Asian Studies 2009

[theresatwist]

so this morning (i'm on GMT here) there's a submission for columbia GSAS in the east asian studies PhD. anyone else have news?

damn, this is intense!

[torakichi]

so this morning (i'm on GMT here) there's a submission for columbia GSAS in the east asian studies PhD. anyone else have news?

damn, this is intense!

I don't know if this is the info you want, but I was told the decisions for EALAC were made February 18. The letter I got in the mail was dated February 26.

[theresatwist]

I don't know if this is the info you want, but I was told the decisions for EALAC were made February 18. The letter I got in the mail was dated February 26.

thanks torakichi! and congratulations on the acceptance! i don't know much about the japanese literature studies scene in the US, but all those universities have ace east asian depts in general. any idea what you'll choose yet?

[theresatwist]

i checked the online app and there was a reply from columbia. they accepted me for the MA with the following reasons:

"The task of selecting an entering class from among so many qualified applicants is a difficult one. The Committee on Admissions in East Asian Languages and Cultures is unable to offer you admission to the Ph.D. However, your application was extremely competitive and the department has, therefore, accepted you into the M.A. program."

they offer zero funding though, and make a note about the bleak columbia housing situation.

it's a pity, as i'd have liked to have the choice between yale and columbia. i won't grumble too much though. i guess new haven it is then!

[Leahlearns]

Theresatwist: Congrats on Columbia! I'm sorry about the funding situation, obviously. Will you wait to hear from Harvard and Stanford?

I don't know if they've made all their acceptances already and are just slow in sending out rejections. There were some posts saying that one or two people had gotten into the MA program at Harvard in the results section in mid-February, but I found it strange that those people didn't post in this forum. It also seems that if that were true those who were rejected should have heard by now too. Ah, mind games! Meanwhile, I've seen nothing on Stanford anywhere. I think my first choice is probably UW-Seattle. They did send me an e-mail a few weeks ago saying letters would be sent out by post in early March. This would be early March. Of course, I'm on the other side of the country. This has to come to a conclusion within the next two weeks or so, right? I'm talking about master's programs here. I feel like my sanity is seriously on the line. If they're going to reject me let's have it and be done with it already.

[chris]

Hi, there. I rejected from Columbia (via link to website) but I don't care about that. Now I'm leaning toward going to UCSD(Dept.of History). However, because of funding, I am still waiting good news from Harvard. I think I get an official letter from there in a couple of days.

Good luck to you!

Best,

[maggieda]

I got into East Asian programs (Master's) at Harvard, Upenn, Oxford so far. Official letters haven't arrived yet. There is also funding for Harvard program, which is very nice. Still waiting for Stanford....nothing has been heard tho.

[theresatwist]

Theresatwist: Congrats on Columbia! I'm sorry about the funding situation, obviously. Will you wait to hear from Harvard and Stanford?

I don't know if they've made all their acceptances already and are just slow in sending out rejections. There were some posts saying that one or two people had gotten into the MA program at Harvard in the results section in mid-February, but I found it strange that those people didn't post in this forum. It also seems that if that were true those who were rejected should have heard by now too. Ah, mind games! Meanwhile, I've seen nothing on Stanford anywhere. I think my first choice is probably UW-Seattle. They did send me an e-mail a few weeks ago saying letters would be sent out by post in early March. This would be early March. Of course, I'm on the other side of the country. This has to come to a conclusion within the next two weeks or so, right? I'm talking about master's programs here. I feel like my sanity is seriously on the line. If they're going to reject me let's have it and be done with it already.

thanks, leahlearns!

but yes, sanity is the operative word here: i think i'm going to hold my decisions another week, but as all of us, i'm just dying to get this over and done with and am thinking about settling for what i have right now which is yale. though i'm already feeling a bit too stupid for yale, and have ordered some amazon books to catch up on undergrad readings..

best of luck with UW-seattle! i'll be keeping my virtual fingers crossed for you

chris: so at the moment you're choosing between UCSD and UCLA? hope we both get some harvard news soon!

maggieda: wow, that's a pretty good choice of schools you got there! i know a couple of people who did east asian MAs at Oxford and have heard really good things about the program. i suppose you have the advantage of it being faster than studying for an MA in the US. though depending on your interests, harvard would probably trump oxford.. or not?

