jellyfish1

I know this is kind of an old thread, but I wanted to add some info in case anyone finds this and is in a similar spot. A professor of mine said that this sort of this is usually just about the number of applications, not the quality. Schools sometimes require getting a certain number of applicantions in order to allow a search to proceed. Sometimes searches can be called off because the pool is too small, suggesting the job ad was too narrow or unclear. The unfortunate thing is that usually when they extend a deadline right after the previous one, they likely haven't even looked over the applications yet. They might only have a count. So for anyone else in this situation, it probably isn't about your specific application, nor does it mean anything about your chances.

Daykid- I saw that on the results board and hoped it was you!! Congratulations!! A tough decision is a good place to be in!!

Congrats NOWAY!!! That's awesome! I hope you get in, but even if not, what a great boost of confidence that you made it onto their short-short list! :-)

I still have not heard from even half of my schools! Gah! I'm pretty sure I'm just waiting on rejection letters, but until I have them in hand....

Also, I just looked through their graduate student bios and almost half of their current students got in with only a bachelors. Many of the others had non-anthropology masters. It's so odd that your poi would have told you not to apply for that reason. Maybe that particular professor prefers to take students who have a master's in hand?

I know someone doing their phd at stanford who got in with just a bachelors. Archaeology subfield.

BU did rejections a week or more before acceptances too. I guess some schools just do that?

I know this is totally illogical, but sometimes I feel like I'll never hear. I know that actually I will eventually hear and this endless "waiting for godot" stage will end, but I keep forgetting that. I've still only heard from 1/5!!! And people keep saying they called and all acceptances have been sent out, so I'm pretty much preparing for across the board rejections, but my policy is that I'm not counting my rejections until I actually get the letters. So can they send them now?! Ok, rant over.

GREs are usually the least important part of the application. If you had a low GPA, GRE scores can help compensate, but you are a stellar candidate and your GRE scores are fine. I wouldn't worry about it. The most important criteria is fit, so as DigDeep said, try to show a clear connection between your chosen topic and the professors at the school, particularly the one you want to work with. Best of luck!

@digdeep- looks like your partner owes you something since you guessed you'd hear first thing today. What were the terms of the bet? haha

Anthroflea- I very much agree with what you are saying; you make some very good points. My apologies- I got the start of this thread a bit confused with the thread about choosing to go to a "lower tier" anthro program, and so my comments about "the start of this thread" were actually referring to those posts. My bad! In that thread (which is a little buried now), the question was posed that if you got rejected everywhere this year, did it make sense to apply to schools that would kind of take anyone. In my opinion, as those in this thread seem to have agreed, there really isn't a school that will actually take just anyone and that all programs have at least some competition- usually for admittance, always for funding. I may not get accepted anywhere this year (although I have only heard from 1/5 schools so far), and if I do, my plan is to try to work to improve my resume and application, rather than lowing my goals, although I realize everyone has different types of priorities. I absolutely agree with your analysis of the determination of a "good school." Ultimately, schools hiring for TT positions will be interested in your research and research interests and working with a respected scholar in that subfield is important. Ah, "fit," you ambiguous devil, you appear again! Top scholars are often considered that because they usually have innovative research, ideas, and approaches. You really can find them at nearly any school, and I think it's important (to me at least) to work with someone whose work resonates with my interests and who will push me to expand my thought horizons in innovative and marketable ways. Again, sorry for my mistake in discussing the wrong OP! Thank you for starting this conversation!

So according to the results board, we should hear soon! Yikes.

Sorry to hear that. Sending you good vibes for the final one!

Don't do it Daykid!!! Stay strong! Risking sounding annoying and getting pushed over the fine line between accept and reject is FAR too great of a chance to take! I'm still waiting on 4/5 and it's so hard. BUT they have to tell us EVENTUALLY, right!?! and e-mailing may not get them to tell us any faster. Solidarity!!

Congratulations all!!! Goodness, I hope this means this week will be positive!!