EALC - Fall 2016

[milktea1993]

Hi everybody!

 

It seems that no one has started a thread for this year so...here we go!

 

I'm a recent graduate of UC Berkeley with a BA in Chinese and Japanese and a minor in Architecture History.

I'm planning on applying to some graduate programs in Chinese Studies with a focus on modern literature and pop culture but I'm not sure what would be a good choice—a MA or a PhD? Also, I've heard that PhD's tend to be competitive for those without MA's. On the other hand, I've been told by a grad student from Berkeley that the MA is usually for students who want to up their language skills of which I am pretty much fluent (both Chinese and Japanese in modern and classical)

Also, I have a list of schools that I'm considering on applying to here:

 

UCLA~MA

USC~ PhD

Princeton~PhD

Cal~PhD

Harvard~PhD

UPenn~PhD 

UW Seattle~MA

UMich~PhD

UChicago~PhD

Stanford~PhD

Columbia~PhD

Yale~MA

WashU, ~PhD

Georgetown~MA

 

I would kind of like a safety school or two to apply to but I'm not too sure which schools have good programs in my field that can be considered a safety...

 

And just because everybody else seems to do this, here are some stats: 

GPA: 3.75 (in EALC: 3.92);

Awards: Valedictorian in EALC, Huang Scholarship, Deans Honors

Studied abroad at Beijing Normal University

*I haven't taken the GRE yet but any advice on that would be helpful as well!

 

Thank you all!

[PoliticalOrder]

Are you sure you want to pursue a Ph.D. in a X studies program? The job market is tough enough as it is, it's even tougher for those who don't do a Ph.D. in a traditional discipline. 

[kyjin]

Hi machacreampuff! Since you have a number of language skills under your belt, why not try applying to a mix of PhD and MA programs? The fact of the matter is that language skills alone will not guarantee an admission or success in a PhD program; the skills you learn during an MA go beyond simple language training. Often times MA programs provide students with their first taste of graduate-level seminar courses and independent research, plus the experience of writing longer papers and theses. That said, I do see some students go straight into PhD programs with success. 

 

Your list you have is really long. What I suggest first off is to look at these schools and identify professors you'd like to work with. If a school doesn't have anyone in your field, it's probably not a good bet. You may want to contact professors at these schools with your interests and see if they think you're a viable candidate. Some may suggest to apply to MA programs first instead. Some of the schools you listed with PhDs also have related terminal MA programs in East Asian Studies or specific country studies (USC, Columbia, Yale, and Harvard I know for sure.) Many times these schools will bump students down to consideration to MA programs if you apply for PhDs and they decide you need more training. (This happened to me the first time I applied at the latter three; I did get an admission to Columbia's MA program). Another thing to keep in mind with MA programs: funding! Take a look at the thread from the last few years and there should be mentions of programs that provide funding for MAs. (UAlberta and USC are the two I know of on the top of my head.) If funding is a concern, those may be a consideration. After you've gone through all this, you should have a list of potential schools that is much more reasonable to tackle. (This "magic number" varies from person to person, but in my case I applied to 7 MA/PhD for my first round, 4 for PhD the second time around).

 

For everyone else who comes to this thread, I wish you luck this year with your applications! If anyone has any questions, I'm in a PhD program at USC, and I did my MA in EALC at UAlberta. 

[kyjin]

Are you sure you want to pursue a Ph.D. in a X studies program? The job market is tough enough as it is, it's even tougher for those who don't do a Ph.D. in a traditional discipline. 

Two things here- 1)The job market is tough, and this is something everyone, regardless of discipline for PhDs, should be aware of. Keep in mind alternatives even if you go into a PhD. Not everyone ends up with that tenure-track dream job.

 

But to take a bit of a step back from the doom and gloom, 2)consider other departments that may work with your field of study. For example, while my focus is Japan, I'm doing my PhD in History. My MA advisor suggested I go for a PhD in History as this will help for job prospects in the future as I am more likely to be hired by a History department, but also keeps me open to East Asian programs or Religion. Likewise, I know a few people who are focusing on Japan/China and are doing their degrees in Religion for similar reasons. Usually you can still take courses in the East Asian departments and work with faculty there (as you should!), but your final degree will be one that may be better for job prospects. Again, this depends on your research field, and is not applicable to everyone, but is something people should keep in mind. 

