eklavya

This was my idea not his...

I asked because he's looking at changing his focus and not applying to archaeology programs - let's call it serious burnout. He's not some 20-something with years to keep applying. So with respect forgive my response...

I'm sorry I asked.



Edited to add: I should have made myself clearer - he's not looking to just get another masters. He's looking to get a Ph.D in History but we both figured he would need to start at the master's level then move into the Ph.D.

I don't know if this is the appropriate place to put this or if anyone can help. I know so many of you are still waiting - our wait is over unfortunately, though not in a good way (see 'It doesn't makes sense' thread). We're still waiting for spring break to get over to find out what happened, but over the weekend my husband (Morgan) and I have done a lotof thinking. Basically what to do and where to go from here. I asked if he would consider getting a second masters and if he did what would he want to study. That got him thinking...

He has an MS in Anthropology (Archaeology), but during his UG and G studies took several classes in history, historiography, celtic world and european history (not enough for a minor though). Anyhow his archaeology focus has always been on Ritual/Religious behavior, Gender and Status. He has been looking at his work through a mortuary context but is now thinking of looking at his dead people from a mytholiterary stand point - using the history or literature department as a source. The challenge we're running into is how to alter his SOP so that it can be incorporated into the history department and not just anthro.

He's looking at Western Michigan (along with 3 others in Michigan - not U of M...just the smaller schools). All of them have rolling admissions (a couple have deadlines of this July/August for fall 2010) so he wouldn't have to wait an entire year.

I know this is a lot to ask, but would any of you have any suggestions on how best to approach this? Wester Mich has a multi-discipline approach to their history department (including archaeology) which is why it interested him so much. All of you have so much of your own stuff going on, but I would appreciate any help you can offer.

I have all of you still waiting in my thoughts - sending out the best energy I can so you get your dreams schools or the best place for you.

Unless you have already told them, I don't think the school will embark on a full-fledged mission to find out which other schools you have applied and tell them to reject you. It is not common, as it backfires on the schools. And if you haven't signed a contract, then you aren't legally bound either. But what you should really think about is how wrong it will be ethically to rescind, after accepting an offer. One thing to keep in mind is that most schools have April 15 as their withdrawal deadline. So you might be able to back out legally/ethically. Contact your advisor/department and tell them, with all honesty, that you cannot attend their program. Because we are still very early in the admission season for F11, they have plenty of time to give that spot to the next best student.

Here are some threads created in the past on similar topic:

So, having just finished my applications, I'm just sitting around being restless and not doing much.

But well, I'm interested in reading more about the admissions process. In particular, I'm interested in reading reflections on graduate school admissions process, written by actual professors who have served on actual graduate admissions committee, probably in the form of blog posts or similar. For instance, blog posts along the lines of the following, by Female Science Prof:

http://science-profe...%20applications

So I'm not looking for blogs written from the applicant's point of view (of which there are plenty). I'm also not looking for "official" admissions blogs (which have a tendency to be quite dry) but personal reflections, probably on a personal blog or similar, by actual professors. I found these quite hard to Google up, but if you know of any, please share!

she's devilishly flaky, that's for certain. the main thing to consider here is that do you really want to go to a program that has a teacher like her? forget her awful behavior for once. but if she's a terrible teacher, do you really think you will excel at this particular dept where (i assume) she will be teaching you?

now as to why she's asking you all the schools you will be applying to, it's hard to tell. she could be plotting a devious plan man, who knows! if i were you, i'd not tell her squat. there are people who want to know what's going on in other people's lives so that they can munch on the information, and live off it... you know, those guffy/gossipy types. moreover, there are people whi want to ruin things for others because they envy the progress. in her case (and if she really is THAT terrible), she might not have good intentions regarding your future, my friend!

my advice: lay low, finish the class, apply elsewhere, and get the hell outta that place.


no, grad coordinators can be professors. this is how it is in most schools because the school/dept wants professors to develop those 'managerial' skills. some extremely rich schools might have grad coordinators and profs as two separate entities, but it's not very common.

she's devilishly flaky, that's for certain. the main thing to consider here is that do you really want to go to a program that has a teacher like her? forget her awful behavior for once. but if she's a terrible teacher, do you really think you will excel at this particular dept where (i assume) she will be teaching you?

now as to why she's asking you all the schools you will be applying to, it's hard to tell. she could be plotting a devious plan man, who knows! if i were you, i'd not tell her squat. there are people who want to know what's going on in other people's lives so that they can munch on the information, and live off it... you know, those guffy/gossipy types. moreover, there are people whi want to ruin things for others because they envy the progress. in her case (and if she really is THAT terrible), she might not have good intentions regarding your future, my friend!

my advice: lay low, finish the class, apply elsewhere, and get the hell outta that place.


no, grad coordinators can be professors. this is how it is in most schools because the school/dept wants professors to develop those 'managerial' skills. some extremely rich schools might have grad coordinators and profs as two separate entities, but it's not very common.

