Asian Studies 2010

[syakai59]

Thank you!

Actually, I haven't gotten the formal admission letter yet, but faculty have been in contact with me. There was no interview. If you've been wait-listed, there's still a chance you'll get in, so don't give up yet!

[syakai59]

Anyone else has heard from Columbia?

[brouhaha]

Rejected from Yale MA :'(

[chnsguy]

Rejected from Yale MA :'(

brouhaha, how did you hear? and did they say anything about acceptance numbers?

Edited February 23, 2010 by chnsguy

[brouhaha]

brouhaha, how did you hear? and did they say anything about acceptance numbers?

I got an e-mail directing me to the website where I got the same rejection letter they have for every student who applies. Very impersonal with no information on the program or numbers or anything.

[kandeya]

Anybody apply to Columbia's MEALAC?

[titaniasummer]

Anybody apply to Columbia's MEALAC?

Yup. I have. Not sure about it though. Their acceptance rate according to the Petersons site is 48%. Sounds absurdly untrue. However, I have been rejected by Berkeley with a kind personal email from my POI, which makes me doubtful of my chances at either UChicago or Columbia. I think I'll choose Minnesota over Washington because of a better fellowship offer.

How is it going for you kandeya? What is your research interest/background?

[kandeya]

Hey there,

Good to see there's another South Asianist around! My interests lie in globalization, the modern literature and film coming out of South India (my languages are Tamil and Telugu, with a smattering of Hindi somewhere in there), and trying to do some comparative work with Anglophone Indian literature, and basically seeing how it all comes together. I applied to a bunch of English departments and will probably be handily rejected by all of them.

I didn't apply to many South Asian departments, either because they had no South Indian language specialists or because they required an M.A (I'm looking at you, Wisconsin-Madison and UT Austin). Columbia looks super-interesting because of their focus on modern/contemporary issues. We'll see how my luck plays out.

I got my B.A from Chicago, so I can tell you first-hand that Chicago is pretty awesome--the SALC department is especially tight-knit. I hope you get in!

[Kumarila]

Hi Folks,

I too am a South Asianist. My languages are Sanskrit, Hindi and Bengali. I'm interested in the hermeneutics of Dayanand Saraswati (which informed the founding of the Arya Samaj) and how it shaped a modern Hindu nationalist identity. I have a BA in South Asian studies from the University of Virginia. I've applied to SALC, MEALAC, as well as UT Austin. I've also applied for the MA in HR at Chicago. Additionally, I've applied to a few history programs but don't really anticipate getting into them as my approach is better suited to philology (the programs are Harvard, Michigan and Berkeley).

Good luck to everyone.

[titaniasummer]

Hi Folks,

I too am a South Asianist. My languages are Sanskrit, Hindi and Bengali. I'm interested in the hermeneutics of Dayanand Saraswati (which informed the founding of the Arya Samaj) and how it shaped a modern Hindu nationalist identity. I have a BA in South Asian studies from the University of Virginia. I've applied to SALC, MEALAC, as well as UT Austin. I've also applied for the MA in HR at Chicago. Additionally, I've applied to a few history programs but don't really anticipate getting into them as my approach is better suited to philology (the programs are Harvard, Michigan and Berkeley).

Good luck to everyone.

Our languages are the same! *avoids competitive squint*

I'm currently working on my second Masters at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London where I am a Felix Scholar (a fellowship given to Indian graduates). My background is in literature and my proposed research has to do with contemporary retellings of the Mahabharata in Hindi Drama in the post 1947 period. I've been accepted into Minnesota and Washington for PhDs so far and I'm waiting for decisions from SALC and MEALAC.

Any idea on the timeline one can expect? Have you been in touch with faculty members?

[kandeya]

I contacted the graduate adviser person for MEALAC last week--they said that the adcomm were meeting this week, so maybe we'll hear something next week? And can I just say how awesome everyone's research interests are? So cool!

[titaniasummer]

You know what sucks immensely about MEALAC? They probably send out acceptances by feb end and rejections in April!! And judging by the gradcafe results, barely anyone gets in anyway. To top this, hoardes of people get into Columbia for unfunded masters and look down upon PhD rejects. Like the process is comparable!

Whew. Sorry for the rant.

[Kumarila]

Just heard from Berkeley and UT Austin; rejections both. I was able to attend a conference at Columbia during the winter, and met a few of the people with whom I'd like to work, but did not have the opportunity to talk to anyone at length. I wish you both the very best with all the programs to which you've applied.

[titaniasummer]

Just heard from Berkeley and UT Austin; rejections both. I was able to attend a conference at Columbia during the winter, and met a few of the people with whom I'd like to work, but did not have the opportunity to talk to anyone at length. I wish you both the very best with all the programs to which you've applied.

