Hyeon-Young Ro graduated with her M.A. in Asian Studies in 2013. Currently, she is completing her Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Michigan researching the inflow of foreign direct investment in developed countries and host-government regulations. She is especially interested in how governments’ trade and investment policies are shaped, and how these policies influence the foreign firms’ cross-border mergers and acquisitions behaviors. When Hyeon-Young decided to apply for her Ph.D., her initial motivation was simply her passion for the study of political science. This desire became more concrete during her Master’s program at Georgetown as she began to develop research questions that were not satisfyingly answered from existing studies. Finally, Hyeon-Young says, “I enjoy academic interactions with students, particularly through lectures and seminar discussions. Thus, I hope to use my Ph.D. degree to become a scholar and a teacher of political science in the academia.”

Hyeon-Young highlights three aspects of the Asian Studies Program that she believes were crucial to her successful application to the University of Michigan: faculty and staff, high-quality courses, and the wide MASIA and School of Foreign Service network. “All the professors and staff in Asian Studies Program were great advisors who had already gone through similar admissions processes, so they are up-to-date on current Ph.D. admissions at other universities.” As for her courses, she was able to accumulate several writing samples (i.e. term papers, thesis) while the content of her coursework continuously contributed to an expanding knowledge of the field. Last but not least, Hyeon-young befriended students in the MASIA program and the Graduate SFS student body, awesome developing both wonderful friendships and a worldwide network.

Hyeon-Young’s advice to potential Ph.D. candidates are to reflect on three key questions before applying:

What is your research question/academic interest?
Why is this question important in the academic field?
What is the best way to answer that question?