I've been waiting because I'm so occupied with other projects, which is pretty fortunate. But thanks for the nice words.
  15. EAstudies
    Just like postupotsu said, many of the professors had read applications, but the committee will be convening this week/ But, of course, in case of the schools that just finished grading like H, it is reasonable to expect that they haven't started reviewing at this point. But schools have different academic schedules, and many schools finished grading last week or two. So it would be smart for anyone who's wondering what's going on with their schools to check their academic calendars. Also, MA applications and Ph.D. applications mostly have a different timeline, so that might explain a bit. Most schools start to review MA applications after Ph.D. applications because they have a different set of expectations and whatnot. And yes, virtually all the schools had a language section because it's an EALC program. What I was saying was that if all people got the same email to fill out the language section (especially if you had already filled it out when you submitted the app, which was my case) from H, the email might not be anything more than an administrative mistake.
  16. EAstudies
    I also got this email from Harvard. And this is about time they review Ph.D. applications, so it shouldn't be surprising if they had started the process. In fact, I already finished a Skype interview with one of the schools last week and received an interview request from another school today. But that being said, it seems like most schools just started to review the applications. It's unlikely that they started the process as soon as they received all the applications since most professors were still grading finals in early and late December and the administration also needed to compile application packets. The professor I had an interview told me that their committee will be reviewing the apps starting this week, and the school that sent me an interview request today said that I will be interviewing with the committee (which means that they officially started the process not too long ago). And my friends who are well into a Ph.D. program told me that they won't start reviewing the applications until early-January. Every school and department has a different schedule, but I don't imagine it will be drastically different by school. So I think it's very possible that Harvard sent out the email by mistake (and I certainly did submit language proficiency). Or, as you said, they might have been through the first round of elimination. Who knows! I'm just trying not to read into things too much since the result will be out in February one way or the other! ??
  17. EAstudies
    No worries! And I'll try to comment more once I submit all the applications. It's kinda funny that I started the thread and haven't posted in a while.
  18. EAstudies
    The thing about GPA is that you can't do anything about it once a semester is over. The only thing one can do is to get a better GPA (if you're still in school) and/or strengthen other parts of the application. So if I were you, I wouldn't be too worried about the past GPA and try my best on SoP and WS. Of course, it's easier said than done since the application season can stress you out in many different ways... But still.
  19. EAstudies
    I generally agree, and I certainly think OP shouldn't be freaking out about it. But there certainly are some schools that actually do see GRE and will likely reject you if it's below their threshold. Those schools often mention their score range (for example, one of the programs I know clearly states that they rarely accept students with 95 percentile or lower on Verbal on their admission website), so it would be a good idea for him or her to check the websites. Also, if a program states an average GRE for their accepted students and if your score is a lot lower than that (e.g., another program I know says that their students usually have 165/161/5.0), it would be wiser to take a test once more and get something closer to that score. The thing is, these schools are inundated with applications, and there are so many students with great research experience and GPA--so if the schools care enough about GRE so that they'd post cut-offs or average scores on their website, an invariably low score can have an impact (not straight-out rejection, but still...) So an advice like a low score won't hurt--which is tempting to say and is true in most cases, which is why I said I generally agree with you--is a risky thing to say because it really depends on a discipline and program. So as I said, I think OP should just calm down and take a breath and check the websites of the schools. OP still has a month to study for it, and if she/he doesn't get the score she wants, she can try to contact the schools. If doing the latter part is indeed necessary or not depends on an individual program.
  20. EAstudies
    It takes about 10 days (or we can say 14 days, just to be safe) to get the official score, and ETS claims that it will take appx. 5 business days after sending the report. So we can say you gotta give 15 to 20 days before the deadline. That being said, I do think you can take another month to study for GRE, but not more than a month. Also, I've known some people reaching out to the school and asking if they can submit a new GRE score after the deadline. And some of them got a positive response, some of them didn't. So I'd suggest that you contact the programs you're going to apply and ask if you can send the score you have for now and send a new one after the deadline. If all of them say yes (though I don't know how likely this would), you will have more than a month to prepare for it. But of course, you'd want to hand the score in before it is too late in the admission process.
  21. EAstudies
    I figured that there's no thread for the East Asian Languages and Cultures 2019-2020 cycle. I hope everyone's doing well, and feel free to post anything related to the EALC application cycle under this thread!
