Canis

sorry, correction UMass Amherst doesn't require (if memory serves) - but they lean that way...

UMass Amherst, York, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, London School of Economics, others... all the UK and Canadian programs require an MA - few of the U.S. programs do.

Conservative school & academically rigorous? This will be a serious challenge. As you note in your question: "I wouldn't mind the challenge of confronting different points of view. Is it possible to get challenged that way at a conservative school?" I think that you're asking that is wonderful - and you should use that thought to seek out a complex education that isn't 'conservative' or anything else - but instead is driven by that curiosity. If you get an academically rigorous education, you'll likely end up coming out the other side with many ideas that don't fit the church's notion of 'conservative.' That's not a bad thing though. Why not apply to the top programs - write about your evangelical background, explain that you want to learn it all so that you can see the full picture and then decide what makes sense to you?

In my view having a POI on your side is a good way to ensure they look at your application despite any single shortcomings. Depending on the discipline/school/program/etc. Demonstrating an effort to learn about the program and to make contact seems to be a strategy with some success across programs, based on anecdotal evidence...

This makes sense - especially if you're applying to programs that accept undergraduates. I'm only applying to programs that require an MA, so I figured it was expected that my statements would be more focused on specific topics. Most of my POIs asked to see my SOP before I submitted it actually - and then gave me feedback to make it even more specific!

Really important to remember anthrogeeks point! - many of these schools get hundreds of applicants, and there are just a few results posted here. Using Duke as an example, there are 21 results posted for 2013, and 2 were acceptances. But the program gets between 120-200 apps and admits around 5 people each year. So, that's a lot of people (a lot of the successful people!) who aren't on here or who aren't sharing their results. For all we know, it might even be the case that people who tend to use Grad Cafe forums are actually less likely to be admitted for any number of reasons - it would be really interesting to see an analysis of this. We should probably also all remember that the whole process is unfair, and not transparent enough for students to really know what's going on behind the scenes. So despite being a great candidate if you don't get in, or don't get into your dream program that doesn't really mean anything about you and you would be well served by applying again in the future! I describe it as unfair, despite school's contention that it is, for many reasons - especially having seen the process from the inside at one school. But you don't even need that inside experience to know - just look at the contradictions in information provided by programs. For example using Duke's program again - the web site says: "In the interest of fairness to all applicants, departmental visits from prospective students are strongly discouraged. Applicants should be advised that contact with faculty members does not advantage their application. Students are admitted by the faculty as a whole, rather than on a mentorship model in which applicants are vetted by particular faculty." But if you read the sample statements of purpose they provide from "successful recent applicants" - one of the students explicitly describes visiting all of the professors he wants to work with and getting their support prior to applying, this is in his SOP. These committees are, after all, only human.

I can speak to #3. I have three colleagues who did the MTS - and I was really surprised how much they were basically doing the same work I did in an anthropology MA program - so you're right, it's very solid academic stuff. Much more so than what I had in my religion undergrad studies, which was very 'fluffy.' I even know a student who studied body and movement in the MTS - this is a topic that comes up pretty regularly. I would advise going for the MTS b/c you can always use an MTS as a foundation for further scholarly work, but not so with the MDiv. At the end of the day, graduate degree programs are credentials that allow you to do certain things. If you wanted to, you could study all of this at home, or via distance learning, or using a library and local non-credit coursework. You go there for the credential so you can do something else. It sounds like that something else for you is PhD, so MTS.

Living in New York is very challenging. Indeed. I don't know about any collaboration with law schools. But I can tell you that people like David are very interdisciplinary - he works in anthropology, environmental psychology, geography, many fiends. His appointment is in several fields. And departmental affiliation is not especially strict with many of the faculty who are associated with these multiple departments. There are also many centers and collaborations going on there. It would be worth reaching out to the faculty there and expressing your interest and describing your project. They will be receptive and point you in the right directions. CUNY is the largest public urban university in the country - so there are a lot of resources and it's an activist/marxist/political economy haven for students and faculty (administration is another thing, but that's all schools these days). Feel free to PM me if you have other questions about the school or the faculty you mentioned.

I wonder about those applying with more cultural focus and if they approached it differently. My SOPs were different for each school, but average about 1 page of citations in the bibliography for each page of text. I think everyone approaches the SOP differently, my approach was to make specific research proposals for each school

I'm curious to know if anyone here applied to Duke (I'm guessing yes) - and if so, did you use the sample successful SOPs from their web site as a model for your own? I ask because based on conversations in another thread I'm wondering how many people here cited work in their SOP? How many of you had a bibliography for your SOP? If you cited a few authors, or many?

