Lexicon

What do folks think about the MAPSS program? If I'm not accepted to any PhD programs it's tempting to go this route but I'm not sure how much advantage it would give when doing PhD apps again.

I am a research assistant at a university (in a psychiatry lab) and my work probably falls under the category of applied anthropology. I also work with an anthropologist who works in an institute for "research and evaluation" rather than a university. The work I do is not as corporate as that described in the article -- we work in mental health systems and look at organizational culture and how that affects clinical practice. I talked to a number of "evaluation anthropologists" at the AAAs. They worked in places like the VA system, large healthcare organizations, and international healthcare NGOs. The anthropologist I work with suggested that some of the trouble I'm having as I apply to PhD programs is that my very applied research experience does not connect to the kind of theoretical work I am proposing in my SoP. I think next year I may focus on more applied programs. I like this kind of work, though I can't see myself working for a market research firm. The healthcare setting, particularly mental health, suits me pretty well though. I would like to teach and pursue an academic career but the applied route is also a solid option for me.

This is second-hand information but I want to share anyway. A friend of mine got their MA at the New School and they were very disappointed with their experience. The MA years are unfunded and expensive. Classes are large and personal attention is sparse. At the end of the MA program most students were not admitted to the department's PhD program and thus had to continue to their PhD at another institution, often repeating at least some of the coursework they had already paid so much to complete. My friend felt that the large MA cohort existed there largely to fund the graduate program with their tuition dollars. My friend got a good education in foundational theory, especially European philosophy and history of science type stuff, but they said if they could do it all over they would not repeat their time at the New School and would go directly into a funded PhD program if at all possible.

Thanks for the supportive response I don't know if I'm going to reapply next year. This was my second year applying and I'm not sure how I could improve before the next round of deadlines. Plus, I don't think I will be able to afford another thousand dollars in application/transcript/gre fees.

It looks like I didn't get in anywhere this year. I'm disappointed but mostly I keep thinking of how much money I spent on applications and how else I could have spent it :\

Welp, I got an e-mail to check the website and was not admitted. Good luck to everyone else still waiting and congrats to those who've been accepted!

I logged into my application and the status still says submitted. I'm losing my mind at this point

Ugh I haven't heard anything WHAT DOES IT MEANNNNN *dramatic pose*

Gah. After two really promising interviews I was just informed I'm on the waitlist. Blahhhhhhh.

Hey all, I had another phone interview today (same school, different professor) and was asked again to describe my idea for my masters project in some detail, both methodological and theoretic approached. Just wanted to let folks know they should probably be prepared to answer a question like this.

I had a phone interview with University of Oregon this week. I am making a discipline shift from psychology to anthropology so a few of the questions I got were about that. I was asked about my past research (my undergrad thesis, my publications) and my plans about field work for my dissertation (what I want to do and where) but it was a relaxed conversation, not a picking apart or a grilling. The professor had read my CV, SOP and writing sample and we discussed all 3 over the course of the conversation. Hope that's helpful.

I don't even know when most of my schools are announcing. How do you find out? Contact the department?

Just finished my last application (UCSD has a late deadline). So good to be done, but now all I can do is wait and obsess >_>

Well the actual application itself has you select between PhD and MA when it asks about your degree plans. I'm just going to put PhD though. Thanks for the help!

I have a question about UCLA. Their department website says: http://www.anthro.uc.../graduate-study The graduate admission section says this: http://www.gdnet.ucl...icyear=20132014 So does this mean I have to have a master's to apply to the PhD program? Should I apply to the MA program? Is the MA funded differently than the PhD? Their website is really sparse on information and I'm so confused

I called UCSD yesterday and the grad program coordinator said they hadn't finalized their decisions yet but that I should expect to hear back some time in the next two weeks. >_<

I am dying to hear from UCSD I keep having stress dreams about getting rejected.

I think they are important enough that your answers should be concise, well-written, and informative but I wouldn't spend as much time on them as you would your SOP or CV. I think they are separate questions because CVs can vary so much in format that they want to be able to access this specific information more easily. I'm not sure what kind of answers you're expecting but I don't think anyone is going to tell you that these are unimportant or throw-away questions.

Before realizing that I wanted to get my PhD in anthropology I was mostly looking at psychology PhD programs. Nearly all psych PhDs are funded because grad students are expected to work in their adviser's lab and the faculty generally have grants to support their work. Because of this setup most schools also don't allow their grad students to work outside the university. How does funding work in anthropology? Are most students funded? Do you get a TA/RA position on top of that? Are you allowed to have a job while you're in school? If anyone has specific information about funding at the UC schools I would appreciate that insight as well.

I think if you have 2 anthro professors to write letters for you then you should go with the non-anthro professor who knows you well.

Yeah, it's so stressful. I think this website both helps and hurts, but I can't stay away! UCSD is my top choice but I'm only applying to places that I really want to go so I'll be happy with anything.

I'm somewhere in the 6-8 range. For what it's worth, I was told by a professor that, as long as they were all good matches, 8 was "a good number."

Medical and psychological anthro here! Where are you applying? I've got UCSD, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Emory on my list.

In some fields like psychology or the physical sciences it is very important to contact professors and find out if they are taking students for the following year and to make sure your research interests match up properly and so on. Is this important for applying to anthro phd programs or is it just a waste of my time and the professor's?

I haven't lived there but I'm at Emory now and know some folks who do. The apartments are nice, but I may have low standards. I live in a cheap, crappy apartment with a hodgepodge of second hand furniture because that's what I can afford. The grad housing is nicer than that, for sure, but not deluxe accommodations. Also, the campus life people are generally easy to get along with and fix things quickly when there's a problem.