Betula

Mandarin has a sort of alphabet too (the pinyin system) with tone marks.

Learning another language is like entering a new industry. The entry barrier is indeed much much higher for the chinese language than spanish or any other language people mentioned here. But once you overcome the barrier (with enormous investment), you'll find few competitors and enjoy strong market power.

It's gonna be much harder to learn an East Asian language than another western indo-european language, because obviously these are totally different language systems. And I imagine the beginning phase would be especially painful for a westerner. Surely you can learn some ABCs by taking courses once in a while, but to really be able to use that language, you may need to devote more time and energy, which are, unfortuanately, very scarce for a Ph.D. student.

There are so many Europeans and Americans who can speak Spanish. It's hard to distinguish yourself among them. Meanwhile, very few people outside East Asia speak Chinese. If you plan to do some China-related work in the future, the ability to speak Chinese would give you a huge advantage and lots of opportunities. Besides, it opens the gate to a very different culture than the closely-related Western ones. Of course, being a Chinese myself, what I said can be seriously biased.

I filed an application to the International House. It's obviously over-priced, but close to the campus. All kinds of services and facilities are provided and taken care of, which saves a lot of trouble. Students from my country in the econ phd program at chicago all spent the first year in the I-house and then moved to private apartments. I guess I'll follow suit (typical herd behavior?).

Count me in! Dear classmates, please feel free to PM me. Econchick, I was hoping to read your impressions of the Chicago fly-out.:)

It was from Sep 1 to Sep 15 last year.

I'm asking this for an anxious friend.

I'm wondering if they are moving down the waiting list one by one or sending out the whole bunch of second round aid offers near April 15. Any idea?

Thank you very much for the input, John.

same here

Did everyone admitted to U Chicago get emails from faculty members in your interested fields urging you to join Chicago?

Thanks, Corneconomics.

I know Cornell has sent out many admits and rejections, but when I contacted the secretary just a few days ago, I was told that no decision has been made on my application yet. I'm starting to wonder if I'm on their waiting list, if there is one. Has anybody here been notified by Cornell that you're waitlisted?

I got an email from UMN 10 hrs ago, saying that I have been waitlisted for fellowship.