Applying MA in Latin American Studies

[elaecarioca]

Hello, this is my first post - I recently graduated from UC Berkeley with 3 majors: Political Science, Latin American Studies, Spanish Literature.

My research interests are in post-cold war politics, theories of democracy, contemporary social movements and neoliberalism - I particularly focus on post-Pinochet Chile and the most recent waves of social mobilizations. I would be interested in studying new technologies/media (their use in social protests), subnational challenges to the neoliberal status quo and the ideological/intellectual left in Latin America.

Personal Background: first generation, low-income, part indigenous. I lived in Argentina/Mexico for 13 years, studied 2 years in Chile (U of Chile, PUC), one summer in France (sociology) and I speak fluent Spanish and Portuguese, some French. Worked 20-30 hours during the school year so I didn't have as much time to dedicate myself to research projects but I have solid literature reviews, observational research from Chile (I heavily participated in the 2011-12 student movement) and term papers on the subject.

My overall GPA is 3.55 (a little low?)

major GPA's are: 3.5 (PS), 4.0 (LAS) & 3.45 (Spanish Lit).

GRE: 85th Percentile (trying to improve it up to 90th percentile)

Recommendations: very great from 2 historians, one from a literature professor/director of Chile program. 

I don't feel like my stats are strong enough to apply directly to a top PhD program. My training in research methodologies is not as strong as I'd like it to be either - so i'm applying for MA programs to strengthen my application, gain more research experience and then apply for a PhD in either Political Science, History or Sociology at Berkeley, U of Chicago, Columbia, Yale, Stanford, NYU. My fiancé just committed to Harvard for her PhD so somewhere on the east coast is preferable.

MA Choices: Latin American Studies 

Georgetown

U of Texas Austin

U of Chicago

NYU

UC San Diego

UCLA

Anyone apply to these recently? What does your funding look like? Others doing similar MA-then PhD track to strengthen their prospects? Should I take a chance and apply to PhD programs as well? Or other potential schools that may be a fit? (Anyone attend Tulane, U of North Carolina?)

[elaecarioca]

May not have mentioned this but currently working as Library staff at UC Berkeley so I'm considering a dual MA-MLIS, then PhD - potential career fields: research librarian, archival work - working with the National Security Archive would be a dream. My fiancé is committed to a career in academia and i'm not as certain. Realistically, archival work will assure that we both are employable at a major university / I can find work to pay off student loans.

[rising_star]

Most of the MA programs you listed don't offer funding. You might have better luck finding funding by applying to a discipline-specific MA program (so doing a MA in history, anthropology, sociology, geography, etc.). If you want to stay on the East Coast, I'd consider all of the potential institutions, so places like CUNY, UConn, Brown, Brandeis, Clark, UMass, Bostun University, etc. They may not have exactly what you're looking for but, I think that's part of what doing a MA can help with (in terms of figuring out your interests and what field best suits you). Given your language training, you may be able to work as a Spanish instructor through that department, especially at a public institution, which could help you pay for your MA. 

[Lady Rowena]

Hi. I would do what most calls to you. If you're not sure about academia, an MA or an MLS is a great place to start. On the other hand, if you think you're ready for the commitment to the Ph.D., I would apply to a couple of programs at least. I didn't think I'd be accepted with a B.A., but I was. Also, your fiancé just made a big commitment to be in the Cambridge area for a while, so why don´t you concentrate on schools within a certain distance. It is true that you can sometimes be able to work as a language instructor at a public university. That´s what I´m doing. In other words, my department wasn't able to offer me funding, but I got an AIship in the Spanish Department. Suerte!

[elaecarioca]

On February 21, 2016 at 7:53 PM, rising_star said:

Most of the MA programs you listed don't offer funding. You might have better luck finding funding by applying to a discipline-specific MA program (so doing a MA in history, anthropology, sociology, geography, etc.). If you want to stay on the East Coast, I'd consider all of the potential institutions, so places like CUNY, UConn, Brown, Brandeis, Clark, UMass, Bostun University, etc. They may not have exactly what you're looking for but, I think that's part of what doing a MA can help with (in terms of figuring out your interests and what field best suits you). Given your language training, you may be able to work as a Spanish instructor through that department, especially at a public institution, which could help you pay for your MA. 

Thanks for the response, I've seem some posts where people have mentioned that they have gotten funding for a LAS MA at UCLA and partially at U of Texas. If anything, I'll make sure to apply to a broad set of programs to avoid taking out loans. I'll consider Spanish instruction as well! Thanks. 

[PoliticalOrder]

On 2/21/2016 at 9:53 PM, rising_star said:

Most of the MA programs you listed don't offer funding. 

That simply is incorrect. I know for a fact that UChicago, UT Austin, UCLA, and UC San Diego all offer funding to incoming LA Studies students. 

If the OP is interested in knowing more about these schools, feel free to PM me.

[twentysix]

On 2/20/2016 at 4:12 PM, elaecarioca said:

Hello, this is my first post - I recently graduated from UC Berkeley with 3 majors: Political Science, Latin American Studies, Spanish Literature.

