NoSleepTilBreuckelen

If you're looking for a way to explore anthropology more and clarify what your interests within the field are, you might keep an eye out for anthropology MOOCs. EdX (https://www.edx.org) has offered some very interesting anthropology courses, it's basically free online courses from a bunch of universities, including UT Austin, MIT, Berkeley, Harvard, and lots of others. If nothing else, taking or auditing one of those classes could help you build your background in the field, and even though the institutions don't award credit for these classes, taking one might also help demonstrate your interest in the field to the schools you apply to. And remember, schools don't expect you to come in knowing everything - that's why they have several years of coursework at the start of the program!

Strudelle, I don't know much about that program specifically, but you might ask and see if there would be the option to take a class or two in another department like biology or paleontology to see if you could put together a curriculum that supports your interests. I'm excited to see someone else interested in outreach education - it's amazing how curious students are about the past and about anthropology! I'm an outreach educator at a museum and, at least where I am, it's a subject that hardly gets touched on in the standard grade school curriculum... MAC2809, if you're looking to go into student affairs, you're going to need to find a more constructive way to communicate with others about education. I think calling a certain major "dumb" only reflects poorly on you, and if you want the students you work with in the future to respect your advice, you're going to need to be able to be kind, supportive, and articulate.

I agree with the above comments. Very strong overall, but this first sentence sets the wrong tone. Social media is being used in some pretty amazing way these day (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mimi-ito/connected-learning_b_2478940.html) - as I'm sure you know because it seems like you're interested in using it in such a way. For an opener, it'd probably be better to align your self with positive happening in social media than to disparage how some people choose to use it.

Disclaimer - I obviously don't agree with his 'big discovery'

Oh my goodness, has anyone else been checking the results page like crazy?! For a 22-sec break from the waiting, I offer:

I completely agree with the above poster. Enjoy your undergraduate career - get to know factuality and peers, don't be afraid to take a class that interests you but isn't in your field , and explore opportunities. And about your GPA, a 3.56 is nothing to worry about. Your first semester in college is hard because you are learning what the school expects from you in terms of writing and projects and time commitment, and this may be very different than high school. Once you're more familiar with what they're looking for from you, that may help boost your GPA. It sounds like you are very conscientious and motivated and thats great, just don't forget to make sure you enjoy the process of being in school. After all if you're going to be applying for a PhD program, you better be sure that you like being in school! Good luck with finals!

Hi, Does anyone know the GRE code for Harvard's Human Evolutionary Biology program? I looked on their website and they number they have listed is 9300, but the GRE department codes don't go up this high... Maybe it falls under Anthropology? Biology? Ecology and Evolution? Just thought I would check here before contacting the department. Thanks!!

To the OP, grad schools are looking for students who can product high quality, original work, and while publishing is one way to demonstrate that, it's certainly not the only one! They'll also be looking at your LORs, writing sample, and SOP to get a sense of this, as well as any relevant experiences. Did you attend a field school, join or start an anthropology reading group, write for the student newspaper, have an interesting minor (a language, art, literature, biology, chemistry - any of these and way more could be relevant depending on what your interests for grad school are)? I think anything like that that makes you stand out, especially if you mention it in your SOP or a LOR mentions it, can help you stand out to the committee. When I was in my Master program, there were a lot of PhD student who didn't have publications when they came in. So, in short, there are other ways to show your dedication and aptitude for the field and your creative thinking to AdComs other than publications!

One note on using your professional email though - make sure your company allows this! I work for a museum and I know that while it would look good to send an email from my museum account, sending non-work-related emails using the company emails is against our code of conduct. I've used my personal gmail account and so far that's been fine - I've usually gotten a reply of some sort - a few too many of the "I'm retiring soon and not taking students anymore" variety, none-the-less, a reply.

You did the right thing by adding that note! Your students' unprofessional emails could really undermine them in the long run. I don't have too much advice on the matter since I'm just finishing my first term as a RA now, but, in solidarity, I can share a story about an email with an inappropriate sign-off I received recently. There are several undergraduate students who I oversee in as part of my research assistantship, and one day one of the students had forgotten to record observations about the material that she worked with in the lab. Since this record is a very important part of the project, I sent an email asking for the observations while they were still fresh in her mind and I signed off "Thank you, [my name]." She writes back with the information she'd forgotten to record and signs of "You're Welcome, [her name]." I know she doesn't realize it, but what she wrote sounds very arrogant, especially when she was certainly not doing me a favor. Now that I've read your post, I wish I had mentioned this to her (in a diplomatic way, of course) because she probably will continue to use that sign-off, which is border-line snarky...

