busybee

It's possible I was asked because my country wants to do a background check on me. It is not a European country. They arrest Americans and Europeans in my country from time to time. I'm hoping it's for a good reason, though.

Having travelled to and studied in Oman and Jordan, I can tell you that yes, visas are very easy to get for these countries. And having studied in Oman with CLS, it was the easiest process ever as CLS does everything for you. In Jordan, you simply buy your visa at the airport. You'll have to extend it with the Department of Residency and Borders after one month (which is easy to do), but CLS will help you with everything. Good luck everyone!!! Today has gotta be the day!! I hope everyone gets some great news. Having made it this far in CLS is an accomplishment unto itself and you should all be proud no matter the outcome!

Here's to hoping it is a trend this year! I had to send IIE a scan of my passport a couple of weeks ago because the US Embassy in my Fulbright country wanted it. Hopefully that was for a visa or something and April 29th notifications are a thing of the past!

I LOVE this last look! It is perfect for interviews, I think!

I visited CUNY this past week and wore a pretty and uniquely-printed (yet casual) dress with a casual blazer, black tights and black Toms! A few of us girls wore Blazers but no one was wearing super business formal with pressed pants or high heels or anything. It was definitely the paired-down-anthropologist-slightly-formal wear. My dress was also printed in a style somewhat similar to the area I want to work--this is really just my personal style coming out, but don't be afraid to let your personal style shine! I would say not to wear jeans, at least, but perhaps a nice pair of slacks--and blazers are not necessities.

Congrats, maybe! That's amazing! Thanks for sharing and the words of encouragement. Do you mind me asking what you did in the year in between application seasons?

Me too, Swingin_Sween! Last year the person who was accepted for my same award was notified April 29th... 29th....... ............

I'm really happy for you that you got into your top choice school! That's amazing. I'm having more luck than I thought I would this graduate season. I've applied for PhD programs with five schools and have been contacted for interviews with three of them, rejected by one but will likely receive a funded offer for their master's program, and am waiting on the last one still. I'm not sure what my top choice school is anymore; I am visiting two schools within the next few weeks and I'm hoping this will help me figure everything out, although I have been in the States now for about two months and I am really hating it here and would love to get the hell out to my favorite region of the world via Fulbright! The graduate process is a remarkably liminal and painful one. If you have to make the choice between your top choice school and a Fulbright that is an incredible choice to have to make! Congrats again!

I also applied for both Fulbright and PhD programs. In my interview with Brown, I was told that it is unlikely I could defer. I'm in the same boat, too, regarding the deadlines. According to the spreadsheet, in past years finalists for my country have been notified in late April! I was emailed by an IIE program officer asking me for a copy of my passport, and when I asked him in the email about this, he told me unfortunately he had no way of knowing about the dates. I'm not quite sure what to do myself. Congrats on MIT! My department director told me that at the very least, I could write "Fulbright Fellowship 2016-2017- Declined" on my CV.

Good luck, intellect954! I hope to see you at recruitment weekend!

I have to echo MAnthroAA in that no interview means a rejection. I emailed my POI in the CHD program today who confirmed that for me, no interview means no acceptance. He also told me that the program is accepting only five candidates this year (he said this number was "cut down"), and that many faculty members need students who can also work in their labs. I have heard that Chicago is broke. I also applied for psychological anthropology with CHD, for which there are few anthropology professors and accompanying labs. As for sociocultural at Chicago, I retain a tiny glimmer of hope, but assume my fate likely to be the same as CHD due to the interview announcement the week prior. I also emailed my Sociocultural POI to confirm but have received so far no response. I have also heard that Chicago is a real crap shoot, and that a handful of spots in sociocultural are reserved for MAPSS alumni. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same for CHD, and along with professors seeking students for their non-anthropological lab work, the chance of nagging perhaps the 1 spot for psychological anthropology in the CHD program is probably around 1% . Don't sweat it, DYOH87.

On Monday I received a hit on my academia.edu page from Washington DC, yet I've applied to no graduate schools anywhere nearby DC. Could this be the committee checking on my background?

Congrats, Meglet! I am curious about which languages you speak and to what degree? After interviewing at one of my schools with a POI, she told me that one of the reasons she liked my application (verses other applicants with interests in the same area) were my foreign language skills. I got the impression that for anthropology admissions, language and experience in your country/region are crucial elements. It might help some on the forum to hear more about this.

