<p>Which is easier to get into?
I am double majoring in History and East Asian Studies. I have noticed that some schools like Columbia and Harvard have History (with specialization in East Asia), EALC (East Asian Laguages and Civilizations), and (harvard) Regional Studies focused on East Asia. </p>
<p>Which route gives an applicant like me the best shot? I should be asking which is easier to get into?</p>
<p>I am fluent in Korean (reading, speaking), I have taken Chinese throughout my undergrad, I have a good gpa.</p>
<p>Any information will be appreciated. I have talked with professors and they tell me different stories. I am just assuming that EALC would be the easiest since they have the most professors and it is a department specializing in East Asia that often incorportates professors who are teaching East Asian History as their faculty.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about which is easiest to get into. Worry about which programs will allow you to develop your specific interests. You may find that you want to apply to some of each type, depending on the university and the professors working in that department.</p>
<p>I am curious about something which is related to, but different from, the OP’s questions.</p>
<p>In cases in which (1) a student has identified specific faculty members with whom he/she would like to study, (2) the faculty members hold joint appointments in EALC and another department (e.g., history or linguistics), and (3) the requirements for admission for the two departments are different (especially with regard to the expectation for amount of time off and study abroad between undergrad and grad studies), what are some considerations to determine which department to submit one’s application to? </p>
<p>Obviously, one might contact the faculty members directly to solicit their advice, but I’m interested in additional ideas and hearing of others’ experiences when faced with this issue.</p>
<p>The OP’s question and map’s question both have the same answer:</p>
<p>One should not focus on reputed ease of admission, but the end goal. What do you wish to do as a career? If you desire to be a professor in a History department with a focus in East Asian history, then apply to History programs.</p>
<p>A person with a degree in East Asian Languages and Cultures will have a very difficult time getting hired in a History department, since every department does its own hiring, and every department invariably prefers PhDs in its own discipline.</p>
<p>Bottom line: contact the DGS of each program, ask about placement rates (percentages of its recent PhDs that have been hired) and, most importantly, where these recent grads have been hired (at which institutions, and by which departments).</p>