[milktea1993]

Hi machacreampuff! Since you have a number of language skills under your belt, why not try applying to a mix of PhD and MA programs? The fact of the matter is that language skills alone will not guarantee an admission or success in a PhD program; the skills you learn during an MA go beyond simple language training. Often times MA programs provide students with their first taste of graduate-level seminar courses and independent research, plus the experience of writing longer papers and theses. That said, I do see some students go straight into PhD programs with success. 

 

Your list you have is really long. What I suggest first off is to look at these schools and identify professors you'd like to work with. If a school doesn't have anyone in your field, it's probably not a good bet. You may want to contact professors at these schools with your interests and see if they think you're a viable candidate. Some may suggest to apply to MA programs first instead. Some of the schools you listed with PhDs also have related terminal MA programs in East Asian Studies or specific country studies (USC, Columbia, Yale, and Harvard I know for sure.) Many times these schools will bump students down to consideration to MA programs if you apply for PhDs and they decide you need more training. (This happened to me the first time I applied at the latter three; I did get an admission to Columbia's MA program). Another thing to keep in mind with MA programs: funding! Take a look at the thread from the last few years and there should be mentions of programs that provide funding for MAs. (UAlberta and USC are the two I know of on the top of my head.) If funding is a concern, those may be a consideration. After you've gone through all this, you should have a list of potential schools that is much more reasonable to tackle. (This "magic number" varies from person to person, but in my case I applied to 7 MA/PhD for my first round, 4 for PhD the second time around).

 

For everyone else who comes to this thread, I wish you luck this year with your applications! If anyone has any questions, I'm in a PhD program at USC, and I did my MA in EALC at UAlberta. 

Hi kyjin!

Thank you for the advice. I was wondering as well what you think about the average GRE of people accepted into EALC programs...I can't find any good stats on that since EALC is a pretty small department at most schools.

Also, how do you think I should go about contacting professors? On another note, do you know if I should still contact professors who are "on leave"?

Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it! 

[kyjin]

 I was wondering as well what you think about the average GRE of people accepted into EALC programs...I can't find any good stats on that since EALC is a pretty small department at most schools.

Also, how do you think I should go about contacting professors? On another note, do you know if I should still contact professors who are "on leave"?

 

 

 

Unfortunately I don't know about average GRE scores. The fact of the matter is that the GRE is really the least important part of your application. Some schools may have a cutoff GRE score (which you may be able to find on the program site) or use them for scholarship consideration, but you shouldn't worry about it too much. The test has changed since I took it five years ago, so I don't know what the scores mean anymore either! ^^; 

 

As for contacting, go through department websites to find email addresses for POI. In your email, be sure to introduce yourself, explain that you're planning on applying to the program, and talk a bit about your background and research interests. There are some threads throughout the board that should prove useful as to what you should or shouldn't include. Be sure not to make your messages too long, and don't worry if you don't get replies or if they take awhile to respond. For professors on leave, you can email them as well, and inquire when they might be back/if they are taking students next year. 

 

Good luck!

Edited August 13, 2015 by kyjin

[fencergirl]

Hi, thanks for getting things started! I graduated in 2014 but have been doing the JET program for 2 years and am applying to grad school for the first time this year. I am mostly applying to History Ph.D programs, but also a couple EALC and master's programs. (I am interested in modern Japanese history primarily). 

So here's my list at the moment: 

• Boston College (History Ph.D)
• Columbia (History Ph.D)
• UCLA (History PH.D, maybe East Asian Studies master's)
• Northwestern U (History Ph.D) 
• Oxford (MPhil in Modern Japanese Studies)
• University of Toronto (East Asian Studies Ph.D)
• Yale (East Asian Studies MA)

I am worried that my language skills are not up to snuff yet - I passed N3 last December and am studying for N2. My undergrad GPA was 3.9 but I was not at a very competitive school. I did do a 50 page undergrad thesis which I presented at a local conference. I took the GRE before coming to Japan and got 321, which I think is fine. I found Magoosh pretty helpful (they have video tutorials and lots of practice questions, and the site tracks your progress).

Like I said, it's my first time applying and honestly I'm not sure if I'm very competitive, so I really appreciate any advice!

