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RepatMan

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Everything posted by RepatMan

  1. The short answer is, no and no. You really have very little time to conduct fieldwork (depending on your discipline and interests) and there is very little funding available for conducting work. The best case scenario is to have an adviser, outside of MAPSS, that has their own research project that you could participate in. In some cases, you can actually receive funding from profs as a Research Assistant to conduct certain kinds of work/research. I actually received two different Research Assistantships--the first paid me well and I did almost nothing for it, and the second did NOT pay me well but got me access to the places and people that my thesis ended up being on. I would immediately reach out to professors you've been in touch with for the PhD program to ask about RA possibilities with them. You can potentially find some when you arrive, but if you're concerned about coming in with a project this is about the only way you can do this, to my mind.
  2. I think the answer to your question is that this is a pretty amorphous concept, based in part on faculty's interaction with other grad students/programs when they were coming up and their experience seeing their peers placed and perhaps even in hiring themselves. Each faculty will have a different perception of what tiers exist and where different schools are placed. Often they'll have summary judgements about certain places just based on a person or two they knew as grad students or who are now faculty at that school. It also has to do with whether or not programs are able to fund their grad students and their research. I think asking faculty themselves how they see the tiers of the programs you've applied to. Like others are saying, this shouldn't be a determining factor, per se, however if you're hoping at all to stay in academia after you're finished check out the link above to get a sense of placements, they indicate you are FAR more likely to get hired in academia if you go to an Ivy or "top" program than otherwise.
  3. I actually had very much the opposite experience. My cohort (2015-2016) was very convivial and really a diverse, lovely group of humans. I had moved away from Chicago and on moving back, found that I have a wonderful community of pockets of friends that are often intellectually curious/engaged but in all sectors of the workforce of Chicago. There are those that are hyper-competitive in MAPSS, esp that are desperate to get into PhD programs, but only about 1/3 of the students choose to try to continue on into a PhD program. Many choose to enter the workforce, and those that do are generally not hyper-competitive. I've written about my experience in a few places on here, but mine was generally really positive, though the program is perhaps not worth it. If you have a great scholarship or have no qualms about funding an incredibly expensive MA, then it's a rushed but really powerful experience. Also, if you're dead set to get into PhD programs but can't get into them, this is a program with really good support and placement of it's MA students. But if you don't have a good scholarship, and you're not desperate to find another qualification or support to get into PhD programs, I don't think it's worth the steep, steep cost of admission.
  4. I would suggest speaking to Dr. Morgan Hoke at Penn about her work. She's primarily a biological anthropologist but Penn hired her specifically because the brings the two subfields together. She'll likely have a good idea as to who else to talk to if your interests don't line up with hers.
  5. Finally got word on Thursday of last week (Aug. 27).
  6. If anyone is checking this like me, please post when you have some info about this round of decisions.
  7. Congrats! I would say to first contact whoever your potential adviser is (outside of the MAPSS program) if you have a good relationship and start by asking them. If that doesn't work, then I would say you should write the program director, and CC whoever the program administrator is right now. Good luck!
  8. For anyone searching for this kind of information (this year or in future years), I just heard I was put through to the second round today.
  9. I know that in my case, it was much better to have a faculty member that wanted you there and was willing to contact the MAPSS director to ask for the best offer possible. My understanding was that a lot of students in my cohort (2015-2016) were offered 1/3 tuition waivers and that many of them negotiated to get to 2/3 waivers. Some were offered 2/3 waivers out of the gate. But I really can't speak to numbers. Funding in a program like that is a bit taboo for people that don't want to flaunt (or expose) their offers and make the scene more competitive. I can only speak really for close friends I learned about over time. That said, I do know there are people that are not offered funding, which I do not think is worth it at all, despite my positive reviews of MAPSS you can find in other posts.
  10. I received a full tuition waver and I know at least one other student in my cohort did, as well. When I received it, they indicated that 4-5 people get them each year and that perhaps each department can essentially ask for one, respectively. That was all very unofficial and I heard it through my PI at the time who is no longer there.
  11. It's generally considered unethical for PIs to review application materials. I wouldn't ask, but you could probably ask if they would allow you to discuss how you hope to lay it out or what you will discuss within it. Chatting with folks over skype or whatever is pretty crucial. Odds are that there will be a great deal of qualified applicants and normally faculty go to bat for those that they have confidence they'll like working with. So it would be ok to ask a PI or other faculty to chat to discuss your fit in the program, both academically and personally.
  12. I've heard on the grapevine that they were exponentially behind on things because of the shutdown. That they're not 6 weeks behind on apps, but potentially closer to 10 or 12. But that was very anecdotal, and also surely dependent upon the subdiscipline you applied to. I applied to Cultural, and haven't heard anything specifically about them, but what I did hear was coming from the Bioanth side. Take it with a grain of salt, and perhaps they're really putting in the work to get back on schedule, but I'm not counting on hearing for another couple of months (unless its an early cut).
  13. Re: John Jackson-- He's now the Dean of the Annenburg School for Communication, so he does not seem to be very available as a primary adviser, though he is on a few peoples' committees in Anthro. And he may be more involved in Communications, now that he's pretty much over there exclusively. However, in anthro, I'd suggest getting in touch with Deb Thomas (incidentally, his wife and a an absolute powerhouse academic herself) who has just started the Center for Experimental Ethnography, which has a bit of an emphasis at this point on multi-modal ethnography (esp. film) but she is hoping to expand it in creative ways. https://www.sas.upenn.edu/anthropology/content/center-experimental-ethnography
  14. Just so folks know, Penn anthro is making their decision as we speak. They'll be finalized and sent to the Dean today. The Dean is expected to approve those decisions by mid-week next week. I have really no info about how the wait-list is generated or whether they let wait-listed people know at the same time, but if you haven't heard from your primary contact at Penn by the end of next week, touch base with them. They'll likely have some insight for you one way or the other.
