AKJen

Honorable mention again. Oh well, onto other grants for the diss next year.

I know you have to accept and use the Ford Fellowship in the 1st year you are awarded it, but I think you can defer the NSF for a year. So you can't have them during the same year, but you can stagger them. Or at least this was the case a few years ago.

Re: UPenn I hadn't heard they were doing interviews this year and they really haven't in the past. It might be that certain professors might be talking to people. I do know their meeting is scheduled for soon (or has already happened. They've had a lot of staff meetings lately). There are several dual-degree programs that might have interviews, so it could be that as well.

Just got back my very first set of evaluations. They were middling for the most part, which is about what I expected from my first semester teaching. But I did get one student (I hope it was one!) who thought I was awful and wrote a nasty comment about my "lack of mastery" of course materials, since I had to look up answers during our final review session. Yes, myself and the other TA did look up answers during the final review session (which was held during our "free" time for their benefit), but it was mostly so we could be sure to give them accurate information since the prof has a completely different approach and emphasis from our own. Grr. And it was from the smaller section that seemed to go so well...

I'll admit my bias that I think about safety programs in terms with how employable you'll be in academia after your graduation. there are schools that may be willing to accept you, but it's not quite safe, in that you might struggle to find a job (or struggle more, actually because jobs are so hard to come by) after most likely paying a lot of money for a degree. But even as a write this, I realize people get degrees for different reasons and there are definitely positions outside of the academy for anthropologists; I just think people should go into graduate school with eyes open to the possible uphill battle.

It's really based your interests and how they align with the faculty. And every school is different; there's no way to know what they do based on GPA unless you call or email the school and ask. I could tell you what they do at my school, but it wouldn't be representative of all schools (and they just ended the masters program). There aren't really safety schools. It's not hopeless, but you have to be very focused and strategic about your activities in the next year and where you apply. You need people on your side at each school; people who will fight for you. I'm not saying the Smithsonian isn't a good internship, but it's not like an NSF REU that is affiliated with a major academic institution where you'll work with faculty that will be deciding on your application. Those can be a backdoor into a program. Known entities are less of a risk! Whereas the Smithsonian people can be a good resource for recommendations, but might not have the connection to an academic program or the pull to get you into the program.

MermaidNiki is right. If you can find someone who wants to work with you on the right type of project and it's their year to admit a student, often a iffy gpa can be overlooked. But that 3.0 minimum is often the related to funding and/or the minimums for the graduate school as a whole. Sometimes they can be pretty firm. I'd make sure you investigate that fully at each school you apply to. I don't know that I'd be banking that much on the Smithsonian cachet helping you get into school for cultural anthropology, unless you plan on doing material culture studies/museum anthropology. Don't get me wrong, the Smithsonian is great and their faculty does really interesting work! I was there this summer; but they do a pretty specific type of anthropology that is not necessarily translatable into what academic departments might think of as cultural anthropology. Have you thought about a masters? There are some funded programs that can be a good stepping stone to a PhD program.

I'm not exactly sure what you're going for. Graduate programs in anth are not really just something you do if you like bio anthro and are looking at a next step in school. Even for an MA program, although there's a lot more leeway since you don't necessarily have to have a specific direction in your research. I would spend some time thinking about what it is that you want to end up doing, the kinds of research questions you want to ask, and what sort of methods you might end up using. For bioanth, I could imagine it would be really important to end up at a school with people that work on NAGPRA, if you're interested in that. Where you get your MA ultimately could determine where you can get into a PhD. If you go to an MA school that doesn't have expertise in the area where you decide you'd like to continue your research, how are you going to prove to PhD programs that you're a strong candidate? How do you make the connections with faculty members that matter (in that they are on top of the field and know the schools and faculty you'll be applying to work with further)? One of the best ways to find schools is to look at articles or books that you've really liked recently or that you find yourself using a lot. Where do those people work? What are their recent projects? If you can find a way to pitch yourself and show that your experience and interests match their needs, a lower GPA won't matter that much. It sounds like you do have some hands-on experience that could be useful and may even justify funding an RA position. Don't limit yourself on tuition in this search; even some MA programs have decent funding. Sorry I don't just have a list of schools to throw out there, but it's never quite as easy as that. Edit: I forgot to add, ask your professors! They might know people or places you should apply. One professor in particular is the reason I got in where I did and all because she knew someone who ran a program.

I've had the most luck using google's transit directions option. Most of the time, I ride the trolley.

Sarmstrong, I was in the same position last year, though I was in Alaska as opposed to out of the country. Landlords are very, very hesitant to rent to someone who is not there in person. I spent a few months looking at listings and trying to follow up on things, but in the end I just got a hotel room for a week and made many, many calls. Though University City is in demand, I found there were plenty of apartments available in good locations for decent prices even a week before September 1st. I actually found my place within 2 days of getting there. Make sure you check the off-campus housing office of UPenn; they seem to have a good variety of places.

