Asian Studies 2013

[hero91]

Hey everyone,

I am so nervous about applying, that I thought I might as well start this year's thread! Here are some questions to get us started: (Also, if people have already been through the process, please - advice would be MUCH appreciated!!)

1) What program(s) are you applying to (MA/PhD + field)?

2) Where are you applying OR thinking of applying? What steps do you need to finish or do you have any advice?

3) What are your stats (GPA, GRE), undergrad major(s), ECs, experience in Asia?

---

My answers:

1) Looking for an MA in East Asian Studies

2) Thinking about Yale, Stanford, Columbia, Oxford, Cambridge and Toronto; I need to do... everything. Just decided 2 weeks ago I really wanted to go and get a masters after my undergrad.

3) CGPA: 3.58, GRE: (haven't taken it yet), Undergrad: East Asian Languages (Chinese) and International Relations, Experience: studied abroad twice (Korea + China), worked a summer in Korea, some undergrad publications/conferences focused on East Asia

Other applicants?

[kyjin]

Throwing my hat into the ring again this year. (Can't believe it's time already!)

1) PhD in History (Pre-Modern Japan)

2) Unlike last time where I applied to a bunch of MA and PhD programs all over the place, I've now figured out my little niche in the field. I've talked it over with my advisor, so I will be applying to UCBerkeley, USC, and UMichigan.

3) Currently 2nd year MA in East Asian Studies. Undergrad: Dual major in East Asian Studies and History. Attended IUC 2010-2011 in Yokohama. Currently doing summer research at Tokyo University for my MA thesis.

よろしく～

[doxie-chan]

Good luck everyone! I applied for East Asian Studies PhD programs for the coming year, and after an indecent amount of hair-pulling and emails, I picked a program that fits well. Anyway, point being, any crisis that *could* happen while applying has probably happened to me, and I would be glad to give advice/words of sanity.

[vivekabh]

Hey

I thought I would join in.

Just graduated from Wellesley with a BA in History.

Overall GPA 3.25 Major GPA 3.38 mainly due to a terrible senior wall where I took on too much and was extremely sick (dean is writing a letter stating the semester was an anomaly on my record)

Interested in applying for a MA in Southeast Asian Studies with a concentration on Cambodia and Burma

Grades on all Southeast Asian courses taken (most of them were at SOAS while studying abroad) are As

Looking at SOAS, UC-Berkeley, UMichigan, Cornell as my top choices

both Berkeley and Michigan have said they are more concerned with work experience than GPA and are aware of Wellesley's grade deflation policy

Work Experience:

Sophomore and Junior summer working in Phnom Penh with the same NGO

Will be working as a research assistant to the head of the opposition party in Phnom Penh between July and October

December to July 2013 will be working with the Harpswell Foundation in Cambodia

Am also applying to safeties but what are my chances at my top choices?

[sweetpolaris]

Hi everyone!

I can't believe the time has finally come...

1) Mostly MA programs in East Asian Studies with a focus on Japanese literature

2) I'm thinking of applying to Stanford, McGill, UBC, WUSTL, and SOAS

3) My major is Japanese, I spent 1 year studying abroad in Japan, my gpa is currently 3.96 and I'm registered to take the GRE in September

Yoroshiku ^^

[PDCU]

Hi! Anyone still here?

1) I'm applying to MA in East Asian Studies (Korean specialization) and couple PhDs in Political Science. Plan to apply exclusively to PS after EAS.

2) I'm applying to Stanford, Harvard, and UCLA. I finished the application but need to write my SoP.

3) I lived in Korea for a while and went to college in the US studying IR. 160V 159Q in GRE and 3.85 GPA. Couple semesters in Mandarin and native Korean. Did summer research in Korea for undergrad thesis.

Anyone think I have a good chance here? Stanford is my dream school...

[sweetpolaris]

Hi! Anyone still here?

