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East Asian Studies 2015


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Sukasa,

 
Per what you mentioned on programs you have applied to I would expect nothing financially higher than Georgetown's fellowship, and my general bar for funding expectations would be much lower across the board. Although within SFS, MASIA is in a somewhat unique position that seems to make it an outlier vs. funding schemes at SAIS, SIPA, etc. Admittedly not familiar with GW's program though.
 
Re: TA/ RA positions you may be able to find within Georgetown broadly speaking but unlikely specifically within MASIA- classes are generally small and profs do not use TAs. As mentioned there are plenty of options in DC- one of the strongest draws of SFS, SAIS, etc.- but we're talking internships and almost all unpaid.
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I have a PhD offer from UPenn. It's definitely the easiest way out and me and my adviser's interests match really well, but the Harvard RSEA also sounds so tempting because Harvard is just so good for premodern China studies. What do you guys think? =)

 

Did RSEA offer you funding? I think a lot depends on that -- if you have to take out loans to do it, definitely don't go. If you got funding from Harvard, press Penn for an answer about funding.  

 

I said this before, but, while I think RSEA is a great program for a lot of reasons, if you're already sure you want to go on to a PhD and you have a competitive PhD offer, I'd definitely recommend going straight to PhD. There is a lot to be said for gaining the contacts of an MA at a different institution and the experience of writing an MA thesis, so I don't know, maybe this is just me, but I'm exhausted of applying to schools, of moving every year, of getting older without seemingly getting any closer to a settled career -- I only felt this somewhat before doing the MA (and I didn't apply to PhDs during my MA cycle since I was switching time periods) but now I feel it very strongly. Doing an MA might make you a better scholar in the long run and I don't regret it, but there's a lot of anxiety and precarity involved in my experience. 

 

If you really want to work with Harvard's premodern China people, it's possible to do year-long (or semester-long?) visits among the Ivy League if you're at an Ivy League school (with permission from advisors etc of course.) I don't know the details but I've heard of people doing them! 

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Did RSEA offer you funding? I think a lot depends on that -- if you have to take out loans to do it, definitely don't go. If you got funding from Harvard, press Penn for an answer about funding.  

 

I said this before, but, while I think RSEA is a great program for a lot of reasons, if you're already sure you want to go on to a PhD and you have a competitive PhD offer, I'd definitely recommend going straight to PhD. There is a lot to be said for gaining the contacts of an MA at a different institution and the experience of writing an MA thesis, so I don't know, maybe this is just me, but I'm exhausted of applying to schools, of moving every year, of getting older without seemingly getting any closer to a settled career -- I only felt this somewhat before doing the MA (and I didn't apply to PhDs during my MA cycle since I was switching time periods) but now I feel it very strongly. Doing an MA might make you a better scholar in the long run and I don't regret it, but there's a lot of anxiety and precarity involved in my experience. 

 

If you really want to work with Harvard's premodern China people, it's possible to do year-long (or semester-long?) visits among the Ivy League if you're at an Ivy League school (with permission from advisors etc of course.) I don't know the details but I've heard of people doing them! 

thanks haha. that is what i think too! i just can't bother with another application process and the extra moving. Plus i have had enough studying for the sake of good grades and an impressive application.

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By the way, can you guys advice on how to reject an offer?? I have to respond to the email sent by my POI. Is it a good idea to say what school you are attending instead?

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So I just talked to the PhD coordinator at the UW Jackson school, and he told me that last week they were deciding the funding issue, and that candidates will be contacted this week. Hope that helps.

Edited by deltaqsquared
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U Washington FLAS awards from the East Asian Center are out, I'm placed on an alternate list for Korean, and I'm applying to the Masters program. Looking forward to hearing some of you out there announce plans to accept other offers!

Edited by blooscorn
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Hello! Will anyone be going to the AAS in Chicago this year?

I'm planning on going alone...Seeing as the raison d'etre of these things is to meet people, feel free to PM me if you'll be there. Maybe we can meet up.

 

Cheers!

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So I just talked to the PhD coordinator at the UW Jackson school, and he told me that last week they were deciding the funding issue, and that candidates will be contacted this week. Hope that helps.

 

This is very helpful! Thanks! Do you know if this applies to MA programs also?

 

U Washington FLAS awards from the East Asian Center are out, I'm placed on an alternate list for Korean, and I'm applying to the Masters program. Looking forward to hearing some of you out there announce plans to accept other offers!

 

Good to hear! I can also confirm preliminary FLAS offers are coming out. Good luck to you Blooscorn! Keep us updated on your app!

Edited by jonebone
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Hi all! This is my first time posting on Grad Cafe, but I've been lurking the forums for a while... Figured it's time to start talking.

 

I've received acceptances from USC and Georgetown for East Asian Studies (MA), but I'm quite torn over the two. USC has offered me the TA Fellowship (a generous stipend and tuition remission), while Georgetown hasn't offered me any funding (MAJOR kudos to you, Sukasa). It seems obvious that I should go for USC, but since I wasn't expecting to get into Georgetown I'm finding it difficult to part ways with what could be a very exciting and totally different experience.

 

ANY insight from current students at either of these programs, or people in the same boat? 

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Hi all! This is my first time posting on Grad Cafe, but I've been lurking the forums for a while... Figured it's time to start talking.

 

I've received acceptances from USC and Georgetown for East Asian Studies (MA), but I'm quite torn over the two. USC has offered me the TA Fellowship (a generous stipend and tuition remission), while Georgetown hasn't offered me any funding (MAJOR kudos to you, Sukasa). It seems obvious that I should go for USC, but since I wasn't expecting to get into Georgetown I'm finding it difficult to part ways with what could be a very exciting and totally different experience.

 

ANY insight from current students at either of these programs, or people in the same boat? 

 

If I were in your situation, I would think about what I want to do with this degree after I graduate. If you're aiming to join the government sector or the policy-making world, I would lean more strongly towards Georgetown because of its central location relative to nearby think tanks, government agencies, and embassies. If you're aiming to follow through with a doctorate, you're best bet is to draw up a list of target faculty at each school and make some inquiries about their current research, availability, etc.

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I am finishing my MSc in East Asian Relations at Edinburgh and would love to hear from anyone applying for or accepted to Harvard RSEA! I'm very interested in continuing to hone my work in Korean Studies there before taking the leap to my PhD.

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Hi All - I'm quite late to this thread...

Congratulations to everyone so far on their good news.

 

So, I thought I would be rejected, or at least not funded, by UCSB, and all the other programs I applied to were Communication, so I've been hanging out on those forums.

 

But turns out UCSB accepted me with a great package, so I'm likely going to be studying Daoism! However, it's a Religious Studies program, not an EAS program. My language skills aren't up to snuff for many EAS programs (I've long lost any Japanese proficiency, and really only have Chinese at a worthy level; no Korean or any other Asian languages), so I didn't apply to any. I'm also not very interested in politics, which a lot of the programs in my geographic area are focused on.

 

Anyone have similar interests?

I'll be learning Classical Chinese (no background, only modern Mandarin), and starting at the MA level, onto the PhD as a combined program.

 

Also, I know several people on this thread are looking at Security Studies and Foreign Service type programs. I'm a former FSO that was assigned to EA and would be happy to provide any info if it helps!

 

Best of luck to everyone!

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