PowderRiver

I posted earlier about what I wear when I teach, TA, or am just around the department, but didn't think about the rest of the time. I wear scrubs when I'm in the lab or dissecting, and put them in a bag with some shoes to put at my desk. Some labs have lockers that you can use/rent, so I'd look in to that if you don't want a pile of stuff at your desk. I'm teaching a summer course right now, and change into slacks/polo or collared shirt to teach.

It sounds like you're building a solid foundation. Every program is different, so any experience you can build can be helpful depending on where you apply. As far as field schools go: I think that experience is key. As long as you know how to excavate, you'll be fine and will want to emphasize this on your applications. It may be particularly helpful in larger departments, since other subfields may have a say in your acceptance and you'll benefit from a broad range of experience within the field. No one will look at a forensic/physical applicant and frown upon their ability to excavate and run a site.

Add a minor or certificate: biology, chemistry, statistics, technical writing, or some sort of justice minor all look good on a biological anthropology application. Second (and third) languages are also a fantastic addition. All of these allow you to expand your interests and help fill out your CV and personal statement. You can also look for internships, depending on your current school, in any related areas; anything that gets you in to a lab of some sort looks good. You could also look within your own department to see if there are fieldwork opportunities available, even if it's volunteer work and not for credit. As far as summer programs, there are a ton of field schools that offer bioarchaeology programs. If you can afford one of these, they look good on a CV and save your future department the time and effort to teach you how to dig and document remains. The AIA website has a pretty good list of programs that are typically announced in the fall and early spring, and most of the schools you've looked at will have their own listed somewhere on their own website. The upside of these courses is that they go on your transcript and are applicable to any physical anthropology student, but the downside is the cost. Short courses and workshops may not end up on your transcripts, so you will need to showcase these somewhere else in your application, but they are typically cheaper and much easier to fit into a summer schedule.They're also great networking opportunities (Texas State just posted a 3-day workshop on the AAPA Facebook page, for example).

I've heard of some students taking one of the Kaplan courses or getting a tutor and thinking it made a huge difference in their scores, and I've heard of others who don't really prep that much at all. If you're not so good at taking tests, you might find any of the books that come with a program that will score your test so that you can get the format down before you start studying. I bought one of those $20 Princeton Review books and worked through one of the practice tests before I took the GRE. I'm not sure it if it helped or not; I have a math/stats background and wasn't too worried about that portion of the test, but seeing the format of the questions was helpful. It's never fun being caught off-guard when in a test. -EDIT- There's a thread with a ton of GRE information here: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/68-gregmatetc/

The last thing you want to do is treat a PhD as a continuation of an MA by just increasing the dataset or adding a few sites and a little more theory. If you focus more on theoretical backgrounds and specialties and applying these to different regions, I think you could be a good applicant for a lot of schools. You won't be (and don't want to be) a mirror-image of your advisor, so I don't think getting an MA in bioarchaeology will pigeon-hole you into studying Rome for the rest of your academic career. You just need to focus on technique and method rather than the time period. There is a limit, though: be wary of applying to a school that specializes in, say... Andean archaeology when you have in interest in Europe, unless there is someone there that specializes in infectious disease or paleoepidemiology. Remember that you form a committee for both your MA and PhD, and you can always add a person or two from other departments with specific interests to make up for any shortcomings in your own department. In fact, most schools require at least one person from outside your department on your committee, and you can always take courses outside of the department. Work with someone who specializes in infectious diseases, and add someone to your committee from the history department who specializes in Roman history. Study under someone who specializes in growth issues or interpersonal violence or any number of other bioarchaeological topics, and supplement your committee and coursework with professors from other departments to strengthen your research.

I agree with NoSleep: I think anyone in paleopathology would be able to work with your interests, and if they can't they'll let you know after your email. My chair studies in a different region and this was clear from the beginning of my application process, and there haven't been any issues at all. You could try applying to researchers with the same regional interest that don't have a paleopath or bioarch background, but this may be more of a stretch unless you can line up another person to help along the way.

