Asian Studies 2013

[norangom]

Gotta love seeing all the Koreanists on here! Represent! Haha

 

Next~ I have been lurking on this thread as well. I am a Korea Studies scholar, accepted into UW's JSIS MA International Studies: Korea program today. I also applied to 4 phd anthropology programs and Harvard's Regional Studies -- East Asia AM program. UW's program is much better, so I'm 90% sure I will be accepting this offer. Waiting on funding and other admissions decisions. Best of luck everyone.

I was accepted to UW's JSIS MA program too! Congrats!  

 

Hey I'm a Koreanist too! High five! I also got into UCI for PhD... When is your visit day?

High five! hahaha I'm not sure yet. How did you figure out your visit day?

[PDCU]

High five! hahaha I'm not sure yet. How did you figure out your visit day?

I got into the Political Science PhD program, and the department told me when it was with the acceptance letter. I'm guessing you got into PhD program in East Asian studies?

[norangom]

I got into the Political Science PhD program, and the department told me when it was with the acceptance letter. I'm guessing you got into PhD program in East Asian studies?

Yeah, the letter didn't specify a visit day.

[PDCU]

Yeah, the letter didn't specify a visit day.

 

Ah, I see. Well, if you do decide to go to UCI, let me know! 

Edited February 26, 2013 by PDCU

[aec09g]

Don't lose hope! Schools send out different rounds of application letters. Best wishes for your Madison program. Yeah, Columbia is kinda notoriously bad for funding Master's programs. Well, hope things work out for you in the end. 

 

 

Unfortunately, news came in yesterday. Not accepted, as assumed. UW-Madison isn't really known for staggering like I had hoped. They do a huge bust of acceptances and then take their sweet, sweet time giving out rejections. 

 

And I hope things work out for all of us in the end! (: 

[fuujintoraijin]

Congrats! I'm leaning heavily towards Columbia at this point, so we may be cohort-mates.

It seems they're not doing a recruiting welcome day for prospective students, but I'm planning to go visit in April. Will you be visiting the campus at all? Have you already done so?

[MemoryQ]

Unfortunately, news came in yesterday. Not accepted, as assumed. UW-Madison isn't really known for staggering like I had hoped. They do a huge bust of acceptances and then take their sweet, sweet time giving out rejections. 

 

And I hope things work out for all of us in the end! (: 

Good luck with the rest of the schools. I think I'm pretty set to go to Chicago at this point. 

[thecoverdaleversion]

It seems they're not doing a recruiting welcome day for prospective students, but I'm planning to go visit in April. Will you be visiting the campus at all? Have you already done so?

I'm going to try to go in March, during my spring break. Yeah, I was hoping they would host something officially so we'd get to meet everyone else, but I guess this way we can attend classes, etc. and get a feel for how things normally are.

[PDCU]

So uhm... when can we expect Harvard and Stanford Masters to report back?

[next]

I think notification emails for Stanford will be sent out "around March 15" according to the admissions page I log into.

[aec09g]

Is anyone else waiting to hear back from Columbia's EALAC Master's Program? Even though the news generally comes around this time, I feel like the lack of communication from them (plus, a late POI letter) really put me out of the running. 

 

Also, what is the form for asking about funding when you get accepted? Should I email the program coordinator or my POI/person who emailed me my acceptance?

 

I don't want to sound demanding about money and funding. /:  

[kyjin]

Is anyone else waiting to hear back from Columbia's EALAC Master's Program? Even though the news generally comes around this time, I feel like the lack of communication from them (plus, a late POI letter) really put me out of the running. 

When I applied two years ago, I heard absolutely nothing from the program until I got my acceptance near the end of March.  I wouldn't write them off yet; the MAs at the Ivys tend to come later than other offers. 

Did you hear about any funding from UCLA? 

[Soycap]

I just got into Penn's EALC MA program today. I'm an art history China/Tibet/Buddhist person so I have a tough decision to make. I still have 4 schools to hear back from but at this point I'm torn between Penn and SOAS.

[aec09g]

When I applied two years ago, I heard absolutely nothing from the program until I got my acceptance near the end of March.  I wouldn't write them off yet; the MAs at the Ivys tend to come later than other offers. 

Did you hear about any funding from UCLA? 

 

 

No, not yet. I'm going to have to email them and see what funding options are available to me. I keep telling myself I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow. But I'm a little scared of hearing the news. I'll have time to sit down and write an educated email this weekend since spring break is starting up. So I'll just have to force myself to deal with the issue.  

[momosan]

Has anyone else gotten into the PhD program in Asian Literature, Religion, and Culture at Cornell? I am seriously considering going there.  