[noumin]

I got accepted to Indiana University (Japanese) and University of Washington (Japan Studies) earlier this week...still waiting to hear from Stanford and University of Chicago.

I'm assuming that no one has heard from Stanford at this point based on the previous posts, but what about University of Chicago??

[narratortess]

I heard that I was accepted to the Ph.D. program at U Chicago on Feb. 6 in a personal e-mail from my potential advisor; I was there on a visit this past week with 2 other accepted doctoral prospective students. I'm not sure, though, if all is said and done with others on their doctoral acceptance list.

I'm still waiting to hear from Columbia's Ph.D. program, and it looks like a few people have heard already; I looked at the Columbia EALC posts from years past, though, and it seems they can often stretch out the notification window--not so kind on my nerves. Also, there is inconsistency in how they respond: some hear by an e-mail, others by phone, and still others by post. Any thoughts from the forum on Columbia's acceptances this year?

[theresatwist]

I'm still waiting to hear from Columbia's Ph.D. program, and it looks like a few people have heard already; I looked at the Columbia EALC posts from years past, though, and it seems they can often stretch out the notification window--not so kind on my nerves. Also, there is inconsistency in how they respond: some hear by an e-mail, others by phone, and still others by post. Any thoughts from the forum on Columbia's acceptances this year?

can't help much. but i found out online through the application site - have you checked there? i wonder what the intake for columbia is actually. i'll be declining the (unfunded) MA offer i got from them, though i would've loved to go there.

what's your focus within east asian studies? chicago seems really good though! i'm not sure why i didn't apply there as well, now i'm looking at the EALC website and it looks great. congrats on your admittance!

[Duli]

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.

[fiddlestix327]

Hi,

I was accepted into NYU's MA program on 12/8/08 (I was the one that posted on the admit board...). I got the acceptance letter that early because I applied for admission for the Spring 2009 semester. Due to health reasons I had to defer admission till Fall 2009 though. Anyone else get accepted there?

[Leahlearns]

I got into East Asian programs (Master's) at Harvard, Upenn, Oxford so far. Official letters haven't arrived yet. There is also funding for Harvard program, which is very nice. Still waiting for Stanford....nothing has been heard tho.

hmm...i assume that means i'm not in at harvard. i wish they'd just send me that rejection letter already. seems like that would be the easy part...i imagine you could have a work study student take care of all of those in a few hours tops.

[theresatwist]

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.

yup, still waiting on OSU, haven't heard a peep back. i hope your friend keeps his/her spirits up - to be honest, this whole process is a bit random. in the end (and this would especially be valid for PhD applications) i think smaller and fewer and far between depts such as the east asian studies ones basically take on students who fit in with whatever their faculty members are interested in researching themselves. of course you probably have to have good grades and decent language skills and all, but the reason i got into yale (i believe) is because my research proposal fits in extremely well with what my potential supervisor is currently working on and will be concentrating on in the future. in that way, it's extremely subjective and kinda quirky.

now the real mystery for me is why this takes so long and how come some people hear way before others for exactly the same program at exactly the same school? ::shrugs::

[theresatwist]

ok, just got rejections from harvard and stanford, letters postmarked 27th and 24th feb, respectively.

[Leahlearns]

ok, just got rejections from harvard and stanford, letters postmarked 27th and 24th feb, respectively.

I got a rejection e-mail from Harvard as well. (Still haven't received the actual letter, but I think I can wait on that one...) I'm assuming I just haven't heard from Stanford yet because I'm on the other side of the country. They didn't e-mail you did they?

[theresatwist]

sorry to hear about Harvard..

as for Stanford, i got no email, though that probably doesn't count too much in your case as i only hear things through the Fulbright office (i'm not allowed direct contact with the depts, etc. *sigh*). why don't you try calling the dept directly though? it's annoying that they don't update their online app notifications.

[ispar]

Hello all,

I got accepted to Harvard (RSEA) and Berkeley (Asian Studies) and was wondering if anyone else is considering the two schools... Harvard would be great, but I received an email from them saying that they won't be providing any grants to A.M. students this year. I'm also wondering whether this is really the case, as I've seen at least a couple people who said they were getting full rides to Harvard.

