far_to_go

I have also struggled with anxiety and depression while in grad school. I've not mentioned to professors/advisors that I see a therapist weekly (and sometimes twice weekly); thus far, I haven't found it to be necessary. Some of my fellow students do know. I second what others have said; taking time to take care of yourself should be a top priority. If you are too depressed or anxious to function, of course you aren't going to be able to perform in your classes, labs, etc. Seeing a therapist (along with exercise, eating well, sleep, etc) should help to prevent that from becoming the case. As the old adage goes, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." When I'm feeling guilty or bad about taking time for self-care, I try to remind myself of this. Sometimes it helps. My best wishes to all who've posted here. Hang in there!

Schools do vary widely in terms of what funding they can provide for conferences; my school only reimburses for conference travel if you're presenting AND are on the job market. That said, the conferences are awesome and you should definitely try to go if you can. I'd recommend submitting a paper if you have anything decent lying around from your undergrad or MA that you haven't published yet. You only have to submit an abstract by April 15, and then you have lots of time to polish it up. I presented a paper last fall (something I'd written during my MA at a different school) and everybody at my current school was very impressed and congratulatory that I was already presenting a paper at AAA during my first semester in the PhD program! I'm definitely planning to submit something for Montreal this year. Good luck, and maybe I'll see you in Montreal!

Got the following e-mail today: "Thanks for your email. The first round of fellowship offers have been made to the top 33 candidates. If funding becomes available after continuation awards are made, offers will be made to alternate candidates. If you haven't received an offer by the end of August, you can assume that your application was not in funding range." I guess that means I'm an alternate. Oh boy, more waiting :-/

Ahh, the suspense is killing me! I sent a polite e-mail inquiry to OPE_Javits_Program@ed.gov on Monday, but haven't heard anything back yet. If you've sent in an e-mail and gotten a response, would you mind saying whether you also e-mailed that address? Thanks!

To the OP: have you considered sign language research? I sort of fell into it a few years ago, but I love it! I don't have the best auditory discrimination skills myself, and I've found that it's much easier for me to learn sign languages than spoken languages. I wouldn't label myself fully bilingual or fluent, but my proficiency in ASL is such that I can hold my own in most social/educational situations. Just a thought :-)

I belong to a housing co-op that rents 5 houses in a neighborhood close to the university. Most of the members are grad students (though none are from my department), with a few undergrads and working people mixed in. I really like having a group of people outside of my department that I can hang out with on a regular basis; we go hiking, have game nights and movie nights, go to concerts, etc. Also we have a community garden, which is very therapeutic. Although the specific activity that you choose to recharge is, of course, a matter of preference, I've found that having relationships outside of my department really works well for helping me to keep a balanced perspective on life. My department is actually a really great place and I have good friendships and working relationships there, but it's important for me to have something else going on socially.

Yeah, I was surprised to hear that Berkeley was not anywhere near as 'groovy' and laid-back as I thought it would be. Too bad.

For what it's worth, I have heard from several Berkeley PhD Anthro students that the department, while full of brilliant people, is not a very friendly place to be. The reports of ego-driven infighting, fierce competition for funding, and general unpleasantness were enough to keep me from applying. For me, finding a program with a collaborative/cooperative feel to it was very important, right up there with finding a place that was a good fit for my interests and getting a good funding package.

My department (UVa) doesn't accept people without at least doing phone interviews. They usually try to bring in prospectives to do in-person interviews as well. However, I'm sure departments differ on their protocol, and you shouldn't automatically assume that no interview=no chance. Of course, I know from experience that it's easy to assume the worst during the waiting period! Hang in there!

I applied for the Javits last year (concurrently with my PhD apps) and didn't get it. I hadn't heard anything from them by end of March, so I sent an e-mail inquiry and found out that I was "not recommended for funding." I was also told that the people receiving the fellowship had been notified on March 15. So, judging by last year, we shouldn't expect to hear anything til around the middle of March. I beefed up my application and am re-trying this year... hopefully will get different results! Good luck to everyone!

I second fuzzylogician's suggestions. I would also add (though this probably goes without saying) that you should know the material very well and be prepared to explain it clearly and comprehensively. Try to anticipate questions that students might ask and think about how you will respond. Also, a note regarding vocabulary. As a mid-20's female grad TA, I always make sure to work in a few high-level vocabulary words that students aren't likely to know (or at least aren't likely to know), especially during the first few meetings of the course. I don't do this to be deliberately obscure (if they're reasonably bright, they can still understand what I'm saying); my goal is to communicate to them that I'm a well-educated person who is qualified to teach them and is comfortable in that position of authority.

For people who are going to be renting in Cville, AVOID GODFREY PROPERTIES. They don't care at all about keeping up their properties and are generally a royal pain. I currently live on JPA, which is pretty convenient for getting to central grounds on the bus or by walking. I'm hoping to live somewhere between campus and downtown along the Main Street axis, though, because it's a bit boring down here on JPA and I'd like to be closer to the downtown- what action there is in Charlottesville seems to take place down there. If you're looking for a place and don't want to be too bored, try to get closer to downtown. Do avoid the Corner area/Wertland, though- lots of drunken noisy undergrads. I don't have a car and I've gotten along alright. The public transportation is alright, and I'm signed up for Zipcar as well. On the LGBT issue: I'm straight myself, but my roomie is gay and we actually host gay frat club parties here at our house :-) UVa isn't the most open-minded or liberal place in that regard, but it seems to be at least livable.

