coyabean

I hate my UG school. Now that i have that out of the way. Even though I've been asking every time I was advised for the last THREE semesters if I'm on track to graduate today I got from my advisor this: "huh, that's odd. you need XYZ." Odd? Odd as in I am thinking of killing you odd? Basically I'm a readmit and there are questions about whether I graduate under my original requirements or the new ones. The new ones mean I need three more core classes - 9 hours. Now, I've done the math and it appears that the worse case scenario is finishing in the second session of summer school. I've spent close to a thousand dollars applying to grad schools with a Fall 2010 start. Anyone ever graduated in summer? What happens with your grad school? WTH!!!!!! When do i start slicing and dicing and burning like Sherman?!!!

My LORs have become my therapy on demand. Whenever I start to question why I'm running this insane gauntlet I pull them out and read them. LOL Obsess positively.

I ditto what someone else said above about going up the chain of command. It's my information and if I want to get one once a week just to wallpaper my room then you damn well better give it to me! It's a stupid rule with no enforceable rights behind it. I actually skip the middle steps. I had a similar issue with getting a fee waiver letter from my fin aid office. How some colleges have forgotten that they exist for the student and NOT the administration is beyond me. But I remind them. Often. Take yourself to the Dean of Students or Dean of Academic Affairs office and tell them surely there must be a mistake because a university wouldn't hamper a student's attempt to further their education...would they?

all my apps are actually in but one. that columbia app is a pain. the big thing is ordering my score reports -- ETS somehow split my file? so i am getting that straight -- and getting my LORs in. everything will be off my desk AND mind by Dec 15! i can't take it anymore.

Hi guys. I'm looking for some people who have first hand knowledge of USC's American Studies and Ethnicity program. Know anything about the faculty, the personality of the program, etc.? I'm an east coast girl so a drive-by isn't feasible. This is the only non-anthro program I'm applying to. My mentor thought highly of the faculty and I've had exchanges with two of them that have been great. I'd love some more info on the stuff only students can tell you, however. TIA

I just want to second some of the other advice. I'm actually considering cost of living into my school selections. I also plan to take out the allowable sub amount. Not to knock the more conservative approach listed here, but the risks some are naming aren't risks unless you blow the money or had to spend it on an emergency. If the former then you were gonna be screwed any way. If its the latter better to have the money at hand then trying to scramble for it when you need it. That money is some of the cheapest and easiest you can borrow. I'd rather have a 20k balance in subsidized government loans that cannot exceed 7% in simple interest when I'm done than to have credit card bills with upwards of 18% interest rates and no negotiable repayment plans.

I 'get' it in the way I, theoretically 'get' unrestricted greed capitialist markets. The problem is in the practical application, right? I mean there is a huge gap between who you say you are and what your actions show that you are. Academia has a bad case of personality disorder. I've had one school tell me straight out that my GRE was too low for their consideration -- UTA. My mentor though swears up and down that every year he sees "his" people get places with sub-1000 scores. It is hard to believe anything anymore. It's like these boards. There are a lot of people who self-report 1400+ scores but the national averages would suggest that there can't be that many of these folks. Certainly not enough for every field and every phd program to get more than one or two of them? Again, feel free to challenge my laymen's math. That 1180? was almost all verbal. I got a 680 on V. I'll, again, leave you to do the math for the other section. LOL It is what it is. It's a test. And I have no problems saying I'm brown and female. Statistically I suppose I wasn't at an advantage, but I don't like that position either. I'm rather bright if I do say so myself. My biggest disadvantages were really age, discipline, and UG institution (which I guess could have a race and socioeconomic component to it). I had not taken any math course in over 10 or 12 years! When I was still in that frame of mind I did just fine in math up to calculus. I'm not the best spatial thinker so calc and geometry were always less easy for me. But i use to slay algebra and trig! However, there was something to be said for managing my time. I was in a fellowship program that required a large research commitment, managing a "grown up life", my current class load and grad school apps. There weren't many balls I could put down long enough to justify a potential 100+ point quant boost. In the end I have to have faith in the Universe. I will end up exactly where I'm supposed to be. I've done my due diligence. But this GRE thing is an insane human riddle. If academia needs innovative thinkers to keep it alive and thriving the first thing they seem intent on doing is beating the innovative thinking out of you.

Yeah, I answered my own question by looking in my inbox after I posted. Man, it is crazy! I get the inherent other in this field but the refusal fo some folks to observe their immediate surroundings is really surprising. And I hear the same thing. Everyone is all South Asia and Africa, although I don't know if Africa ever goes out of style. I thinks some folks go into anthro just to take pictures in grass and mud huts. /eyeroll I see faculty pages full of these pics. French is my research language so I could, theoretically, expand to include developing nations in Africa but it's not my primary focus and I don't feel like lying about that. Good luck with NY! It's a crazy market.

i'm with you. wow. i'm in anthro and i've got some big names on my list -- and some not so bigs for balance -- and my retake puts me at 1180, i think? my first run was 1060. if that sucks that badly i may as well start applying to temp agencies. :/

LOL I love it! And I cannot tell you how much it means to me to see Morehouse was included. I am sure this means we have overcome? In keeping diversity alive they could have also included Howard University. They are the "Our Homecoming and our Chicks set the standard" douches.

Did you send me a message on lj? i'm terrible at checking that inbox! if that's you feel free to send it over. Just let me know to expect it. And thanks! It has been very, very, VERY difficult to find people to support my interest. I find anthro thinks small villages in South Asia are sexier than North American, urban or complex society studies. I guess it seems pedantic. However, I figure you better know thyself as the saying goes. Getting feedback is a great indicator. IF nothing else your app is better focused for that program. I see Am Studies in your sig too. I've also got one on my list. Are you looking at USC?