Anthropologygeek hit all the major areas. It's not a "competition thing" at all, but it takes time and effort. Apply to funding within your department (which obviously varies between schools). Then apply to other departments (again: school-specific). Then apply to any available regional funding. Then apply to funding from professional organizations in your field (AAA, AAPA, SAA, etc.). Then apply to the national funding sources (NSF, NIH, Wenner-Gren). Then look around for any labs/colleagues that need help with their work. Then look for summer jobs if you have to. Graduate students in your department are the best source of funding information, as they're in the same boat as you are. Your advisor (and eventual committee) will be the next resource. Different departments have you apply to different funds at different times, so this is probably a better question for them. The Bank here on these forums has a nice list, but in the end there is no master list of funding... I doubt there ever will be.

Kaitlyn721: I drive by those apartments every week. You're right across the street from a big Target store, and the buildings are very new. East Liberty is changing quite a bit and used to be a lot more run down. There is a ton of new construction in the area, and the addition of a lot of new restaurants and business (Google, Trader Joe's, and a lot of new offices are right up the street in Bakery Square, which is adding another huge office building). I imagine noise will be your biggest concern, as the intersection of Penn and Centre is very busy. There are lots of bus route nearby for quick trips to and from campus. Unfortunately I can't speak to the neighborhood as far as climate and safety, but I don't think it would be a concern at all; you're far enough away from Homewood and some of the sketchier neighborhoods to the northeast. Anyone live in or near East Liberty that can comment on it? My favorite burger in town (BRGR) is about a block from these apartments.

Forbes and Murray are the two busiest streets in Squirrel Hill. The 61 bus line splits there, with the 61a and 61b staying on Forbes and the 61c and 61D heading down Murray. There are other buses that run through the neighborhood but the 61 is one of the main lines to/from Pitt. These two streets are also the loudest and most crowded in the area with bars, restaurants, the big grocery store, banks, and so on. The 67 and 69 buses run down Wilkins and I know quite a few live near here, though it may be a bit more expensive; I can't think of the line that runs down Shady, but that's an option too. As far as safety, Squirrel Hill is very safe. There are a few areas of Oakland and downtown that can be a bit sketchy late at night, but they're certainly easy to avoid. Homewood and Wilkinsburg are not the best neighborhoods, but those aren't really on my radar. I live right past Squirrel Hill on Forbes, and have never felt unsafe. My bus ride is about 20-25min each way.

Just echoing what everyone else said: it's always better to overdress rather than underdress. There will be jeans at the AAPA's, but there will also be a lot of business attire. I'd suggest you go to any workshops you can fit into your schedule, where you'll have a chance to meet professionals and talk with them about everything from post docs to getting jobs to interview skills to any other topic they decide to add. I went to one last year about interviews in academia and was happy that I was wearing nice attire: the entire panel showed up in suits. There is usually a lot of socializing after hours, where I don't think casual attire is entirely out of place, but business casual still works. One final comment: don't be afraid to approach people and introduce yourself (which is especially easy during poster sessions). A quick, professional introduction goes a long way in making and maintaining contacts. The nice thing about big conferences is that most people care about undergrad/graduate status, and most are just interested in your research.

The major lines through campus are the 61 (a,b,c,d) and 71 (a,b,c,d), and between the two lines you can find all sorts of livable areas. They all go downtown via campus. They are by no means exclusive to campus, as there are a lot of other buses you could use to get here, but they would be a good starting point.

I've presented posters at the AAPA's, but it's been a few years. The majority of feedback I received was: -"Give me the three sentence summary of your poster." -"Where do you go from here?" -"Why did you pick these samples/populations?" If you can, print out a number of smaller copies of your poster and have them with you. I've received far more feedback after giving out a few of those at conferences, and they're a great way to make and maintain contacts. No one will tear you apart, but you will get a few probing questions that you should be able to handle if you've read similar studies and know the background of the samples you are using.