I was turned down by Berkeley too, keep your chin up! UT Austin actually told me that I'd be under-qualified for their PhD because my Indian and British Masters (both of them!) were not 'up to American standards', which is just extremely odd. Good luck for MEALAC.

[kandeya]

I got waitlisted for UT Austin's English department, and have been rejected from all the other English departments I applied to so far, a curse upon this bad economy. I also wonder how accurate gradcafe's results for MEALAC are--there just aren't a lot of them, and it's quite possible that none of them could have come from South Asianists, given the much stronger and larger applicant pool for the Middle Eastern bit of MEALAC. So don't despair before it's time to, I'd say.

What's SOAS like, titaniasummer?

[sashmpp]

Have you guys heard anything about UPenn's SAS program? I'm thinking about doing a Masters there but I'm curious about the reputation of the program and the number of PHD students that come out of their masters program...

[titaniasummer]

I got waitlisted for UT Austin's English department, and have been rejected from all the other English departments I applied to so far, a curse upon this bad economy. I also wonder how accurate gradcafe's results for MEALAC are--there just aren't a lot of them, and it's quite possible that none of them could have come from South Asianists, given the much stronger and larger applicant pool for the Middle Eastern bit of MEALAC. So don't despair before it's time to, I'd say.

What's SOAS like, titaniasummer?

SOAS is great actually. My Hindi professor is very reputed in her field, Dr. Orsini. Her mere endorsement has got me three absurdly early positive decisions from Purdue, Minnesota and Washington. I think doing a Masters before applying is always a good idea, some of the other applicants have said this as well. My Masters at SOAS has entirely broadened and shaped my perspective.

I also think its fairly rare for Indians from India to want to study South Asia even in India, let alone abroad. I don't understand why so many Indians take their automatic native proficiency with 3-5 languages for granted. In India, there is this conception of an educational pyramid that places Engineering and Business Management at the pinnacle with regional literatures way down at the bottom. It's really a pity that I've had to come to SOAS to find the right tutelage but I'm not complaining! SOAS is really excellent.

[kandeya]

Have you guys heard anything about UPenn's SAS program? I'm thinking about doing a Masters there but I'm curious about the reputation of the program and the number of PHD students that come out of their masters program...

My friend is currently doing his Ph.D at Penn's SAS and has no complaints. I would've applied for their Ph.D myself, but decided to apply to the English department, which turned out to be a fantastically poor decision, given that they got an incredibly high number of applications this year and cut their cohort size in half. But their faculty and the diversity of the languages taught there is pretty impressive--and there are several people with joint appointments to other departments, which is something I always like. The consensus of the forum suggests a master's can't hurt you as far as doctoral admissions go, so I'd say it'd probably be worth looking at.

[titaniasummer]

I wrote to Columbia and received a reply from the MEALAC graduate advisor saying decisions will be out by mid-March.

[kandeya]

damn, that's a bit of a wait. hopefully it'll be good news for all!

[dodovov]

Anyone has news from RSEA,Harvard? It seems like someone has received offer from RSEA from the result search.

[JBrodsky]

Long-time lurker here. Found out I'm "through to the next round" for RSEA. I'm not really sure what that means, but this was the only Asia-focused program that I applied to, on recommendation from a professor. I'm pretty stoked, though worried about lack of funding.

[WaitingImpatiently]

Long-time lurker here. Found out I'm "through to the next round" for RSEA. I'm not really sure what that means, but this was the only Asia-focused program that I applied to, on recommendation from a professor. I'm pretty stoked, though worried about lack of funding.

How did you find out?

[FDT]

You know what sucks immensely about MEALAC? They probably send out acceptances by feb end and rejections in April!! And judging by the gradcafe results, barely anyone gets in anyway. To top this, hoardes of people get into Columbia for unfunded masters and look down upon PhD rejects. Like the process is comparable!

Whew. Sorry for the rant.

NO! Actually that is not the case. I just talked to the DGS today, and unfortunately, found out that I am wait-listed and have to wait with very low odds. But they just came up with their decisions yesterday afternoon. So, if you are in, you will hear in 4-5 days, and if not in 10 days you are not in.

Good luck.

[titaniasummer]

NO! Actually that is not the case. I just talked to the DGS today, and unfortunately, found out that I am wait-listed and have to wait with very low odds. But they just came up with their decisions yesterday afternoon. So, if you are in, you will hear in 4-5 days, and if not in 10 days you are not in.

Good luck.

Wow, I was told specifically that I will know by Mid-March. So I guess I can safely assume I'm out. Could you share your profile in any case?