AnUglyBoringNerd Posted February 15, 2018 Posted February 15, 2018 Columbia (EALAC, History - East Asia program) is sending out admissions via phone calls! I believe they picked Chinese New Year's Eve on purpose to "make an entrance" - I thought I was gonna have a third (yes, third!) interview and was super nervous throughout the day... Good luck everybody and Happy Chinese New Year! Woof Woof! (I know, I am supposed to be a cat person ) Naito 1
Naito Posted February 15, 2018 Posted February 15, 2018 (edited) Ah, I almost forgot! Happy New Year! 恭賀諸公 稱心如意，美夢成真，金玉滿堂，更上層樓，名列前茅，加官晉爵，五福臨門，六六大順！！！ Edited February 15, 2018 by Naito
Kaiwei Posted February 15, 2018 Posted February 15, 2018 Thanks for the congrats, folks! And leave it to Harvard to break hearts on Valentine's day... 春节快乐！
Naito Posted February 15, 2018 Posted February 15, 2018 Actually, one of my favorite dramas (and the sole reason why I want to go to Harvard -- lol JK!), is 러브스토리 인 하버드. To be more serious, it's probably the reason why I studied Korean lol. I can imagine myself as 김현우 (법과학생) hahaha. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Story_in_Harvard
kotatsumuri Posted February 15, 2018 Author Posted February 15, 2018 Wooooo! Congrats @AnUglyBoringNerd!! Columbia's program sounds really great (I emailed with a current student back in the fall). AnUglyBoringNerd 1
mxiongturquoise Posted February 15, 2018 Posted February 15, 2018 (edited) Happy Lunar New Year, everyone! Edited February 15, 2018 by mxiongturquoise kotatsumuri, Naito, AnUglyBoringNerd and 1 other 2 2
kotatsumuri Posted February 15, 2018 Author Posted February 15, 2018 Just heard from UPenn...rejected, as expected! Offered to consider me for the MA, but it's unfunded and I don't have that kind of moolah!! That was a pretty easy one to take. I'm just glad to be able to cross it off my list now. Bring on the rest!!! Now...where are those Princeton results?!?!
Naito Posted February 15, 2018 Posted February 15, 2018 10 minutes ago, mxiongturquoise said: Happy Lunar New Year, everyone! WOW! Excellent! This is the best 對聯 I have ever seen in my life!
Naito Posted February 15, 2018 Posted February 15, 2018 @kotatsumuri I'm so sorry to hear that. As for the unfunded MA, yeah, it's a cash cow, so I'm ready to reject it here.
Naito Posted February 15, 2018 Posted February 15, 2018 I'm slowly reaching the conclusion that if I don't get accepted to a reasonable program, I will wait for one more year, stay at my job, and re-apply next year. If that doesn't work out either, then I'm not meant to be in academia. At least I have tried and failed. Then no regrets and continue to climb up the corporate ladder.
mxiongturquoise Posted February 15, 2018 Posted February 15, 2018 32 minutes ago, Naito said: I'm slowly reaching the conclusion that if I don't get accepted to a reasonable program, I will wait for one more year, stay at my job, and re-apply next year. If that doesn't work out either, then I'm not meant to be in academia. At least I have tried and failed. Then no regrets and continue to climb up the corporate ladder. Thank you! Yeah I love that 對聯 as well--we all need it at this point. I might have to reapply next year: no acceptance so far. It is somewhat frustrating that even an MA at UChicago (where I was the cash cow) could not help me get into a Ph.D. program this year to work with the scholars I yearn to consult with, but looking back there is not a single moment that I'd regret having come to UChicago. I've grown so much here and encountered many amazing people. But if the program was not partially funded I wouldn't have come in the first place. Sigh...funding in the Humanities.... 事不過三；I'll give myself the last chance in 2018!
mxiongturquoise Posted February 15, 2018 Posted February 15, 2018 4 hours ago, costevens said: Thanks for the congrats, folks! And leave it to Harvard to break hearts on Valentine's day... 春节快乐！ Huge congratulations! It would be incredible to work with Ronald Egan.