As for other schools: rejected by Yale, haven't heard from Columbia & Stanford (I'm guessing that's a rejection).

[thcharmer]

Hello, all

I am confused about two choices, could you help me to give me some advice?

I got an offer from WUSTL (chinese literature) and was admitted to the MA program of Columbia University (no funding at all). It seems the department at Columbia is stronger than that in WUSTL though the general rankings from USnews are similar.

Also, I want to audit some courses in the business school and Columbia is stronger.

However, I cannot afford the expensive tuition fee of Columbia.

Anyone knows about the two schools?

Can you give some help?

Thank you very much indeed.

[theresatwist]

Hello, all

I am confused about two choices, could you help me to give me some advice?

I got an offer from WUSTL (chinese literature) and was admitted to the MA program of Columbia University (no funding at all). It seems the department at Columbia is stronger than that in WUSTL though the general rankings from USnews are similar.

Also, I want to audit some courses in the business school and Columbia is stronger.

However, I cannot afford the expensive tuition fee of Columbia.

Anyone knows about the two schools?

Can you give some help?

Thank you very much indeed.

hey there. though i applied for the PhD, i also got offered the MA with no funding at columbia. it's certainly a good program (i'm interested in literature as well), but with no funding, plus it being an MA and not the PhD program, it is a not an option for me. columbia is better known than WUSTL of course, though quickly looking through WUSTL's EAS website, the program there actually seemed pretty good. plus, if they offer you funding..

is the supervisor very important to you at this stage? do you prefer people you've contacted with at columbia/WUSTL? if you're not planning on working on something extremely specific that you can only work on with prof. x, then personally i'd just go where the money is, especially considering that WUSTL seems to have a pretty good MA program. grad school is tough enough already, let alone if you have to worry about being in debt.

[Duli]

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

[tyler1]

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

LOL I get that feeling too. But at least we both got into some schools! Since I've been accepted, though, I've started thinking they will find out how lame I really am... I can't help but thinking of the one year I played high school basketball-- I did really awesome in try-outs, but my total lack of skill and athleticism eventually shone through, and the coach regretted letting me on the team. I have the feeling the same thing is gonna happen here, especially since my advisor is brilliant and can likely see right through me.

Anyway, to answer your question I have ass-loads of Asian studies (BA in religion focusing on Buddhist Studies + living in Asia for the last 6 years, the last three of which have been spent pursuing an MA in Buddhist Studies at a Thai Buddhist Uni), but my languages are terrible compared to most successful applicants. I only have one year of Sanskrit and one year of Pali, which is inadequate. I speak a fair bit of Japanese (at least enough to understand my Japanese wife when she gets pissed and yells at me in her native tongue), but can't read it, and anyway it's not relevant to my program. My French is ok, but all but useless in my field.

By the way Duli which schools have you applied to/been accepted to/rejected from?

[tugou]

Hello, all

I am confused about two choices, could you help me to give me some advice?

I got an offer from WUSTL (chinese literature) and was admitted to the MA program of Columbia University (no funding at all).

Go with WUSTL, hands down. Columbia's MARSEA would only be worth the tuition if you had absolutely no other PhD offers, if you had no undergraduate debt, and if you intend to pair your area studies degree with something like... business or finance. If you're applying for Chinese lit, you're applying for the love of it, and NOT the money.

Funded PhD offers >>>>> unfunded MA programs, even if they're Ivy.

[Leahlearns]

Random question:

I thought that somehow had posted that they had gotten into UW-Seattle's Japan Studies program. Of course, now I can't seem to find that post on the result page, but I'm probably just in too impatient a mood. In any case, if such a person is out there, I was just wondering if financial aid information came with your acceptance letter? Thanks.

On the question of experience in terms of Asia/foreign languages I feel like it's one of those things where you have to get to a certain point to realize just how little you know and just how much there is to know. I think if you've reached that realization (as it sounds like you have) and you are still raring to go, you're in good shape. I think it's about (or should be about) motivation and dedication.