Fall 2025 - PhD in East Asian Studies (EALL, EALC, etc)

[ochawan]

Hey everyone!

I didn't see an active thread for those of us applying to PhD programs in East Asian Studies (or other humanities programs focusing on East Asia) for Fall 2025, so I decided to start one.

I'm researching Japanese film and media, so I applied to EAS or Film/Media Studies programs at several US universities: Stanford (EALC), Harvard (EALC), Yale (EALL/FMS), Columbia (EALC), UC Santa Barbara (Film/Media), Chicago (EALC), Rice (Art History), Northwestern (Screen Cultures), Pittsburgh (Film/Media), and NYU (EAS).

I'll be interviewing with Stanford this week, no updates from others so far.

 

[mononoke_reject]

Hello! Pathetic Japanese premodernist (medievalist) here. I've applied to EALC, History, Religious Studies, and Comparative Literature programs across different universities. I really looked for POIs that were interested in my research themes. I do a lot with kampo and reading kambun. 

My programs are: Indiana Bloomington (History), Indiana Bloomington (EALC), UNC Chapel-Hill (History), Stanford (EALC), U Hawai'i at Mānoa (History), U Hawai'i at Mānoa (EALC), Harvard (EALC), PennState (Comparative Literature), University of Alberta (History), University of Alberta (Religious Studies). 

Right now I'm sitting on 3r/0a/0i/7p. It's been a nightmare. I, like a lot of people I'm sure, am super humble and ready to learn from someone. I feel like I have significant experience in the field that should stand out: living/studying abroad, teaching as an Adjunct (4yrs) and a TA with a MA, competency in reading ancient and classical literatures, and formal education in both Chinese and Japanese. 

It really leaves me wondering: "What else could I have done?" Or. "Have I done too much?" Or. "Do Japanese premodernists just get the short end of the stick?" 

I'd really like to share in the joy of the tens of humanities applicants I see with acceptances. I love upvoting acceptances, and encouraging people with rejections. I wish my cycle would end. It only takes one. I hope someone believes in me. 

Thanks for reading if you made it this far lol. Best of luck. 加油↖(^ω^)↗ and 頑張ってね(*´・ω-)b

[ochawan]

2 hours ago, mononoke_reject said:

It really leaves me wondering: "What else could I have done?" Or. "Have I done too much?" Or. "Do Japanese premodernists just get the short end of the stick?" 

Honestly, I think it's gotta do with luck a lot too. 

I reached out to POIs for every program I had my eyes on and all of them specifically mentioned they were pretty impressed with my CV so far: Studied abroad for my BA degree in China, wrote my BA thesis in Mandarin, got several comprehensive scholarships for both BA and MA studies, got invited for important and famous international film workshops, comprehensive film criticism/curation and NGO experience, 1 peer-reviewed article, 5 conference presentations, JLPT N1 certificate, and some more... 

Among the universities I applied to, I was sure I had an incredible chance of being accepted at UChicago and UC Santa Barbara. I had very positive exchanges with my UChicago POI and they even noted that they were pretty hopeful for my application. The result? Rejected. Not even a place on the waitlist. As for UC Santa Barbara, I talked with POIs at both the film department and the EAS department, pretty positive emails once again. Yet, I haven't even been contacted for an interview even though so many people logged their interviews throughout January, so I'll most likely get rejected from there as well.

I learned later on that, for example, UChicago tends to admit students on the theme/topic of the year, creating a cohort with similar topics essentially. I also remember seeing on Reddit before how it took someone 4 application cycles to get admitted. 

My point is that we might have the perfect experience and knowledge for the program, and even an insane match with the faculty, but the process is still so opaque for us humanities scholars that it becomes like an lottery in the end, even though I think it shouldn't be this way at all. 

 

[Guest]

On 2/9/2025 at 1:50 AM, mononoke_reject said:

Hello! Pathetic Japanese premodernist (medievalist) here. I've applied to EALC, History, Religious Studies, and Comparative Literature programs across different universities. I really looked for POIs that were interested in my research themes. I do a lot with kampo and reading kambun. 

My programs are: Indiana Bloomington (History), Indiana Bloomington (EALC), UNC Chapel-Hill (History), Stanford (EALC), U Hawai'i at Mānoa (History), U Hawai'i at Mānoa (EALC), Harvard (EALC), PennState (Comparative Literature), University of Alberta (History), University of Alberta (Religious Studies). 

Right now I'm sitting on 3r/0a/0i/7p. It's been a nightmare. I, like a lot of people I'm sure, am super humble and ready to learn from someone. I feel like I have significant experience in the field that should stand out: living/studying abroad, teaching as an Adjunct (4yrs) and a TA with a MA, competency in reading ancient and classical literatures, and formal education in both Chinese and Japanese. 

It really leaves me wondering: "What else could I have done?" Or. "Have I done too much?" Or. "Do Japanese premodernists just get the short end of the stick?" 

I'd really like to share in the joy of the tens of humanities applicants I see with acceptances. I love upvoting acceptances, and encouraging people with rejections. I wish my cycle would end. It only takes one. I hope someone believes in me. 

