bioarch_fan

Along with looking into good intro to classical archaeology textbooks, you should also look into regular archaeology textbooks.  Those will normally have all of the information associated with archaeological methods and theories.  I say this because while classical archaeology texts will have more information pertaining to the classical world, you won't have any actual archaeological foundations.  My school uses the Greene & Moore textbook Archaeology: An Introduction.  ISBN: 9780415496391
 
 
If you have any other questions pertaining to archaeology I might be able to help.  I'm actually an anthropology student, so I can help a little more with archaeology related questions.  

I know this is a bit early to start a discussion on this, but I thought since some people are preparing for applications now it would be a great time to talk to other people drudging through the same thing.  I thought it would be nice to introduce ourselves talking about our area of interests, where we want to apply to, and where you're at in preparing for grad school.  Maybe this will give other people the ideas of what they should be preparing for as well.
 
I guess I'll start since I'm the one starting the thread.  
 
I've done quite a bit to prepare myself for grad school.  I've been on a research project with two of my department's professors, one of which is my advisor, but I've recently dropped out of doing it because I'm also starting my senior thesis this summer.  I am working on a thesis, by my own choosing, on a subject that is interesting to me.  I'm looking at prison records at two of our penitentiaries from the 1918 influenza pandemic and seeing how the flu affected the prison's population and hopefully how they differed since they are different types of prisons.
 
I am finishing my BA in the 2014-15 school year and will be graduating Spring 2015 with a major in anthropology and a double minor in classical civilizations and history.  My main area of interest is in Roman bioarchaeology.  I want to learn more about the health of the general population, not just the aristocracy.  I think gladiatorial health would be interesting to learn about because we mostly hear about how they died, mostly in combat, but we don't hear much about the diseases that some of them might have had.  But along with that, I'm also interested in a paleopathological analysis of the Mediterranean area as a whole.  Part of my interest lies in the bubonic plague/black death and I'm interested in how the Italian strain of it is different than the London strain, not just the 14th century plague, but also the plague of Justinian (6th century CE) as well.
 
I'm actually planning on applying to quite a few schools, approximately 10, so I'm hoping my recommenders don't mind.  :/  I just want to keep my options open and have a better chance of getting into a good program that offers funding.  Masters only schools: University of West Florida, University of Central Florida, and East Carolina University.  PhD schools: University of South Florida, University of South Carolina, Michigan State University, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Notre Dame, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Durham University, McMaster University, and Edinburgh University.  Told you a lot of schools.  
 
Currently, I'm just studying for the GRE, I plan on taking it in July or early August before fall semester starts.  This will give me time to retake it if I really need/want to.  I've already talked to a couple recommenders and asked if they'd be willing to write some when classes start up again and I told them I'd ask again once fall semester started.  I've also been in contact with a couple POIs, some via email and some at national conferences.  I plan on going to a total of 3 conferences this year so I can network a little more.  Starting next week I'm also going to start writing my SoPs.  I want to give myself time to work on them before classes start again so all I have to do is touch them up a little bit later.  
 
Sorry for such a long thread but I rarely post on here and thought it would be nice for us all to talk about our interests and where they are eventually leading us in our future endeavors.  

I would agree with DerpTastic with an emphasis on staying a little longer in undergrad.  Maybe take a year or so and take a few more Anthropology classes, or retake classes that you did not do well in.  This could drastically change your GPA easily.  While a 2.5 isn't the best GPA, it's still decent considering I know people that had much worse.  I would say get it up to a 3.0 and try applying to grad programs then.  If you could get your major GPA up to a 3.5 that would be good because well, they really want someone that has a good major GPA.  Also, on the note of GPA's, they usually only look at your last 2 years when accepting students.  I have heard that from MANY professors who served on the acceptance committee.  So if you have other strong aspects of your graduate school application, i.e. research skills, internships, writing samples, letters of recommendation, and the most important thing is your statement of purpose, then you should do well.  It couldn't hurt to apply to graduate programs and see where it goes, or you could email professors at schools you're interested in working with and get their take on how well they think you'd do and if it's not good then don't fret about it...just take another year in undergrad and raise your GPA.  But whatever you do, DO NOT slack in the final year if you do take more time because that will just be worse for you.  But suicide is never the answer and many college students, both undergrad and grad alike, become extremely stressed out about their grades and the prospects for the future.  Hell, I'm 25 years old.  I'll be 27 when I get my BA and approximately 33 (as a minimum) when I get my PhD.  Do you think that makes me depressed?  Definitely.  But I know what I am working for and that's what keeps me motivated.  I am passionate about the field and working with skeletal remains to learn about past and present peoples.  Something to take your mind off of your problems could be to just leisure read...or go running and burn off some steam.  It'll help you clear your head and let you think straight.

This is exactly the same thing that I was thinking when I was reading his comments.  I was kind of baffled by the improper use of the English language on a thread ABOUT proper writing.    We are grown-ups now, time to start writing in proper English, or whatever your native language is.  Thank you for saying it before me.  )

This is exactly the same thing that I was thinking when I was reading his comments.  I was kind of baffled by the improper use of the English language on a thread ABOUT proper writing.    We are grown-ups now, time to start writing in proper English, or whatever your native language is.  Thank you for saying it before me.  )