mp429

NYU is on winter break until after Jan 27 so I assume committee meetings won't happen until then. Last year, once the process started it moved very quickly, though. CUNY didn't do any kind of committee meetings until end of Feb. Hope this helps

Good luck, JJ610! I just sent you a PM.

^ I think it's a good idea to contact them even if you don't have any really specific questions. It helps to get your name on the radar and shows initiative. Last year, I contacted my (now) adviser just expressing interesting, giving my background, and simply asking if he was taking students for the next year. That one e-mail started a long e-mail communication between us, and ultimately benefited me. That being said, everywhere is different and other POIs I contacted only responded with a simple short response with a yes or no if they were taking students.

As an option to add more experience - are you able to be a field assistant to a PhD student? That's usually a cheaper option than field school since you just pay your way (not tuition). I don't think we're in the same sub-field of BioAnth so I'm not sure if that's something that people do, but in primatology it's a helpful way to get some field experience!

I think you have a chance? Just make sure your SOP is really geared towards explaining how your "seemingly un-related" experiences ARE relevant and how they have shaped you / your research interests and prepared you for grad study at UCSD. I wouldn't worry too much about GPA and GRE. While the former is more important to the latter, they are not the most important aspects. Your experiences and your SOP and your letters of rec are the most important. Make sure you secure another great letter! Good luck

Hey! I sent you a PM I think we have similar interests ..

I think that your GRE does not matter that much, as long as you're above a certain threshold, however, this could be school-dependent. I feel similarly for GPA. It is important, however, that you have other really strong areas of your application if you have a lower GPA. Also, be willing (either in personal statement or the interview) to explain why your GPA was lower than what you believe are your abilities. I believe that independent research, a variety of different but relevant internships/work experiences, clarity in your interests and what brought you to have those interests, good letters of recommendation, and research fit with your potential adviser are most important. Numbers can tell you something, but they come nowhere near telling you everything. This is just what I found with my application cycle this year! Good luck.

It can't hurt to send a first e-mail now to establish contact, but make sure you also send another one around October to remind them of you and re-establish contact right before apps are due.

monkeymarci - happy to help! send me a PM with any questions and I will send one to you with any recommendations I have I agree w/ sje that the #1 thing is research fit with your potential adviser

I know at mine, you don't need one, but my specific POI says he prefers his students to have one (though this isn't a be-all, end-all). It's difficult to know and sometimes they will say they don't have a preference when they do (e.g. I did not know my POI's preference until interviews). My point is - don't let it dissuade you. If you're a strong applicant, you're a strong applicant. Good luck!

screencheck - no problem. I'm bio-anthro with a focus in primatology, so different than archaeology, so my experiences will differ from yours. Here's my two cents anyhow, but adapt for your experiences I'm not sure what type of Arch you want to pursue in graduate studies (more field or lab or if in arch sub-field they are both equal). For me, I always wanted to do field work but coming out of under-grad I had no direct field work experience (had done a lot of observational studies in zoos on different kinds of animals, but all in-country). For me, the biggest thing was to determine if I actually enjoyed field work. Turns out I did, and now I have a few field work experiences in tow that helped me focus my interests (saw so many different things in the field than you would in captivity, also spent all day with the animals (vs. a couple hours) and as such starting developing new interests/questions). I know a lot of people who went to the field and hated it, and that ultimately shifted their path. I also think gaining a variety of all different kinds of experiences helped me figure out which I liked and which I hated or liked less (zoos, field, different types of labs, different methodologies, different subjects etc). I think it's helpful to amplify your experiences you think you would utilise in grad school because it will not only give you a stronger application, but also help give yourself more clarity about what you want. When I was in undergrad I thought I wanted to do a PhD right away. I knew my general interests, but that was about it. I took 2 years gap year, 1 year of a Masters in the UK and now I'm in a gap year before I start my PhD. Out of those 4 years between undergrad and this Fall, the most helpful was doing the Masters. I know you don't need one to get into a PhD but I think it does help and it helped me because it gave me a taste of grad school to see if academia/5-8 years of PhD was something I could handle. It also got me more focused in my budding interests I gained through my lab and field work, and really gave me clarity and independent research experience (rather than just assisting others which is what I had been doing). So I'm a huge advocate of doing a Masters before a PhD but it's not the best idea for everyone if you're pretty certain on what you want to do. Different POIs also prefer different levels of experience and age. Anyway, hope that helped! I wouldn't stress too much. Just try to get any kind of experience that you think you need that will help you develop more clarity or give you valuable skills that you either lack or want to supplement. Independent research is often a key - you gain skills, clarity for yourself, and get to show admissions you can do the type of work you will be doing in your PhD (even if the topic is different).

The NYUClasses forum page has a mini message board where there's about ~10 ads for roomates at the moment. I assume there will be more after the 17th once more people submit their money & intent to do the MHP. I still can't decide. My friend who is currently at NYU says it's not worth it for the price ( I know the price is good but she pays $250 less for a bigger space currently), but the convenience is still attractive to me! Gah, decisions.

