EALC - Fall 2016

[withoutdoing]

I was relaxed for about two days, fencergirl, and since then I have been a ball of nerves. Maybe it's just the push I need to really start getting serious about meditation. Hawaii got back to me and said that their PhD program only takes applicants who already have MAs, which rules me out - after all that combing over online information, I'm surprised I missed that! So I asked to be considered for the MA instead. How are your applications going? Hope you have had a stress-free holiday period!

I have been combing through admissions info on this site and elsewhere, and it appears calls for interviews and preliminary acceptances begin to go out in late January and continue through early March. To pass the time until then I've decided to take another stab at writing a fantasy novel, about an orphan who attempts to overthrow the order of assassins that raised her...

[StrumundDrang]

On 2015. 11. 4. at 10:57 AM, fencergirl said:

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. 

Hi, fencergirl. I'm an applicant for East Asian Studies and History programs too. I've applied a few schools and had U of T in my plan. Could you tell me what is the funding problem of U of T?

[fencergirl]

I'm feeling pretty relaxed after turning in 8/9 applications. Still have one left - (Oxford!) I am nervous about hearing back though and about interviews, but that still feels far away. 

U of T also generally requires a Master's first, which I don't have, which is one of the reasons I didn't end up applying. The professor I emailed about my chances of getting accepted without an M.A. didn't get back to me. 

StrumundDang, hope your applications are going well! My issue with the funding at U of T is they only guarantee $15,000 a year (T.A.-ship included http://www.eas.utoronto.ca/information-for-students/graduate-funding-scholarships/). That is not nearly enough to live on in a city like Toronto and almost guarantees that you'd need to take on additional loans (unless you luck out with some extremely generous outside scholarship perhaps?). Compare this to grad programs like Northwestern, which offers a stipend of $29,000 for first years and Columbia which offers $26,286 (for History Ph.Ds.) Of course we are all going to grad school to pursue our academic passions and not money but I don't want to be in debt and living below the poverty line either.

Graduate student TAs went on strike at U of T because of these issues. (opinion piece about it here:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/strike-averted-for-university-of-toronto-teaching-assistants/article23223061/).

Anyway, if you are strongly interested in the program, you can still apply and see what funding you are offered or what you are able to get from other sources. Best of luck!

[StrumundDrang]

Thank you so much fencergirl! It really helped. In my case, I would still take a shot on U of T and find out any chances for additional money. Actually, I am expected to be granted a master's degree this August, and luckily POI told me it would be fine.

I turned in 5/6 applications.(except U of T) I actually got an interview suggestion from one of my first choice institution, tomorrow afternoon. I think it is not an official interview, but my POI suggested me a meeting and I'm so nervous! Best of luck fencergirl and thank you again for a helpful information!

[fencergirl]

Yes, there are always outside scholarships/fellowships etc! I'm looking at some to apply for now but some had their deadlines already last fall. I'm also applying to Oxford for an Msc program where I'm likely to get very little funding if any... A lot of scholarships are for either UK/EU students only or for "research" (i.e. doctorate) programs only. if I get a funded Ph.D. offer I think I will most likely accept that instead but I would really really like to go to Oxford!

An interview, even informal, is great news I think! Congratulations. That definitely means they are at least interested. Best of luck, hopefully we'll be reporting back successful results in a few short weeks/months!

[StrumundDrang]

On 2015. 12. 11. at 3:51 PM, fencergirl said:

On 2016. 1. 13. at 4:22 PM, fencergirl said:

Yes, there are always outside scholarships/fellowships etc! I'm looking at some to apply for now but some had their deadlines already last fall. I'm also applying to Oxford for an Msc program where I'm likely to get very little funding if any... A lot of scholarships are for either UK/EU students only or for "research" (i.e. doctorate) programs only. if I get a funded Ph.D. offer I think I will most likely accept that instead but I would really really like to go to Oxford!