Haha, just saw my computer autocorrected "research" to "reproach" in the above post - oops!

Hi ghelshel124 - you say that your LOR writers don't know about the circumstances you've been dealing with, but perhaps you could add an additional, 4th (assuming you already have 3 letter writers) LOR from someone who does know about what you've dealt with and could explain it. That way, your essay can focus on your interest in the program, your lab experiences and your success in classes the last 4 years. That might be an effective way to have those hardships you've been dealing with explained, while you can highlight all the reasons why you'd be a great candidate for the programs you're applying to.

It's okay if letters come in late. Some schools even say this on their applications - they know that recommenders are often other profs who are very busy right now. If it's between a a great late LOR and an on-time one from someone who doesn't know you that well or you haven't done reproach with, they'd much rather have the great, but late, LOR. Good luck

I agree with the previous poster. I think f you get permission from someone in the program/admissions it'd be okay and you could sign the honesty statement with peace of mind.

I've had a couple of applications where they ask me to type in the GRE scores I got in addition to sending in the official scores. Basically it's a way for them to have your scores included in the same application document with the rest of the material you submit. They'll check these against the official scores when they come in, and it's just a way for them to have all the info in one place (so that they don't keep having to search for the official GRE material every time they want to discuss a candidate). If you haven't submitted the application yet, I would just type your GRE scores into an "Additional Comment" box if they have one. If not or if you've already submitted, send an email to someone in admissions with your scores so they have them in writing. That's all they want, your score information to be included with the application somewhere by the deadline

Don't avoid applying to a school just because it has expensive tuition - oftentimes those are the schools that have more money available in scholarships. Do some research to see if there are specific grants available to you (at schools or maybe through your government) and find out about different financial aid and scholarship options. You mentioned you're worried about your grades keeping you from getting scholarships, but you're obviously passionate and knowledgeable about philosophy so that may help you get noticed by schools. Good luck

Definitely follow up with it! And maybe once you've submitted the application, or done the interview or whatever you need to do for to be considered for these fellowships, you might want to send your POI/the department a quick email to let them know. That'll reinforce your interest in the program and let them know you've acted on this potential funding opportunity.

Althonse, I would't worry about it - different applications ask for different decimal places for your GPA (I've definitely listed mine as 3.6 and 3.61 at different points this application cycle, just based of how many digits they ask for, and my transcript lists it out to 6 decimal places - haha!). I doubt they'll even notice the difference between the app and CV, but if they do, I don't think they see it as a material difference, simply as rounding.

UT Austin for arch, NYU and CUNY for bioanth, still narrowing down a few more (and need to do it quickly...) Good luck everyone

Hey Sarah_123 - would you be interested in swapping SoPs?

Hey sem - from your post it sounds like you've been working as a teacher. Is that the case? Is there something from that experience that might be worth focusing on for your 'challenge' essay. Having been a science teacher myself for the last 3 years, I know how challenging parts of that job can be! Just a thought. Write something that you feel confident about and you'll know best what that is.

Yeah, it's definitely impresses and lots of application a have a place for this sort of information. A personal history essay would be a good place for it. Also, an application I completed recently had a specific question on the online portion of the application asking about whether I worked during college and how many hours per week. If an application doesn't have that question, but had an additional comments/information section, you could out it there as well.

Thanks! Yes, I checked with the department and they still had the scores! Figured I'd post the update in case others had the same question.

Hi Everyone, I took the GREs in Fall 2012. At the time of the test they let me put 4 institutions to have the scores sent to for free, which I did. Now it's a full year later and I'm applying to graduate schools. Will the schools that I sent the scores to last year still have them? I didn't apply last year, but I'm worried that since they received the scores last year, they may have filed them away (or deleted them) with the rest of the scores from last year. I could send them again for a fee of $25, but I sort of feel like I shouldn't loose my 4-free-schools offer from the GREs (because that's part of what you pay for when you register for the tests), but because I took them early... Any thoughts? Thanks!

I would say definitely include the names of the professors you've worked with. If you mention previous professors you've worked with, not only does it help show that you're grateful for those opportunities, but I also helps demonstrate that you're a good ambassador for the projects that you've been on, by mentioning who you worked with on them, and shows that you'll be a good ambassador for future projects.