I'd say work & internship experiences don't have to be directly related to exactly your interests, but shouldn't be so far removed that you're not getting valuable and applicable skills out of them. You will need to explain in your personal statement how each of the experiences affected your research interests. I don't think any of my internship experiences were 100% to what I want to do in my PhD, but I took aspects from them to make it all make sense in my personal statement & to show my journey how these different experiences led me to continually focus my ideas. Good luck! You sound like a strong candidate already, so just keep trekking I know a gap-year sounds horrible but most of my favorite and most important experiences I completed in my gap years

woohooo with eric's e-mails coming in. course lists & names of people! surprised there's no one from columbia this year, though. i think i'll send out an e-mail to everyone soon.. might be a good idea to start a facebook group for the 9 of us (given everyone is on facebook). we had one last year in my master's course & it was so helpful before we started to sort out housing, and once we started to ask questions about assignments & swap papers/chapters for peer-review, etc etc.

Everyone manage to get on the MHP listserv? Got this a couple days ago: Please note that the MHP application deadline has been extended until Friday, May 17th. The Roommate Request deadline has also been extended until Friday, June 21st.

Are you both on IGERT? NYU only accepts one student on IGERT since they can fund the others through their MacCracken Fellowship program (which I'm on). I haven't heard any official information from anyone other than my POI's current student & a "I'm glad you accepted!" response e-mail from my POI. I suppose it is a bit early but hopefully we'll hear more soon I've just been lurking the department/ Fall '13 course registry pages of the three different uni's in the meantime, haha.

Nope, definitely won't. I did my BA in the US and my Masters in the UK & just got into a US PhD. Plus as kphd said - Oxford is super impressive, so I wouldn't worry :-)

Is it realistic to find funding for a US MA if you're an international student? How does Columbia compare to Oxford in terms of your fit with the program? I'm tempted to tell you to stay in the UK for now & then try again in the US for a PhD (if that's your path). However, I suppose it depends which Uni you'd rather go to.

It sounds like you could use a gap year to get some clarity about your interests and career path. My gap years were the most formative for me, as well as those were the years I gained valuable work/volunteer/intern experiences that ultimately helped me figure out what I wanted (if a grad program at all) as well as gave me a more competitive edge once I decided I did want to back to school. I know you're scared about graduating and 'what comes next,' and grad school feels like the right thing right now because it gives you a plan, but sometimes you need to take a break to figure it out & then go back into it even stronger.

Applied to 3. During the first interview (at where I will be going), my POI kept querying why I had applied to so few, which freaked me out. At the second interview, he finally told me it was because the department was impressed I had narrowed my search down to three schools that perfectly suited my research interests, rather than applying for more just for the sake of it / prestige. Which was a relief! In hindsight, in some ways I wish I had applied to a few more programs (my original list was about 7), however, I chose the 3 based on ones I *knew* I would go to, if accepted, rather than, "well maaaybe I'll go there because it *could* be cool. I think it would have been a nice experience to apply to more schools in order to visit them as I heard a lot of people's opinions change (in either direction) after a visit, so I wonder if some would have ended up a better fit than they seemed on paper. At the end of the day, I am going to my top choice program, so it all worked out & I didn't have the hassle of 293829 applications to work on. So it's all a relief!

Now that it is post-April 15th, I wonder if we'll get some information on our cohort. Do you think just our University will send through the info or will we receive a NYCEP list of the new first-years? I hope both.

Thanks solipsis. I just went through all the paperwork & was happy to find out you can submit intent & not be bound to it (until you pay of course), so at least my option is still there if my friend ends up not wanting to move out of her current place! The MHP submission also had me set up my NYU e-mail account & all that - exciting stuff! I like how they use GMail as an e-mail interface rather than some ridiculous webmail.

The deadline for the MacCracken housing is 1 May. I suppose it depends how many people submit intent, but do you think it is a first-come-first-serve basis for allocation or anyone is eligible to get the housing as long as you submit before 1 May? I hate this early deadline because I really have no idea about my housing plans yet & would hate to submit intent and then find a better living situation & then lose out on $1,000. or vice-versa, not submit & then be stuck without decent housing... hmm!

I think as others have said, when it comes to an MA, choose the money & the program that fits you better (school 2) - that way, you can have the financial freedom to focus on your work and publish & THEN get into a "more prestigious" PhD program if that is what matters to you (& if you can opt out of your MA/PhD for a terminal MA at school 2). Buuuuuuuut, regret is also a big thing. If School 1 really is your dream school, and you will regret not going there - maybe choose that. Maybe it's enough of a dream school that your debt upon completion won't matter. If your only concern about not choosing school 1 is based on University prestige (rather than your own interests), then it's not worth the freaking out over rejecting the offer. Especially for a MA. Good luck

I definitely think it will help you. I know you aren't trying to get into academia per se but the job market is very competitive, and most higher-end job postings I see (especially those that include technical skills) require a Master's degree. I think you're on the right path. At the very least, even if people tell you the actual 'degree' is frivolous, the experience/knowledge/skillset you're gaining is definitely not.