An interview, even informal, is great news I think! Congratulations. That definitely means they are at least interested. Best of luck, hopefully we'll be reporting back successful results in a few short weeks/months!

Thank you! I was so nervous during my interview.

By the way, have you applied for Columbia GSAS either? I did, but my status of application is still incomplete due to the lack of official scores of GRE and TOEFL.(since I am international student, I had to take TOEFL for the application.) I wonder if other applicants have same problem with me.

 

[Jovant]

On 2016/1/7 at 5:42 AM, StrumundDrang said:

Thank you so much fencergirl! It really helped. In my case, I would still take a shot on U of T and find out any chances for additional money. Actually, I am expected to be granted a master's degree this August, and luckily POI told me it would be fine.

I turned in 5/6 applications.(except U of T) I actually got an interview suggestion from one of my first choice institution, tomorrow afternoon. I think it is not an official interview, but my POI suggested me a meeting and I'm so nervous! Best of luck fencergirl and thank you again for a helpful information!

May I ask which school it was? Thanks!

[fencergirl]

8 hours ago, StrumundDrang said:

 

Yes, I also applied to Columbia. My application status page says "It can take time to process materials. We appreciate your patience and ask that you wait four (4) weeks following the application deadline for materials that were sent separately, such as test scores, transcripts, and recommendations, to appear as having been received."

So if you sent the scores and it hasn't been 4 weeks yet I wouldn't worry. If it has been 4 weeks, email them to find out. I submitted my application on the due date and my GRE scores were not matched for about a week (but I had sent them more than a year ago, when I took the GRE).

USC's master program contacted me this week to ask if I had sent my transcript - (I had, about 3 weeks ago prior). They emailed back that they have a 3 week "processing time" on their end for transcripts, but allowed me to send a PDF version until the official one was processed. So if you did send the materials I wouldn't worry too much, but if it's been several weeks maybe try contacting them.

 

[StrumundDrang]

3 hours ago, fencergirl said:

 

 

Yes, I've submitted my score report in November, and submitted my materials on the due date too(12/15). Since it already passed 4 weeks, I e-mailed them about this problem but still no answer... I'm a bit worried about this.  Maybe I should call them if there are any other problems. Other institutions which I reported at the same time with Columbia already received my score reports, so I think it is not a matter of ETS. By the way, it is tiresome to check email hundreds of time a day. Ha...  

[StrumundDrang]

9 hours ago, Jovant said:

May I ask which school it was? Thanks!

It was a school in Boston. I think it was not an official interview. It was more like a meeting for evaluating my English speaking skill, since I'm an international student from Korea.  

Edited January 15, 2016 by StrumundDrang

[fencergirl]

If you haven't heard back from them after a few days, I would go ahead and call the admissions office. It's possible/likely that they have received the scored but not matched them to your application yet or they have matched them but haven't updated the computer yet. Also if you have a hyphen or space in your last name (I do) that can sometimes confuse the system.

I'm trying not to check my email much more than usual. I think it'll likely be a couple more weeks before I start hearing results, but who knows?

[StrumundDrang]

41 minutes ago, fencergirl said:

 

 

You're right. I should call the office tomorrow.  Hope we get pleasing results soon!

By the way, I have saw your posting that your primary interest is modern Japanese history. I also have interest on Meiji intellectual history!  Which specific period are you interested in?

 

[Jovant]

So far I heard that Harvard and WUSTL have sent out interview invitations already...

[daniel345]

Has anyone heard from UCSB, UMich, Ohio State, Columbia, USC, Minnesota, or UT Austin? I applied to these schools and haven't heard anything. :?

[StrumundDrang]

1 hour ago, daniel345 said:

Has anyone heard from UCSB, UMich, Ohio State, Columbia, USC, Minnesota, or UT Austin? I applied to these schools and haven't heard anything. :?

I've applied for Columbia and UMich, but haven't heard anything yet either....