Thanks for reading if you made it this far lol. Best of luck. 加油↖(^ω^)↗ and 頑張ってね(*´・ω-)b

Former Stanford EALC grad here. First, I hope you reconsider calling yourself "pathetic," regardless whatever shortcomings you might believe you have. If you have done even half of what you say you have, you are already an accomplished scholar and you should seriously be proud of that. I'll tell you from first-hand experience that there is no secret recipe to getting accepted. I've seen everything from applicants getting in with just a BA to those who already have a PhD. It's all up to chance, which favors no one in particular and doesn't reflect anything you could or couldn't have done. At the end of the day, your best bet is to emphasize what makes you unique as a scholar and as a person. Your unique perspective is what makes a professor remember your application and want to be your advisor. But all the external validation in the world will never be as meaningful as your own sense of self-respect and self-worth. Just look at the celebrities and artists. Even the most respected scholars struggle with insecurities that you would've sworn they'd have overcome by now.

Second thing. I promised myself I would say something to incoming grads in this field that isn't easy to say but I genuinely believe somebody has to say it. I dealt with stalking, sexual harassment, and sexual assault from colleagues as a grad student in this field. For obvious reasons it doesn't get spoken about and I was even prohibited from speaking about it myself. But the point isn't to blame or indict anyone. It's just to say that this is a reality that exists, just as I exist, and you aren't alone if you unfortunately experience it. This is also up to chance. I actually didn't go to school so I could experience those things. It turns out you can get accepted into a program and still get rejected after that. I will always advise incoming students in this field to be cautious when alcohol is present, save receipts of unwanted messages, and always feel free to excuse yourself from uncomfortable situations and say no to inappropriate comments and behavior. Turn to people in your life who you trust or legal experts for advice, not just campus authorities and professors; there's only so much they can/will do for you. 

The reason I asked you to stop calling yourself pathetic is because I also thought of myself as pathetic. Because I thought of myself as pathetic, when I experienced victim-blaming I took it to heart. Only a person as pathetic as myself would allow such a thing to happen, etc. No matter what you've been through, what qualifications you do or don't have, you are not pathetic. Even if you get admitted to the school of your dreams, at the end of the day it's your self-worth that sustains you through the journey. Good luck to everyone and I wish you all the best of outcomes in your new endeavors. If you are out there doing your best and chance still isn't going your way, just know that I see you, and from my point of you are winning the battle. You just have to keep going.

[Artysian]

On 2/9/2025 at 6:54 AM, ochawan said:

Honestly, I think it's gotta do with luck a lot too. 

I reached out to POIs for every program I had my eyes on and all of them specifically mentioned they were pretty impressed with my CV so far: Studied abroad for my BA degree in China, wrote my BA thesis in Mandarin, got several comprehensive scholarships for both BA and MA studies, got invited for important and famous international film workshops, comprehensive film criticism/curation and NGO experience, 1 peer-reviewed article, 5 conference presentations, JLPT N1 certificate, and some more... 

Among the universities I applied to, I was sure I had an incredible chance of being accepted at UChicago and UC Santa Barbara. I had very positive exchanges with my UChicago POI and they even noted that they were pretty hopeful for my application. The result? Rejected. Not even a place on the waitlist. As for UC Santa Barbara, I talked with POIs at both the film department and the EAS department, pretty positive emails once again. Yet, I haven't even been contacted for an interview even though so many people logged their interviews throughout January, so I'll most likely get rejected from there as well.

I learned later on that, for example, UChicago tends to admit students on the theme/topic of the year, creating a cohort with similar topics essentially. I also remember seeing on Reddit before how it took someone 4 application cycles to get admitted. 

My point is that we might have the perfect experience and knowledge for the program, and even an insane match with the faculty, but the process is still so opaque for us humanities scholars that it becomes like an lottery in the end, even though I think it shouldn't be this way at all. 

 

Hi—did you ever hear back from Rice on art history? Did you get an interview or hear anything at all?  Thanks. 

[ochawan]

17 hours ago, Artysian said:

Hi—did you ever hear back from Rice on art history? Did you get an interview or hear anything at all?  Thanks. 

Hi, nope, radio silence on my end.

[Artysian]

8 minutes ago, ochawan said:

Hi, nope, radio silence on my end.

Same. 

[Artysian]

Have you received any updates from Stanford or other interviews? Also, (sorry for all the questions) do people ever get into PhD programs of the type you applied without an interview?  Last question, I promise! Have you seen anyone post they got a Rice interview in the humanities other than English? Thanks. 

[ochawan]

On 2/14/2025 at 9:16 PM, Artysian said:

Have you received any updates from Stanford or other interviews? Also, (sorry for all the questions) do people ever get into PhD programs of the type you applied without an interview?  Last question, I promise! Have you seen anyone post they got a Rice interview in the humanities other than English? Thanks. 

So far, I only had an interview with Stanford among the universities I applied to. Some of the programs seem to admit students without an interview but I'm not too sure what it's like generally for our field.

My current stats: Accepted at Stanford (notified on February 5), rejected at Chicago (January 31) and Rice (February 14), and still waiting for the results of the remaining 7 applications.

[Artysian]

3 minutes ago, ochawan said:

So far, I only had an interview with Stanford among the universities I applied to. Some of the programs seem to admit students without an interview but I'm not too sure what it's like generally for our field.

My current stats: Accepted at Stanford (notified on February 5), rejected at Chicago (January 31) and Rice (February 14), and still waiting for the results of the remaining 7 applications.

I got turned down by Rice yesterday too. Stanford would be amazing though! Congratulations!