Man, where the heck are you guys applying with all these late deadlines?! My first one is due Nov 1! Granted that's something they are calling "preferential deadline" but I have enough homespun folk sense to know that "preferred" means "your a** better." My freaking out is about every thing. For a control freak, OC, analytical, logical person like myself? The one who wants to write something and then lease myself out with the text so that I can stand over you while you read to make certain I am not misconstrued? Is akin to water torture. It's killing me. I hit a button and then I lose all control? The heck is that? I checked this online results thing here? And people aren't notified until March?!!! I'll be a haggard clove smoker on vodka IVs. And then I think of actually CHOOSING programs and then I freak out. Then I imagine I don't have any programs to choose from and I hyperventilate. So no matter how I imagine it I freak out. Wait. This wasn't about me? See! This process has made me a horrible person.

A well-reasoned response. I also feel the need to add that some of us need that GRE score! It's one of my positives! I feel badly about it but I test relatively well while my UG GPA has some spottiness. And while everyone else seems to hate verbal I serve at its altar. Without it I'd be a slave to geometry. So, I think this multi-faceted approach is about as good as it gets. Fortunately it's about a composite picture of who we are...or so I've been promised. :/

Someone brought up in the "am i too old" thread that there was an unarticulated question yet to be addressed: is there such a thing as too old to invest in the unicorn that a TT job is fast becoming? I will be, at best, 38 when I finish my PhD. I am a woman. Currently I am totally unencumbered but I do vaguely hope for a day when there's a dog or a partner or a plant or something. Is almost 40 -- gulp -- too old to compete with newly minted PhDs in their 20s and early 30s? Do you think this puts us at a disadvantage in the job market?

Good point. This is about some very personal choices. As a woman I decided that I could not plan my life around my reproductive viability. Taking that off the table made me feel better. (My mom likes to point out that I can always "buy a baby". Apparently there's a store? lol) I think that helps me conceive of a career in academia though. That is my plan. I want to teach and research, but I am ALWAYS looking for ways to make myself relevant to the private and GOs. That's just my hardcore belief in being prepared as humanely possible. It helps me sleep at night. I am also very clear about my dissert project. The plan is to let that guide my coursework so that I complete in five years or less. Even with that I will be 38 at best when I finish. That is scary. But what I can do? But your point is valid. However, I figure if there's any career where a 40 year old upstart is acceptable it is academia. Or, that's the lie I'm telling myself.

My understanding is that it shows initiative and an awareness of the culture of academia. Basically, you know that it is about publish or perish and the concept won't be new to you when you enter graduate school

I don't understand the bitterness about these statements. No one is suggesting, as was said above, that you have to be an amputee to be interesting. Surely you have considered why your work matters to you? I think they would like to hear about that. Are you fascinated by human behavior? Do you watch people and imagine their personal narratives? Do you prefer documentaries to the big blockbusters? Why is being a white person inherently boring? You are a person. You are unlike any other person. Explain how.

One of the profs I interviewed this summer came out of there. He lauded their diverse student body and said they use to have a couple of very supportive faculty. He said a lot of them have since retired, but they still have a holisitic application process that doesn't over-rely on gre scores. However, he also said that the large cohorts mean lack of individual attention. Profs tend to identify potential stars early on and everyone else kind of has to fight for attention. Ummmm..what else? I have notes from our conversation. LOL He said they have a strong activist/applied bent. Hope that helps.

I don't know, but I am visiting my top three. Only one is local. A mentor told me this summer that meeting me was my best weapon. I am not going broke to do it. I just planned visits during fall break and the like. I'm turning them into mini vacays. I surely need it with all the madness of applying. The ivies and northeastern schools seem to really like the visitation thing. They were the schools that had a process and coordinator set up specifically to handle requests. I am just making sure to visit during class days and not during peak exam times. I coordinated to sit in on a class, contacted those profs to tell them I would be there, set up an appointment with the grad school director, a tour and to meet with a current student. I think I'm covering all my bases. My first trip is actually this upcoming week. I'll try to report back here on what transpires and if I felt the trip was worth it.

LOL you're so sweet. So not taking that any way but helpful. where are these survey results? I have looked but don't see it.

Edited for whining...in the whining post. Point taken. THanks.

I was researching this route before I decided to go another direction so I have a lot of materials. The above poster's VA suggestion is a good one. So, too, is University of South Carolina. And I think Vandy's program might have more of a concern about your work experience than even Harvard as they are ranked higher for that discipline and they seem to have a clear professional focus. Lots of other places, however, are nowhere near as concerned about it. Your only hurdle may be at internship or practicuum time. Most of these programs build in a requirement to help you get that much needed experience. However, the participating school depts get to interview you and I heard from several schools that those with some related experience get picked first and for the most popular positions -- capital management, greek life, housing, etc. But, I don't think its that huge of a concern. If it was, again, so many of the programs wouldn't have the work experience built into the curriculum.

For the record, some apps are all electronic -- even for transcripts and LORs. Princeton, for instance, makes you scan and upload EVERYTHING. And I think that when a school makes an application available that signals that they are ready to accept materials. i don't understand this them not being ready thing.

Wonderful advice! Thank you. And that process of weeding out the masses makes sense...I mean if I weren't the one waiting for a response, of course.

All nine or 11 of mine will be done by next week. I started my SOPs in the summer, finished my writing sample during a summer fellowship and took my second, and final, GRE two weeks ago. It's done. I'm down to just tweaking a word here and there. I want it off my desk and my mind. The only issue now is money and LORs. I have two of my three. My earliest application is due in November so I don't feel too crazy.