I think Ohio State University's program might be less competitive than some of those: http://easc.osu.edu/contents/eas_degree_programs.html However, I am not sure how well it meets the types of classes you want to take.
Actually, my Japanese teacher went there and recommended them to me. I just was not sure how competitive they were because he teaches at a top school now. Thanks for the link!
I don't know exact rates, but I think you'll find that most MA programs in East Asian programs are not super competitive, mainly because they'll admit students without funding (which is usually reserved for PhD students). The programs you mentioned would be good fits for your interests. Assuming you articulate your interests clearly on your SOP, it seems like you shouldn't have much to worry about.
There are other programs at U of Illinois Urbana-Champagne, Washington University St. Louis, U of Texas Austin, U of Michigan... I don't know if you've looked at them. Stanford, Columbia, Harvard tend to have more 'competitive' MA programs in EAS, but it's not as hard to get in as you might think. You just have to expect to pay (up to $50K a year) for them.
I'm kind of figuring things out piecemeal by myself. When I was in undergrad I never thought I'd be applying to graduate school. I've bought some books, and I actually work with graduate students as my job so I ask them questions but they are all engineers so they can only give general advice. I'm not sure if you have time, but if I emailed you my sop would you have time to give it a quick look-over?
Yeah, and with graduate admissions, it definitely varies from field to field.
I'd be happy to look over your SOP, provided you're not in a hurry. I'm going to be occupied for at least the next 48 hours, but I can get to it later in the week. Just e-mail my LJ account [username]@livejournal.com.
i looked into UIUC, U Texas Austin, U Mich before (applying to the last one). U Mich is such a strong school all around I wasn't sure how competitive their EAS program was. I hadn't looked into Washington U St. Louis. Thanks for the tips!
UW has very competitive history and anthropology departments. I can't speak to that particular interdisciplinary program, but if it reflects these departments it will be quite competitive.
Yes, history and anthro at UW are tough because they're top notch programs, but the interdisciplinary MA (Jackson School?) is easier to get into, relatively speaking. I don't mean to say admission is guaranteed. But it's safe to say that funding is less a concern for MA programs in EAS -- rather, most of them (the ones worth their salt, anyway) are more concerned with improving the pool of applicants to PhD programs or non-academic positions. So when they look to admit a student, they're not thinking of big stakes like "Can we support this person in our program for the next 5-7 years?" but rather, "Will this person be able to demonstrate their potential in the next 2 years? Do they actually want what our program has to offer (to the extent that they may be willing to pay for it themselves)?" It's more like that.
From what the OP has posted previously, I think he/she is in a good enough position that 'competitiveness' of MA programs shouldn't be a major concern.
I didn't even read your response when I posted the above comment about UW, I was just responding to the poster based on my thoughts on those related departments. I just remember that even their UG program was competitive to get into. MAs are definitely much less competitive than PhDs, and certainly interdisciplinary programs can allow you to get through cracks that the departments themselves would not necessarily allow.
However, I believe that Jackson school is typically an IR based school and only offers terminal masters, which would not necessarily make it interdisciplinary in the traditional sense- and that would make the masters quite a bit more competitive than somewhere that had both MA and PhD and an "asian" department because you'll be competing with IR people. So I agree with you that it's easier overall, but I would think there would be many easier schools than UW to get into.
A student in my program went to the Jackson school (we are not an IR department) & got a lot of excellent interdisc. work done. He was an English lit major in college.
UW loses competitive admits because their funding situation, at least in EAS, is really, really bad.
I know that there is a southeast asian studies program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They also have a summer institute for southeast asian languages. I only know about this through looking at the program's website though.
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There are other programs at U of Illinois Urbana-Champagne, Washington University St. Louis, U of Texas Austin, U of Michigan... I don't know if you've looked at them. Stanford, Columbia, Harvard tend to have more 'competitive' MA programs in EAS, but it's not as hard to get in as you might think. You just have to expect to pay (up to $50K a year) for them.
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I'd be happy to look over your SOP, provided you're not in a hurry. I'm going to be occupied for at least the next 48 hours, but I can get to it later in the week. Just e-mail my LJ account [username]@livejournal.com.
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From what the OP has posted previously, I think he/she is in a good enough position that 'competitiveness' of MA programs shouldn't be a major concern.
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However, I believe that Jackson school is typically an IR based school and only offers terminal masters, which would not necessarily make it interdisciplinary in the traditional sense- and that would make the masters quite a bit more competitive than somewhere that had both MA and PhD and an "asian" department because you'll be competing with IR people. So I agree with you that it's easier overall, but I would think there would be many easier schools than UW to get into.
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UW loses competitive admits because their funding situation, at least in EAS, is really, really bad.
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