Bschaefer

@museum_geek I always welcome advice, especially about SoPs.  Good to see you're still active here!

Hi all,
I applied last cycle and I'm now in the first year of a PhD program.  I'd love to stay active on this forum, so please feel free to use me as a resource during the upcoming application cycle.  I'm happy to offer advice, edit SoPs, share my own application experiences, etc.  Best of luck to everyone this application season - feel free to reach out for any help you may need as the (incredibly long) application cycle keeps moving.

@Bschaefer Awesome! My list is currently (still researching, not finalized for applying yet):

1. Columbia
2. UC Irvine
3. USC (California, not Carolina)
4. U of Penn
5. UC Davis
6. Rutgers
7. Cornell
8. George Washington
9. U Mass Amherst

and then 7 comm programs:
1. Boston University
2. U of Oregon
3. Penn State
4. Temple
5. Washington State
6. UW Madison
7. NYU

Right now I'm considering removing Boston because, when I emailed them about my research interests and goodness of fit, the reply was they wouldn't look at my research interests until after I'm admitted, but their application website clearly says I need to prove goodness of fit and faculty research connections in a personal statement so...

So, now that I have finished my MA, figured I'd weigh in.
 
I am down to 9k in student loans after taking out 5k my first year and 12k my second year (to help pay off the first loan and consolidate my debt). HOWEVER, my debt would have been much lower because my first year I worked as a student researcher (helped me pay off that first loan quite a bit) and my second year I was hired as a TA by a different department (paid my tuition, fees, and a monthly stipend). I was hired as the TA right before the school year started so I had already taken out the 12k loan. Had I known I had the position earlier, I would have never gotten that loan and would be down to 1-3k in debt right now. So, in essence, even in a non-funded program, it is possible to find jobs that either reduce your debt or get rid of it completely.
 
I loved my MA program. I was able to research what I wanted (online philanthropic communities with emphasis on Twitch, Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter) and made connections I would never have made without my professors. I have been able to present my research to Nissan, various professionals in user and ethnographic research, and have upcoming presentations at a large company and a non-profit. I believe my experience in my MA program has made me a stronger candidate this PhD round (and has certainly strengthened my LoRs since I've worked much closer with professors during my time as a graduate than as an undergrad). 

hey @Bschaefer ! Good to see you again and good luck!  
I've got my list of anth programs down to 9 and plan to email PoIs in the next 2 weeks (want to catch up on some readings first). 
I'm working on reducing my list for comm programs now. 
At which schools are you looking?

Hey guys, I’m reapplying for fall 2018 and refining my SOP as well. I earned my MA in Anthropology (Andean Bioarchaeology) amd graduate certificate in Latin American Studies. Right now I’m on track to finish my MPH in Infectious diseases and outbreak prevention. 
Im mostly interested in warfare and violence (including ritual) during political transitions of major empires in Andean Peru. 
So far, I have about 6 or 7 schools I plan to apply to which is better than my 2 last year lol. 

Hey guys, I’m reapplying for fall 2018 and refining my SOP as well. I earned my MA in Anthropology (Andean Bioarchaeology) amd graduate certificate in Latin American Studies. Right now I’m on track to finish my MPH in Infectious diseases and outbreak prevention. 
Im mostly interested in warfare and violence (including ritual) during political transitions of major empires in Andean Peru. 
So far, I have about 6 or 7 schools I plan to apply to which is better than my 2 last year lol. 

Hi guys!
I'm applying this application round too! I'm in my senior year right now, and spent most my summer looking into schools, preparing my application materials, and studying for the GRE.
I'm interested in bioarchaeology, and specifically the bioarchaeology of childhood. I'm most interested in things like cultural contact and migration and how they affected biological aspects of childhood. I have about ten schools on my list, and my next steps are to start reaching out to them. I've got two field schools underneath my belt and an independent research project. I volunteer in three labs and also occasionally help with our campus archaeology program. I have a good GPA and should really strong letters of rec. I didn't do awesome on the GRE, but my advisor said that other aspects of my application will hopefully compensate for that, but its still nerve racking because I really don't have the time to study all over again, and I still haven't decided if I want to retake it or not.
I'm still putting the finishing touches on my SoPs, but if anyone wouldn't mind looking at my CV that would much appreciated!