1) I'm applying to MA in East Asian Studies (Korean specialization) and couple PhDs in Political Science. Plan to apply exclusively to PS after EAS.

2) I'm applying to Stanford, Harvard, and UCLA. I finished the application but need to write my SoP.

3) I lived in Korea for a while and went to college in the US studying IR. 160V 159Q in GRE and 3.85 GPA. Couple semesters in Mandarin and native Korean. Did summer research in Korea for undergrad thesis.

Anyone think I have a good chance here? Stanford is my dream school...

Both your GPA and your GRE scores are pretty high, you have the necessary language skills, you have experience abroad, and you completed a thesis. I think that if your research interests align with those of the faculty teaching at those universities, you might have a good chance at being accepted.

Are you applying for an M.A. in the EALC department at Stanford though? Because according to what I've been told the focus is mostly on Chinese and Japanese. Regardless, good luck! Hope everything works out.

[MemoryQ]

I didn't realize that there is a thread for this year. I posted at last year's thread, which has a good deal of info!

I will copy my post from there:

Degree: MA East Asian Studies (social sciences, esp. anthropology and sociology)

Schools Applied To: UCLA, UCB, UCSD, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, LSE, Oxford, Cambridge, WUSTL

Fellowships Applied For: Not decided yet

Undergraduate School (or school type) Major: A top national liberal art college, major in philosophy

Experience in Asia or in Field: Chinese myself

My current GPA is 3.71 and GRE score is 164/164. Good luck every one!

[PDCU]

Are you applying for an M.A. in the EALC department at Stanford though? Because according to what I've been told the focus is mostly on Chinese and Japanese. Regardless, good luck! Hope everything works out.

I'm applying to Stanford's CEAS... Their website says there are around 5-7 people working on Korea and many more on East Asia in general... Should I be scared?

[sweetpolaris]

I'm applying to Stanford's CEAS... Their website says there are around 5-7 people working on Korea and many more on East Asia in general... Should I be scared?

Ah, I see. You're applying for the M.A. in CEAS not EALC so it should be fine. Best of luck! I spent a summer at Stanford doing research and it is really lovely!

[PDCU]

Ah, I see. You're applying for the M.A. in CEAS not EALC so it should be fine. Best of luck! I spent a summer at Stanford doing research and it is really lovely!

Thank! I really hope I get in... Stanford has been my dream school since forever ago! Apparently, my training in PoliSci doesn't align with that of Stanford, so it's next to impossible for me to go to Stanford for PhD...

[Anna Wu]

My name is Deanna Wooten, I am an Undergraduate student at William

Paterson University. I am trying to get the word out about the video I

recently made. It is about why I chose East Asian Studies as my

University Major. The purpose of the video is to encourage high school

students to pursue degrees that are in demand in the work force.

In order for these students to find my video I need help getting as many

votes as possible. Also by getting votes I have a better chance of

winning the 'Inspiring Experts' scholarship!

Video Location: youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tys1W9KXd80

So please take the time to watch my short video and vote for me! The

contest ends December 16th at 11:59pm. Also please try and share this

video on your social networking sites if you wish to help further!

best wishes,

Deanna Wooten

[MemoryQ]

Guys, you've all turned in the application? 

[kyjin]

Guys, you've all turned in the application? 

Yep. All my programs were due December 1st, so I got everything in the last week of November.  Now just waiting.

[PDCU]

Yep. All my programs were due December 1st, so I got everything in the last week of November.  Now just waiting.

Same here!

[kyjin]

Got an email for visit and interview today from Princeton! Looks like someone else did as well from the results.

[thecoverdaleversion]

Eep, just got an email from a professor at Columbia, where I applied for a PhD in EALC. He wants to call me to have a "brief conversation", and I'm freaking out. Is this, like, an interview?

[kyjin]

Eep, just got an email from a professor at Columbia, where I applied for a PhD in EALC. He wants to call me to have a "brief conversation", and I'm freaking out. Is this, like, an interview?