If you applied to medical anth at Berkeley, they are not planning on conducting interviews. I am not sure about sociocultural there, but based on the grad cafe information posted, it seems like if you haven't been asked to interview, you have been "rejected." (I use scare quotes because this is such a pejorative term and has no bearing on the actual candidate. From what I have learned during my application experience on grad cafe, admission is not necessarily based on who is "most" qualified, as many qualified people apply, but has a lot to do with fit, contact with POIs, the number of slots they have for the year, what kind of interests the department is looking for in candidates, departmental politics, etc.) An informal interview is part of the process for Brown admittance, and they do interview all finalists for each subdiscipline slot (not just sociocultural). If you have not been asked to interview, I would assume the same as the sociocultural track at Berkeley. However, I am not sure about wait listed spots, and I simply could be wrong about all of what I just wrote! Disclaimer: I'm just an applicant, not a tenured professor on an admissions committee. So there may still be a glimmer of hope for these two schools, I think. Don't give up hope. Don't count your chickens before they have hatched!

I'll claim one of the Brown interviews for cultural. It was from my POI specifically.

I applied to Brown, Berkeley, Chicago, CUNY, and Emory. I applied for medical anth at Berkeley. Someone just posted they received an interview request for "anthropology" at Berkeley. Not sure what that is specifically, but I'm not too worried. That doesn't mean anything necessarily. Thanks! I'm glad too. It definitely helped put things into perspective.

All my apps are for cultural or medical anthropology, and I have heard nothing official yet. I was a bit bummed about Emory's announcement, and then we had a pretty bad house fire last week (all humans and animals are safe) so I am now thoroughly distracted with insurance and things. One bizarre positive of the house fire is how distracted I am from worrying about graduate school (how twisted is that? We are a crazy, passionate lot).

Congrats Meglet!!!!!!!!! That's amazing!!!

Anyone else apply to Emory? They usually send out interview invites by now, based on what I read on the results page. I called today but the grad coordinator was in back-to-back meetings. Waiting is quite awful, indeed. The closer it gets to the average notification dates of the universities to which I applied, the more nervous I become.

I'm also an ETA Semi-finalist. Congrats everyone!

A friend of mine just called saying she received an email.

AH! I just submitted my final application! I am so amazed that I pulled this off--five applications to PhD programs and a Fulbright application all while studying abroad (and earning in my courses, most likely, all As to boot!). But I couldn't have done it without people on this forum, so thank you all so much for your advice and support. @catcatcatdog Thank you especially for all your advice and friendship. Good luck to everyone finishing their applications. Enjoy the holidays, relax, and reward yourself for all your hard work!

Ah, I was in Oman. It was absolutely amazing. Good luck this year!

@zephyri I did CLS Arabic in summer of 2014 as well! What was your placement site?

Truly, the only place where I have seen any hesitancy about applying to graduate school as an undergraduate student has been this forum. Never has a professor said this to me when discussing graduate school with them, and current graduate students have assured me this is not a big deal--many students among their cohorts came straight from undergrad. Even if we don't get in anywhere, this application process has not been a lesson in futility. Personally I've learned a lot about myself as an academic, researcher, and person. Enjoy the holiday season, anthrostudentcyn, and try to relax! Maybe get off this forum for a little bit, and come back at the end of January. As an obsessive-perfectionist myself, and a great, passionate lover of anthropology and academia and research, my brain easily can go crazy on here with all of you other obsessive-perfectionists (with whom I really enjoy talking nevertheless, my peers!). Therefore, I limit myself to only a couple of hours a week, or else I can quickly fall into the rabbit hole and spend hours obsessing over stats for the past three years of who got into my schools, when decisions came out, did I screw up my chances by writing "Dear Professor X" in my email instead of "Greetings Professor X," because puppydog12345 said "greetings" in his email to the same professor, etc. etc. (just really nutty stuff). Instead of doing that, I am going to read a bunch of ethnographies and novels over my Christmas break, and maybe re-watch Arrested Development or Man in the High Tower. I may also work on my thesis, a bit, and turning it into a publishable article. If I don't get in come late January-February, I'll have spent my time being productive rather than obsessing about something totally out of my control at this point. By the way, it sure would make an interesting piece to study the superstitions and rituals of anthropology applicants while they wait to hear about graduate school admissions, don't you think? Anyway, cheers to everyone and happy holidays. Let's be proud of the work that we've done! I know I sure am.