pears

Karajan - I get emails like this, too.. For now, my solution has been to respond in an overly courteous manner if they're rude. That said, I'm TAing a class of c. 125 undergraduates who are mostly underclassmen, so I don't have many chances for mentorship. I think if I were a TA for a smaller &/or higher level class, I would have no problem doing what you did: asking them to be a bit more polite, but explaining how being able to correspond in what professionals perceive to be a polite, appropriate manner is super important, regardless of what career path you end up following.

Agreed with hj: if you do intend to continue onto a PhD, it's to your benefit to do the thesis. Also, if the exams are anything like "comps" or "quals," which are now being largely phased out, they are incredibly difficult. From what I understand, in anthropology, you basically have two marathon days (10 or so hours each) of written exams, and the topics covered could be anything from any of our four subfields (ethnology/cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics). In some cases, you may choose which three subfields to be tested on, but receive no further info about the types of questions to be asked. It's gnarly stuff. A thesis is a lot more manageable, in that you can work on it in increments, instead of having to deal with a pile of extremely difficult exams. You have a lot more freedom in working on a thesis, and producing a strong thesis shows you're capable of managing your time well over a year or so, and can produce great research. Plus, if you find a thesis topic that's really interesting, some of the research hardly feels like work at all.

Always remember: the professors saw something (a whole lot of it) in you when they admitted you to your program! Everyone has their own academic strengths & weaknesses; you need not play off anyone else's strengths but your own. As for the social theory, I've also been feeling super deficient in that area, as well as knowledge of my local history (I'm at a state school, and a lot of folks here have done a lot of their work in the Plains.. which happen to be one of the only places I haven't worked in the US). Basically, I've been trying to learn little snippets on the fly. For example, Madan Sarup has a helpful book called An Introductory Guide to Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism, which was helpful in navigating those confusing seas. I'm sure there's at least one similar book for Structuralism, Modernism, and so on. Sarup's was very affordable secondhand on Amazon- maybe you'll find it helpful? Just a thought. I've given up a little bit of my free time here and there to read about social theory and local prehistory, but it's totally worth it for me, because it makes me feel like I'm up to speed enough where worries about my "weaknesses" (really, others' strengths) take a back seat to letting my strengths shine instead.

thank you, based madame lulu. (however: oh, the painful irony that your icon should feature only the most refined of gentlemen..)

1. Forest Archaeologist on Tahoe NF. 2. District Archaeologist in NorCal, & assistant/associate professorship at a CSU or U (Chico, Sacramento, Davis, etc.). 3. FS, NPS, or BLM archaeologist, consulting with CRM & THPO groups on NAGPRA projects. 4. Archaeologist (permanent of some kind) on Tahoe NF, Inyo NF, Yose NP, BLM - Eagle Lake, BLM - Mother Lode, or BLM - Bishop. My 5-year plan revolves around field tech jobs (crew chief, eventually) with the FS, NPS, or BLM, since I'm hoping to apply to PhD programs as soon as I've got most of my MA loan debt out of the way. I like the Sierras and NorCal, & a mix of old, older, & seriously old stuff.. & bones. I love all that public lands have to offer, but there are an unfortunate lot of absolute nitwits working for the land managing agencies, so I'm taking a "challenge accepted" attitude. Per one of my favorite movie quotes: "we can do a hell of a lot more damage in the system than outside of it." Also, I'm not sure how I feel about professorships yet, but I bet the next few years will affect that.

