Bijutsu

I'm in a similar situation. I've been accepted to two programs and waitlisted to my top choice. I'm going to ride it out through Friday. If I haven't heard by then I won't have time to make it out to my top choice to get a better feel of the campus and faculty. I say wait it out if you're comfortable with accepting an offer from one of your top two choices at the last minute. I believe your biggest decision lies in choosing between the two to which you've already been accepted. Being happy where you live is a large part of making it through grad school, but so is not stressing over your finances. Budget out where you would rather live and see if you're comfortable with the financial restraints you'll have in the location that will make you happier. I did this with the two programs to which I was accepted. One was less money and a lower cost of living, the other more and a higher cost of living. Wherever I chose I would have around the same quality of life, financially speaking, but I new I would be happier in one city over the other. Ride it out, decide where you'll be better off between the two you already have decisions from, and remain hopeful. Whatever happens you've already made it through the hardest step of the applications process. Good luck! ?

I know IFA has a new fellowship for incoming MA students beginning this year.

I toured both last summer. I prefer New Haven. It's a little more removed. There are some great restaurants in the area. The pizza especially is phenomenal. It's a smaller town, but if you're really craving city time it's a 90min train ride to New York. It's centered around the university essentially and it's pretty easy to get around by foot. The curating style at the Yale Art Gallery is more progressive compared to Harvard's classic style. To me, New Haven feels more homey. Boston...it's not my thing. The way people cross the streets willy-nilly is annoying. Check it out on youtube, if you haven't been. Boston has a more classical European layout -- it sprawls from its center. If you're more into the bar scene, then I would say pick Boston/Cambridge. There's great opportunity for seafood. It's a travel destination so tourists will always be a factor, hence higher costs of living and what not.

I used to work in Palo Alto and am looking to move to Manhattan. Living expenses are about the same in terms of cost for what you get in both places. If you have a car it's cheaper to live outside the area, but either way in the city or not traffic is an absolute nightmare from the wee hours until 10:00am and again at around 3:00pm until about 7:00pm. The rush starts at about 2:00pm on Fridays. For New York, you could move to one of the outer boroughs in NY and find cheaper rent and commute using public transit. You wont have to pay for a car and its upkeep on top of sitting in hours of traffic daily. Something to think about, the traffic in Palo Alto/San Jose area was murder on my soul. The whole stretch from the south of San Jose to San Francisco is a nightmare during rush hour.

Outside of professional considerations, possibly think about the area in which you will be living. Is one a more positive environment than the other? How will your everyday life be affected by the community in which you live? Basically, if you’re still torn after considering the major factors of graduate school ask yourself if you will be happy living there for 3-5 years or more. ? Good luck!

Have you asked IFA if you are not accepted off the waitlist if you will be accepted to their MA? Would it include funding? Do you have the standard decisions due by April 15th or later? If so I say wait it out. Williams has already accepted you with funding; it's yours and will be yours until the decision date. Here's another question to ask yourself, do you feel prepared to begin your PhD if accepted or would Williams better prepare you? This is just to get you thinking, but I think waiting it out is the best course of action. You either do or you don't, and if you don't you still have a really great offer and program. Essentially you're in a win-win situation. ?

Ok first off, breathe. Congratulations, that's awesome! What is your area of interest? Have you had contact with IFA as to whom your advisor would be? If so, do you seem compatible? Are they supportive of the areas of what you would like to research? What are your deadlines for notifying UIC and IFA? Are you planning on going to open house at IFA? Does UIC have an open house or do you feel like you've had sufficient contact with them and are familiar with Chicago? Feel free to dm me. I'd be happy to help you hash this out. I've done pretty extensive research on IFA at this point and am in a similar situation.

Anyone from the IFA masters program admitted to the doctoral program this year?

Is anyone else a control freak that is going out of their mind waiting for their fate to be decided?

Does anyone know where I can find information on acceptance rates of those who have been rejected from the PhD program, but sent onto a secondary MA program? Basically, if I wasn't accepted into a school's PhD program do I have a shot at acceptance into their MA program?

I could not find anything from the department, but the GSAS base stipend is $22,000. To be competitive with other programs I would assume IFA would offer around $30k, considering that is the average minimum offered between Columbia, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.

Congratulations! I’m curious. What’s your concentration?

*raises hand* Man, I've gone through the schools to which I applied and analyzed when they typically send out invitations for interviews, and notifications of acceptance, rejection and waitlists. I check the results at least twice a day and my email probably every five minutes. Last night I received an email from a school to which I applied and my heart fell out of my chest. It was an email about transferring to their undergraduate school. ? Thanks for the heart attack, [redacted].

Attend a language school in Japan for the school year and conduct independent research in Kyoto. Try again in autumn.