 

[Quyuan00]

Hi, everyone! I see a couple of you are thinking of applying to the MA program in East Asian Studies at Yale. I graduated from that program a couple of years ago and am now in a PhD program elsewhere - feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about it; I'd be glad to help out if I can! 

[MastersHoping]

Hi Quyuan00! Thanks for offering to help, much appreciated!

 

What are your research interests at Princeton? I am contemplating applying, although it seems that the EAS program is very heavily history and literature based and I'm very interested in political science although modern history, particularly political history, interest me quite a bit as well. 

 

Incidentally, I applied to the Yale MA program last year but wasn't accepted XD currently at a different MA Asian Studies program. 

[Quyuan00]

Hi, MastersHoping! I'll shoot you a private message

[milktea1993]

Hi, everyone! I see a couple of you are thinking of applying to the MA program in East Asian Studies at Yale. I graduated from that program a couple of years ago and am now in a PhD program elsewhere - feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about it; I'd be glad to help out if I can! 

Hi Quyuan00! Thank you for offering your guidance~ :DD

[fencergirl]

So, how many schools are too many? I have 10-11 now (8 doctorate programs, 3 masters programs), but do plan on narrowing down a little based on what I hear back from POIs. Since some departments take such small cohorts each year, it seems to make sense to apply to more schools. But I am a little worried about getting all the statement of purposes done (and what ever else they require..) and the work it makes for my letter writers. 

[kyjin]

So, how many schools are too many? I have 10-11 now (8 doctorate programs, 3 masters programs), but do plan on narrowing down a little based on what I hear back from POIs. Since some departments take such small cohorts each year, it seems to make sense to apply to more schools. But I am a little worried about getting all the statement of purposes done (and what ever else they require..) and the work it makes for my letter writers. 

It really depends from person to person. Not only do you have to worry about the statement of purposes and your letter writers, but consider the cost: GRE score reports for each institution, the application fee itself, transcript costs, etc. When I did my first round of PhD/MA apps, I applied to 7. In retrospect, I should have cut two or three that really didn't fit. (Plus I was reaching too hard with too many PhD programs when I didn't have an MA.) For my second round with just PhDs, I applied to four and got into two. For that round, I really limited myself to programs that fit with my interests (which in my field, there are very few to begin with.) I see a lot of people apply to 6-8 programs on this board, but again, be sure that all of your schools work with your interests.

[withoutdoing]

Hello all! machacreampuff, I'm interested in your area of focus, since mine is similar, at least in terms of time period. Have you thought about what you want to research/write on eventually? And did you have any professors in the field you really liked at UC Berkeley? That's one of the places I'm going to apply. 

I'll be applying for 2016 PhD programs, and I want to study Chinese Internet culture with a focus on Internet language/humor and how it is evolving with modern technology/networking sites. I'm also interested in speculative fiction and other less "established" fiction genres, like web literature and fan fiction. I did Asian Studies (focus Chinese) for my BA, lived in China for a few years and also did the first year of a three year masters program in Chinese language and (contemporary) literature at Peking University (I left because I was ready to be back in the US at the time, but my grades were decent so they may count as some kind of credit, I hope!). I have (or had) conversational Japanese and studied it through the 4th semester, but I'll probably need to relearn it for any kind of grad school use. 

Right now I'm trying to narrow down the list of schools I apply based on which professors might be good research fits, but tentatively:

Columbia, UC Berkeley, Stanford, UC Irvine, UCLA, Harvard

I'd be interested to hear from current students who are at any of those schools, or elsewhere, about professors who focus on the Chinese Internet. I know of a couple whose work I've read at UC Irvine and Berkeley, but as far as the rest I only know of Lydia Liu (Columbia), who doesn't do Internet stuff exactly but does really interesting work on language evolution in other time periods. 

Best of luck to everyone and I look forward to going through this process together!

[milktea1993]

Hello all! machacreampuff, I'm interested in your area of focus, since mine is similar, at least in terms of time period. Have you thought about what you want to research/write on eventually? And did you have any professors in the field you really liked at UC Berkeley? That's one of the places I'm going to apply. 