My research interests are in post-cold war politics, theories of democracy, contemporary social movements and neoliberalism - I particularly focus on post-Pinochet Chile and the most recent waves of social mobilizations. I would be interested in studying new technologies/media (their use in social protests), subnational challenges to the neoliberal status quo and the ideological/intellectual left in Latin America.

Personal Background: first generation, low-income, part indigenous. I lived in Argentina/Mexico for 13 years, studied 2 years in Chile (U of Chile, PUC), one summer in France (sociology) and I speak fluent Spanish and Portuguese, some French. Worked 20-30 hours during the school year so I didn't have as much time to dedicate myself to research projects but I have solid literature reviews, observational research from Chile (I heavily participated in the 2011-12 student movement) and term papers on the subject.

My overall GPA is 3.55 (a little low?)

major GPA's are: 3.5 (PS), 4.0 (LAS) & 3.45 (Spanish Lit).

GRE: 85th Percentile (trying to improve it up to 90th percentile)

Recommendations: very great from 2 historians, one from a literature professor/director of Chile program. 

I don't feel like my stats are strong enough to apply directly to a top PhD program. My training in research methodologies is not as strong as I'd like it to be either - so i'm applying for MA programs to strengthen my application, gain more research experience and then apply for a PhD in either Political Science, History or Sociology at Berkeley, U of Chicago, Columbia, Yale, Stanford, NYU. My fiancé just committed to Harvard for her PhD so somewhere on the east coast is preferable.

MA Choices: Latin American Studies 

Georgetown

U of Texas Austin

U of Chicago

NYU

UC San Diego

UCLA

Anyone apply to these recently? What does your funding look like? Others doing similar MA-then PhD track to strengthen their prospects? Should I take a chance and apply to PhD programs as well? Or other potential schools that may be a fit? (Anyone attend Tulane, U of North Carolina?)

UCSD does a pretty good job of hodgepodging together a full ride through varied employment, GSR/TA. From what you said in your post I would think you have a very strong chance of getting in there, provided you have professors in mind that fit your research interest.

I don't know how much funding UCLA's program offers, but they do offer scholastic merit fellowships that cover tuition + stipend. They may have additional funding through GSR/TA, but I don't know cause I didn't elect to go there.

 

Apply for the PhD's you want to do, and apply to a few LAS MA's as backups. At least at UCSD, applying to a PhD in one department and an MA in another is no problem at all.

There is a current LAS master's student finishing her thesis at UCSD that has interests that align with yours. If you would be interested in being put in contact with her PM me. I don't log into grad cafe often though, so apologies in advance if I don't respond in a timely manner.

[dan_aqp]

On 20/2/2016 at 7:12 PM, elaecarioca said:

Hello, this is my first post - I recently graduated from UC Berkeley with 3 majors: Political Science, Latin American Studies, Spanish Literature.

My research interests are in post-cold war politics, theories of democracy, contemporary social movements and neoliberalism - I particularly focus on post-Pinochet Chile and the most recent waves of social mobilizations. I would be interested in studying new technologies/media (their use in social protests), subnational challenges to the neoliberal status quo and the ideological/intellectual left in Latin America.

Personal Background: first generation, low-income, part indigenous. I lived in Argentina/Mexico for 13 years, studied 2 years in Chile (U of Chile, PUC), one summer in France (sociology) and I speak fluent Spanish and Portuguese, some French. Worked 20-30 hours during the school year so I didn't have as much time to dedicate myself to research projects but I have solid literature reviews, observational research from Chile (I heavily participated in the 2011-12 student movement) and term papers on the subject.

My overall GPA is 3.55 (a little low?)

major GPA's are: 3.5 (PS), 4.0 (LAS) & 3.45 (Spanish Lit).

GRE: 85th Percentile (trying to improve it up to 90th percentile)

Recommendations: very great from 2 historians, one from a literature professor/director of Chile program. 

I don't feel like my stats are strong enough to apply directly to a top PhD program. My training in research methodologies is not as strong as I'd like it to be either - so i'm applying for MA programs to strengthen my application, gain more research experience and then apply for a PhD in either Political Science, History or Sociology at Berkeley, U of Chicago, Columbia, Yale, Stanford, NYU. My fiancé just committed to Harvard for her PhD so somewhere on the east coast is preferable.

MA Choices: Latin American Studies 

Georgetown

U of Texas Austin

U of Chicago

NYU

UC San Diego

UCLA

Anyone apply to these recently? What does your funding look like? Others doing similar MA-then PhD track to strengthen their prospects? Should I take a chance and apply to PhD programs as well? Or other potential schools that may be a fit? (Anyone attend Tulane, U of North Carolina?)

Hi Elaecarioca,

I would suggest you look up the PhD in LALS at UC Santa Cruz. One of its concentrations is in social movements, there are a couple of professors that study social movements in South America, and the director of the program is a Chilean professor that does research about neoliberalism in post-transition Chile with a post-structuralist approach. If I can help feel free to PM me, I can contact you with people from that department. I have also heard good things about the Ethnic studies PhD programs at UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, and the LAS MA program at Vanderbilt University.