MythoNerd

@rising_Star Thank you! I'm going to try to figure this out. (Note: Try) Yeah, I don't have very much of a background in German. I am taking one year of Koine Greek this year (my fourth year of college), but I doubt that will be enough to get me through a program like that. Feminist/sexuality studies or folklore. Those are my two favorite things, and I really want to intersect them. I might email a few of the programs and see what I can do. I'm just so overwhelmed by all this.

I've considered it, but I'm more passionate about the mythology aspect of it. I'm really interested in more the Greek mythology, but since no one really teaches about that, I was hoping to go maybe for Germanic folklore. But that's where Oregon and I conflict, because that is exactly what my POI studies and teaches, and I have heard that you don't want to be too much like your POI. Granted, like you said, I probably could go for a feminist/gender studies degree and see how that works. I'm just not sure how make that work. I apologize for my cluelessnes. None of my family has ever gone past undergrad, and my adviser does not answer his emails during the summer. I'm on my own to figure this out.

That's one of the reasons I've zero'd in on Oregon because (at least) two of their faculty study and teach the intersection of gender and folklore. Their student spotlight is currently on a PhD student who focused on folklore and bisexuality representation, which is important to me as a bisexual. I'm not too sure what I want to do beyond intersecting these ideas, but I've never been one to figure things like this out until the last minute. (Which is a terrible thing, I know, but I'm a much better writer if I'm pantsin' it. But that's not a good thing to put in an SOP.) I don't really care about getting into the "best," just the ones that are the right fit for me. That's one of the reasons I'm applying to Berkley, but have pretty much already put it down as a guaranteed rejection.

Hey y'all! So I'm looking at trying to go into more the folklore/fairy tale/mythology aspect of anthropology, with my research interests lying in how gender and sexuality intersects with those previous topics. I already have U of Oregon on my list (my top choice, actually), but was wondering if anyone knew of any other programs that offered, at the very least, the folklore/fairy tale focus in their MA program. I want to apply to at least ten programs. I would really appreciate if someone could help point me in the right direction.

You are not alone, friend! I'm preparing to apply to the same number of places, with the top on my list being U of Oregon, Missouri and Indiana. I plan to go into Folklore specifically, and really hoping to get into one of those three places -- preferably with funding! Currently, I'm finishing up my major in history and my minor in English and will be graduating from Judson College in Spring 2015. I've already taken the GRE once (153V, 150Q, 4.5 AWA), but I'm really nervous about my scores, since I've been seeing people with scores a lot higher than my own. My GPA overall is a 3.5 but my major is a 3.86. I've got the recommenders notified about when I need letters by, which is super easy when you go to a college of 300 girls, so that's no stress. My big stress is the SOP, mainly because I have no idea how to write one. That and my GRE scores are making me worry, mostly because my verbal was much lower than I had hoped for, but my writing is pretty decent. Anyways, that's my stress level right about now.

So I've tried searching for this topic, but I've yet to find a topic dedicated specifically to the field of folklore/mythology. I'm in my last year of college and will be applying to several schools come this semester, but I'm freaking out. I'm trying to do research, and I've taken the GRE (153V, 150Q 4.5AW), but I don't really know how to stop freaking out for a few minutes to organize my thoughts. Has anyone else gone down this path, or is thinking about going the Folklore route? I could really use some help here. (Background notes: I have severe testing anxiety, which is why I'm hesitant about taking the GRE again, and school-related anxiety. This is probably a good chunk of why I can't relax and figure this out. So if someone could point me in the right direction, I would be really appreciative.) U of Oregon is my top school at the moment. I love what I have read of the faculty and the courses they offer, but U of Missouri is a top second. Thanks for any and all help you can give!