Ilikekitties

Yeah, I guess it's all a number game now. Up to chance! It's not comforting.

I got on the alternate list for my top choice PhD program. Does anyone know what this means? Like, do I have an actual chance for acceptance, or does it depend on the program? I have no idea how many people are also on the alternate list. Is it good, bad, or neutral? I just don't wanna get my hopes up.

Yep, I'm in China!

Hey OP! I thought that I'd chime in. I applied strictly to anthropology programs last year for human-animal relationships/multi-species ethnography. Among those mentioned here, I applied to Notre Dame, McGill, UCSB, and Toronto. I was rejected by all of them. If you wanna message me about this, feel free! As for my approach for this year, I think that I'm going to apply to more MA programs and a mix of animal studies/animal policy and anthro. It also looks like we're in different boats, as I'm fresh out of undergrad and don't really know much about anything lol. I know that plenty of people have gone straight from undergrad to PhD programs (one year ago I wanted to do this), but now I'm teaching at a Chinese university and honestly it was the best decision that I could have made.

Yes, all of these reasons make perfect sense. I'm just not sure who could reasonably advise me on a committee. I'm in the realm of cultural/environmental anthro with human-animal relationships and I'm interested in animals as food, so Idk how "close" someone would have to be to this because it is more of a niche thing in anthro. A lot of anthropologists do work with environmental conservation and environmental political economy stuff, but their focuses are different. I'm interested more in categorization of animals/food, a la Mary Douglas and taboo stuff. But, like, no one (who I've seen at least) studies that exact thing. Any you know, there's a chance that I'll change my interests anyway, so I don't wanna put too much stock into the specifics. I'm not *just* interested in taboo stuff relating to animals and food...

Just wondering....because a lot of departments (in my experience) want you applying to the department, not to a person, if that makes sense.

I was allowed a certain amount of money from them last year and I used all of that. The profs who I talked to about the program didn't like the fact that students were pushed into going straight into grad school from undergrad, which is what every other person in my cohort is doing besides me. I don't know if doing a terminal MA degree would "count," but one other student is entering an MS program. They will want me to apply this fall because they'll want me to have a "next step" after China. Applying and not getting in and not applying and doing something else are very different things for them. Most of the students from my year are entering PhD programs this fall, but only a slight majority from the previous year are in grad school. This may impact it, too. That's an interesting take: waiting to apply until you had no fear of rejection. I have always feared rejection for things like this, but when I found myself getting rejected from programs this spring, I felt okay because I knew that I had a backup plan. As long as the alternative (to grad school) sounds like a good plan, I don't think that I'd be as upset. Sure I'd be bummed for a while, but this spring I got over it quickly and had the mentality of "well, it was just meant to be." I know that grad school isn't really "school," but if anything I think that this gap year will show me that I really miss most (not all) aspects of academia. I will miss the mentorship and the class discussions and the interesting readings and research, but I won't miss other aspects, like the drama between faculty and the "need" to feel validated by grades and professors. At least grad school isn't about grades! But stakes for funding are higher. And maybe I'll end up loving teaching. A student who graduated a few years before me did a teaching Fulbright and then taught in the US after he got his MA in literature. Now he's entering a PhD program at Harvard *knowing* that he wants to be a teacher. For me, that is a precious thing. I still don't know if I want to teach/be a professor full time. When I ask myself "would I rather spend my time doing anything else in my 20s?" I can't think of anything else. I've always admired faculty and grad students and I've wanted to attend grad school since freshman year.

I do not speak Chinese and I will be leaving for China at the end of the month. I have lived abroad before (not in China) so I have gone through the various ups and downs of culture shock and the like. Not that my other experiences abroad will prepare for living in a place in which I don't know the language, but I'm familiar with the feeling of living abroad in a foreign setting. The university that I will be teaching at does renew contracts, but I'm pretty sure that they have to invite you back. I'm not sure about the number of programs that I will apply to. This year, I'm thinking quality over quantity. Perhaps fewer than 11 or 12 programs so that I will be able to spend more time on each app. This is something that I will talk over with a recommender or two of mine. I also don't have the luxury of waiting to apply next year. In college I was part of a program that aimed to get students from underrepresented backgrounds into PhD programs right after graduation, so they depend on numbers for funding (getting students into PhD programs and hopefully seeing the students complete them). I could be wrong about this, but they may need a certain percentage of each cohort in a PhD program within X amount of years. Basically, they want us in grad school. This, however, does not detract from the fact that I want to apply this fall if I can.

My program of choice only accepts apps for odd years, so it'd have to be this year. I think that I could handle applying again and teaching. Last fall I did have a lighter course load, but I wrote a research proposal. I have essays written that I could spruce up, so it's not like I'd be starting from scratch like last year. We'll see. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work.

I understand that of course. Regarding the sample that I submitted last year, one professor loved it and some others did not because they did not think that it was methodologically sound. The main issue in a nutshell was basically that I made assumptions about what I would find and used them to inform my research question, when I should have had a much broader research question that did not make assumptions. I conducted another project this past fall/spring under more faculty supervision, so I would assume that it would be at least a little more methodologically sound. What was strange though was that the project that I conducted in spring 2015 had some pretty heavy proposal edits, so somehow the proposal was methodologically sound but some profs did not like the way that I approached the research.

