anthroboy2010

OMG...ugh. Is Yale on Spring Break? This wait is nuts.

dude. seriously. we gotta PM about SOAS. it's a bomb ass place in regards to islamic law. hit me up.

call again. if you're freaking out about the department contact recognizing your voice, call another person (if you called the graduate secretary, try calling the director of graduate studies; she's really nice). the only good news: you're not alone. hang in there.

yea. Totally. What 3?

ugh. yes. Yale and Columbia. Anywhere else (nyu, duke), I just assume I'm rejected.

yea. Who knows how to feel about that email. I got it as well, even with a scholarship, however I can't help but feel like the subtext of the program is "oh, so close, yet so far." so, people will call it a 'cash cow' program (ie meant to generate money for the social science division, to possibly fund phd students, to which you and I are not), but the question if we/you should do the program revovles around 1. The goals of your degree (will you go for a phd next year, and what type of program prestige are you looking for) and 2. The shortcomings in your current application. For me, my GPA is low (below a 3.5), I do not have a background in anthropology, and I do not hold a masters degree. For an applicant like myself, it MIGHT benefit my application with a proven degree of academic success (eg a +3.5 GPA in a masters, with one more letter of rec). However, I gotta be honest. Funding is crap this year, and a lot of qualified people are being rejected left and right. Is funding going to be better next year? I wouldn't count on it. I'm 50/50 regarding the Chicago MA, but I got into a PhD program fully funded. so...it's very likely that I'll take the phd offer. What about you?

Literally got rejected a minute ago.

Who do y'all want to work with at Yale?

I've been in contact with the DGS and she said that they would have news very soon. I'd expect that we will hear this upcoming week, maybe as early as Monday.

from? when?

while I'm sure you're waitlisted, I did not receive a rejection notice either. However, if it was an indication of some secret possibility of waitlisted-ness wouldn't one expect there to be a string 'cornell reject' posts on the results page?

To be completely fair, I didn't apply to Berkeley's Anthropology department, so I have no actual investment in this discussion. It sounds like this "Ned" character did a fantastic job keeping everyone abreast regarding their personal application to the department and, thus, those individuals got their application money's worth. In fact, from the sound of it, Berkeley's department does a much better job than other institutions regarding keeping applicants informed regarding the process. I bet that in regards to generic e-mails that go out regarding admissions decisions, the University usually generates it and it is not the duty of the department to write such an e-mail/letter. Many departments receive applications and recommend (not admit) a certain set for admissions. I may be incorrect, but, in that sense, the department does not reject you as much as they do not recommend you for admission (which I understand is tantamount to rejection, but it is importantly not the same thing). It is my suspicion that the Graduate Division at UC-Berkeley is responsible for "rejecting" students. While this may seem trivial, it does possibly direct anger to a more appropriate venue (i.e. not at "Ned" of Anthropology, but at the Graduate Division at UC-Berkeley).

I'm not sure I agree with you. Clearly, paying an application fee does not entitle one to an admissions offer, however it does, in my view, warrant good applicant-department relations. In a sense, we're paying the department to review our files, entitling the applicant to a certain degree of candidness and respect. I feel like the poster on the forum was frustrated by the callousness of a link to a page saying "Applicant Status: Not Admitted," and the lack of, at least, a generic e-mail from the department generated a warranted amount of anger. It's hard not to feel like applicants are just fattening schools' wallets when we apply, as some schools do as much to minimize the interaction with the rejected applicants as possible. I'm with the Berkeley poster.

I was/am under the impression that, at least at public institutions and private ones relying on public funds, obtaining funding for international students is more difficult. Many admissions decisions hinge on funding, ergo international students might have to wait for the department to find a way to fund them (independent of the fellowships that are availible only to American students) or just not accept them altogether due to limited resources. I've had friends who were accepted to programs predominatley because they were granted fellowships from their countries of origin at time of application and, essentially, would not have to rely on their graduate department's resources.