[posteggiesm]

Has anyone else gotten into the PhD program in Asian Literature, Religion, and Culture at Cornell? I am seriously considering going there.  

I did! It seems like an awesome program and the offer that I got was jis too amazing to turn down... Are you planning to visit? I'm thinking of going next week.

[momosan]

I did! It seems like an awesome program and the offer that I got was jis too amazing to turn down... Are you planning to visit? I'm thinking of going next week.

 

Cool posteggiesm! What kind of Japanese literature are you interested in? I am interested in Japanese and Taiwanese cultural studies, colonial studies, postcolonial theory, etc. 

 

I am not planning to visit because I've been to Cornell before. I can meet people from the program at the AAS conference in SD in a few weeks. But you should definitely visit if you haven't. 

[huayhangul]

Hi everyone I'm applying to PhD programs next year but I have a few questions. Will I be more competitive for admissions if I don't need language grants? I've been studying Korean and Chinese since I was seven years old because my parents thought (correctly) that Asia is the future and have native level in both of them now . I was curious if a department would find me more competitive because they would save money on me. Also what would I be more competitive for? I originally was planning on doing a PhD in comparative east asian politics my undergraduate degree is in International Relations from Georgetown's WSFS and I have been working for a defense contractor for the past 2 years. But my heart is really set on folklore. But since I have no degree in anthropology or literature I am worried that I won't be taken seriously. My gpa from georgetown was a 3.7 and my GRE is very high. I already made a list of universities I plan to apply to next year but I'm really getting anxious about all of this. 

[posteggiesm]

Cool posteggiesm! What kind of Japanese literature are you interested in? I am interested in Japanese and Taiwanese cultural studies, colonial studies, postcolonial theory, etc. 

 

I am not planning to visit because I've been to Cornell before. I can meet people from the program at the AAS conference in SD in a few weeks. But you should definitely visit if you haven't. 

 

I mostly focus on representations of marginalized identities within Japanese literatures and films through the lens of multiculturalism, postmodernism, postcolonialism and gender and sexuality studies. 

 

I'm assuming that you also hope to work with Naoki Sakai? 

[aec09g]

Hi everyone I'm applying to PhD programs next year but I have a few questions. Will I be more competitive for admissions if I don't need language grants? I've been studying Korean and Chinese since I was seven years old because my parents thought (correctly) that Asia is the future and have native level in both of them now . I was curious if a department would find me more competitive because they would save money on me. Also what would I be more competitive for? I originally was planning on doing a PhD in comparative east asian politics my undergraduate degree is in International Relations from Georgetown's WSFS and I have been working for a defense contractor for the past 2 years. But my heart is really set on folklore. But since I have no degree in anthropology or literature I am worried that I won't be taken seriously. My gpa from georgetown was a 3.7 and my GRE is very high. I already made a list of universities I plan to apply to next year but I'm really getting anxious about all of this. 

 

I don't think they will think you are "saving them money." More so just saving them time in the PhD earning process. fluency is a great thing to have, especially in two languages. If those are the two areas you want to focus your interests on.

 

Having graduated from Georgetown, with high a GPA, and a good GRE score are good bonuses to your application. Have you done research? Do you want to do research? What do your LORs look like? (side note: when you apply, make sure they are aware of what you want as well. Provide a SOP if you'd like.) 

 

International Relations is what I would consider a pretty much a political, diplomatic study of the twentieth/twenty-first century. So it would be a good background for anyone who wants to do comparative East Asian politics. However, I think you should always do the thing you are most interested in. You don't want to get into a long program and absolutely hate what you are doing with your life and burn out.

Besides, just because your undergraduate program doesn't match up with what you really want, that doesn't mean you can't do it. I had a friend who got into (admittedly) a low but still tier 1 history PhD program but working under someone rather famous in the field who graduated with a degree in Psychology. 'Besides you have a SOP area where you can explain how your background fits and complements your current interests/goals. You have fluency to study folklore which is great A+. If you never took any culture, anthropological, literature, folklore, film, et cetera classes and have done zero research in the area, it will not look very good. I admit that entrance to a PhD program on that basis is shakey. If you wrote a kick ass writing sample with research on that area, it would be better-ish chances. 

 

A MA program might rectify this, but I'm not really sure.

 

Of course this is all speculation. Anyone else can chime in here for their POV. 

 

A lot of this has to do with you. Your interests are your interests. Find out what you want to do with your interests, specifically. Then figure out what kind of programs could get you to the end goal. Because in the end your competitiveness as an applicant really depends on the kind of program you apply to. 