I'm probably going to use a different writing sample

Hi all. Last year was my first round of applying to graduate programs for cultural anthropology. I applied to 9 PhD programs and 2 MA programs. Unfortunately, I was only admitted to one MA program with minimal funding. Instead of attending grad school this fall, I will be heading to China to teach English at a university for one year. To be honest, I'm scared shitless to apply again. I faced so much rejection. In terms of improvement, I think that I can be more strategic about who I choose to recommend me and hopefully I can choose a better writing sample. My GRE scores are shit, but I can't afford to take the exam again. Of course, my statements can always be improved and I would have more sets of eyes reading them this time around. I think that I will apply to more MA programs this time around because I still don't know what I wanna do with my life. I'm just so scared. Scared of rejection and scared of what lies ahead (because I know what lies ahead). Getting all those rejections back was not easy. What if it happens all over again? What if this proves that I'm not cut out for grad school? What if I can't give committees what they want to see in terms of a well-thought-out project? On the bright side, my GPA improved slightly since last fall and I graduated SCL. I also am glad now that I'm going to take a job rather than enter school again in the fall. I think that it will give me a fresh perspective, because otherwise I would have been entering fresh out of undergrad. Admissions probably won't care though because I'll have to be a good fit anyway. Here's to not dying come December...

I can think of a few pros for China: 1. I would get to live in a different country and travel while I'm young 2. I could learn a new language 3. It's only 1 year 4. Teaching experience 5. I'd be living near people I know 6. Apartment is large and better than anything I could afford in the US 7. I'd be in charge of the classroom cons: homesickness, missing American food, dealing with culture shock and issues with administration at the university, make very little money pros for non-profit: 1. Get non-profit experience 2. Make more money than China (25k/year in IL), whereas China is enough to get by 3. Develop interpersonal skills cons: it's 2 years long, living in the Midwest again, living by myself or with strangers (both cons)

Would China extend it by 3 weeks though? And what reason should I give them after they told me 1 week? i see your point of going to the interview for practice, but it's an hour and 45 minutes away and I'd have to miss class or work. It's kinda hard to motivate me to do it honestly because I have an offer that I want to do more already.

I did get into a MA program, but the funding is poor and I don't wanna go into more debt. I hadn't thought about deferring it, but with the funding package as it is, I'm not interested in the offer at all. I am interested in human-animal relationships, which could be studied anywhere. My advisor seems to think that China would be excellent for propelling my "career" if it has language and fieldwork elements (it could). With the non-profit thing being a 2-year long commitment, I'm not sure how I'd feel about grad school then, too, if say I got a more permanent offer or something like that. And I would have my current profs write for me again. I do want to get a PhD, but after that I'm not sure. I wrote some random thing in for my essays this round, but it actuality I don't know and I don't think that I *should* be so set-in-stone at 22.

What do you mean by that?

That's a very good point! One of my profs told me to extend the China offer, but....I don't wanna push it

Hi all. I recently got a job offer to teach English in China for 1 year after graduating with my BA. I have until the 7th to decide. However, I have a pending interview with a non-profit organization that works with low-income/first-gen high school students and tries to prepare them for college. I would have my interview on the 4th, but I wouldn't hear back about the position until the end of April. Idk what to do! What do you think would "look better" for grad programs in cultural anthropology? Teaching English abroad or working with first-gen/low-income high school students and their families? GAFKEFKMFRNFJ I'm so stressed right now!

Kaifeng in Henan province. It's a poorer province.

Yup, I'm majoring in anthropology (cultural) and modern languages and literatures (not Chinese, unfortunately, but Spanish and French).

I got offered a teaching position in China!

Hi all. I've posted on here about my frustration with my admissions cycle this year (1 admit out of 11, but poor funding; still waiting on one program) and I have some potentially good news. I've been offered an English teaching position at a university in China for the 2016/17 year. It doesn't pay much, but it's something. Thoughts on this? As of this moment, my options are teaching in China or taking out buttloads of loans for a MA program. I also have another job interview in two weeks for a job in the US working with a non-profit (pay isn't great either, but like China, it's enough if I budget).

Thanks! I want to study human-animal relationships. I'm not wedded to a particular area geographically, but I know Spanish and French and I studied abroad in Costa Rica. I'm totally open to leaning Chinese and experiencing a new culture.

Hi all. I've posted on here about my frustration with my admissions cycle this year (1 admit out of 11, but poor funding; still waiting on one program) and I have some potentially good news. I've been offered an English teaching position at a university in China for the 2016/17 year. It doesn't pay much, but it's something. Thoughts on this? As of this moment, my options are teaching in China or taking out buttloads of loans for a MA program. I also have another job interview in two weeks for a job in the US working with a non-profit (pay isn't great either, but like China, it's enough if I budget).

What funding did you get? Did you get a TA-ship or an RA-ship? I emailed my POI about these and I haven't heard back. All I got was the Dean's Merit Scholarship, which is pretty crappy.