papayadance

Just got this mass email message from UPenn coordinator...sigh. Thank you for your application to the graduate Anthropology program at Penn. Our faculty is currently reviewing applications and we hope to have decisions announced by the first week of March. Decisions will first be sent via email, and all accepted applicants will receive a subsequent hard copy via mail. Thank you and best to you all in your academic endeavors, Zoe

With a Computer Science interest I see great promise for you in this career line. Wise choice. Drawing inspiration from you, I will move to DC and become a political mistress/call girl. My eyes are on Scott Brown.

With a Computer Science interest I see great promise for you in this career line. Wise choice. Drawing inspiration from you, I will move to DC and become a political mistress/call girl. My eyes are on Scott Brown.

@hogmommy -- congrats!!! sounds like you deserve it... good luck!* @vanishingpoint -- thanks... i'll try to project that confidence when i'm there hahahah eek *hope that luck is like pixie dust....spread it around, lol

Wow, congrats to all who have had admits or interviews already. Wahoo!! I just got an email from MIT (HASTS) for an interview an upcoming weekend..... I'm insanely nervous! It's one of my tops and a kooky program and uhghgihghdf. From those of you who have already had interviews -- any tips????? I've scoured this forum for general interview prep, but I mean specific anthro stuff and the not-so-important stuff like what to bring + wear. Ahh!!

wow i am NERVOUS. the anxiety of the past few weeks has been awful....can't wait for some impossibly far sunny day in May when I'll hopefully have SOME sort of plan and future. ugh.

Wow, thanks so much to whomever started this thread. Misery loves company! I am going mad mad mad with this waiting process. Every time I check this site and see a school name pop up, my heart skips a beat...til I read on and see it's someone talking about Engineering or some totally unrelated field. GAH. GRE was an agonizing experience for me. I studied for 2 months, took it over the summer and still BOMBED....Then re-took it abroad in the country where i am doing fieldwork. I traveled 1hr to the site. I was the only person at the test center. A power brown-out occurred as they were signing me in for the exam. The toilet was outside the building. FML. Ended up with 700V (97%), 640Q (57%...ugh), 5.0 AW (81%). My GPA and other shit is good, but I realize now how over-ambitious I was with the caliber schools I applied for. Ugh.

Definitely agree with fuzzylogician. I wouldn't make too much fuss distinguishing between SOP and personal statement. Both should be engaging and interesting while constantly weaving in your research experience/objectives. I used "I" and personal experiences (well, OK, research anecdotes) for both types of essays. I want people to enjoy reading my essays but at the same time convince them I'm an academic, you know? My suggestion is if you've already got a strong SOP, only tweak it slightly for this app (more "narrative" juice as alexis says). Good luck : )

Honestly, this is quite broad. You're safe with any big school with diverse faculty and funding; I guarantee almost all profs will include "globalization" or "modernity" or something equally staggering and impressive-sounding in their research fields But in all seriousness, your list sounds good. I agree with anthaspirant on checking out U Chicago. If you're out shopping for schools to add (oh lord help us, haha), there's Penn and U Michigan. And on the masters track -- the awesome Migration Studies program at Oxford: http://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/

Hi Kiebelle! I was dealing with the EXACT same issue last week. Two LOR writers who are chirpy and on time, and one who keeps me dragging (not just on grad apps but scholarship apps in the past). She always comes through at the last possible minute. I am not anywhere near my undergrad school -- not even in the same country -- so email is my only option (I cannot even picture Skyping this prof!! although I haven't reached that level of desperation yet, lol). What I have done in the past is continue to send polite, brief emails that tag on my initial request email (the one w/ the links and specifics). Like you, I got the LOR writer's "yes" in person many months ago, so perhaps she sees my email reminders as nothing but. She may be reading them and just not replying. After 2 emails by me, she generally responds with a quick snippet. So, I would be polite but persistent. Do not give up!! Like the other posters have said, a call definitely does not hurt, especially because you are on rolling admissions and NEED this. Professors know it is an unstated requirement of their job to be there for students, and LOR are part of their teaching package. Think of it that way. Sure, it's a favor to you, but also a sort of obligation for them (especially because this prof has already technically said yes). Don't feel like you're being annoying; you need to be pushy to get into grad school! I guarantee you are not the only student pestering them Good luck!!! (to all of us...)

hey there, haven't got much "insider" info, but I'm also interested in HASTS. i too got the sense that they're looking for experienced scholars, but i'm applying anyway (i graduated from anthro undergrad in 2009). mostly just looking for the opportunity to work with the faculty in the STS section. i say, apply. doesn't hurt, and you may be more "qualified" than you think!

hi everyone! I'm an anthro & gender studies undergrad (09) and applying to masters & PhD programs for 2010. I took the GRE this summer and didn't do as well as I'd like (even after legitimate studying with Princeton Review books!), so I'm planning to re-take in November. I'm an American but I'm currently doing a research project in the Philippines for a year, so I'll have to make a trek to a test site Other than that -- my list is about 10 schools. Too many? (MIT HASTS, Harvard, U Penn, Berkeley, Yale, Columbia, NYU, Stanford). I'm considering an MPH somewhere down the road, so a school with/near a public health school is ideal (MIT, Harvd, Columbia). Anyone else in public health-related anthro? My focus is mobile health, anthro of development, etc. Anyone applying to UK schools? I'm considering Oxford/Cambridge masters (migration studies at Oxford). Any tips on personal statements, resumes, contacting profs would be awesome. I wrote an undegrad thesis and I'm submitting it to conferences/journals, but I don't have anything yet... how do people feel about having publications/paper presentations for apps to top programs? thanks yall