smg

UCSB has terrible funding

I'm doing animal stuff at WUSTL right now. PM if you want more info.

UCSB has terrible funding...almost not worth applying unless you are independently wealthy.

Moving from engineering to sociocultural anthropology is possible. Some anthropological training would be better than none. In my opinion you should start figuring out what you want to study and do research on. Because you have a background in Electronics and Communication Engineering I think it might be worth looking into folks who are doing research on infrastructure and telecommunications. The anthropology of infrastructure seems like a sexy topic right now and you could use this to your advantage with your background. I would do a lot of reading on your possible future research topics that way when you write your SOP you clearly know what you want to do research on and which schools are a good fit because you have a clear idea of what you want to do. Read, read, read, read, read, read and familiarize yourself with the discipline. Knowing what you want to do as an Anthropologist is the first step in answering many of your questions. Remember, that depending on how you sell yourself your background could be an asset rather than a obstacle to overcome. These might helpful readings: http://www.culanth.org/curated_collections/11-infrastructure http://blog.castac.org/2014/03/dominic-boyer-on-the-anthropology-of-infrastructure/

For animal studies you'll want to be able and prepared to work interdisciplinary.

Animal studies is bigger in the UK, Australia and New Zealand; it's true. However it is not impossible to study human-animal relations in the US. It looks like you have a reasonable list of schools. I'd start checking out other departments at those schools to see if they have folks doing interesting research. Animals are big in the humanities right now so Literature and History departments are worth looking at. You'll also want to be more specific then livestock or companion animals in Latin America. Also, you are not just looking for faculty who do work with animals, you are looking for faculty who share areas of study as well as theoretical approaches. I managed to get into two programs with an SOP that specifically discusses an animal related project so feel free to hit me up if you have any questions as your applying.

Ditto.

Fair enough. However, not having a BA in anthro is not a deal breaker when it comes to applying for anthro PhD programs especially if you have strong letters of recommendation, good grades, reasonable GREs and a captivating statement of purpose. Not having research experience could be a problem but one that could be taken care of by working as a researcher rather then doing a year or two year MA. Getting paid to do research is much better then paying to do it especially if that means going into more debt. If your interested in morning and death getting a job in hospice or a funeral home might be just as useful as a MA. My interests are in agriculture and I've worked on farms and as a researcher which worked in my favor probably more so than if I had pursued an additional degree. Identifying a program with a strong fit is super important for PhD programs less so for stand alone MA's. A stand alone MA won't be oriented towards specialization in the same way as a PhD program. For example, ff your interests are death, dying and mourning in Latin America an MA program with a Latin Americanist would probably be a good enough fit. If you are interested in the psychological dimensions of morning a program with a psychological anthropologist is probably fine regardless if they work on morning or not. I wouldn't worry so much about advisers for an MA instead I'd focus on programs with good funding. Just my 2 cents.

Why do you feel the need to do a separate MA when most PhD programs in the US are MA/PhD programs? Many programs will make you do a second MA if you come in with one already.

I don't have an answer for you but I would suggest looking at ads for jobs you want and see what they are looking for.

This round of apps I used a writing sample from 2006 or 2007. I wrote it before dropping out of an MA program. I edited it a lot. It isn't related to my current research at all but it seems to have done the trick. I got into two schools. One with a full ride. I also used it for a fellowship app and once again things seemed to work out in my favor. All this being said I'm glad I'll never have to read that paper ever again.

You're over thinking this stuff. Focus on keeping your grades up and write a killer SOP with a solid project proposal. My undergrad transcript is filled with classes that are irrelevant to my current research interests. Its not a big deal.

You'll be fine if you can pull together a solid SOP outlining a do-able project. If you have an idea of what you want to study in grad school I'd start reading the relevant literature and show that you know what your talking about in your SOP. A solid project proposal is more important than a slew of undergrad courses under your belt.