jmu

Is the Syracuse acceptee on here?

If I end up with no funding anywhere I'm going to use loans to pay for the first year then try to get enough external funding after that.

When you accept withdraw your other applications to possibly help out other people.

If it shows on an unofficial transcript email that to the grad secretary explaining what happened. I had to do something similar earlier and they didn't mind.

Hey all, I was just accepted to RU matriculating in the fall and I want to spend some time considering living options so that I can make plans right away if I decide to attend. I will be primarily on the Livingston campus and would like to live around it, if at all possible. I've checked the RU Off-Campus site but without knowing areas it is a bit hard to navigate. I will not be bringing a car with me so I need to be walking/biking distance or able to take public transit there. Living on-campus is not an option for me as I refuse to give up my cats. Any suggestions on neighborhoods to look in?

The requirements vary from what I've seen. Most seem to be multi-year offers with a 1-year work requirement of some kind. They may simply want you to do that work requirement at the beginning rather than the end. I don't think it would hurt you to ask for more details about the fellowship and its requirements but, if it has a name, look it up first. You don't want to be asking questions when the answer is easily found.

This is my opinion after reading a lot on the subject very recently and talking to a few professors about it. I was nominated for a fellowship to stay at my UG for grad school and this particular offer, if I get it, would make it difficult to say no to them. As a result, I'm in a position where I really need to consider this. First, it is going to look bad on your CV but it's not going to kill it. If you are applying for jobs/post-docs and sending along a CV with 6-7 publications in high impact journals, are presenting at conferences regularly and turning those presentations into papers, and, most importantly, are bringing money into the department by way of external grants, you're probably going to be alright. You might not get the top positions but you will be able to do something. Getting a good post-doc somewhere else will also go a long way for improving that particular part of your CV. Second, there is validity to the idea that leaving makes it look like you have not had access to a number of other opinions. If you stay on at your program it might be a good idea to consider having outside faculty to read your thesis/dissertation or sit on your committee. You can then note this in statements with the hopes that it will help alleviate that a bit. The kicker is, it will only alleviate that a bit. The vast majority of your time is spent developing the same ideas you were exposed to in your UG studies. This is where conference presentations (and turning them into papers) is helpful. The idea that staying means you are only familiar with one schools departmental politics is a bit contrived. Few undergrads have any idea about departmental politics so most people graduate only knowing how one department operates anyway. Finally, the advice given to me was, consider your current program like you would any other but always keep it one spot lower than any other program on your list. That is, if you are a good fit, they offer you good funding, etc. then you should strongly consider them but any similar offers, even if they are slightly worse, should be given more weight. A difference of $5000 a year or whatever it is might seem like a big deal right now, but in the long run the position that $5000/yr gives you will be hard to make up.

Talk to some of your professors you've had and liked and see what they have to say/offer. There is one professor at my UG program that only requires people take a class with her before writing them a letter. The reason for this is she has students evaluate each other anonymously every other week and keeps these evaluations. Then, when you ask her, she will interview you 3-4 times about what your goals are in grad school and life, what your interests are, etc. Finally, she asks for, and edits, your SOP and CV and uses all of that in her decision/letter. You might have someone similar in your department and you just don't know it. She is not a celebrity name but she does know a lot of people in a lot of top programs (MA's from Michigan and Washington, PhD from Michigan, post-doc at Berkeley) so she does have a good reputation in the field and her recommendations carry some weight. I'm sure most departments have someone similar. You don't need recommendations only from rockstars in your field/subfield to get accepted. Strong letters from people who are well respected by their colleagues are good as well.

That is good to know, thanks.

Either is possible I suppose. If I don't hear anything in a couple of (business) days I'll call the grad school. Congrats on getting accepted, though! Do you have any external funding options or does it become an automatic decline?

I was just looking and I have No emails from them. Ever. Now I'm wondering if there was a typo or something.

Website says admitted but nothing about funding and no email. Who did you hear from? Also, MA or PhD?

Ditto. My late recommender asked for reminders. One application required letters mailed in, though, and I had to drive to her house to pick up the letter and then rush to the post office to get it off in time.