Kaiwei Posted February 15, 2018 Posted February 15, 2018 Thanks, @mxiongturquoise! Ronald Egan is an incredible scholar, and I would love to work with him! And I love the 對聯 as well! What programs did you apply to?? My friend, who just did their MA at Columbia, has been rejected to 4/5 programs. I thought the whole point of going to a top program was to make the transition into a good PhD easier... I'm 有点儿糊涂 right now ... Apparently getting rejected the first time applying to PhD programs is a common occurrence, though. That really stinks! @Naito Ugghh, the corporate ladder... I'm not sure I could handle it (even though I work at a large tech. company now). I'm sure something will work out. You're a smart fella! (Definitely a nut, though!) And congrats, @AnUglyBoringNerd! It seems like you have some amazing offers there (and across disciplines, too)! 加油！
AnUglyBoringNerd Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 5 hours ago, costevens said: Apparently getting rejected the first time applying to PhD programs is a common occurrence Oh yeah, been there, done that. Can't say I enjoyed it, but I definitely learned and benefited from it. 5 hours ago, costevens said: And congrats, @AnUglyBoringNerd! It seems like you have some amazing offers there (and across disciplines, too)! Thank you and everyone else for your kind words! Actually I only applied to PhD programs in History, but my background is a bit complicated - I have no degree （and never got to minor）in History despite that I've already had more than one Master's degree. I applied to Princeton's EAS with a focus on History instead of to the History department so it's less likely that my interdisciplinary training (and my non-History disciplinary training) would play against me. Columbia's PhD program in East Asian history is quite unique, it is called “History - East Asia”, and is jointly hosted by the History department and EALAC, and applicants who applied to it (either through the History Department or EALAC) are put into the same pool, evaluated together, and enjoy the same treatment and obligation once admitted. Ugh I feel like I am already advertising for Columbia... ╰(￣▽￣)╭
BagelBabee Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 20 minutes ago, AnUglyBoringNerd said: Oh yeah, been there, done that. Can't say I enjoyed it, but I definitely learned and benefited from it. Thank you and everyone else for your kind words! Actually I only applied to PhD programs in History, but my background is a bit complicated - I have no degree （and never got to minor）in History despite that I've already had more than one Master's degree. I applied to Princeton's EAS with a focus on History instead of to the History department so it's less likely that my interdisciplinary training (and my non-History disciplinary training) would play against me. Columbia's PhD program in East Asian history is quite unique, it is called “History - East Asia”, and is jointly hosted by the History department and EALAC, and applicants who applied to it (either through the History Department or EALAC) are put into the same pool, evaluated together, and enjoy the same treatment and obligation once admitted. Ugh I feel like I am already advertising for Columbia... ╰(￣▽￣)╭ Hi everyone I’m new to this forum! May I ask which period of Japanese history are you working on? I have a similar background with you (no history major) and I’m working on modern Japanese history and received an interview from Columbia 2 week’s ago...although I got the admission from Brown (grateful!) but still waiting for Columbia’s results so badly....
AnUglyBoringNerd Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 21 minutes ago, BagelBabee said: Hi everyone I’m new to this forum! May I ask which period of Japanese history are you working on? I have a similar background with you (no history major) and I’m working on modern Japanese history and received an interview from Columbia 2 week’s ago...although I got the admission from Brown (grateful!) but still waiting for Columbia’s results so badly.... Welcome to the forum and many congrats on the Brown offer!!! I also work on modern Japan with interests in gender and sexuality, collective identity and memory, and modernity. I kind of have this feeling that Columbia only let me know yesterday bc it was the Chinese New Year’s Eve and I’m Chinese. And I was told official notification (at least that for me) will come out next week. Hope this helps!
abcdefghijklmno Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 @AnUglyBoringNerd Congrats!!! Guess you will be deciding between Chicago and Columbia? Or you're already leaning towards Columbia? Happy Lunar New Year to all!!!
