Maccabeus Posted March 11, 2015 Posted March 11, 2015 Hi all! New to the forums. So I also was accepted to the MA in Middle Eastern studies at UChicago with a half tuition scholarship. Long-term goal is a PhD in ANE/Hebrew Bible. Currently finishing my undergraduate degree at a small, private, not well-known school. So I'll be coming out of my undergrad debt-free and don't actually have any formal background in Near Eastern studies. I realize that the typical advice is "if you have to pay for grad school, don't go." But I was wondering if that really applied to my situation? I only have a bachelor's degree (or will in 2 months) and I haven't actually "gotten my feet wet" in ANE studies (undergrad is in a related field however). It's pretty unrealistic to expect a PhD offer with my current academic background. Is it wise for me to go ahead and accept the offer to Chicago? I figure if I end up with just a bachelor's and master's degree from Chicago with some debt, that can't be all bad? And at the same time I THINK (correct me if I'm wrong) that there aren't many better schools than Chicago that one can attend to make them a competitive PhD applicant in ANE studies? Also, to others who were accepted to the MA in Middle Eastern Studies at Chicago: on the site they mention that many students receive full-tuition scholarships for the second year. Does anyone know how frequent this is, or if this is the typical and generic "scholarships are available!" empty promise that schools use to reel in first year students? Look forward to (hopefully) studying with some of you! An MA from UChicago will be invaluable when you are applying to PhD programs. Half tuition is not a bad deal, especially since it will put you in the right position to pursue fully funded phd programs. Unless you have a fully funded offer from another tier 1 school, then I would take Chicago's offer.
FirenzeF Posted March 11, 2015 Posted March 11, 2015 Hi everyone! New here, and I'm hoping I'm posting this in the correct thread, I've had a hard time finding the right one. I've applied for the NELC program at UCLA with a focus on Egyptology and the Egyptology program at Johns Hopkins. I was wondering if anyone knows when we should be hearing back? I can't seem to find any results or result dates anywhere.
anydaynow Posted March 11, 2015 Posted March 11, 2015 Firenzef, I wish I knew too. I'm awaiting the decision from NELC/Hebrew Bible. Based on the results search of past years, we should be hearing from UCLA NELC anytime now. Best of luck to you.
FirenzeF Posted March 12, 2015 Posted March 12, 2015 anydaynow (what an appropriate name hah!), I'm happy to find someone else on the same boat. I'm hoping to find out by next week or I might have to email, as I have received a very attractive offer but was given a very short deadline to make my decision. Best of luck to you as well!
Jebreel Posted March 13, 2015 Posted March 13, 2015 FYI decisions for Georgetown's M.A. program in Contemporary Arab Studies are up on the application portal; anyone else get in?
HindSh Posted March 13, 2015 Posted March 13, 2015 Yep! But wasn't offered any funding--unclear if those decisions come at a later date or if I'm just out of luck.
Jebreel Posted March 14, 2015 Posted March 14, 2015 A funding offer was included in my e-mail -- tuition remission scholarship, which is different from FLAS; perhaps that fellowship will be announced later?
HindSh Posted March 14, 2015 Posted March 14, 2015 Did you receive an email separate from the "hey your admission decision is online," or was the funding included in the letter that's on the website? And congratulations!
Jebreel Posted March 14, 2015 Posted March 14, 2015 Did you receive an email separate from the "hey your admission decision is online," or was the funding included in the letter that's on the website? And congratulations! Sorry, HindSh, I misspoke -- it was a second letter that followed the offer of admission linked on the application portal: "Upon the recommendation of the Admissions Committee, I am pleased to approve your admission to the M.A. in Arab Studies program, effective with the Fall 2015 Semester. Be sure to print or save a copy of this letter for your future reference. I am also pleased to inform you that you have been selected to receive a merit-based Graduate School financial aid award. More information about your award and how to accept it is detailed in the financial award letter that will follow. "
luxiel Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 I am new to this thread/forum as well, and I would also like to know if anyone has heard from JHU from Egyptology/Near Eastern Studies. I called two weeks ago and they said that the decision would be out now. Then I called today and they said another two weeks. Hoping someone has heard by now...
tomasdavis Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 admit to Georgetown MAAS, waitlisted for funding
anydaynow Posted March 19, 2015 Posted March 19, 2015 Re: UCLA NELC Called the department last night about decisions and the nice girl on the phone said that decisions were submitted for processing earlier in the week and that they should be posted in the next day or so. Sure enough, found an email at 4:55 this morning with a link to the decision letter. It was a standard form letter regretting to inform me ... You get the picture. A hearty congratulations to those who were accepted.
