[How important are supervisors for Master's programs?]

It will probably involve a lot of investigation and cold calling on your part. I was contacted several years ago by the Lehigh valley health network. They had a state grant to research psychological well being in clients and they saw my resume, so wanted to bring me on. That's the only reason I know about it.

Find out about government/state grants in your area and follow the trail to the recipients. Or just research hospitals and cold-call research departments outright.

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

[How important are supervisors for Master's programs?]

I would suggest only go for the masters if your other credentials are not a solid as you want them to be, and you find a program that really matches your goals. Anthropology and psychology are cousin fields. If you decide to go another direction, there is enough cross over in the scientific style that going straight to PhD is reasonable.

 

It sounds as though you want the MA program to strengthen your credentials and demonstrate your specific career path. With not having research experience, you will want a program that will offer you that possibility. If the professors at your chosen MA program will not offer the option to do so (even as independent study goals), then it won't help you as much as you'd like to think.

 

Another possibility is to talk to professors about volunteering in their lab before another application year. Some will accept volunteers; some will not. You can also see if places besides academia offer research in death, dying and mourning. You may find summer research programs that do, or funded hospital studies. 

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.

[How important are supervisors for Master's programs?]

Fair enough. However, not having a BA in anthro is not a deal breaker when it comes to applying for anthro PhD programs especially if you have strong letters of recommendation, good grades, reasonable GREs and a captivating statement of purpose. Not having research experience could be a problem but one that could be taken care of by working as a researcher rather then doing a year or two year MA. Getting paid to do research is much better then paying to do it especially if that means going into more debt. If your interested in morning and death getting a job in hospice or a funeral home might be just as useful as a MA.  My interests are in agriculture and I've worked on farms and as a researcher which worked in my favor probably more so than if I had pursued an additional degree.  

 

Identifying a program with a strong fit is super important for PhD programs less so for stand alone MA's.  A stand alone MA won't be oriented towards specialization in the same way as a PhD program.  For example, ff your interests are death, dying and mourning in Latin America an MA program with a Latin Americanist would probably be a good enough fit.  If you are interested in the psychological dimensions of morning a program with a psychological anthropologist is probably fine regardless if they work on morning or not.  I wouldn't worry so much about advisers for an MA instead I'd focus on programs with good funding. Just my 2 cents. 

 

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

[How important are supervisors for Master's programs?]

Why do you feel the need to do a separate MA when most PhD programs in the US are MA/PhD programs? Many programs will make you do a second MA if you come in with one already. 

 

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.

[How important are supervisors for Master's programs?]

I would say, in most cases, you will need to at least contact a faculty member who will be willing to serve as your advisor. Have you looked into Medical Anthropology?  There are plentry of programs in the U.S. that focus on Medical Anthropology.  That would probably be your best bet if you stay in the states.

 

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?

[How important are supervisors for Master's programs?]

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?

[Getting into a Psychology PhD program after getting a Masters in something else???]

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!

[Northwestern Medical Humanities & Bioethics?]

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.

[Northwestern Masters in Medical Humanities & Bioethics?]

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.

[Fall 2014]

I just graduated from UCD with a degree inanthropology and I work in the archaeology labs right now (as i work on my applications). As far as I know the only masters the department offers (kind of) is in archaeology. this is what the website says: 

 

Generally students are admitted for Ph.D. study only, and complete M.A. requirements in the normal course of the Ph.D. program. The archaeology program occasionally admits students who intend to pursue only the M.A. degree; please consult with the archaeology faculty before electing the M.A. rather than the Ph.D. degree program.

 

so davis might not be the best place for you unless you want to do a Phd. hope that helps refine your search, good luck!

 

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

[Fall 2014]

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.

[Timeline for grad school]

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

[4th Year Grades?]

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.