Taking my last two today. It's a horrible awful process and the next person that tells me that everyone passes and I'll be fine is going to get some of my wrath. I mean, it's true, but that doesn't make the process less stressful. No real stories here, since we just show up and they hand us the test to be emailed to the admin in two hours, but many, many hours of studying for things that probably will not be on the tests. It is super cruel to give out 15 detailed prep questions and use only three of them for the actual test. Especially when it's in a class based on a timeframe of millions of years with hundreds of finnicky details. Soon, soon it will be over.

Well, sure they can. Anyone can do that for anything. But just like any other application, there are consequences if you are found out; sometimes many, many years after the fact when careers have been established. And in the case of an NSF fellowship, if they were to find out, it'd probably a literal federal offense what with the defrauding funds from the government and all.

I think it's very field dependent. In my top-ten PhD program in a social science discipline, it's pretty normal for people to have significant experience in another field before pursuing graduate study. I'm the oldest in my first year cohort at 31, but I'm not that much older. There are students in their 50s. I've seen very few people get into our program right from undergrad without significant and specific research experience.

Congratulations to all the awardees this year! I applied last year and got an honorable mention, but I received the NSF fellowship, so all was well. I would like to apply again for a Ford Fellowship because I've heard great things about the networks available to awardees. I was hoping someone might have some thought about whether I should be applying for the predoctoral or wait for the dissertation. I'll still have at least three years left by the time I apply next year, so I'm still eligible. Has anyone else had this dilemma? What made you decide to apply for one or the other?

I moved to Philly last year for school. I live a little off the beaten track but still close enough to walk. There's few neighborhoods that seem especially grad student friendly, West Philly, especially near Baltimore Ave out to about 50th. They just reopened the South Street Bridge, so the area just over the bridge is pretty convenient. If you're looking for newer, nicer places and are willing to either spend a little more or live in a smaller place, there are several neighborhoods in Center City (Fitler Square, Avenue of the Arts, the museum area) with nice places, especially if you have time to look. Feel free to PM me if you want more information.

My honest reason for pursuing a doctorate is that I'd gotten as far as I could get in my career without having the degree. I worked in public health research for a tribal health organization at a great job that was fulfilling and well-paying but without a terminal degree, I'd never advance any further. While I'd always planned on someday going back for a doctorate, the job situation is what really convinced me that not only would I be doing something I really enjoy but that I'd have a job when I finally finish. However, one year in and my career goals have changed. I am being seduced by academia and the possibility of continuing research in an academic as opposed to clinical setting.

I just saw Dr. Rajan speak yesterday at The New School. His work is extremely interesting and worth taking a look at, if you're interested in med anthro in India. I ended up not attending a strictly med anthro program, though my adviser is well-known for her related work.

Your state would be IL because you went to high school there.

There was actually four in the UPenn cohort this year. They admitted two bio anth, one archy and one cultural person. It's hard to say what will happen at UPenn. In 2009, they had 9 students in their cohort. It's sort of a crap shoot.

Don't know about any of the others, but UPenn doesn't do interviews. Or at least it didn't for my cohort.

I applied to eight programs last year and the only program that I interviewed at was interdisciplinary in nature. I know of one or two schools that do interviews for sure (MIT HASTS, Emory). However, at the four programs to which I was accepted, I had informal, interview-like conversations with my prospective advisors. I would try and get in touch for even a short phone chat if possible, but again this wasn't a formal process. I think most people will just have to wait as painful as I know that is.

In my opinion, it's not worth addressing at all. It's one C in a group of very good grades and almost everyone has one bad semester. I think you were onto it when you mentioned it comes across as making excuses for yourself. Too much time spent on the negative versus talking about your specific research idea and enthusiasm/preparation/suitability is always a bad thing. If it was a bunch of Cs, or a downward trend instead of one grade, that may be something to explain.

I feel the same way. Also I finished the last of my five (yes, five) final papers! I am free for three glorious weeks. I liked a grand total of two of the papers, but I figure that's okay since the three that I didn't like are passable and for classes outside of my subfield. I just feel like each of the papers would have been about 80% better if I'd had just a few more days. But I'm really glad to be done.

So I know I've had all semester to work on these papers, but I feel like I can't get anything done. I've read, I've thought, I've even tried to outline, but nothing of value seems to be on the horizon. Which is highly unfortunate because I've already turned in two papers. Any tips for getting through the last three?

I've been looking into Phillycarshare and it seems like a decent deal. It's $125 a year (but you can do monthly or even hourly) and includes insurance and gas. You reserve a car online and pick it up at a few dozen places around town, some right on campus. With a subscription, you pay $.25 a mile when you take the car out. So not great for long trips, but if you only need it a couple of times a month to run to a grocery store or ikea, it's a much better deal than keeping a car maintained, gas, insurance and parking costs. I'm moving from Alaska and my car is one of the last things I'm going to give up. I'm pretty okay with it, since I spent a semester there and didn't miss the car at all.