museum_geek

Congrats on accepting an offer, exciting stuff! If you don't mind me asking, where will you be headed in the fall? As for which classes to take, I think your advisor will be super helpful. It also depends on your prior training and what your project will look like. For instance, my project and proposed field site is in an area where I'm not super familiar with the language, so my first semester I'll probably take a more introductory language course. On the other hand, I'm taking an Ethnographic Field Methods course right now as I finish up my Master's, so I'll probably take something more topically focused instead of just "Foundations of Anthropological Theory" or something along those lines. But yeah, in general I think your advisor will be able to help your sort this out.

I'm going to echo RepatMan and say that you can get pretty much any type of museum job with an MA, and you only need a PhD if you're looking for a curatorial or admin role at an elite institution like the Field Museum, the Hearst Museum, Peabody, etc. If you're interested in collections management, though, you can get a job at one of these elite institutions with just an MA. I interned at a high level anthro museum last summer and while all of the curators held PhDs (and some had joint appointments as faculty in the anthro dept), most of the keepers of collections, conservators, exhibit designers, etc had BAs or MAs. So yeah, it really depends on what aspect of museum work you're interested in and what your career goals are. Have you volunteered or interned at an anthropology museum? Getting some hands on experience might help to determine what type of degree you're going to aim for.

@hantoo That makes sense. I accepted an offer from my current MA school without visiting beforehand and it turned out well, but two years isn't quite the same level of commitment as 5-7 years!

Does anyone have any thoughts on accepting a PhD offer without visiting campus? I'm seriously considering accepting my offer from UW Madison and I feel comfortable with my POIs there, but I won't be able to do a visit before April 15.

I think you're on the right track with regard to asking about funding, TAships, conference funding, etc. You might also ask about summer funding, and what kinds of resources/workshops the department has to help students prepare to apply for research grants and other outside funding sources. In terms of logistical stuff like where to look for apartments, you might ask your POI to put you in touch with a current grad student who can answer those questions. Something along the lines of, "I'm still keeping all my options open, but your school/program/department is near the top of my list and I'm excited about the possibility of attending in the Fall." Faculty members know the drill - they've heard different iterations of this phrase for years now, so I doubt your POI will take offense. Best of luck!

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!!!!!!!!!

What you're referring to is known as "yield protection," and though it definitely happens, I think it's something that's far more common in MD and JD admissions than in social science and humanities PhD admissions.

@troikaparallel Congrats on the results! A waitlist at Columbia is impressive and of course the funded PhD offer is great. I don't know much about the UIC faculty, but I know the program has a deal with the Field Museum which allows PhD students to use their labs/archives/facilities and work with museum staff as committee members, which is a great resource. As far as funding goes, try to find out if what they've offered you is renewable, and if so for how long. I would also try to find out how the department helps out its students in regards to external funding. One of the schools I visited recently told me that they have workshops and lots of individual guidance for people applying to NSF, Wenner-Gren, Fulbrights, etc. @Konstantine Congrats on the acceptance! I'm not super familiar with the New School, but if I were you I would avoid going into debt for a Master's degree, especially if you're using it as a stepping stone to the PhD. You also have take location into account - NSSR is in Manhattan, which means your cost of living (even if you end up living in NJ or one of the outer boroughs) is going to be high. That's in addition to taking out loans for tuition. It might be a good idea to try and negotiate for some funding - it's possible that they might offer some $$$ if other people turn down funded offers closer to April 15.

@ironshieldmaiden Based on everything I've read - which includes someone active on this thread who has an acceptance in hand - Rice has already done their visiting weekend and sent out acceptances and waitlists. If you haven't heard from them at this point then it's almost certainly a rejection

Your stats are good and I'm sure doing a Master's will only help strengthen your profile. I wouldn't worry too much about pubs or teaching experience - having these on your CV isn't necessarily a prereq for doing a PhD, though you should look into presenting your work at some conferences between now and application season. Bringing your GRE scores up couldn't hurt, but as they currently stand they won't kill your chances. You should really focus on your fit both with faculty members and departments as a whole. You want to make sure that you're in the same theoretical ballpark as a potential advisor - for example, if you're a structural functionalist you probably aren't going to be a great fit working with a post-structuralist. Read articles by potential advisors, contact them to see if they're taking students, and try to find programs with at least two people you can see yourself working with. When you have a good handle on this, start working on your personal statement - you'll want to tailor it to each program you're applying to, and make sure that you have some faculty members at your current program read it over and give some feedback. You should also polish your writing sample, which will probably be one of your undergrad theses, and have your advisor(s) look it over. Fit is super important in anthropology PhD admissions, and your writing sample and personal statement are probably the two most important documents in your application packet as a result. I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that the admissions process is a roll of the dice. Sociocultural is especially competitive, so keep your head up and remember that a rejection is not a reflection of your value as a scholar or, more importantly, as a human being. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions as you move forward in the process - I'm finishing up this cycle and starting a PhD program in the Fall so I know how tough it can be. Best of luck!

@DancinFool I seem to remember the Fall 2016 applicants thread having a pretty good discussion on MAPSS. You can also check around some of the other subforums for info, since MAPSS and MAPH take people from multiple disciplines. A quick search should bring up tons of threads!

I've done two campus visits so far and have found that grad students are a great source of information. I've asked about summer research funding, conference travel, how the program handles prepping for quals, language training, etc. It's also a good idea to ask them about the area - cost of living, areas to check out/avoid, good/bad places to rent, cohort cohesion and collegiality of the dept in general (though this is easier to glean from observation during a visit than from an email/phone call). I think you can learn a lot about the minutiae of life in a specific department by talking to grad students - I hope they're able to help you out!

@Mugi Mila Don't take out loans for an MA program, even if you plan on taking the MA as a terminal degree. Without knowing the details of your situation, I would suggest taking some time research both external funding sources and programs with funding opportunities, and then reapplying next cycle with these things in mind.

Has anyone heard from Vanderbilt?

@enfp @EvelynD Thanks! The support system here at GC has really helped me get through this cycle without totally losing my mind!

Accepted at Syracuse, Wisconsin, and New Mexico. Rejected at UCSD, Notre Dame, Princeton, and UT Austin, and assuming rejections from Hopkins and Rice. I'm currently wrapping up my interview weekend at UVA which I've really enjoyed so far, so fingers crossed I get an offer there!

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...

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 think @GreenEyedTrombonist makes a good point about volunteering on a research project. I don't know much about funding for field schools - the one I did in undergrad was run by my university and counted toward my degree, so it ended up costing the equivalent of 6 credit hours of tuition. Not sure how other field schools handle expenses, though.

Personally, I would choose Place A - better placement, better funding, stronger in your sub-fields, and like you said, it's not that far from the comfort that Place B's atmosphere offers. If you're willing to take a chance and live somewhere that might be a bit outside of your comfort zone in order to reap the benefits of going to a Top 10, then Place A is the right choice. It does seem like you'll succeed at either school though, so I wouldn't blame you for going with Place B.

If you can fit it into your budget then I'd say go for it. You might also consider getting in touch with the anthropology department at your local university to ask for advice on summer opportunities - they might be able to steer you in the right direction. AAA also has some good resources. In any case, I think looking for something to strengthen your CV over the summer is a good idea.

I still haven't heard back from them - with multiple acceptances and rejections posted I'm guessing I probably got waitlisted but I'm not going to contact them just yet. No clue about funding, but my fingers are crossed that you find some!

Yeah, the results page has been down for most of the day