butterfly kisses

I agree with Canis; you may find going the "ethno-" route gives you lots of freedom, especially if you can find programs that offer interdisciplinary options. It may be helpful to look for a specialization, e.g. ethnoornithology, if you're interested in a particular type of animal. Having a solid foundation in zooarchaeology can be a major boon, depending on what type of work you're thinking about pursuing; great zooarchaeologists or faunal analysts are few & far between, in my experience. One of my co-workers this past summer was working on his MA, and he looked at the ethnoarchaeology of rabbits in the prehistoric Great Basin. By degree, he'll be an anthropologist, but he's really a zooarchaeologist-&-ethnolagomorphologist (geez, that's a mouthful). One of his committee members is a bigwig in the zooarchaeology of the area, so he hitched his apple wagon to that star, and filled in the knowledge gaps with his own research. A way to reconcile the American Studies-Anthropology gap might be to apply to programs with both historic archaeologists and cultural anthropologists (who focus on American peoples) in the faculty. I've heard of a few studies comparing butchery methods to establish degrees of cultural assimilation in 19th & 20th century assemblages from CA. I bet you could do something similar, just with the use of animal imagery.

i agree with DTB: people change over time, but if you go into a relationship expecting to be the impetus for change in another person, or think they'll "adjust" for you.. well, you're gonna have a bad time. change and conflict will happen in a relationship. both can be a source of strength, but if you don't know how to communicate openly, respectfully, and patiently in a mature manner about everything, be it finances or the bedroom or work/school or what to have for dinner, it's very difficult to establish the genuine trust and concern for each other's well-being that underpin a successful relationship. collaboration is very different thing from compromise.

I feel like there's a lot more security in pursuing what I want for myself, and myself alone, than what I want that involves others. I've always wanted to be an archaeologist, but it wasn't until recently that I realized I also want to eventually be a spouse or partner and a parent. Relationships and engagements don't work out. Marriages after 2, 5, 10, 26 years (in my parents' case) end in divorce for any number of reasons. You can read every parenting book out there, and you may still have a terrible relationship with your child, or find that they will be dependent on you for the rest of their/your life for medical reasons. The greater number of people and factors involved, the more unpredictable the outcome. I feel like I can exert greater control over the outcome of my academic goals than I can over a very serious relationship or parenthood. Also, I think flippantly dismissing it as "just" going to school is disrespectful and short-sighted. I don't see marriage or parenthood as "just" one or the other; both, along with graduate school, are enormous committments that people put heaps of time, effort, and money (...and sanity...) into. To "settle" for school, implying it's the inferior choice in your mind, seems very strange to me, seeing as it is very costly in many, many ways. Most people join this forum because pursuing a graduate degree is our dream; we've forgone pursuing the rest, for now, because the rest will follow once our most important goal is realized. Why not be patient and pursue what's clearly the more important dream for you first?

Well, this is a forum for future and graduate students. For many, "school" is just as much a full-time job/career as it is classes and assignments. Personally — and I'm sure I'm not alone in this — I'm in school (and, during the summers, at work) for what I've wanted to do for the last 20 years of my life, and want to do for all of my forseeable future. Sure, I'd love to be a parent eventually, but I'm going to be in loan debt for a while, and I need to realize my most important goals, most of which revolve around school/research/career things (alongside traveling), before someone else comes into the equation, be it via marriage or parenthood. As aberrant said, I can't be in anything less than a completely secure state — economically, socially, and emotionally/mentally — if I'm going to nurture another human being (likely with the help of another person, who must be in an equally secure state) for, y'know, anywhere between 18 and 26 years. Parenthood and academia are, in many ways, full time jobs. Putting my own academic and career goals before anyone or anything else could be written off as selfish. However, I think committing anything less than my emotional and financial 100% to a child is even more selfish, and that's just not possible unless I feel soul-satisfied with my life. How could I possibly be a role model for pursuing knowledge and dreams if I cast mine aside for a perceived social pressure? My mind would be elsewhere if I didn't feel that my (mostly-academic) personal goals were realized.