My bus ride is about 25-30min each day. As long as you're not switching buses downtown, you should be fine. We have people in our department that have much longer commutes than that, and they seem to get along just fine. The only really issue would be if you're switching buses downtown, but that isn't even that big of a headache. The buses in Pittsburgh are pretty easy to use; most of the major bus lines pass through campus, and you just have to scan your ID and you're all set.

I switched from a Windows laptop to a MacBook Air last March, and I love it for the most part: light, battery lasts forever, and basically everything everyone has already said. It's durable, which means a lot to me- I spend my summers in the field covered in mud, sand, sweat, and all sorts of other fun stuff, and this thing didn't miss a beat. Only drawback is that a few people I work with love Access, so I have to use workarounds. My current school is set to work with Macs, so using it to teach and give talks is easy but I always have to keep that "workaround" mentality in mind, especially if I'm using it at other schools or smaller conferences. Two additional things to think about: 1) What software does your school or department provide cheap/for free? My school provides a ton of free software for both Mac and Windows, but one of my previous schools only gave out free Windows software. If you need something like ArcGIS or Access, that's a lot of money to throw down out of your stipend. 2) What sort of discounts do you get through your school? I got a 15% discount on the price of my MacBook Air, as well as a free Apple Care for a few years. Not that big of a deal, but it could sway you if you're on the fence.

Well, that escalated quickly. If anyone wants some advice about living in Pittsburgh, feel free to PM me. I moved here two years ago and now help new PhD students to our department get situated in and around Pittsburgh. I am happy to help.

I think that $500/mo. may be cutting it a little bit short once you include cable/utilities, but that's certainly a livable stipend; it seems most of Pitt's stipends are around the same amount, and I don't know of anyone struggling to get by. I catch the bus between 6-7am, and have caught them home at midnight, though peak service hours are 8am-9pm. The GoogleMaps app has all of Pittsburgh's bus routes mapped in, which makes things easier.

I've listed a few companies in a recent post in this thread that I have had luck with, all of which list their properties with photos and dates of availability and prices. Aside from that, just about anything in Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Highland Park, or Lawrenceville will be the nicer areas nearest to Duquesne. You might email the department to see where some of their grads live, but you're welcome to PM me with a few places and I can try to tell you more about the neighborhood (if I can). We have students in our department living in $500/mo. studios, though I've never heard anyone brag about how nice those were. You should probably expect anywhere from $600-$1,000/mo. for living alone (rent and utilities). I can only speak to Pitt PhD stipends, and haven't heard of anyone struggling to get by on those. For example, my rent (sharing a two bedroom) and all utilities is around $720/mo. for a nice townhouse 15min from campus by bus. Throwing in all other bills (phone, gas, groceries, randoms, etc.), I have enough to still make department happy hours, dinners, the occasional lunch out, concerts, etc. Setting a minimum is tough, but I could easily get by on about $1,000/mo. if I needed to, though I'd have to move to a smaller, more "typical" college apartment. I would also suggest you email your program to see if you get free Port Authority transit: we get this at Pitt, and just swipe our student ID's for a free bus or train ride anywhere in the area. I'm not sure if Duquesne/CMU offer the same, but it saves about $5 a day for buses and I use mine every single day.

I'd be surprised if I ever taught a course/recitation and didn't receive at least one negative review. I had my highest evals of my graduate career last semester, and there was a bad review. I know who it was from due to language use and grammar (they were a non-native speaker), and could have told you six weeks into the course that I would be receiving a bad evaluation for the exact reasons we've talked about here. I guess it will always come with the territory. Best of luck with the move- I have a friend who works in administration at Stanford, and the campus and surrounding area is amazing!!

I certainly agree with you that some students immediately question the grading without reviewing their own work, but I've also found that many students genuinely don't understand why vague answers might not get full credit (this is more common in lower-level courses). I'm not sure if they are used to easier grading, or teachers who don't like to tell them that they're wrong, or if the assignment instructions aren't clear to them, but if you establish early in the semester how detailed you want their answers to be, most adapt quickly and their scores go up. You do this in the last few sentences of your email. I think you handled that very well. Some people may say that the elaborate explanation and quiz-by-quiz breakdown wasn't necessary, but I prefer to have all of my interactions on record and tend to respond with lengthy emails.