[kyjin]

2 hours ago, daniel345 said:

Has anyone heard from UCSB, UMich, Ohio State, Columbia, USC, Minnesota, or UT Austin? I applied to these schools and haven't heard anything. :?

USC has selected their short list, but I'm not sure if they've released the info yet. 

[daniel345]

@StrumundDrang @kyjin Thanks so much for sharing the info. it’s super helpful. I saw 1 UCSB Interview, 1 UMich Interview, and 1 Columbia Interview on the result board. Anyone want to claim them and/or share any details?

Edited January 31, 2016 by daniel345

[StrumundDrang]

 

7 hours ago, daniel345 said:

@StrumundDrang @kyjin Thanks so much for sharing the info. it’s super helpful. I saw 1 UCSB Interview, 1 UMich Interview, and 1 Columbia Interview on the result board. Anyone want to claim them and/or share any details?

I've applied for Umich dept. Asian Languages and cultures, but haven't saw any interview report. Have you?

[daniel345]

4 hours ago, StrumundDrang said:

 

I've applied for Umich dept. Asian Languages and cultures, but haven't saw any interview report. Have you?

Yes, “UMichigan Ann Arbor Chinese (East Asian Languages And Literature), PhD (F16) Interview via E-mail on 18 Jan 2016 U 21 Jan 2016”

[fencergirl]

Unless you know that interviews are definitely part of the admission process at that school, I wouldn't stress too much! I think these result posts can be confusing as they are sometimes just informal contact from a POI rather than official interviews. I wasn't interviewed for Northwestern even though others had posted that they had been, and I was just accepted! 

[withoutdoing]

On 1/31/2016 at 10:48 AM, fencergirl said:

Unless you know that interviews are definitely part of the admission process at that school, I wouldn't stress too much! I think these result posts can be confusing as they are sometimes just informal contact from a POI rather than official interviews. I wasn't interviewed for Northwestern even though others had posted that they had been, and I was just accepted! 

Congratulations fencergirl!! That must feel great!

I had also been a bit worried about not getting contacted for interviews, but I'm reminding myself it's still early. While waiting I've been keeping busy with climbing and NEKO ATSUME. Anyone else addicted to that game? It's so simple but in a good way (I think). 

[fencergirl]

Yes it feels great! Though at this point I probably won't be attending an EALC program since I only applied to EALC master's programs and I've been accepted to a couple History Ph.D. programs already. I hope you'll keep me on as an honorary EALC-er though

I saw a couple admits and a couple rejects for UC Berkeley on the results page, hope some of you were admitted! I think most of my programs will notify in another couple weeks... Even though I've already got acceptances the wait is still killing me haha.

[daniel345]

15 hours ago, fencergirl said:

Yes it feels great! Though at this point I probably won't be attending an EALC program since I only applied to EALC master's programs and I've been accepted to a couple History Ph.D. programs already. I hope you'll keep me on as an honorary EALC-er though

I saw a couple admits and a couple rejects for UC Berkeley on the results page, hope some of you were admitted! I think most of my programs will notify in another couple weeks... Even though I've already got acceptances the wait is still killing me haha.

Congrats, fencergirl! (I am still waiting. And it is killing me.) Anyone want to claim those acceptances or share their interview experience?

[mendoksai]

2 hours ago, daniel345 said:

Congrats, fencergirl! (I am still waiting. And it is killing me.) Anyone want to claim those acceptances or share their interview experience?

I posted one of those acceptances! Received an email from Berkeley yesterday that i've been accepted for fall 2016! Still waiting on FLAS results though. They said that they would notify us by late March.

Good luck everybody!

[StrumundDrang]

It seems like many of dear EALC/HIstory applicants are hearing good news from great programs! Congrats all! 

I haven't heard a bit from any institution yet, and I saw an admission report of U of Toronto's East Asian Studies PH.D. I guess I'll have to admit that I didn't make it. I'm having really hard time since U of T was one of my top choices among the institutions that I had applied for.