FirenzeF Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 anydaynow, I'm sorry to hear, but thanks for the update on the situation! Re: Johns Hopkins Egyptology I have been told they've mailed out results already and they should arrive within the next couple of days, so be on the look out.
Melkisedeq Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 Was anyone on here accepted to UC Berkeley NES? And if so, have you heard about your funding package yet?
LongTimeNoSee Posted April 1, 2015 Posted April 1, 2015 Has anyone else not yet heard from JHU? Any kind of update would be very appreciated.
Jebreel Posted April 13, 2015 Posted April 13, 2015 Has everyone made their decisions? I'll be doing an M.A. at NYU next year!
HindSh Posted April 14, 2015 Posted April 14, 2015 MAAS at Georgetown, fingers crossed I get off the funding waitlist! Super excited for the program.
Jebreel Posted April 15, 2015 Posted April 15, 2015 Congratulations, HindSh and Maccabeus! Both are wonderful programs.
zhartley Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 MA in (Ancient) Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago! Anyone else?
tt_ Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 Congrats, everyone! I'll also be doing an MA at CMES at the University of Chicago. I'm doing the ancient track with a focus on ancient Egypt. What's your focus, zhartley?
zhartley Posted April 17, 2015 Posted April 17, 2015 Well, I applied to the NELC PhD in Hebrew Bible/Near Eastern Civ., but I had no expectations of getting in (I was assuming I'd end up doing an MA at Brandeis or Toronto). Luckily this new Ancient CMES MA seems to be pretty ideal for preparing for a PhD in ANE studies, especially since the funding is pretty generous for an MA. But yeah, my focus would be on Israel's religious history. As far as my current interests, I wanted to look at the changes in Israel's religious beliefs over time and how they interacted with the religious ideas of the cultures around them, especially under Babylonian hegemony. As an undergrad at a school that didn't put much emphasis on research... (LOVED my school, but they just weren't about that life) I was completely in the dark when I wrote my statement of purpose. So, what I rattled off as far as a potential dissertation topic was "using modern theories of intertextuality (understanding "texts" broadly to refer to any cultural feature) to model Israel's religious change during the Exile." Pretty much just the most pretentious way imaginable of saying, "how religions change." Figured with Chicago's obsession with theory it might go over well. But yeah, all primarily with the end goal of exegesis in the book of Ezekiel and the Pentateuch. I'm assuming your language will be Middle Egyptian? No chance you'd be taking.... Akkadian? Also, have you met any other CMES students? Any idea how big the cohort is? What they're like? I'm currently pretty ill-informed about everything so far because I've been up to other things...
Arm457 Posted June 27, 2015 Posted June 27, 2015 For all you guys, who got accepted into a Masters program in Middle Eastern Studies, what did your objective scores look like? (GPA, GRE?) I'm wondering if I'll be competitive for the tippy top programs with a 3.7 and 160Q/160V, thanks!
lelick1234 Posted July 17, 2015 Posted July 17, 2015 For those accepted into the MAAS at Georgetown, what were your stats? I earned a 3.89 GPA at Top-40 university and 165 V /120 Q, and have spent four years living in Egypt? Would I be decent candidate? What should I improve to gain acceptance or funding?
Maccabeus Posted July 25, 2015 Posted July 25, 2015 (edited) I think you have a typo. You can not score lower than a 130 on the quantitative section of the GRE and that's if you don't get any question right. With that said, it's hard to judge how competitive you'll be without knowing every aspect of your app and every app that is applying to the MAAS at Georgetown. However, I would say you have a strong GPA and your verbal is where it needs to be. It also depends on your writing score. Good luck! Edited July 25, 2015 by Maccabeus
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now