Anne00

Got accepted into BU Archaeology (PHD) this morning :D
 
Woo hooooo!

Sorry about Arizona. I am still waiting to hear from them, but they seem to be trickling out there acceptance/rejection emails.

I'm still waiting on U of A too. Hope we both get good news from them soon.

I think my roommate did her Masters in History there and really liked it. She returns every so often to visit.

Haha cheers to goin' for it! Not enough make that hard decision. Good for you and good luck! 

Good luck! I am not sure what my chances are since i've been out of school for so long... But I figured if I was going to quit my career for SW archaeology, I better go big, or go home.

Haha. Yes, my friend and I threw up a little over the nonsense and made fun of the writers and footnotes. However, there was some advice that I was able to incorporate in my more matter-of-fact style.
 
1.) Like in a resume, use action words. To "like" something is very tepid. You have to express your passion. 
2.) Open with a hook. We all got interested in our fields somehow and many time for similar reasons. So you have to express your similar reason in a more interesting way. Find the quirk to your story that will enthrall the reader.
3.) Weave a story. It doesn't have to be flowery but it should flow enough to encapsulate your life and personhood.
 
Anyways, if you still need someone to read yours, I can take a look. I however have nothing to swap. I am not applying for Cal and have already submitted my personal statement to my program of interest.

I am not sure if this will help on the closing issue, but I returned to my "hook" and explained how it influences my future. My intro was centered on saving an endangered language program at my public HS. I closed by indicating I was proud of that success but now after some time in the world, I understand other languages are becoming extinct from this earth (not just HS curriculum) and that student's whose ancestors spoke that language carry a cultural weight I've never had to experience - either they learn it or shoulder blame for the cultural loss. And so, I would like to participate in the preservation or renewal of those languages.
 
I think the intro sounds less cliche if you can show whatever story you told had a profound effect on your life. Not in just a 'I want to study this' way but in an 'I want to act this' way. How does the story bring you full circle as a person? The closing of that circle is your conclusion... If any of that makes sense.

What I am attempting to do in my SOP is make it the most interesting few pages about my research interests and experience as possible while leaving the mawkish stuff for my personal history statement. Please let me know if you guys disagree, but the route I took was to introduce a simple, yet unique idea about my education that I then used as sort of a stylistic ribbon woven throughout each paragraph. My undergrad institution is famous in a weird way. I discussed how all my unique experiences there (conspicuously inserting a bunch of bragging points) contributed to my desire for a graduate education. I think the idea behind the "hook" is not to change the content of your SOP, but really just make it stand apart a little, tiny bit. We all have to talk about the same stuff. My goal is for the adcomm committee to remember it apart from everyone else. "Oh yeah, wasn't that the girl who...such and such..."

If something led to you dropping out of college, I would name it (with as a little detail as possible) and then follow up with how you overcame that something. I can't imagine, if the "excuse" is something as horrible as rape, anyone would not understand the associated hardship. Maybe something like:
 
"Although I was the victim of sexual assault, which resulted in the temporary cessation* of my undergaduate studies, my strength of character ultimately led to the successful attainment of my B.A./B.S. degree in ...... from ...... University."
 
Then move on to all your successes. I think ultimately the point is to show that while something bad interupted your life, it was a very understandable, but temporary interuption.
 
* I phrased it this way to take the blame off from you as it wasn't your failing that led to you leaving college.

If something led to you dropping out of college, I would name it (with as a little detail as possible) and then follow up with how you overcame that something. I can't imagine, if the "excuse" is something as horrible as rape, anyone would not understand the associated hardship. Maybe something like:
 
"Although I was the victim of sexual assault, which resulted in the temporary cessation* of my undergaduate studies, my strength of character ultimately led to the successful attainment of my B.A./B.S. degree in ...... from ...... University."
 
Then move on to all your successes. I think ultimately the point is to show that while something bad interupted your life, it was a very understandable, but temporary interuption.
 
* I phrased it this way to take the blame off from you as it wasn't your failing that led to you leaving college.

I think all will be fine if you can tie in how your previous degree relates to the anthropology degree sought. You have great scores and you're published. Just show the school that you would be a good fit and how your previous degree enhances that fit. If you're really worried take a couple of Anthro courses this year and maybe mention that plan in your statement.

I think all will be fine if you can tie in how your previous degree relates to the anthropology degree sought. You have great scores and you're published. Just show the school that you would be a good fit and how your previous degree enhances that fit. If you're really worried take a couple of Anthro courses this year and maybe mention that plan in your statement.

Don't give up. Retake the test. I just got my official scores and aside from verbal (167, which is what my program cares about), they were not pretty.
 
I got a 4.0 on the analytical writing portion as well. I just can't do what they want in 30 minutes. If your grad application gives you an option to submit a writing sample, do it. I think the school would put more stock in the sample in front of them than in an unseen timed test that is reviewed in 3 minutes or less.
 
Do the programs your interested in require both a high verbal and math? Knowing my program only highlighted one in the application process, I used my limited time to focus on that. Maybe the same is true for you. If so, you can retake the test next month and use the next 4 weeks to focus on the score that needs to be raised.
 
As I said, my program required a high verbal, so I aimed for that. I bought the 500 flashcard vocabulary and memorized the words and their definitions. Then I took multiple practice verbal tests and tried to learn from my mistakes. My math on the other hand was very low (147) as I haven't had a math class in over 10 years and only use the basics. I imagine though math would be the "easiest" score to raise because there is no subjectivity in the answers. Either you get it right or you don't. However, that means you have to study (and remember) the equations for the test. You can actually print out an 80ish page math workbook from ETS - GRE. If I had more time, it seemed like it would be quite useful in learning math concepts and equations from scratch.