Hey guys,
Unfortunately, like many others, I did not get accepted in the 2017 cycle. After taking some time off from my research idea's and this forum, and focussing on my great great job in customer service  I started working on my proposals again a week ago. When I applied last year I had no idea what to expect and what to do. This year I'll be better prepared and hopefully not the third, but the second time’s a charm!
To make a long story short, how are you preparing for the 2018 cycle? If you got rejected last year what will you do different this fall? I'll start:
1. I re-read the feedback I got from two PoI's and realized they were actually pretty positive! They did not say 'you and your ideas suck' but 'your idea's are interesting but your SoP has to be more theoretical in this competitive field'. When I got rejected I was so sad that I couldn't see the feedback for what it was.
2. Improve my SoP. Since I'm not from the States I had no idea how to write a good SoP and nobody proof-read it for me. I'm now writing a more European-style proposal (very extensive) that I'm going to narrow down for my SoP. I'm also going to send it to as many people as possible.
3. Apply to more schools. I only applied to 4 schools because I was thinking too much inside the box. This year I’m not only going to apply to anthro departments, but I’m also going to try my luck at Human Geography and Latin American Studies departments.
Fire away!
 

I'm not applying this year but I'd be happy to look over SoPs, discuss my experiences applying last year, etc.  Best of luck to everyone!

If you're applying with a BA you don't need to have written a thesis to apply.  Just make sure you have a solid piece of writing from one of your anthro courses in the 10-20 page range to use as a writing sample.  When I applied this past fall my thesis was still in its infancy so I used a conference paper as a writing sample instead and still got several funded PhD offers, so I wouldn't sweat it too much.

I would actually argue opposite from the funding situation. PhDs aren't always funded, and neither are MAs. But there are many MAs that do fund. My current school funds most of their students and so does University of Alabama and Georgia State. These are just 3 of the schools off the top of my head that I know of MAs who received funding.
Yes, I'll agree with the second one but that's kind of the thing with academia...it's not always a sure thing. I can't tell you what to do...you're the only one who can do that. But I can say that most of the time it is easier to get into a PhD program with a MA than without. I've actually heard of people being denied at specific schools for a PhD because they didn't have an MA and other people did.

2010 - graduated from UC Davis. Didn't do too well but oh well.
2011 - applied to 5 schools. Rejected by 5 schools.
2012 - applied to 5 schools again. Rejected by 5 schools again.
2013-15 - too homeless/broke/unemployed to bother
2016 - did ok on GRE.
2017 - third try, got admitted to two schools and waitlisted on two others.

Anthropology is THE field to be in to study the culture and history of early humans. I am a biological anthropology graduate student and I had to teach this topic quite often this past year. Biological anthropology has multiple subfields that you could go into; however, you would want to do the biological anthropology subfield because there's a specialty under that that studies early hominin evolution called paleoanthropology. This is the specialty that you would be interested in.
Learning a second language isn't particularly important for the subfield, but you should be willing to learn the language of the country in which you'd be doing the majority of your field work. For example, if you want to study the Dmanisi branch of Homo erectus, you would want to learn Georgian so you can communicate with the people in that particular country. That's the same for many of the other areas in which early hominins migrated. Furthermore, you would want to potentially learn either German or French because a lot of the early literature would be in one of these two languages. But there's been a lot of literature in the past couple of decades written by English and American scholars, so you'd still be fine with that.
Grades it truly depends on the program in which you'd be applying. If I can make a suggestion, don't look for just Canadian schools because there are A LOT of paleoanthropologists on this side of the border who you would want to work with. So when you start looking at schools I would say talk to those professors whom you would like to work with and see what they say. If you have good grades, what we would consider a 3.4 GPA or higher out of a 4.0 in the States, then you would still be good. I'm not sure about equivalencies in Canada though.
But one thing I would also suggest is mainly apply to master's granting institutions first because most professors from what I have seen prefer to see a master's degree when applying to PhD programs. I was actually told that by a professor up in Canada and one down here in the States. 

I got in to UVA!  Looks like I'm bound for Charlottesville! 

Isn't this unethical to begin with?

Isn't this unethical to begin with?

I heard back from Wisconsin today, fully funded for four years, with two of those coming from a  University Fellowship!  Ahhhhhh I'm freaking out!!!!!!!!!

Nope, in the same boat

Nope, in the same boat

I say apply. I was in a similar situation where I wasn't sure if I was going to attend UNLESS I had funding from the uni. They send an email with details to apply and so I did. Ultimately I didn't attend this uni but knowing that this app was sent in for consideration can't hurt. Plus if you decide not to attend, then that uni can give it to another student - or whatever. 
But, yes-Apply. It's money 

That feel when you're prepping for the final interview during a campus visit and 20 minutes before it's supposed to start you get acceptance AND rejection emails from two other schools...

I say apply. I was in a similar situation where I wasn't sure if I was going to attend UNLESS I had funding from the uni. They send an email with details to apply and so I did. Ultimately I didn't attend this uni but knowing that this app was sent in for consideration can't hurt. Plus if you decide not to attend, then that uni can give it to another student - or whatever. 
But, yes-Apply. It's money 

Heard back from my POI at Syracuse, funded for four years with a pretty good chance at getting a fifth year through the Maxwell School!  It feels so good to have a realistic (read: funded) PhD option!

I heard back from UCSD on February 8th, admitted for Biological Anthropology! 
Do you know anything about securing funding?