Mine as well, although it's very subtle. The academic side of archaeology has shown itself to be a much less judgmental environment for me, though, as a relatively young (23 y.o.) woman than fieldwork. It was a predominantly white male field until not-so-many years ago, and I feel that's carried over a lot, especially when the work involves lots of manual labor. I feel like I always have to hike faster, dig units quickly no matter how heavy the soil is, draw more thorough and accurate profiles, write better reports, etc., when I have male coworkers, lest I not be taken seriously if I don't break a hardcore sweat. Academic skill and precision don't mean much if you can't move dirt as quickly as a man with 30+ more pounds of muscle on his upper body can. I haven't felt that way as a grad student yet, and I suspect I won't. That said, although I've never felt that I have to prove my abilities to my cohort, MA and PhD students alike, I noticed that there's something of a "boy's club": our program coordinator hand-picks a few students to work as his field crew each summer, and it seems his crew has been all male for the last few seasons. I have no idea whether that's been intentional, but I've noticed his past crews tend to stick together and talk (mostly inside jokes) mostly amongst themselves in and out of classes. I'm joining him and an otherwise all-male crew next summer, so we'll see how that pans out for me...

I had a "dummy" SoP letter, which was just over 2 pages long, set at a fixed spacing a bit larger than single spacing. I don't believe I had any programs that requested a word count, even ones that had online applications, so length may be the better measurement to use. I get the impression that 2-3 pages is the normal rage; whenever I had an application requesting a specific length, I could simply trim down or expand upon the "dummy" letter; I had read over it so many times that I practically had the thing memorized, so it was easy to know where to add or remove content without weakening my statement. A GRE isn't problematic if you can make up for it with a strong GPA, recommendations, SoP, and so on. I had a very weak undergrad GPA (just above the 3.0 threshold, thanks to having a little too much fun at the start..), but I managed to demonstrate that I had an interesting but challenging courseload with an upward trend at the end (can be a boon), and strong writing abilties through my SoP and sample essay. I also had strong LoRs from professional and academic references, and a good deal of field and lab experience. Honestly, I think my SoP was what carried me through the bad number the most. I've spent my whole life wanting to be an archaeologist, so it's easy to convey an outpouring of passion for my particular interests that trumps a lackluster GPA. In your case, unless any of your programs have a score requirement or cutoff, put some extra TLC into your writing sample and SoP, and the limelight will redirect itself to what you may feel are the strongest parts of your app.

I'm not quite an Art History person (archaeology; art history was one of my undergrad & high school loves, though! — still is, really), but you may have some more luck asking this + clicking around on the Art History forum (click for link). Hope that helps! Good luck!

goodness, i wish this were facebook so i could "like" it. so much truth & good advice in so few words! see also: telling good friends from people who should remain friendly acquaintances.

So jealous of those attending! I'd love to hear thoughts on panels, keynotes, etc., especially from archaeologists. I may apply to poster or present(!) at next year's meeting, but I haven't actually been to AAAs yet, so I'm not sure what kinds of topics, crowds (sizes or personalities), dress code, etc. to expect.

unrelated: OP's username is freakin' me out, man. related: i, too, have severe anxiety. i minimize my caffeine intake & practice progressive muscle relaxation as much as i can!

jump around (jump up jump up & get down)

Toootally in the same boat, except with papers. It's really hard to gauge how my classmates schedule their work, or what the quality of the work they're doing is. I always feel like I'm a slacker &/or underachiever compared to a lot of them. Go figure: I didn't start feeling serious "imposter syndrome" until 2/3 of the way into the semester...

I'll be in the same basket again in a couple of years. I applied to 7 M.A. programs, which I probably could've shaved down to 4; when I was applying, though, I didn't really have a "Plan B," since I had no intention of continuing to stay in the workforce for more than a year and a half at the time, so the additional applications were a sort of insurance, I guess. Now that what I want to pursue in terms of research is clear, it's become painfully apparent that I will only be applying to two schools (one program at each)… and they are two of the top three programs in my general field (archaeology). This time around, though, I'm okay with having an unsuccessful first or second round of applications, since I'll need to start paying off my student loans from my current program. The professors I'd like to work with, and the resources I'd need, all seem to be concentrated in two places. Ah well! It's both more and less stressful at once.