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alchemical

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    Williamsburg, VA
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    Anthropology

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  1. Hello! I went to W&M and I am also applying to anthro programs, we have harvard and columbia in common! Are you cultural or bio and do you have any news from either school?

  2. Aha, another good suggestion...I'll be working on that for my next revision. I just finished another one before I read your post -- follow the link to read, if you're interested! v7: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AU-ATp5G6ObkZGc3Z3p2c2tfODI3eGZ6c2RnaGg&hl=en Thanks!
  3. Alright, I've incorporated the great recommendations here for another revision: v7: http://docs.google.c...Z6c2RnaGg&hl=en peanuttheanthro made a good suggestion in my on my academic profile that I'm grappling with now... There were a host of thinkers I wrestled with in undergrad on modernity...it's a hard thing to sum up in a few sentences, but I think maybe cutting out a few sentences on my professional experience, as coyabean suggested, and expanding on the theoretical phantasmagoria of modernity might indeed be a good idea. I'm not sure if I should mention those thinkers or just outline how conceptions of modernity are, well, pretty complex at this point. Any thoughts on that and this new revision?
  4. Thanks for the response, modernity. Also, appreciate the rant on the AWA -- totally agree (still not sure what a timed essay like that measure and anyway, I need several revisions before any of my work looks decent, and I believe that goes the same for most!). Good idea about Cali schools -- the thing is, though, as someone mentioned somewhere else on this forum, the UC system is pretty broke at this point...so I wonder if it's worth it? Also, your point about "safety" schools is well taken. I could only stomach a master's at some other schools I've considered applying to as "safety" to bolster my profile and get more experience (not to say it wouldn't be worthwhile to go there or anything, but I think my mind's set on a top school in anthro if possible). In terms of Lambda Alpha -- honestly, it seems like a pretty minor honors society. They've got a website straight out of 1995 (complete with the annoying background MIDI music) and I've never seen it mentioned anywhere...like, ever, I believe. That said, I'm hoping it helps a bit, but I can't imagine it's a make-or-break sort of thing. That's just my sense of it, however, so if anyone else has any relevant input on that, have at it. Thanks for the encouragement! In terms of my reasoning for the other schools --- well, they're top programs and I've studied a lot of the people at those schools and their work dovetails with my own interests in some respects. Maybe not as overtly as religious movements, but in terms of thinking about modernity, yes. Harvard - Ted Bestor and a few others Chicago - Farquhar, specifically Yale - I got a few positive responses there in my correspondence. Also, I may end up taking Graeber out of my the Yale version of my SoP - there was some controversy with his firing/nonrenewal of contract or something, possibly for unsavory political reasons or something like that. Anyway, it may not be a good idea to mention him. Every school I'm planning on applying to thus far, I've contacted professors who work in Asia and at most schools have gotten a few good responses. But yes, "fit" is the operative term here. I may be investigating a few more schools this next week. BTW, any of you anthro's out there going to the AAA meeting in philly this week? I'll be there!
  5. Great input, coyabean -- thanks so much. Yeah, I've been trying to balance giving a concise background as to the "why" of studying what I want to study and introducing the core of my topic quickly enough. I'll work on it some more -- maybe I should also cut out more in the beginning (I'm thinking specifically para. 2 with the background on reading and confusion in undergraduate anthro)? Great insight on the front-loading of research aspect! Cheers, Chris
  6. Just a heads up about UPenn -- I heard back from one of the profs there that due to the recession, the anthro department is only accepting one applicant per sub-field. So 1 out of ~150 will get in for Cultural Anthro. I was considering applying there as well, but since I've heard back I'm likely going to put that $70 toward a different app. Also, from Michigan's handbook: Those two might be ones to cut out if you really need to. (also, for full disclosure: as you know from commenting on [thanks so much!] I'm applying to schools too and am currently considering Michigan...though my AWA score is a little low. But it looks like we're applying in different terms, so you don't have to worry about me competitively discouraging you or anything )
  7. Alright, I've been meaning to post an "assess my academic profile"-type topic, so....please assess my academic profile Anthropology BA, magna cum laude, College of William & Mary Minored in Mandarin Chinese ("nearly fluent"), basic familiarity with Japanese Undergraduate GPA - 3.75, Major - 3.86 Elected to Lambda Alpha (Anthropology Honors Society) 2.5 semesters abroad in mainland China and Taiwan GRE - V 740 (99%), Q 600 (48%), AWA 4.5 (63% GAH! I'm actually a strong writer but I almost had a meltdown with my topic during the test...fortunately I recovered and did decently on V & Q). I'm proposing to work with Buddhist liberation movements ("Engaged Buddhism") in East Asia and the U.S. See more about that in my statement (would REALLY appreciate some input there as well!). Background experience includes research in W&M's anthro department, work on a third party presidential campaign, canvassing for a social justice group, and being a Peer Advisor during a summer cross-cultural exchange program with Japanese students at W&M. 3 strong recs from professors at William & Mary. See my sig for the schools I'm applying to. Questions: -Any recommendations for other programs to try for? -Will my AWA score screw me over? Will my high verbal score balance it out or even matter overall? I'm having one professor speak to my writing skills to combat that and I believe my writing sample is pretty strong. -Should I add more backup schools? One of my professors said I should just try applying again to the top programs if it doesn't work out this time around, as she felt I'd benefit the most from the environment/resources at these programs. I'm shooting for Duke, as it's a good fit in terms of the profile of the students there and the interests of the faculty. UC Berkeley is a dream, but I'd love to go there. Any thoughts would be welcome and much appreciated.
  8. Ok, so I've done a lot more work on this new version -- here is the next one. v6: http://docs.google.c...B0bTJ2ZHQ&hl=en It's at 1100 words - again, what do people think about this length for an anthro statement? I see that there have been a healthy number of view here -- will anyone be so kind as to post some thoughts? I would greatly appreciate it!
  9. Hey All, I've been a lurker here for a bit and was intending to post an "Assess my application profile" post first, but I'm in the midst of expanding my statement and am having some trouble. I'm applying to a lot of top anthropology Ph.D. programs, one of them being Duke. I noticed on the example statements they posted on their website (here) the applicants went into more depth on their experiences than I had thus far, so I'm trying to do the same with my own statement. As is my perennial problem, I'm running out of space. First I'd like to know if the change I'm making is in the right direction -- I'll post my latest version before the edit (v4) and then the current one with the edits (v5). V5 has around ~1150 words and I know that's too long, so if anyone sees that this is a good direction for me, I'd appreciate some help with cutting down unnecessary parts to make more room. I know some parts are repetitious with the new edits, but it's a rough version right now. Also, I've been reading the ~800 words is the sweet spot -- would it be feasible for mine to be longer given all I have to say about my experience and proposal, or is it always shorter = better? Thanks for anyone's and everyone's input....I'll probably post another thread about my profile later and would appreciate thoughts there as well Pre-edit statement (v4): http://docs.google.c...1tcHE2ZG4&hl=en Current statement (v5): http://docs.google.c...hndjdkZjY&hl=en - this also has my proposed "school-specific" paragraph for Duke -- any thoughts?
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