I listen to a lot of music and try to catch as many free/cheap live shows as I can: lately I've been getting more into local punk and metal, and I've always been a big heavy metal fan. I've been talked into playing soccer again and have been playing pick-up games if I find the time, and my SO and I have been spending free weekends exploring the city. I also brew beer, though not as often as I did before graduate school. Now I focus more on drinking beer.

I've found that there are always a few students each semester who will argue over half-points and little marks all semester, and I'm certain many do so because they've found that some TAs and professors will simply cave in to avoid a headache. This seems especially common in larger classes. I try to respond with a short email stating why I graded them a certain way and remind them that my office hours are always open for students to come talk about areas they may want more help with. There will always be one or two students who blast you on evaluations, but if the evaluations are positive overall, I take the negative evals with a grain of salt.

Err on the side of overdressing- you never know when a dean or administrator is going to come around. I wear nice pants and a collared shirt when I teach or am in committees or meetings, but am far more casual if I'm only on campus to study, write, or grade. Our department is clear that we can wear just about anything we'd like (within reason, of course). I think it will be pretty apparent in your department during your first week.

It sounds like you have things sorted, but one last suggestion would be to email a graduate student already attending. I serve as a contact for incoming graduate students in my program and work with them to find the right neighborhood/budget as they come to the program. I'm in a relatively large program that has quite a few graduates either finishing or heading overseas for research, and we tend to "recycle" some of our apartments and landlords within the department.

As far as neighborhoods, check out my previous post. For that amount, you should be able to find a nice place with ease. Two-bedroom places start around $900, though the nicer ones are closer to $1,000-1,100 (depending on neighborhood). If you're content with a single bedroom, then you have quite a few options available in most neighborhoods. The problem I've encountered is the early applications and openings: the majority of Pittsburgh rentals open in August but you need to sign up in January and February. We were just contacted by our landlord telling us we have until Feb. 15th to renew our lease starting this coming August. Most of the companies have negative reviews, but I have dealt with a few that were pretty ordinary as far as landlords go. I've found that as soon as I mention that I'm a graduate student they become more cordial, though they still require a ton of paperwork (seriously- my cat has a five page lease). I'm not loud, I don't have a lot of parties, and I don't destroy the places so I haven't had any problems so far. I'll mention a few companies of the largest companies, as I didn't see any forum rules against naming companies. I'll remove them if it's a problem. Mozart Management Forbes Management Walnut Capital They all have lengthy applications, require a cosigner regardless of financial situation, and are already taking applications for this coming August. Feel free to PM me if you want some more info.

Duquesne sits right downtown, about a mile from Pitt and Carnegie Mellon, so housing options are more or less the same between all three schools. One of the many perks of university life in Pittsburgh is the public transit system; the bus system in Pittsburgh will take you just about anywhere in the area with about 30 minutes. As a result, your living options are wide open. Oakland (where Pitt and CMU are located) is a popular area for undergraduate students (and more party-oriented), and the graduate students I know live in Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Bloomfield, Highland Park, Lawrenceville, or Greenfield. Mount Washington might have some options, but I'm not familiar with that area. You can find nicer places in any of these neighborhoods, though Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are probably the most expensive options; I found my places by reviewing the off-campus housing links at all three of the big universities (Pitt's website is probably the best). The one neighborhood I left off the list is South Side: I know of a lot of students and young professionals that live in the area, and there is a shuttle service from the area to Duquesne, but it has the largest concentration of bars in the city. Parking is tough, nights can be loud, and housing can be pricey, but if that's the scene you want then the Southside would be good for you. As far as safety: I've never felt unsafe in Pittsburgh, but then again I'm a pretty big guy so I may be a poor judge. I would certainly avoid Homewood and Wilkensburg, but those are quite a distance from Duquesne. Downtown is pretty quiet, and is actually one of the least active downtowns I've ever seen, but it can be a bit intimidating walking around late at night. As with any city, you can find trouble if you look for it, but it is also very easy to avoid.