I'll be applying for 2016 PhD programs, and I want to study Chinese Internet culture with a focus on Internet language/humor and how it is evolving with modern technology/networking sites. I'm also interested in speculative fiction and other less "established" fiction genres, like web literature and fan fiction. I did Asian Studies (focus Chinese) for my BA, lived in China for a few years and also did the first year of a three year masters program in Chinese language and (contemporary) literature at Peking University (I left because I was ready to be back in the US at the time, but my grades were decent so they may count as some kind of credit, I hope!). I have (or had) conversational Japanese and studied it through the 4th semester, but I'll probably need to relearn it for any kind of grad school use. 

Right now I'm trying to narrow down the list of schools I apply based on which professors might be good research fits, but tentatively:

Columbia, UC Berkeley, Stanford, UC Irvine, UCLA, Harvard

I'd be interested to hear from current students who are at any of those schools, or elsewhere, about professors who focus on the Chinese Internet. I know of a couple whose work I've read at UC Irvine and Berkeley, but as far as the rest I only know of Lydia Liu (Columbia), who doesn't do Internet stuff exactly but does really interesting work on language evolution in other time periods. 

Best of luck to everyone and I look forward to going through this process together!

Hi withoutdoing!

My undergraduate thesis advisor was the primary professor in modern Chinese literature and culture in the EALC department. His name is Andrew F. Jones but I don't think he does much research on Chinese Internet culture. You can always go ahead and shoot him an e-mail though. [Note: He's on leave at the moment.] However, I would suggest looking at the Asian Studies MA instead for UC Berkeley. You might have better look looking at that department because your field seems more interdisciplinary. I know that Prof. Xiao Qiang at the School of Information who is one of the faculty for the Asian Studies dept does research on Chinese social media. You can take a look at her bio through a Google search. Other than that, I don't really suggest UC Berkeley for your field but the best thing to do would be to e-mail some professors and ask them straight on.

Good luck!

[fencergirl]

How is everyone doing with their applications?? I'm still contacting POIs and have had a couple positive responses so far which is great! Also working on a statement of purpose, though I think it'll end up being very different from school to school. I'm not sure if I'm behind in the process or doing fine... There's definitely still plenty to do! At least I've taken the GREs already.

[withoutdoing]

You're ahead of me, fencergirl! I'm taking the GRE in a few weeks. Right now I'm relearning all the math I've forgotten over the last 11 years (since my last formal math class...). 

Contacting potential professors has helped me narrow down the list of schools too, which is good. I've also been emailing some students I know who are already in programs, to ask if they have any advice about the process as people who've experienced it - I got recs for two books, Get What You Came For and The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research. I'm going to try to finish both over the next few weeks so I can let you know if they have interesting advice!

One professor I contacted suggested I check out UBC and SOAS, which both have professors doing cool stuff in my field, but I can't really live outside the country so long or my boyfriend would lose his green card. A lot of people have encouraged me to consider only the quality of the program, not the location, but at least for me I need to be somewhere I like in order to get the most out of work or school. 

[fencergirl]

Yeah relearning math for the GRE was tough! Actually the math isn't that complicated but the questions are.

Emailing POIs and grad students is super helpful but also pretty stressful for me. I don't want to say the wrong thing and make a bad impression! I know I'm overthinking it though. Yeah, let me know what you think of the books! I've heard the first one mentioned a lot.

Of course location matters a lot! You'll be living there at least 5 years, it's not going to work if you're miserable. It's not the only factor, but it is still an important one I think.

I have a question about hobbies: is there any appropriate place to mention these in an application, or is it unprofessional to even include it? I ask because my hobbies (ceramics and kendo) are at least tangentially related to my area of study (Japan).

[withoutdoing]

I don't know about grad school applications, but a while back I added "Able to run 26.2 miles without stopping and lift moderately heavy boxes" under the "skills" section of my resume right after Microsoft Office proficiency - it came up in two different job interviews, in both cases the interviewers seemed to find it funny and it was a bit of an icebreaker! 

I've been doing a lot of emails and it seems to be a learning process - machacreampuff was totally right, I should be looking at more interdisciplinary programs. So far I have made some headway finding a good fit at one school but I'd like to find at least 2 or 3 viable options, so the emailing continues! 

[fencergirl]

Thanks! Online guides to CVs usually say not to include it but a couple grad students/professors have mentioned that it's nice to give show some non-academic interests. I guess I'm leaning slightly towards not including it on my CV and perhap maybe mentioning it in just a sentence or two in my SOP? I don't know.