 

Oh, and if you have a list of programs you like, once you figure out your plan of what you want do, start contacting your POIs and start asking them for advice for your scholastic career. How to reach goal X and Y, and how you think working them might you help you achieve Z. POIs can really let you know if a program is or is not for you, pretty fast. If you can't determine that based on the website's available information that is.

 

All right, I'm done. Sorry I'm long winded and probably tangent-y. /: 

[huayhangul]

Thanks for the fast response. I haven't really thought about MA programs because I'm quite sure I could afford to go if I didn't get funding. My LORs are really solid, both are top experts in their field and both have personally invited me to do work with them while I was at Georgetown. Both keep in contact with me even after I left and they both said they have an interest in my future. One even said that if I decided to join the foreign service corps he could guarantee me a position in whatever embassy I wanted to go to. So I couldn't really ask for more from them. I took some culture classes when I went abroad to Japan and China. I enrolled at Tokyo University for a semester at Zhejiang University for a semester. In Zhejiang I enrolled in the Chinese literature department. The thing is is that I do like politics and I know that if I chose that path I would have a really solid future. But at the same time I'd rather publish collections of Chinese and Japanese folktales and ghost stories

[aec09g]

Thanks for the fast response. I haven't really thought about MA programs because I'm quite sure I could afford to go if I didn't get funding. My LORs are really solid, both are top experts in their field and both have personally invited me to do work with them while I was at Georgetown. Both keep in contact with me even after I left and they both said they have an interest in my future. One even said that if I decided to join the foreign service corps he could guarantee me a position in whatever embassy I wanted to go to. So I couldn't really ask for more from them. I took some culture classes when I went abroad to Japan and China. I enrolled at Tokyo University for a semester at Zhejiang University for a semester. In Zhejiang I enrolled in the Chinese literature department. The thing is is that I do like politics and I know that if I chose that path I would have a really solid future. But at the same time I'd rather publish collections of Chinese and Japanese folktales and ghost stories

 

No problem. I lurk here often during this application cycle. Looking for other peoples news and distracting myself, while I wait to see if I have a funding offer.  

 

I understand your uncertainty. I started getting very interested in media as of the last year, and I've normally had a strong focus on social history in Japan, so this growing interest in manga and the arts. Or kamishibai. It's a lot of blending on fields, so I'm struggling to find a way to use both and have them complement each other. /:

 

Anyways, your LORs sound fantastic, and your background abroad with culture classes could be nice bonuses.

 

I think the best way to see what you want to do is talk things over with a LOR you trust most. I talked with my undergraduate thesis adviser (LOR writer) and a new faculty member I became close to after the application cycle about how they felt about my plan for the future, what programs would be best for me, et cetera. Also, talking with POIs was such a huge eye opener for me into understanding the program and what they want.

 

Long story short. It sounds like you are making a lot of headway, but start talking to POIs that you may not work with at a school/program but are in your field of interest. Ask for advice; reach out. Most are nice, informative and happy to give some advice, and if they aren't, they ignore your email. Besides, if things go well, they may be future colleagues! 

 

Oh, and it gives you an excuse to talk to a scholar that you may have had a fan girl style crush on his research. And then you freak out when said scholar responds and tell that your project X sounds really interesting and that you should consider talking to scholar Y and Z.  (; 

[huayhangul]

And last night was one of those what am I going to do with my future nights. I had dinner with one of my LOR professors last night and he offered to set up a meeting with me and Secretary of State John Kerry!!! I was shocked and my professor was basically saying how my future should be in international politics and how I can make a big difference etc etc. After dinner I was on cloud 9 until I got home and saw all the folklore and legend books I bought when I was in Asia and got super super depressed. 

[momosan]

I mostly focus on representations of marginalized identities within Japanese literatures and films through the lens of multiculturalism, postmodernism, postcolonialism and gender and sexuality studies. 

 

I'm assuming that you also hope to work with Naoki Sakai? 

 

Yeah! Good to hear somebody with similar interests might join the same program.

[Soycap]

And last night was one of those what am I going to do with my future nights. I had dinner with one of my LOR professors last night and he offered to set up a meeting with me and Secretary of State John Kerry!!! I was shocked and my professor was basically saying how my future should be in international politics and how I can make a big difference etc etc. After dinner I was on cloud 9 until I got home and saw all the folklore and legend books I bought when I was in Asia and got super super depressed.

I struggle with this too! But I think I've decided that I'll just have to love contemporary Japanese literature as a part of my life but not my career, while I study East Asian art history. But being on cloud 9 after that dinner does indicate a passion in the political side, etc! So you'd probably be happy in either!

Edited March 11, 2013 by Soycap