Naito Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, AnUglyBoringNerd said: Actually I only applied to PhD programs in History, but my background is a bit complicated - I have no degree （and never got to minor）in History despite that I've already had more than one Master's degree. I applied to Princeton's EAS with a focus on History instead of to the History department so it's less likely that my interdisciplinary training (and my non-History disciplinary training) would play against me. @AnUglyBoringNerd This is very good to know, and made me feel a bit better (and less bitter) -- like you, I didn't major in what I'm going to study lol. I didn't major in Chinese Lit nor Japanese Lit or Korean Lit, and I'm neither Japanese nor Chinese nor Korean so I'm not sure if the adcom will think I have what it takes to study for a research degree in EALC using primary sources and literary theories. But I really love classical Chinese literature. I hope to be a disciple of 法家法學派 (vs. 勢、術學派）！I guess I should have applied directly to Penn's PhD; I'm not going to be a cash cow to pay for their PhD students! Paul Goldin might have taken me in already had I applied for a PhD at Penn. He's a 法家學派之集大成者 in the US! I was too cautious and didn't think I should apply for PhD programs, as I don't have any MA yet. Sigh, 悔之晚矣！！！ Professor Philip Kafalas of Georgetown majored in something totally unrelated (English) for his BA and only switched to East Asian Studies (MA) and started learning Chinese after college, and still managed a PhD in Chinese so I hope without a major in Chinese/Japanese I can still get admitted... Fingers crossed for your Princeton acceptance! 9 hours ago, costevens said: @Naito Ugghh, the corporate ladder... I'm not sure I could handle it (even though I work at a large tech. company now). I'm sure something will work out. You're a smart fella! (Definitely a nut, though!) @costevens Hahaha where I work is really like a "club" -- the most conservative bastion of corporate America. And you'll probably think one of my college friends a nut too: she majored in Economics (because her parents wanted her to) and graduated summa cum laude in the major, but spent all 4 years studying Japanese and got JLPT N1 without taking a single Japanese class. I think given enough time anyone can learn a language. Plus proficiency exams are so formulaic like any other standardized tests (e.g. GRE) where you can do a lot of mock exams and pass...I have HSK 6 (and Advanced HSKK) and TOCFL Band C but I can barely speak Chinese (same situation with some of my friends in Japan who have JLPT N1 but aren't fluent because they work for US companies and don't have a chance to practice Japanese at work at all)...I have a hard time understanding modern Chinese because they speak too fast and use too many slangs. But Classical Chinese is easy! It probably helps that I learned Japanese first before starting Chinese. The traditional characters help. Now if you remove all the hiragana and katakana from a Japanese sentence, you have something similar to Classical Chinese there. So just use the methods I told you and you'll become a nut soon, LOL! Edited February 16, 2018 by Naito
BagelBabee Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 4 hours ago, AnUglyBoringNerd said: Welcome to the forum and many congrats on the Brown offer!!! I also work on modern Japan with interests in gender and sexuality, collective identity and memory, and modernity. I kind of have this feeling that Columbia only let me know yesterday bc it was the Chinese New Year’s Eve and I’m Chinese. And I was told official notification (at least that for me) will come out next week. Hope this helps! Thank you for your reply! I’m working on a similar field and I guess they only take one student in the same field every year, so congratulations! Hope we can meet in somebody conference in the future!
kotatsumuri Posted February 16, 2018 Author Posted February 16, 2018 Welcome to the EALC fam, @BagelBabee! Congrats on your Brown acceptance and best of luck with Columbia!
Kaiwei Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) Welcome, @BagelBabee! And, yes, congrats on your acceptance to Brown! That's a great accomplishment Another day of waiting, folks... I'm pretty excited for these next two months to be over and decisions made. I feel lucky to be accepted to multiple programs, but I still obsessively check my email for the other 5 programs I'm awaiting answers from. It will be nice to have all the admits in front of me, so I can make the final decision and begin planning for the major life shift I'm about to make. Edited February 16, 2018 by costevens
bakedmanapua Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 Welcome to the fam, @BagelBabee! Congrats on Brown, and good luck with Columbia/any other schools you're waiting on! Do keep us updated I feel you, @costevens! I only have three more to go but I'm ready to have all my options in front of me.
Naito Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 I think no one on here applied to UVA, but I was told that the UVA admission committee has met and decisions will be sent out in 2 weeks. If funding doesn't work out I'm going to go to UVA and pay in-state tuition.
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