Duli

So the only school I am waiting to hear from is NYU, and I finally wrote to them to ask if decisions had been made. I got the response:"No decision has been made because applications aren't due until April 15th. You should hear about your application sometime in May." What?? Well, I guess I'm not going there since obviously I am not going to turn down the 2 acceptances that I have to decide on by April 15th. I guess I never payed attention to the April deadline because the deadline if you are also applying for funding was sometime in January so I only cared about that. Don't you think a lot of people end up turning down offers for that program with such late decisions?

I don't have a masters yet, but I will be starting a masters program. I waited 3 years after undergrad. To each their own, but I'm certainly glad I took that time.

NYU is the only school I'm still waiting on. I applied for the East Asian Studies M.A. At this point I don't even care, because although I am still interested in NYU, I would also be happy to go with one of my other acceptances. But the waiting has gone on too long!

I was teaching English in just outside of Taipei. It was a lot of fun, and definitely not very rural or poor. However, the amount of time I spent in an English speaking environment with other native speakers of English wasn't the best situation for learning Chinese. The best conversations were frequently with taxi drivers who felt the need to quiz me about my entire life story. But I loved Taiwan and could have been happy there a very long time if I hadn't decided that I should pursue something other than teaching English.

Yup, I am doing basically the same thing, setting aside time for Chinese study every day, and also reading a lot of books on my areas of interest. In the time I've been out of school I lived in Taiwan for a while and in some ways my Chinese improved, but in other, more "academic" ways, it went backwards. And I really need to get a better handle on simplified characters. I also do the same thing and allow myself good non-China books after I've studied hard for a while.

So how much background does everyone have in Asia/Asian studies? And how are your Asian language skills? I'm feeling inadequate...

Thanks. Not the best news for those of us who haven't decided where we are going yet....

Theresatwist, just out of curiosity are you really still waiting on Ohio State? I got my decision from there, but I know someone who is still waiting and they are wondering if everyone else knows already.

One more quick question: how early do you have to find an apartment to get something decent for the next academic year? Thanks.

So I hope this isn't too irrelevant to the question, but since I have no real experience in Political Science as a discipline I'm curious: I am going to be getting an MA in East Asian Studies with a focus on Chinese politics (specific interests include cross-strait relations and dissent in China) and I would like to eventually get a PhD with the same focus. So what sort of degree am I looking for? The Sino-American IR question confused me because I also would have thought that fell under the International Relations category. But my undergrad degree is in foreign languages so I don't know a lot about this stuff. Thanks.

Can I expect to be able to find work in Bloomington, other than work study? I really can't do this without a part time job.

Minneapolis is a fantastic city, for all the reasons listed above and more. As for the cold, it really depends on whether YOU can deal with it. Your kids will be fine - those of us who lived in the area as kids were totally used to it and usually enjoyed winter for the sledding, skiing, snowman-building aspects. And of course, the Twin CIties are filled with happily adjusted adults whose lives aren't "ruined" because of it. However, it is cold, and I wouldn't rule that out as a consideration, if you personally feel it would make your life miserable.

I would ask them for advice on how to improve your application for next time. Even if you think you know exactly what went wrong, I think the more open you sound to working on improving, the more willing they will be to help you out again.

Thanks for the input, flatcoat and bubbatubba!

I'm about to start in an Asian Studies Master's program (I don't know where yet... that's why I'm on this forum!) with a specialization in Chinese politics. I am interested in possibly going into a Poli Sci PhD program after that. So my questions are: A. Would an area studies M.A. which involved politics (and no undergrad background in Poli Sci - I was a Chinese major) give me a good chance at getting into a top PhD program? Assuming, of course, that I had good grades and GRE scores. Or would I look like a lesser candidate compared to people who had been on a Political Science track all along? B. I don't really want to be in school forever and ever. I'll already be 28 by the time I finish the masters. So does having an M.A. ever let one start as a 2nd year student, even if it is not an M.A. in the exact same field? Thanks.