GRE for science people doesn't mean much. in your field, it might be different. why not apply and see what happens? or, you can contact faculty in few schools and see what they have to say about your resume. most profs think GRE is useless anyway.
also, if you are planning to apply to PhD programs, think about getting a masters first. not only it will make your application for PhD much stronger, it will definitely help you in the long run.

So glad my GA is going to be as high as it is, 35k =)

why are you waiting on the toefl score to submit the application? i am asking this because i assume that you will be sending all schools an official copy later. right? even if you enter the scores, by no means it is official. you must send an official copy later. therefore, i suggest that you go ahead and enter the date when you took the toefl test, and submit the application.
approximately doesn't cut it sometime - they can take up to a week more to post the scores.

you forgot to mention the bio students poking the cheaters with their pen/forceps/whatever.... haha

i really doubt that it's driven by desperation for popularity. there are roughly about 20-22 tests per semester i think. so in essence, each person gets to become the hardcore dude at least once.
i wonder why our university expelled these folks. they should have been kept around and demonstrated to bio students to explain reciprocal symbiosis.... it'd have also saved few lichens each year

i really doubt that it's driven by desperation for popularity. there are roughly about 20-22 tests per semester i think. so in essence, each person gets to become the hardcore dude at least once.
i wonder why our university expelled these folks. they should have been kept around and demonstrated to bio students to explain reciprocal symbiosis.... it'd have also saved few lichens each year

Oh, I thought you meant the same person did it each time. I see, I see.

And now I'm stuck with a mental image of a bunch of bio students (with labcoats and goggles and notebooks, of course) standing around and carefully observing the students...

i really doubt that it's driven by desperation for popularity. there are roughly about 20-22 tests per semester i think. so in essence, each person gets to become the hardcore dude at least once.
i wonder why our university expelled these folks. they should have been kept around and demonstrated to bio students to explain reciprocal symbiosis.... it'd have also saved few lichens each year

this happened in my univ as well (accounting major), last year.... since there are 2-3 days to take the midterms, and the midterms are held in the testing center and not in the class, one guy from the group would study like hell and go take the test. then he/she'd come back and regurgitate the test in front of classmates. and the remaining would go and take the test, get >95% all the time!

the people involved were identified, and 26 students were expelled from the department. of the 26, 4 were expelled from the university while remaining were allowed to stay. of those allowed to stay, 3-4 were ripped off of their 3-4 years they had invested in accounting and made to enroll in some other major, while remaining were forced to take a year worth of other general and ethical classes before re-enrolling in the major. that was a major blow to our accounting program which usually frequents the top 10 in national rankings.

and oh, 2 people who had already graduated and left had their diploma revoked. pretty awesome, eh?

Probably not, but at least you can make jokes about your GRE scores being really shitty...

I took the GRE once, and I got a 490 on my verbal. It's simple really, I had to do a MAJOR #2 somewhere after question 8. I can't really say that to admissions though can I?

in your case, it is most likely that if something reaches after dec 1, you might be out of luck. however, schools are flexible, and often lenient and consider materials that reach a couple of days late. it's unlikely that they'll gather up all materials at dec 1 midnight and trash anything they receive tomorrow and after. however, it is not worth taking the risk at this point!!
if you are 101% sure that the materials won't reach later than dec 1, go for the 24$ option. otherwise, make the materials reach early. better in time than on time!

you can email current graduate students in the departments of all universities and ask how their situation was around this time when they were accepted. also ask how is the market placement of the graduating classes. based on what they say, you'll be able to sort out your odds from the evens. hopefully things will turn out well for you.

not a poem, worse. apparently, dude (he was some anthro/humanities major i think) tried to link the story of star wars with what he wanted to do in his grad program. idk how well he connected that story with his life, but one of my other friend who was roommate with this guy later told me that his star wars story occupied about half the length of his SoP. in my culture, this type of situation is referred to as 'monkey talent ball damage' hehe..

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