2023 East Asian Studies (EAS/EALL/EALCS/EALC)

[AppleBird0210]

And hello everyone, 

I am doing MAPH at UChicago and applying to Ph.D. programs in EALC/ALC (area: modern Chinese lit). I applied to seven programs. I interviewed with a professor at UCLA earlier today. I have not heard anything else so far.

I have friends who are also applying to EAS-related programs this cycle. One of them got interview invitations from Princeton (by two POI, next round pending) and another from UMichigan. 

I am based in Chicago (central time).

[PhDApplicant23]

16 minutes ago, AppleBird0210 said:

What schools have you interviewed for?

USC EALC and UCLA ALC.

[wanlichangcheng]

I had an interview (my first) yesterday

[Akira1988]

Hi everyone, another Japanese literature major here.

I'm doing a MA in EAS and applying to EALC programs (Harvard, UChicago, Stanford, and UCLA). Had my first interview (more of a casual chat) yesterday and the POI was super nice. Hope we can all receive what we've been waiting for!

[nomis97]

Hello! I thought I should contribute to the forum as well. I just had an interview with Harvard today, which is really the only East Asian program I applied to (others are all film and media studies). The interview was definitely more intense than I thought--initially my POI contacted me for a brief interview, but then four professors showed up, which ended up becoming more like a formal committee interview (though questions are still relatively casual). I work on Chinese film and media, so if anyone has similar experience to share (or just interview with Harvard East Asian), let me know!

Edited January 14, 2023 by nomis97

[AppleBird0210]

I had a brief interview with my POI from UCLA this afternoon.

Also, can those who had interviews specify which school it was?...

[wanlichangcheng]

My interview was with UCLA!

[thinkwisely]

Hello, has anyone heard anything back from Upenn? do they invite interviews? 

[PhDApplicant23]

1 hour ago, thinkwisely said:

Hello, has anyone heard anything back from Upenn? do they invite interviews? 

Hi, in the past they did not conduct interviews but I believe that may have changed a few years ago. They usually complete MA acceptances around this time, and PhD acceptances come later at the end of January/beginning of February. Penn operates very differently from every other institution. Individual advisors get allotted an acceptance which is made solely at their discretion. It is good to be in touch with your potential advisor as they will be the one accepting you directly, with the approval of the DGS and then the Dean.

Good luck with your application to Penn. Let me know if you have any questions. I did my MA in EALC here and I work at Penn now.

[PhDApplicant23]

It seems Professor Berry spoke to everyone in this forum the other day LOL! Good luck to everyone who applied to UCLA - I felt that was my weakest application by far and was shocked by even the first round interview. I don't feel I am a good fit for the program because I am not necessarily working on Cinema per se, but media theory.

[thinkwisely]

1 hour ago, PhDApplicant23 said:

Hi, in the past they did not conduct interviews but I believe that may have changed a few years ago. They usually complete MA acceptances around this time, and PhD acceptances come later at the end of January/beginning of February. Penn operates very differently from every other institution. Individual advisors get allotted an acceptance which is made solely at their discretion. It is good to be in touch with your potential advisor as they will be the one accepting you directly, with the approval of the DGS and then the Dean.

Good luck with your application to Penn. Let me know if you have any questions. I did my MA in EALC here and I work at Penn now.

Wow, thanks @PhDApplicant23 for the info from an insider. Do you mean that I should expect an interview from my POI if I am considered seriously? Good luck with your applications as well. 

[PhDApplicant23]

4 hours ago, thinkwisely said:

Wow, thanks @PhDApplicant23 for the info from an insider. Do you mean that I should expect an interview from my POI if I am considered seriously? Good luck with your applications as well. 

I think what you should do is reach out to your POI directly, whether that is Atwood, Steinhardt, Chance, Kano, Mair, Cheng, or Goldin. A few of them get a student every year it seems, mostly Goldin, Mair, and Steinhardt. Try to set up a Zoom meeting with the person you hope will be your primary advisor because this goes a very long way in Penn admissions.

[Beijing Koala]

Congratulations for all of those who did interviews, I guess I wasn't prepared enough to be successful for this round.

I just wanted to ask if your application status was "submitted" or something like "under review" before the interview?

My application status for all the schools I applied for are "submitted".

Thanks!

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Beijing Koala

[PhDApplicant23]

6 hours ago, Beijing Koala said:

Congratulations for all of those who did interviews, I guess I wasn't prepared enough to be successful for this round.

I just wanted to ask if your application status was "submitted" or something like "under review" before the interview?

My application status for all the schools I applied for are "submitted".

Thanks!

 

Submitted. It is still very early in the application process. Don't worry.

[AppleBird0210]

9 hours ago, Beijing Koala said:

Congratulations for all of those who did interviews, I guess I wasn't prepared enough to be successful for this round.

I just wanted to ask if your application status was "submitted" or something like "under review" before the interview?

My application status for all the schools I applied for are "submitted".

Thanks!

 

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!

 

 

 

 

[Silverfish23]

Thank everyone for sharing! It's really good to know there are people anxious together ?

I'm an MA student of ancient Chinese literature from Mainland China, currently working on my thesis. I just had a meeting with the Harvard EALC committee on 17th (got email on 12th) and that's the only interview I've had, centering on my SOP and writing sample. 

Good luck to all!

[Aviro]

On 1/15/2023 at 12:00 AM, PhDApplicant23 said:

Hi, in the past they did not conduct interviews but I believe that may have changed a few years ago. They usually complete MA acceptances around this time, and PhD acceptances come later at the end of January/beginning of February. Penn operates very differently from every other institution. Individual advisors get allotted an acceptance which is made solely at their discretion. It is good to be in touch with your potential advisor as they will be the one accepting you directly, with the approval of the DGS and then the Dean.

Good luck with your application to Penn. Let me know if you have any questions. I did my MA in EALC here and I work at Penn now.

Thank you for sharing.
I have also applied to Penn's EALC ma program, is there an interview for this program?
Good luck to all.

[PhDApplicant23]

6 hours ago, Aviro said:

Thank you for sharing.
I have also applied to Penn's EALC ma program, is there an interview for this program?
Good luck to all.

No there are not interviews for the MA.

[wanlichangcheng]

Meanwhile I still have missing rec. letters on some of my applications ?

[AppleBird0210]

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

[AppleBird0210]

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.

[Aviro]

On 1/18/2023 at 11:09 PM, PhDApplicant23 said:

No there are not interviews for the MA.

Thank you for this information.

Good luck to you!

[PhDApplicant23]

I'm supposed to find out tomorrow if I get into USC! I really hope I get in after talking with faculty, it has been such a great experience so far.

[wanlichangcheng]

8 hours ago, PhDApplicant23 said:

I'm supposed to find out tomorrow if I get into USC! I really hope I get in after talking with faculty, it has been such a great experience so far.

Good luck! 

[junboroni]

Hi everyone, I'm a senior applying to EALC MA programmes to Stanford, Harvard and Columbia. Do MA programme results generally come out on March 15 or earlier? Thanks!