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FACULTY PERSPECTIVES - Anthropology


RPCV Cameroon

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Hey all!

 

I'm not a faculty member, but I saw that the PoliSci people have a thread for faculty to share their perspectives on the admissions process (applicants can ask questions, too), and I thought, "What a great idea!"  So, I hereby invite faculty to take part in the discussion via this thread.  

 

If you have a specific question for anthro faculty-in-general, post it here to get the ball rolling!

 

... Hopefully someone is actually out there...

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I have a question for faculty:

 

What, exactly, is the significance of an interview?  Do you only interview people you think you definitely want?  Or do you sometimes interview people you think you might want but aren't sure about?  If you DON'T interview someone around the time your institution is conducting interviews, does that mean they're likely out?  Is it common to not interview and just accept?

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I do a the very,east a Skype interview with prospective phd students. Reason for this is to make sure our personality mesh and that I want my name associated with them forever. 4-8 years is a long time to spend with someone and if our personalities don't match they probably will drop out. Plus, they will forever represent me and be attached to my name like i am to my fellow advisor. For masters, no interview is needed since it is only 2 years and people are known for their phd advisor not master advisor.

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thank you for your answer. It is very good to know. But in general, do schools do the interview process once they are sure they want the student, or if they are trying to decide on other factors other than personality also? 

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Lets say I'm going to accept 3 I will have a Skype interview with 5-6. I use it as a final cut since when it gets down to the 5-6 there isn't much different between them on paper. All of them have great recs, solid gpa's, field experience, and presentations / publishcations.

P.S. sorry for the typos in the previous message, I was posting on my iPad and did not proof read and just noticed them.

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No problem. once people have been interviewed, does the committee go back and look at GPA / GRE and those things when they are trying to decide between a couple of people? 

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Lets say I'm going to accept 3 I will have a Skype interview with 5-6. I use it as a final cut since when it gets down to the 5-6 there isn't much different between them on paper. All of them have great recs, solid gpa's, field experience, and presentations / publishcations.

P.S. sorry for the typos in the previous message, I was posting on my iPad and did not proof read and just noticed them.

 

Can I ask what makes-or-breaks candidates during the interview? At that point is it all about personality/mesh, or do they verbalize something substantive during the conversation that influences your decision?

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Can I ask what makes-or-breaks candidates during the interview? At that point is it all about personality/mesh, or do they verbalize something substantive during the conversation that influences your decision?

 

I have an interview in person coming up next week and I am wondering this exact same thing!

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I factor in a few things. The two most important things are fit and personality. And at the end sometimes it comes down to feel. Also, if I know one of your recs I will call them up. And if a recommender wrote a good/great rec for a student that turned out to be bad in the past I won't even look at that recommendation which is something I learned from my phd advisor and stoled it. Since what I do is a relatively small field I pretty much know everyone that would or should be writing recs for the students. Mind you this applies to phd only

Edited by anthropologygeek
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I do a the very,east a Skype interview with prospective phd students. Reason for this is to make sure our personality mesh and that I want my name associated with them forever. 4-8 years is a long time to spend with someone and if our personalities don't match they probably will drop out. Plus, they will forever represent me and be attached to my name like i am to my fellow advisor. For masters, no interview is needed since it is only 2 years and people are known for their phd advisor not master advisor.

Thanks anthropologygeek, this is very insightful. However, I do wonder if all schools use the interviews the same way. I've been interviewed for two schools up till now for this cycle. It appears to me that the UCI interview fits well with what you just said - it was just a 15 min "chit-chat" kind of thing. However, the Harvard interview is all about "we want to know more about your SOP" and it could get quite intense, meaning that it involves questions that I do not have very good answers for (although it was only 15 minutes-ish). And the upcoming MIT HASTS interview looks even more intense (30-45 minutes) and we are supposed to get to know our applications very well. 

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Thanks anthropologygeek, this is very insightful. However, I do wonder if all schools use the interviews the same way. I've been interviewed for two schools up till now for this cycle. It appears to me that the UCI interview fits well with what you just said - it was just a 15 min "chit-chat" kind of thing. However, the Harvard interview is all about "we want to know more about your SOP" and it could get quite intense, meaning that it involves questions that I do not have very good answers for (although it was only 15 minutes-ish). And the upcoming MIT HASTS interview looks even more intense (30-45 minutes) and we are supposed to get to know our applications very well. 

 

Hi MemoryQ, can I ask when you got the MIT HASTS interview request?

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