jellyfish1

If you e-mail a prof at least a few months before applying, ask them a question about their research/writing and connect it to your studies, I have heard it can help. But you need to e-mail them WELL before the application deadline and it should be substantive. Professors get dozens of e-mails simply asking about things easily found on the website and don't usually appreciate this type of inquiry. They also, I'm sure, get plenty of "when will you decide" and "hey, remember me?" e-mails during the decision period, and these are likely a nuisance to them. At least, that is the case in my field and I believe also in most of the social sciences. I can't say for sure about other fields, however I would be surprised if any professor was annoyed by a thoughtful question about his/her recent scholarship.

For those of us applying to boston university for archaeology, they are planning to send out offers around the last week in Feb. There are 6 spots, all fully funded for 5 years.

Xstopfloating- my Stanford application says exactly the same thing as yours. At least they're being reviewed, I guess?

Congratulations to everyone with good news!!! Yay!! Based on a brief results search, it appears that schools are notifying within a day or two of when they did last year. (I checked Emory, Illinois, and WashU). UT Austin was a week earlier than last year. But basically schools seem to stay consistent, it seems. Exciting times!!!

Thanks, all! Keep these answers coming, they are really helpful!! MPollywog- sorry you're going crazy, but hopefully we'll all hear in another week or two! I'm glad your interviews went so well!!

Interviews are about to start and they are on my mind. In addition, I've arranged an informal interview with a POI this week and I'm really nervous. Has anyone here had an interview (informal or official) for anthro? What sorts of questions did they ask? What was it like? (Hopefully this thread will be helpful to many of us in the coming weeks!)

I have a really cute grey blazer from H&M. They have some really nice stuff and it sounds like the style would fit well in your wardrobe. It is also usually good quality and not too pricey.

Congratulations Daykid!! GAAAH IT'S STARTING, Y'ALL! So nervous/excited!

It often takes a while for schools to switch the status officially. Probably those who applied January 15 won't see it listed as "complete" until later, maybe February. I think sometimes they send the materials to departments LONG before they update online. Don't worry! Sending you app in early still benefits you, I'm sure.

Jump- at least at my undergrad, I know the anthro department only as on official committee once or maybe twice. Usually the profs were given everyone's material to review, and then they ranked their top choices before the committee meeting. At the meeting, they basically made their decisions. Does UVA usually interview? If so, they may be meeting to decide who to invite to interview. Either way, hopefully you'll hear soon! But if not, don't get stressed. Even if they have made decisions, anthropologists seem to be terrible at sending out official e-mails in any sort of timely manner. Best of luck!

Daisy- Please take a deep breath. I see you posted a similar inquiry 4 places, and it seems that you are freaking out. Don't get too much in your own head and overthink things. Anthro programs don't care much about the GRE so you'll probably be fine, and since there's nothing you can do about it now anyway, worrying won't help. Secondly, I think that visit offer is an AMAZINGLY GOOD sign from Stony Brook. I know friends there and that is a strong and competitive program. Do you honestly think that they (or any anthro program, for that matter) could POSSIBLY afford to offer money to visit to all or even a quarter of their applicants? No. Nope. Nope times a million. Programs only do that for their very top candidates. If the committee hasn't officially met yet, I would assume it could be because your POI there is really interested and planning to fight for you. And that was DEFINITELY an interview. Any time you meet with a POI it is an interview, even if it is casual, even if you arrange it. They are going to spend that conversation evaluating whether you'd be a good addition to their program regardless of the situation. In regards to the questions they asked, it sounds to me like they are trying to figure out funding perhaps? Or maybe they want to know the feasibility of your SoP? I don't know why they asked the questions they asked, but I'm sure they asked them because you are a compelling candidate and they needed to know the answers before they made a final admit/reject decision. Additionally, getting an interview/partially paid visit at one school means that you were in the top of their applicants and so you've got a good chance at your other schools too. Congratulations! You are officially a strong contender! Now seriously, try to calm down. I know it's easier said than done, but stressing out is only going to make you miserable. It won't change anything.

I included one actual citation. It was a quote about a site I'm hoping to study. However, I also mentioned several scholars' theory without full citations. I am not applying to Duke though.

I'm sure it doesn't really matter, honestly. I included in part because I wanted them to have a quick reference to the type of theory I used in my paper. Also because I quoted some of my POIs and so I thought if they quickly skimmed the paper they would be more likely to see their name in the works cited list. But I wouldn't stress about not adding one. I'm sure it's fine.

I would definitely include the works cited, but I don't think that it needs to count toward the page count. I tend to assume that page counts refer to pages of text and that additional appendices such as catalogs of images or works cited pages aren't included in the count.

hey mon- Congratulations!! That does sound like really excellent news about Emory! I hope we'll all be hearing from depts soon! This waiting is driving me a little bonkers, but I know it's still so early. In the past none of my schools have started notifying before the end of January, so I'm trying *really* hard not to think about it (and failing, obviously). I also got the FLAS letter from UChicago. It was sent to me on Dec 20. The weird thing is, it is in not really relevant to my area of study (I want to study 19th century US archaeology). Did anyone else get it? Did it go to everyone? Either way, it suggests they have lots of FLAS funding! Did you apply? Here's hoping we all get good news soon.

I'm wondering though if this wasn't just an "incomplete application" type e-mail. The Emory website states that a writing sample is "optional" but sometimes that information isn't up to date. The website also states that Emory's Anthro dept is on break until Jan 3 and the results claim the e-mail was sent Jan 2. I'm not insinuating the result is false or anything like that, but I just doubt they've had time to fully assess applications if the dept's been on holiday for the past few weeks. It is likely, however, that they might send out an e-mail to applicants who didn't send in a writing sample requesting one, if possible. The website in one area lists application documents and excludes any mention of a writing sample and elsewhere states it's "optional". So perhaps that's all it is. That being said, I've noticed that in other fields, the some school interview results are a few weeks earlier than last year's (comparing the same program at the same school with several cases). There was even a thread about it by a STEM type applicant of some sort. I'm *really* trying not to get expectant of any results anytime soon because it will only make me more crazy. However, I've heard rumors that the past few years were extra rough and this year should be better. Something about the first round of "it's the recession, I can't find a job so I'll go to grad school" students finishing their PhDs and opening spots. So I'm hoping (or choosing to think) that these results might be a positive sign. If schools can be certain about applicants before all the applications are even in, they might have some extra spaces/funding/wiggle room? All we can do now is hope for the best!

I graduated from college in 2012, and I've been working in my field for the past year and a half. If get into a funded program, I'm going to quit my job a month or two before grad school and spend some of my savings traveling. If I don't get in, I'll just keep working and try again next year. Here's hoping it all works out though!

If you do get I'm, you can sometimes defer for a year. It would be such a shame to waste time and energy in a grad program that could ultimately be the wrong choice for you. I am also a huge advocate of taking time off and soul searching. Many fields are VASTLY different from coursework to field work/job work. As an archaeologist, I've met tons of people who loved this field in the classroom and hated in the field. There's nothing wrong with that! But it's best to figure it out as much as possible before entering a grad program. Best of luck!

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If you do decide to wait until next year, check out the Marshall Scholarship. it would fully fund you to study anywhere in the UK. http://barnard.edu/dos/academic-advising/scholarships-fellowships That link includes a good list of scholarships for graduate study.

so are you sending gifts/thank yous now or after you get in? What is protocol here? I've already sent a brief "thank you" email, but I'd like to send a card at least.

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