Imaya

Ok great! Thanks for the tips! I'll get started on that asap.

Thanks so much for the advice. It's really making a lot more sense to me now. And thanks for letting me know that some professors welcome volunteers into their labs. I will be sure to contact programs in my area to see if they have any opportunities. I will also definitely look into whether the MA programs offer strong research opportunities. Do you have any insight into where I could look for funded hospital studies or other outside-of-academia studies? That sounds very interesting to me.

That's excellent advice. Thank you. I will definitely consider working in the field as a way to get research experience.

Mostly because my undergrad degree isn't in Anthropology. I majored in Psychology and minored in Anthropology. I also didn't conduct any research as an undergrad in either field and I think by getting the experience conducting research during a master's program would be really beneficial while applying to PhD programs.

I am looking into Medical Anthropology mostly. But most of the master's programs don't have faculty that focus on death, dying, and mourning. I imagine that a medical anthropology professor wouldn't mind serving as my advisor, but I'm wondering if listing a prospective supervisor on my application that doesn't focus on my research area would harm my chances of getting in that program?

I'm interested in the anthropology of death, dying, and mourning. Unfortunately, most scholarly research on this subject seems to be overseas. I'm not finding many anthropologists who research death, dying, and mourning at American universities, and especially not universities that offer stand-alone Master's degrees. (My plan is to first get a Master's before applying to PhD programs.) So I'm wondering: how important is it to identify a supervisor that aligns with your research interests at the Master's level? What's the likelihood that I would be accepted to Master's programs where none of the professors focus on death, dying, or mourning? Would I be better off studying overseas in order to study with experts in my research area and then come back to the US for my PhD?

So I have a BA in Psychology with a minor in Anthropology and my goal is to get a Masters in Medical Anthropology or Medical Humanities and then get a PhD in Health Psychology. To me, the fields seems very related (researching the same sorts of questions with different methodologies), but I'm wondering if having a non-Psychology Masters would hinder me in anyway when applying to the PhD programs? Also, should I apply to the PhD program first or the Masters program? Some of the Masters programs I'm looking at (mostly the Medical Humanities programs) encourage PhD students from other fields to enroll in their program while working on their PhD. Would this be the same approach with Medical Anthropology programs? Or should I completed the Medical Anthropology Masters before applying to Health Psychology PhD programs? Is this even a good idea??? Thanks for your help!

Does anyone know about this program? I just found it on their website and I'm really intrigued, but I can't seem to find any information about its reputation or anything like that. Does anyone have any experience with it? About me: I'm graduating this spring with a degree in psychology and I'm interested in end-of-life care/bereavement from a social sciences perspective.

Does anyone know about this program? I just found it on their website and I'm really intrigued, but I can't seem to find any information about its reputation or anything like that. Does anyone have any experience with it? About me: I'm graduating this spring with a degree in psychology and I'm interested in end-of-life care/bereavement from a social sciences perspective.

Thanks so much for the info! I'll have to look into it deeper.

Hi everyone! I'm a first time applicant and I feel a little behind in this application process. I'm just starting to look into programs. I'm probably going to apply to only masters programs. I'm looking at UCLA, University of Hawaii, UC Davis, UCSB, and maybe Brown (thought I should apply to an East Coast school). I'm applying to Cultural Anthropology programs. I'm really interested in studying death rituals and mourning traditions.

I'm just starting the application process, and your website is so helpful! Thank you!

Thanks for starting this topic. I had the same question! I've had a really tough three years of undergrad so far. My mom was diagnosed with cancer during my first year and she died last summer, just before my third year. My grades have been pretty good considering - I have a 3.6 gpa. But I know that I can earn better grades and I'm committed to do better this year. But I'm concerned I'm going to be judged on my gpa without the chance of showing that I can do better.