boneflower

Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Yale, Berkeley and Harvard are three of the most difficult schools to get into in the USA. Not getting in doesn't necessarily mean you are not good enough, it just means that this cycle they were looking for something different. Sometimes faculty alternate who gets a student, or funding is tight so they admit less than they wanted. If you don't end up with a successful application, I would recommend spending the next year getting a job or internship in your field as to get experience and possible publication credits. 
Crossing my fingers for your other applications. Good luck! Keep taking deep breaths and all will be okay

Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Yale, Berkeley and Harvard are three of the most difficult schools to get into in the USA. Not getting in doesn't necessarily mean you are not good enough, it just means that this cycle they were looking for something different. Sometimes faculty alternate who gets a student, or funding is tight so they admit less than they wanted. If you don't end up with a successful application, I would recommend spending the next year getting a job or internship in your field as to get experience and possible publication credits. 
Crossing my fingers for your other applications. Good luck! Keep taking deep breaths and all will be okay

Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Yale, Berkeley and Harvard are three of the most difficult schools to get into in the USA. Not getting in doesn't necessarily mean you are not good enough, it just means that this cycle they were looking for something different. Sometimes faculty alternate who gets a student, or funding is tight so they admit less than they wanted. If you don't end up with a successful application, I would recommend spending the next year getting a job or internship in your field as to get experience and possible publication credits. 
Crossing my fingers for your other applications. Good luck! Keep taking deep breaths and all will be okay

Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Yale, Berkeley and Harvard are three of the most difficult schools to get into in the USA. Not getting in doesn't necessarily mean you are not good enough, it just means that this cycle they were looking for something different. Sometimes faculty alternate who gets a student, or funding is tight so they admit less than they wanted. If you don't end up with a successful application, I would recommend spending the next year getting a job or internship in your field as to get experience and possible publication credits. 
Crossing my fingers for your other applications. Good luck! Keep taking deep breaths and all will be okay

Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Yale, Berkeley and Harvard are three of the most difficult schools to get into in the USA. Not getting in doesn't necessarily mean you are not good enough, it just means that this cycle they were looking for something different. Sometimes faculty alternate who gets a student, or funding is tight so they admit less than they wanted. If you don't end up with a successful application, I would recommend spending the next year getting a job or internship in your field as to get experience and possible publication credits. 
Crossing my fingers for your other applications. Good luck! Keep taking deep breaths and all will be okay

At the end of the day, I feel like programs admit people based on (1) fit (mostly personality, faculty that they think would work well), (2) if they see your vision (letter of intent), and (3) if they believe you are experienced and knowledgeable enough to pull it all off (research projects, LoRs, work experience). All of the other stuff is always great to have but seems lost in the process because if you're coming into a PhD it is assumed you aren't already a professional academic.
So my advice would simply be to make sure you really fit in with a place, or if you don't, make sure you can propose a plan as to how you would. My department has zero people that do exactly what I do, but my university offers plenty of resources through other departments, programs, etc. that I am utilizing to tailor a degree to my interests. When you research your programs look at other tangential programs that can strengthen your research and make you more interdisciplinary. They want to see that you can think outside the box!
Good luck  

Hi, 
Without knowing anything about your research, I would say the 'contextualizing' means fitting your research back into relevancy. So if you are studying A, don't just talk about A and why you like it and what you want to do with it, but how does A affect B? How can A and B then open up the possibilities for tackling C? What are the issues with current research in A? What are some ways that A can be improved? Why are you studying A? It's essentially putting your question back into the greater picture of anthropology.
I hope that rambling was helpful!
Feel free to PM if you want to discuss more!
 

If this was true, it would have had to take them about a week to have figured out something was wrong. Seems off to me.

I know that when my department has visiting prospectives they also invite them to whatever events we have that day/weekend, whether it's a colloquium, class, or social gathering. This is a way to get the applicant affiliated with the going-ons in the department, as well as an opportunity to meet the faculty and students. It's tricky because on the one hand you want to go and make the best impression and let them know they should accept you, but on the other, it's not a formal invitation or acceptance and could end up being a waste of time and money. I would suggest talking it over with a current advisor and weighing the options. It seems like the program likes you and wants to meet you but isn't being particularly transparent in their process.

I second @farflung. I would say it's relatively common for two people to meet up at conferences, but it's generally more of a perk. As in, both people are likely attending the conference anyways. But I've never heard of a POI asking a potential student spend money and go to a conference just to interview. Is the colloquium in your field? Is it cheaper than visiting the school itself? Is there any added benefit to you to attend the colloquium? These are all things to consider. But obviously, this is good news! Good luck!

Hey,
You clearly did all of the right steps; got an additional degree, applied to many schools, working a field-related job. You are waiting on 2/3 of your replies- don't lose hope just yet! If you're feeling down and want to talk to someone, feel free to PM me. I'm also finishing up my MA and hoping to start my PhD in the fall. Keep your head up

@boneflower I am sociocultural, too - so not sure if that could mean archaeology is still not decided?

And best of luck at Brown!

Ah I see, thanks for sharing. Berkeley is the last school I'm waiting to hear back from. I applied on the archaeology track and everything I've seen on the results page are sociocultural entries- so I'm curious.
I understand the excitement and nervousness... I'm going to Brown's prospective student weekend/interview weekend in a few weeks! Best of luck to you and everyone else! We're all in this together!

I was sleeping when my acceptance email arrived. Almost all application updates etc comes through the night since I live somewhere with roughly 12 hour difference of time with most of the schools I applied to.  I really should never have bothered refreshing my email when I am awake, nothing ever turns up while I am awake! 
Anyway, I think it was a perfect time to get it, since I was on a quick vacation to get my mind away from the process. I was somewhere surrounded by beaches and spent the day before snorkeling 

A lot of people, myself included, have done this in their proposals. It shouldn't be a problem.

If you're anxious about decisions, I'd email your POI directly rather than administration. They're known, btw, to forward unsuccessful, strong applications to various MA programs around the university with partial funding (1/2 tuition with second year possibly fully-funded if you keep above a 3.5). 

What I hate about the email notifications is that around the time acceptances should be going out I freak out every time my phone dings.  And then I'm like, "I don't give a shit that there's a sale at Old Navy!!!!!!"