  22. EAstudies
    Yeah, I second this. I think one of the biggest advantages of attending big private universities are "alma mater/networking advantage" (not adcoms seeing the name of the school and thinking you're coming from a school that is so hard to get GPA). Especially since you're considering MSW program (I'm not a MSW person, but I have quite a few friends who are currently in or finished MSW at Columbia, NYU, CUNY Hunters, etc), I think you will be able to make a strong case out of your life struggles. There are other people who are enduring conditions similar to yours. I think your strength would be you're one of those survivals who know those people's struggles on a personal level. I strongly recommend you to send an email to a professor who's in Socia Work program at your school. Go talk to them and ask for any advice. They will know how MSW admissions are looking nowadays, and it's likely that they've seen applicants and students like you. They would know what you should do at this point. Networking can never hurt you, and you make a good one since you go to a private institution with a great networking opportunity.
  23. EAstudies
    Uh, I didn't put myself in your shoes. I made a relevant response, pointing out the information you gave that is not necessarily true. You said "adcoms will see that you graduated from an Ivy institution, where the competition for grades is fierce." You basically indicated that adcoms will be more understanding of low GPA because OP graduated an Ivy institutions because the competition for the grade is fierce. And I was simply stating that this is not true because Ivy doesn't necessarily have a fierce competition for grades, at least compared to non-Ivy institutions. There are tons of non-Ivy schools that have students that are comparable to Ivy students (like MIT, UChicago, Stanford, JHU, WUSTL, Vandy, Northwestern, CMU, Williams, UCB, Pomona, etc, etc. I can come up with more than 40 schools that are as hard as getting into Ivy institutions.). And some of these schools I listed are known for having a fierce competition for GPA, even more so than Ivys. Many, although not all, Ivy institutions are already known for having a serious grade inflation, not just among adcom but also among the public, especially the ones who go to top institutions in the United States. And that being said, I'm simply saying that "adcoms seeing that you graduated from an Ivy institution"(emphasis mine) won't lead them to sympathize with the lower GPA. And as much as we'd love to give an encouraging message, it is also important to give the right information. An extremely low GPA, wherever you come from, is a red flag. More convincing argument for the OP to make is that he/she went through a bipolar disorder, which is a serious mental condition that undermines one's performance. The OP can include that information and explain why it was hard to get great GPA with that condition, and how he/she had overcome the medical condition. So, no. it's not about my opinion or putting myself in your shoes. I know I sounded a little harsh in the first comment, but at the end, I was simply pointing out what you said isn't necessarily true. Ivys aren't particularly known for a fierce competition, and there are so many schools out there that are just as hard as getting into Ivys and have bright students. So it is very dubious that "adcoms will see that you graduated from an Ivy institution, where the competition for grades is fierce" will really do anything as you claim. There are applicants who are from good schools and also have great GPAs. Assuming that having an "Ivy" degree may help one way or another even to a very small degree is misleading.
  24. EAstudies
    Come on, an Ivy institution doesn't particularly have a fierce competition for grades. They're not that different from other well-regarded public and private universities, and in fact, it's pretty well known that they're pretty darn generous with GPAs, especially Harvard. I think you maybe Cornell, with 4.3 GPA system, has a fierce competition, but this doesn't extend to every single Ivy institution. But I frankly don't think adcoms will see your degree at an Ivy institution as an excuse for having a low GPA. I mean, it's harder to get a good GPA U Chicago and UCB than most Ivys, and students at top USNWR 30 universities all know this. And of course, adcoms are going to know about it too. Ivy students overrate themselves and they really gotta stop doing that... Ivy is just the name of a sports league, not schools that are hard to get a good GPA.
  25. EAstudies
    Obviously, I'm not the person to answer this, but assuming from "almost always," I guess he still has a chance but extremely slim. If he's really passionate about the program and still wants to apply, then I think it would be worth applying (as long as time and money allow). A slightly better news is the website also says that there is no minimum score. (So the full sentence goes, "Similarly, we have no fixed minimum GRE score, but successful applicants trained in the U.S. will almost always have a GRE verbal score in the 95th percentile or better.") You can check the entire post here: http://english.columbia.edu/graduate/guidelines-prospective-applicants By the way, thanks for the spreadsheet idea. I'm using your idea to keep track of my schools although I will be applying next year.
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