Meglet

I found the Manhattan tests to be more difficult than the ETS tests, including the actual GRE, and sometimes their verbal questions and answer choices seemed...not quite right. My actual scores (170V, 156Q) were 2-4 points higher than the Manhattan practice tests I took, so I wouldn't worry too much. But I found a few of the Manhattan strategy tips helpful for raising my scores from my early practice tests, so if you have time to read through some of that material, that would be helpful. Good luck! NOWAYNOHOW - I'm also working full time at a school (organizing ALL the tests instead of teaching this year). And a few days before the GRE, I decided the math could go to hell, because I don't really see what most of the GRE math has to do with cultural anthropology. Pleh.

I was going to, but the fact that I have an old master's degree and recent teacher certification credits at a community college disqualifies me. When I thought I could apply, I was definitely wrestling with the whole 'science' thing. But I figured that they include cultural anthropology on the field list, so I was just going to have to go with it, and focus on how my research could be of benefit to society. Good luck!

I'm applying for next fall and will be 33 next month, married with cats (no children!). I definitely feel old when I realize it's been more than 10 years since I graduated from college, and 7 since I finished my MA. And needing to find a living situation in an expensive big city that accommodates husband and cats is daunting.

I don't think I agree that private school is the only option. I'm from Santa Fe, and two of my siblings live in Albuquerque and have kids. I don't think the public schools are all bad, although public schools in the state are going through kind of a crisis because of testing and teacher evaluations. I work for the Santa Fe Public Schools, and I know APS has a huge number of openings. But, schools like La Cueva and Rio Rancho in richer areas have decent reputations. There may also be some interesting charter schools.

I'm definitely in the heat of writing statements of purpose, fellowship application, etc, and yeah, it's pretty draining. I also bullied myself into emailing faculty. I wasn't going to, but a friend with a PhD in English scared me into it. Of course, so far the responses have been the generic 'encourage you to apply, can't tell you anything, you have to apply to the whole department' spiel. Joynow, I have a theater degree, too. I do have an MA relevant to the research I'm proposing, but some days I feel pretty down about my lack of anthropology credentials. Books...do GRE guides count? I think that was the last thing I read besides these forums and department websites. Can't say I recommend them.

Broadly: ethnic identity, performing arts, religion and cultural contact/interactions. Specifically, I wrote a master's thesis on the position of belly dancers in Islamic cultures (mostly Egypt). I've thought about writing about belly dance as a site of cultural interaction, but I'm leaning more towards looking at the role of art in ethnic identity in Arab (possibly Palestinian) diaspora communities.

I don't think you're early - I've been thinking about this since December! I'm a bit unusual: I've been working as a teacher of one kind or another for several years, I have a BA in German Studies and Theater (Production/Design), minor in Art History, and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from SOAS (so, if you have questions about attending programs in the UK, message me - I have OPINIONS). It only just occurred to me in the past year that Cultural Anthropology was the best umbrella for all my interests. Based on strong reputations, good language offerings, and multiple faculty specializing in the Middle East, my current list is: UC Berkeley, NYU, Stanford, Columbia, Harvard, Duke, and University of Arizona. I know I'm aiming high. In terms of theory, I'm interested in ethnic identity, performing arts, religion and cultural contact/interactions. If anybody knows of any programs I'm overlooking that align with my research interests, I'd love to hear it. I'm trying to finalize the list by the time I take the GRE at the end of September.