  15. @pmcol and @bonesandbakes, Penn doesn't require formal interviews, but usually does them when they need someone to be interested in something like a secondary adviser role (like someone that would be interested in advising the studying if the primary faculty member left) or when they're bringing people in off their informal wait-list. Not getting an interview doesn't mean much at this point, but I believe the department had the goal to make initial offers in the first week of February.
  16. @pyramidstuds, it's easy to understand your anxiety, but in my experience that is not really a factor at all. I'd say nearly half of the students in my program have degrees in things other than anthropology--from English to Biology and Economics to Pre-Med. The type of degree you have (especially graduate degree) shouldn't significantly negatively affect your chances, in my opinion. It does--as all things do on this forum--depend on the program, but if faculty do what you do, or at least have peripheral interests in what you do, then you should be good. What might affect you more is whether or not you can write like you're in anthropology. Faculty has to be confident you'll be able to express your ideas and observations well and in an interesting narrative. I think some non-anthropologists can struggle with that and it seems to me that the majority of those in my program are definitively good writers (they're all certainly better than me!). That's all to say, I don't think it should negatively affect your chances, but what it will boil down to is how interesting was the project you proposed, how do-able does it sound, and do you demonstrate the skills to perform it to the institution's standard. This is mostly in the writing sample and partially in the connections you've made with faculty (preferably more than one) leading up to and through applying. However, graduate level work in a Masters program, as much as any other qualification, can help demonstrate you have the ability to craft and perform a research project. So I don't think it can be a bad thing, regardless of what kind of Masters program it is.
  17. If anyone would like some insight from someone who had a bit more of a positive experience in MAPSS, feel free to PM me. Or check out some of my past posts on my profile. I'm now working on a PhD at a "top-tier" institution and definitely think MAPSS helped. Not to say KuroNeko didn't also mention positive aspects, just have seen a few significantly negative posts that (while justified) don't always correspond to the experiences of the wide variety of MAPSS-ers.
  18. For me, it was important to just highlight that I found my passion late in undergrad. It was fairly clear that this was the case when looking at my BA GPA and my MA GPA, so to just spell it out like that was fairly important.
  19. Posting, more for a bump than having a strong testimonial. I stayed pretty engaged consistently, having gotten a BA in 2011, an MA in 2014, and then into another program in 2015 with another MA coming in 2016, then started PhD that fall. However, I know there are multiple folks in my program that were out for several years, one or two without having ever gotten an MA but still got into the program in their early 30s. So it seems very possible, and perhaps might even really benefit you when you apply. Programs want to know you really want to be there, you have the maturity/drive to finish, and have the ability to identify and pursue and interesting project. It sounds to me like all those things will apply to you, and when you contact faculty at the programs you're interested in, you should ask them if they can get you in touch with older students in their program to talk about their experience. As a side note, tt's often a good sign faculty are interested in your if they're game to send you along to chat with their students.
  20. Penn's education department has a really strong applied anthropology slant to it, I would suggest you check that out. Talk to Kathy Hall, a fantastic anthropologist and chair of their department could probably direct you to other potential advisers/programs.
  21. You can also ask for programs to accommodate you after you're accepted. I wouldn't let them know ahead of time or they won't consider you--programs are looking for ANY reason to drop an application from the stack--but if you get in they probably want you there and, even if it's not normal, they might be willing to work with you.
  22. Certainly depends on your project and what your aim for post-PhD life is, but I've been trying to pick up French for a my dissertation research and it has been an uphill battle. Not only are language classes not permitted in the course load of my program, but you really need a high degree of fluency for ethnographic or archival research. I wouldn't recommend it unless you have a very deep and specific interest that will motivate you, and I've found most PhD students come in to their programs with the language skills necessary for your research. Moreover, advisers might not be supportive of this redirection when it seems to eat up so much of your time and focus throughout your program.
  23. If you have a Linguistics background, I would suggest you consider Penn and working with Asif Agha. He has taken many students with diverse backgrounds (he himself has one, as well) and currently has (at least?) two former Linguistics students. As someone who got a 3.3 as an undergrad and is now at an Ivy, I can confirm that getting into a program has much more to do with the quality of your proposal and your relationship with your potential adviser/admissions committee. Get Skype meetings lined up and get them invested in you early. These conversations will hopefully give you insight as to what they're looking for from a proposal. Each application should be as tailored to the program as possible.
  24. I think everyone on the waitlist is "high" because they don't keep a long one... maybe just 3-5 people. The good news is that they've made many offers to waitlisters in recent years. The bad news is, the department is putting a new emphasis on retaining folks with the initial offers--especially by hosting a substantial admit weekend event (weekend after next). It's tough to answer your second question, I'm not sure who accepts or rejects offers more specifically. It's very contingent upon certain types of fits. For Bio, we have a very small program (really just 2.5 professors) so if people's projects don't fit, they don't (or shouldn't) come. Linguistics is the same--if you're not a Agha-nian anthropologist, this is not the Linguistic program for you. Cultural and Arch are a bit more broad in terms of coverage, so I'm not sure why people don't accept offers from those. Either way, good luck!
  25. Folks were notified about Penn informal acceptances a little over a week ago. If you haven't heard, it's possible you're on the wait list but it's more than likely bad news. The professors were supposed to reach out individually to potential advisees/students of their subfield. Students in the program got informed a couple weeks ago who they're admitting. Penn is changing their formula up a bit as they're having paid on-site visits for those given offers next week. However, if you are on a waitlist, don't give up hope! I was actually explicitly not on a waitlist and they still circled back around to me on April 15, Decision Day....
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