AppleBird0210

Thank you! I heard back from UToronto EAS for my PhD application today (Apr. 26th). The email informed me that I am still on the top of their waitlist and inquired whether I have accepted an offer elsewhere. The potential offer came too late. I submitted my application in late December, and I received no notice in between all this time. The positive side of things (for reference to future applicants) is that the waitlist is real and the possibility of getting off it is definitely not zero...

Rejected by Columbia! This closes the application cycle for me. My area of focus is modern Chinese literature (particularly, Republican-era literature and culture), even though my profile looks a lot more comparative and interdisciplinary than that. I came from a comp lit background, and I reoriented myself around EALC during my master's study. Out of the 7 EAS Ph.D. programs that I have applied for and heard from, I was rejected by 6 (UCB, UChicago, Harvard, UCLA, Columbia) and waitlisted by 1 (UC Irvine). I interviewed separately with two professors at UCLA in early January and my POI at UC Irvine in early February. I was also invited to an informal chat with my POI at Berkeley in early January. I was, however, admitted to Penn State's Comparative Literature program with the prospect of doing a dual-title in Asian Studies. (The only potential concern for me is the relative shortage of faculty working on premodern and early modern Chinese literature at Penn State, but I can always bring someone from outside to my committee.) I will very likely commit. I wish everyone all the best of luck in everything! Remember that academic life is not everything, and it is by no means the only option. Also, the admission process is like a black box. A lot of factors went into who gets admitted and who not, and oftentimes it is more a matter of distribution than competence, as there are so many well-qualified applicants out there. Don't lose heart if the results are discouraging, but do make sure that a humanities Ph.D. is what you want before forging ahead into one, as it is a lot of commitment (and potentially sunken costs.) Hopefully, I will meet some of you in some academic setting sooner or later. Feel free to message me if you have questions or want to add contact (including WeChat -- I am from mainland China)

@welcometouniqlo I am also waiting for U of T, though I kinda already gave up because they admit very few international students and the stipend barely covers the living costs. I guess you might want to write to them to see if the admissions have been completed.

@db757 If you mean the Ph.D. program in EAS at UC Irvine, I believe the decisions were made two weeks ago! My POI informed me by email that I was waitlisted, and they can only make one offer in Chinese studies! I am not sure about the other areas of specialization, but as far as I know, all shortlisted candidates (some 10 of them) were interviewed. My interview happened a month ago. (There is probably no need to wait in my case because I got in touch with the admitted student and she said she would very likely commit. She works on Chinese film and I on Chinese literature.) Best of luck to you and to everyone!

I have not heard anything from Harvard. I guess they are sending out results in batches (or maybe by area)?

Rejected by UChicago. Really disappointed, for I love the EALC department here. Good luck everyone!

Any possibility that current students' pay raise has made funding less available for admitting new students? @PhDApplicant23 I will reach out to him after I have heard back from other programs. He was so nice when I talked to him!

Yes! Thanks for the encouraging note!

Same here! Rejected.

I knew it is competitive but I didn't expect things to be so competitive. (Why my recommenders at UChicago suggested that I apply broadly...) I also applied to EALC at UChicago and I have not heard anything, except that I know from the professor with whom I am taking class that he is on the committee this year. I guess the decisions have been made and will be sent out soon. I hope Berkeley does get to sort things out!

@Silverfish23 I am also anxiously waiting for news from UC Berkeley... (and UCLA too)! It does not seem that Berkeley conduct interviews (based on my cursory research of the results section in recent years), though I was approached by my POI from Berkeley for a brief Zoom conversation (note: not an interview) in mid January. I am very grateful for the contact, but it does not seem that it would influence the committee's decision process. @suibian As for Harvard EALC (contemporary Chinese/Sinophone lit), are you applying to work with David Wang? I also want to work with him (my area of interest being modern Chinese lit), and have not heard anything while many applicants have received invitations to interview. I feel like my chance is quite slim. Or maybe the interviews are non-standard individual initiatives from the professors -- and some students might be admitted without being interviewed? I have no idea... And an update: I was accepted into Penn State's Comparative Literature Program yesterday. Good luck to everyone! Fingers crossed for good news in the first days of February!

Just interviewed with Penn State's Comp Lit program (the only comp lit program that I applied to... aiming for the dual title in Asian Studies). They (chair and two other professors) told me it is not an interview but a conversation. That said, I did not do a great job answering their questions, I think... Evaluation still in process and decisions will be given out in two weeks.

Oh no! I believe most schools have a two-week grace period though. I hope it will all work out!

Same here! All "Submitted." I don't think much is going on in the application portal before the decisions are released. And seconding @PhDApplicant23's response, it is still early in the process. Besides, I suppose some programs admit people without conducting interviews (?).. Best of luck to everyone!

I had a brief interview with my POI from UCLA this afternoon. Also, can those who had interviews specify which school it was?...