I'm on a few listservs and what I've noticed is that not every subfield has a complete lack of job opportunities. I get 3 or 4 emails a month with jobs for gender or interdisciplinary backgrounds. Maybe 1 or 2 tenure-track and a couple longer term contract lecturer positions. Other subfields get less but still some positions. It'll be interesting to watch but I'm not too concerned, personally (I'm applying to geography programs because of match but my subfield is both anthro and geography.)

If bio anthro is anything like sociocultural then you could get away with a pair of chino's and a polo or button up (untucked, even) if you're male identified. Use that as a reference for comparison if you aren't male-identified. It's a pretty casual field.

Not yet. I saw the one in the results but https://admissionservices.rutgers.edu/graduate/programStatusLogon.app still says no decision.

feminist/anarchist political ecologies

Good luck! Maybe we'll see each other in Theory and Inquiry in the fall. If you don't mind my asking, who are you looking at for your POIs? My undergrad is a dual degree in Anthropology/Sociology (anthro track) and Geography so I'm familiar with nearly all of the professors in the department. Maybe! What's your subfield?

Thanks! The fellowship is enough to make me consider staying so my partner is really hoping I get it. Moral of the story: Signs are real! Don't over look them!

Absolutely. I'm in a different, but related field and know a number of people who have been admitted to Sociology PhD programs without any research experience. That being said, research experience does help and you will be going against people who have a lot of it. You need to focus on making a great overall packet and not just one part. If you have course papers in sociology maybe see if you can have a professor help edit it. If it has an original argument maybe you can present it at a conference. Talk to your sociology professors to see if they, or any of their graduate students, need research assistants. All of these things can help and, if you are applying for the next cycle, you have some time to do them.

I did the same thing. I was sitting with my email open (which I actually do anyway) when the first came in. I looked at it and handed my partner my laptop and told her I didn't want to know. It turned out to be a rejection. A few minutes later I got an email from another program and the same thing happened. That one was an acceptance, though, and since then I have felt much more relaxed about the whole thing. I have somewhere to go next year.

It's good to vent, but I'm not going to pat your back. This may come off as harsh but, to be perfectly honest, I don't really care. First, you are not your father. His accomplishments are not, and never will be, your accomplishments. It doesn't matter what he did or didn't do and your success or failure has, or at least should have, absolutely nothing to do with his. Despite the stress that his work is causing you, it should not be your concern whether or not you mimic his life. Second, you are not your lab. You are not your lab partners. When adcomms look at your application I very seriously doubt they are saying "ApexKnowledge worked in xxxxxx lab! We must admit/deny him/her!" Your lab experience is only one part of a body of work you are sending to a grad school, what about the rest? Do you have publications? Do you have conference paper/poster presentations? Have you done any of your own research? How was your SOP? Did you clearly lay out what you wanted to do, what you expected from the program, and how them selecting you would be mutually beneficial? Did you successfully walk the line between "I'm the best you've ever seen!" and humility? If any of those is no then you should probably reevaluate your application materials because you were probably competing against people who did. With some schools accepting only 1-in-40 applicants you can't leave room for error. It sounds like you only applied to two schools, or maybe one with two interviews. Why? PhD programs are competitive and applying for such a small number is setting yourself up for disappointment. You don't need to apply only to schools where you are an absolute 100% fit in the program but also to those where you are a close fit but can address holes in what is currently being done there. You are not just applying to be a student but are also applying to be a colleague. You need to be able to add just as much as you support. Finally, your treatment of master's programs is unfair. Just because it is not your dream does not mean that you need to belittle others. This is true even when you are venting. If the hubris you show here came through in your application or interviews that very well could be why you were not selected.

Thanks! If I get the fellowship it's going to make leaving really hard. Even though I know it's not generally good idea to stay at your undergrad for graduate studies and FIU is not a big name program, but the program is a really good fit for me.

The AW section is very much about format and not so much content. The format is not one that everyone is good with and school recognize that.

If you can send both and you're very worried about it then do that but find out from the program first if they will look at both. Some take the highest scores you send them and mix-and-match tests, others don't. FWIW, I also scored a 4 and am in a writing intensive discipline. Despite that I have gotten good responses about my application materials and today was notified that I was recommended for a very competitive fellowship. What was more important for them was my writing sample, letters stating that I was able to critically analyze and write on topics, and my SOP.