I agree with natsteel. Sounds like you're dealing with much more than just run-of-the-mill stress. If the counseling staff at your school isn't taking you seriously, I hope that you can find a health care provider and/or psychologist who will. I know that it can be difficult to be proactive in seeking care when you're in the state you describe; is there a friend or relative whom you could call on for support in getting the care you need? Wishing you the best.

Oh, I forgot to mention: one of our current ABDs did his fieldwork in Polynesia and has full-sleeve tattoos that were part of his initiation into his tribe. He has a good job waiting for him as soon as he finishes the last few chapters of the dissertation. It seems to me that, at least in anthro, tattoos might actually help your job prospects if they're a visual symbol of the fieldwork rite-of-passage.

I'm doing a Ph.D. in the Anthropology dept at a major Southern university, and I have to say that tattoos don't seem to be as big an issue in my department as anthropologygeek makes them out to be. I have a smallish one on my leg/ankle that is visible when I wear dresses, and since I often wear dresses to school, I know that my profs and fellow students have seen it many times. I've never gotten a single negative comment, and only a few positive comments- for the most part, it seems to pass entirely without comment. I also have a pierced nose, which has never drawn any commentary. Also, my department has been very supportive of me in terms of helping me apply for major grants, sending me to the AAA and other conferences, etc. For what it's worth, two of the people in my cohort also have tattoos which are visible much of the time (including a wrist tat) and one has a hoop in her nose. I haven't noticed that it makes a shred of difference. We already had the tattoos/piercings when the department decided to admit us and give us large multi-year funding commitments, for goodness' sake. They interviewed all of us face-to-face. I'm sure if they had been worried about being 'embarrassed' by our appearance, they wouldn't have admitted us. With all that being said, I do try to dress relatively professionally and project an image of myself as a future academic (I don't wear tank tops and flip flops to class, much as I sometimes might like to). However, I don't think that my tattoo and piercing detract significantly from that professional image, and I haven't gotten any feedback to the contrary.

Ah, a familiar conundrum. I have MA's in both Linguistics and Anthropology. For my Ph.D., I decided to look for faculty who were interested in the kind of topics that I was interested in; I looked at both Anthro and Linguistics departments and ended up in an Anthro department where I'm very happy so far. If you're looking for schools to apply to, I'd recommend choosing your top 5 favorite books on language preservation/revitalization, seeing where those authors teach, and then applying to those programs if any of them seem like a good fit for you.

This semester, I was assigned to TA for a class about which I had very little prior knowledge (an archaeology course, and I do sociocultural/linguistic anthro). A few things that really helped: - I had a WONDERFUL prof and fellow TA. Communication was great between the three of us. I never went to a TA session without knowing what I was expected to cover that day. - I made sure that I got the books well before the semester started and read them well in advance. - I never started a TA session with the dreaded "so, what did you guys learn from this week's readings?" (cricket chirp). Instead, I had some sort of activity planned which would spark the discussion, such as asking each person "What was the most important thing you learned from the article by XX?" and then writing all the answers on the board. - I found out early which students were archaeology majors (and hence, probably more knowledgeable about the subject than me) and made them my allies. This helped at one or two points when I didn't know the answer to a question and was able to redirect to other members of the class. - I had some fun with the classes; I'd often start the class session with a short YouTube clip that was pertinent to our topic (easy to do, since we covered a lot of primates/human evolution). On the last day of the semester I opened class with Queen's classic "We Are the Champions." I got great teaching evaluations, by the way! Next semester I'm TAing for a class that's right up my disciplinary alley-- looking forward to it.

I second newday's advice- don't be shy about chatting up the Chicago profs for a recommendation. I'm sure that the fact that you have your undergrad degree from Chicago will give you a head-start in the race for Ph.D. admissions. Have you considered applying to Chicago for your grad work? I know that the conventional wisdom is that one shouldn't do one's BA and Ph.D. in the same place, but there's an exception to every rule. Since you transferred in to Chicago from somewhere else, I bet you could make a pitch in your personal statement to the effect of "I know that there's more for me to learn here at Chicago- though I've worked hard ever since I arrived here as a transfer student, I've barely scratched the surface of the riches that are available to me here..."

I'm going to UVa in the fall! Ph.D. in Anthropology, whoop whoop! Looking forward to life in Charlotteville- I grew up on the East Coast (mostly in Maryland), but have been living in Southern California for the past 4 years. Will definitely enjoy being back in a place where there are real seasons and real trees! I'm looking around at different housing options and just applied to a community-housing type of arrangement called CHUVA: http://www.student.virginia.edu/coop/. Does anyone else know anything about CHUVA? Anyone else applying to live there?

I FINALLY got my rejection from Columbia on Friday afternoon (yesterday)! I had called and e-mailed the department multiple times, just asking them to turn me down. I'm glad that I have closure! As soon as I got the Columbia e-mail, I sent the e-mail that I'd had drafted for over 2 weeks to accept my offer at University of Virginia. And then I went out to a nice bar and had a glass of Columbia Crest Riesling. It feels good to be moving on...

I just officially accepted my offer to University of Virginia- yay! They made me a very nice funding offer, and I think the department is a great fit for me overall. Plus, I'm a native East Coaster and am happy to be moving back there after 4 years in California. Best of luck to all!

I e-mailed a few days ago to ask but have not heard back yet- boo :-(

I e-mailed the dept a few days ago to ask about my status (basically, asking for a rejection so I can move on), but still no reply. C'mon, Columbia, put me out of my misery!

Big mistake

I called Columbia yesterday morning and the lady I spoke with (presumably a secretary, I didn't get her name) told me that the decisions had just been finalized this week and that notifications will be made within the next two weeks. I just wanted her to tell me straight that I didn't get accepted so that I can move on with my life! But of course I didn't have the guts to ask her.