I'd say so. Congrats! Someone in my cohort had one of those phone interviews for Columbia this week! Don't stress, you'll do fine!

[aec09g]

Eep, just got an email from a professor at Columbia, where I applied for a PhD in EALC. He wants to call me to have a "brief conversation", and I'm freaking out. Is this, like, an interview?

 

Wow, what a strange way to say it, but I think it's a short interview. Maybe he said conversation to try to make it seem less formal? 

 

But I'm so jealous. I want some contact from my POIs. It's hard to have the applications in the wind and just simply... wait. 

[next]

Been lurking and finally decided to make a post

I am bummed out by the lack of activity on this thread this year compared to past years.

I am wondering if there aren't a lot of candidates applying this year?

On the results page  I see one acceptance listed for Asian Studies Masters at Berkeley this past week - anyone else heard anything for Masters?

[kyjin]

I am wondering if there aren't a lot of candidates applying this year?

I think it's more so that people are hanging around in their respective sub-field threads. (History in my case.) 

[Samahito]

Hey everyone. I'm applying to M..A. religious studies programs at IU Bloomington, CU Boulder, and CSU Long Beach, and M.A. in Philosophy at UNM Albuquerque. I'm primarily interested in Theradada Buddhism, Pali, Singhalese, and cross-cultural analysis of monastic practices and lineages in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar, as well as the phenomenology of meditation practices in those countries. 

 

I'm finishing my UG at Cal State Sacramento in Philosophy and Religious Studies. 3.6 GPA, GRE: 160, 148, 4 (v,q,a). I did something crazy and emailed a potential POI at Cornell, and she sent me back a very positive response, encouraging me to apply to their Asian Studies program, concentrating in Asian Religion.

 

I've spent some time in Sri Lanka, and even ordained as a novice monk for a short time, I've learned some Pali, and have a good grasp of French. Despite the fact that the deadline was Jan 15th, do you guys think I have a shot, should I go for it?

 

I'm fairly freaking out

Edited February 11, 2013 by Samahito

[posteggiesm]

Hello, I am more or less new to this forum (and have been lurking this past application season). I was wondering if someone could provide insight for me on this issue (it's my first time applying, and I am kind of a scrub at these things). 

 

I applied to Yale's Ph.D program in EALL originally but, a few weeks ago, the DGS contacted me stating that, though they read my application with interest, they recommended that I transfer it to an application for the MA program in East Asian Studies. Is this a normal thing to happen during the process, and, if so, does that mean that I have a decent chance of being accepted into their MA program? 

[firefox]

Glad to see some Asian Studies activity on here! I split my apps between EAS programs and Complit and was lucky enough to get into one of my top choices this round. However, I applied two years ago and got sent to a funded Master's program which was/is amazing and really helped me focus and get some knowledge on the state of the field. It seems like more and more EAS programs are looking for students with MA's, so if you've got a funded option, I say go for it!

[kyjin]

I applied to Yale's Ph.D program in EALL originally but, a few weeks ago, the DGS contacted me stating that, though they read my application with interest, they recommended that I transfer it to an application for the MA program in East Asian Studies. Is this a normal thing to happen during the process, and, if so, does that mean that I have a decent chance of being accepted into their MA program? 

Yeah, that's fairly common.  When I applied two years ago, both Yale and Columbia bumped me from PhD consideration down to MA.  I didn't end up getting into Yale, but I did get into Columbia.  It's a chance, but not a guarantee.  Don't lose hope yet!

 

It seems like more and more EAS programs are looking for students with MA's.

It's true!  When I was at Princeton last week for interviews, all the other interviewees were finishing their MAs as well.  Of the current grad students I met, only one came straight from undergrad; everyone else had an MA.  I think it's especially common in EAS because of our need for language skills.  I know I wasn't ready for a PhD two years ago, but after going through my MA program, I certainly am! (I'm also one of the lucky ones who found a funded MA. They do exist!)