Yes the emails never end, do they? But it's been very helpful and I've been humbled by how receptive the POIs and grad students I've emailed have been. I even have a Skype "talk" coming up with one of them (of course that's pretty nerve-wracking in it's own way!)

Where's everyone along in their applications? I'm really trying to finish my SOP for my first school this week, but it's tough! Doesn't help that I haven't done academic writing in a couple of years now I guess.

[withoutdoing]

So far I've taken the GRE, reached out to potential advisers, got the go-ahead from about half, and more or less finalized the list of schools to apply to from there (either 5 or 6, still debating about one where a prof hasn't gotten back to me yet).

For my sample I'm just going to use an excerpt from something I've already published, and I've started thinking about my SOP now but haven't actually typed anything beyond the title ("Statement of Purpose", ha) but that's on my to-do list today. 

Are you leaning toward any school in particular, fencergirl? Looks like we overlap by one (UCLA). I'm leaning west coast, but I'm going to wait to pick favorites until I know where I'm admitted. 

 

[fencergirl]

I hope the GRE went well! I'm satisfied with my score but apparently after the final adjustments my verbal score went down by one point and my quantitative up by one point. Random. Haha.

My list has changed a bit since I posted it! I'm leaning away from U of T for lack of funding. I've added Vanderbilt and UCSC for History Ph.D. programs and USC for their East Asian Masters program. 

I'd love to stay on the West Coast as that's where my family is, but ultimately I'll go to the place with the best research fit and funding that I get into. Northwestern is high for those reasons, but it's ultra-competitive. Boston College is also high on my list and not quite as competitive.  Still, I've been living away from my family in Japan for two years so it would be great to be closer to home... Like you said, we'll see where the chips lie after admissions and rejections come through!

I did finish up a draft of my SOP that I am actually happy with and sent it to my letter writers. Some schools require/recommend a diversity statement as well so I'm starting that. And I have to somehow edit my writing sample down to 10 pages for UCLA! (Wouldn't it be great if they all asked for the same things?)

I didn't contact anyone at a couple schools I'm interested in (including UCLA!) but now I feel like it's too late and kind of awkward. I'll still apply though and reach out if I need more info after finding out if I'm admitted or not I guess. 

[withoutdoing]

I've been continuing to send out emails, even though it is getting closer to turn-in time.  I contacted two professors yesterday and both got back to me within 24 hours, which is much quicker than any of the earlier replies I got. Maybe it's a good time, since it's after midterms, before the end of the semester, and later than most other applicants are sending out feelers? Although I definitely feel like I should have started this whole process sooner. GRE was OK, and most importantly, it's over! 

Good luck, fencergirl! Hopefully funding is negotiable - I know someone who said she talked to her preferred school about better funding she received elsewhere and they were able to find her something to match it. I think we overlap by two now (USC and UCLA) so maybe we'll meet in LA someday!

[withoutdoing]

Zhaonini - I honestly have no idea. Some professors I contact, I thought would be a good match, but they suggested I apply elsewhere, while others I thought were more long shots were surprisingly receptive. I've decided I'm just not going to have a good idea about things until the results come in. 

As for applications, I mailed in the final envelope of materials yesterday (to Hawaii) and am looking forward to relaxing a bit over the holidays. I saw on a previous thread that some programs began to contact students as early as January, and others as late as early March. Fingers crossed for hearing as soon as possible. How is everyone else doing?

[fencergirl]

To me it seems like it's okay if your interests are not an exact match as long as they have the knowledge and willingness to advise on your specific interests. That professor might have been hinting you'd be a better fit at other schools, or perhaps that was just general application advise! Hard to know. I find it best not to overanalyze what professors write in emails though - it'll only make you crazy!

I've got 3 applications in but still have 6 more to go (3 this month and 3 in January). A few are really reach programs which I have no expectation of getting into, and a few I think (hope) I have a really good chance at! We'll see how it all works out. I do want to have all the applications pretty much good to go before I go on winter vacation though! At this point it's mainly tailoring my statements of purpose and editing my writing sample to the different specific lengths. I'm impressed you are all done, withoutdoing! Nice job, that must feel great