What about in your SOPs? Did you all do in text citations in your SOP but without a bibliography? Or how did you handle that?

For Archaeology, in my view, the in-text are just as good - you have names and years and you're talking about tenured faculty. I'm sure they'll know what you're referring to!

In that past all PhDs were expected to know Latin, Greek, and German/French. But in that past only the most privileged could be formal scholars and they were taught those languages from childhood.

I also included works cited in writing sample (thesis excerpt). The whole thing actually, because it's a great way for them to assess fit.

Explaining is good, but what you've written there is too weaselly. It sounds like you did something wrong and you're trying to convert up. It also sounds like you're making excuses. First your note should state that you are including the explanation because the transcript does not include a legend. Take out the line about "not satisfactory" - NS could stand for many things, and you don't need to explain what it doesn't stand for. Don't tell them what to think about it, they won't take kindly to that. Explain factually, without making excuses what it means, why you got it, and that it isn't factored into GPA. Then describe your amazing work and achievement after that in a brief factual way, and ask them to consider you based on your record of achievement.

Tenured faculty are old here! They're dropping like flies.

If you haven't, read these, they're written for high school students but I found them really helpful in terms of balancing school and life, and also how to find the kind of summer project you're looking for: http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/04/18/how-to-become-a-zen-valedictorian-decreasing-your-stress-without-decreasing-your-ambition/ http://calnewport.com/blog/2010/03/26/how-to-get-into-stanford-with-bs-on-your-transcript-failed-simulations-the-surprising-psychology-of-impressiveness/

Based on your social justice and political economy interests, and urban setting - I would also look through the Faculty at the CUNY Graduate Center and see if you might want to apply there. I suspect you'd be much happier there than at any of the Ivy's you listed.

Interesting - I interpreted the use of the word deadline to mean they had to receive them by the date. Perhaps you're right.

I always bring my laptop - but I take really extensive notes in panels and need to be able to type. I couldn't do a conference without my laptop. Regarding presentations, if you don't use transitions (effects from one slide to the next) or embedded video, etc. just save your presentation as a PDF. It's the best way to go - then you just open the PDF in full screen and go from slide to slide. So much lighter, easier, and will work on any computer they end up having - and you also know exactly what it will look like. To me OpenOffice and PowerPoint are the same, I could create about the same stuff with both - but Keynote, that's a beautiful app for making slides!

I would just like to take a moment to say that as an anthropologist I have the awesome job, sometimes, of watching YouTube videos all day...

You can always submit an additional page to explain the transcript if there isn't a legend for what the abbreviations mean. When they get an official transcript there will usually be a legend enclosed, but not always. Schools usually use the legend in order to calculate your GPA, but yes - I'm afraid to say that some schools will re-calculate your GPA using their own standards. This is a terrible practice, and in the past I've had to deal with it by having the registrar send a signed letter to the school telling them what the grades mean. Even then, they still didn't use the grading legend from that school - but their own instead. Most programs care more about a complex picture of you as a candidate than only your GPA. They also look for trends - so if your grades got better and better, and were great toward the end that is very good and might help the committee understand your potential beyond those NS 'grades.' It's completely standard in grad school apps to explain anything in your record that you don't think reflects your candidacy. This is a thing you might want to explain, but I would ask your LOR referees for advice about it.

I've had this experience so many times... But they've always come through at the last minute. It's good that you're only at the point of wondering if you annoyed her - I usually get to the point where I'm wondering if they died. When is your letter due? And do you have another email address you can use? (something still professional sounding) If so, i would email again to make sure that your previous emails, especially the one with your materials like SOP and CV, etc. didn't get lost in spam.

Anyone applying to University of British Columbia? They have the 6th and 7th listed in different places - and even together in an email they sent me: "Please follow the instructions on our page and submit all the required supporting materials on or before the deadline, January 6, 2014. Please note that ALL SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS and MATERIALS need to send to the Anthropology Graduate Office at the address below by January 7, 2014." Anyone care to speculate, or have experience? They've been non-responsive to emails because of the break and the app processing.

Great questions! I looked through the last two years of anthro results just now (yes, it's what we do when we're waiting, right?) and noticed that Emory has asked people for interviews as early as January 10th. I bet they review them electronically and so faculty on the committee start as soon as they can to get it over with. So, it's possible this email was sent in order to get more information about an applicant they want to invite for an interview but aren't sure about yet (pure speculation). I was told by one school they would notify me of result by the end of January - but that school hasn't has any results posted here earlier than March in the past - so perhaps they are all moving things up a bit? Or trying anyway...