Native American student applying to humanities PhD programs

[nw6338]

Hi,

 

I am new here so forgive me if this is submitted under the wrong category. I am a Native American applying to PhD programs in the humanities (primarily film//visual studies//media studies, etc). I was wondering how much of an admissions boost being Native American will provide. I know it was significant during the undergraduate application process and am now trying to gauge this at the graduate level.  I have very solid stats regardless but I would like to know how much being an URM weights in. 

 

Thanks

[biisis]

I dunno- it's hard to really quantify this sort of stuff at the graduate level. From the studies that have been published on the graduate adcom process, it seems to go in 2 steps: 1) Cull the bottom half of the pile using test scores 2) wade through the rest, measuring all the aspects of their application, with diversity being a factor to keep in mind. So if you make it through the culling you might see a bit of interest in recruiting you on the basis of your ethnicity, but it wouldn't be the sole factor either. Your fit as a candidate (primarily focusing on the subject/geography/method of your proposed research) with the department's current offerings and future direction is always going to be the biggest determinant. 

[nw6338]

Great! thank you for the response. Finding the right fit is definitely the most important thing but I was unsure how these outside factors would come into play. 

[ExponentialDecay]

It's definitely an order of magnitude less influential in PhD admissions than in undergrad or professional school admissions. Doctoral programs care about your potential as a researcher and your ability to be slave labor for the department in the form of a TA or RA, and everything else is highly marginal.