DancinFool

I've heard that MAs give you a leg up for PhD apps, but I'm very hesitant to take an MA-only offer for 2 reasons: 1. The money is backwards -- PhDs are funded (+$), whereas for an MA I would at best get a scholarship (-$ or $0). 2. Risk -- There's always the chance that I leave my current job, move across the country for 2 years, get an MA, but then don't get into the PhD programs I want. In which case I would be, frankly, screwed. Aren't these pretty strong reasons not to get a standalone MA?

Hey guys, What's the protocol for asking for feedback on applications? I was rejected from the PhD programs at my top choices, but several of them offered me admission into their MA programs, which is encouraging (though I won't be accepting any MA offers.) Obviously I want to improve my PhD application for the next time around -- what's the best way to get feedback from those departments?

I haven't heard anything from them either. I see acceptances going out as late as March in past years so I think it's possible to still be admitted off the waitlist. That said, I'm not holding my breath.

This just happened to me -- rejected form PhD but admitted to MAPSS with a 2/3 scholarship. Can you guys point me to good threads or other sources to help with this decision? If I can take a diverse range of classes for a year and then get placed into a PhD program as basically a 2nd year student, that could be great. But I doubt it's that simple. My gut feeling is to decline and wait for admission into the PD programs I want, whether I get accepted somewhere this cycle or have to wait until next cycle.

I think if they had great funding available for you, they would be forthcoming about it. If they evade your questions, I would assume the funding situation isn't great. Just my $0.02

Yeah I agree. All seemed standard to me.

Someone on the results page said that erroneous Berkeley rejections have been sent out. Anyone want to claim this and elaborate? Sounds too good to be true.

No idea. I see acceptances coming in as late as April in past years. I'm out here like

Congrats! And nice username

Haven't heard anything. From the results page, looks like they usually start sending decisions in the last days of February and continue through March and April. I guess we have a long road of waiting ahead of us!

Oh I see now. Thanks. This is gonna be addictive!

Maybe this is a stupid question, but where do you guys see information about interviews being offered to other people? I went to the online application manager but only see confirmation that my recommendations and test scores were received.

Haven't heard a peep from any of my schools... ... but congrats to those who got interviews!

@unitstructures I had similar technical issues with the video interview and emailed the department. They responded: "No need to submit the video. The video is an existing feature of the Online CollegeNET Application system and not a requirement for the NU Anthropology application." So I think we're in the clear! Breathe easy.

What a mess! Sorry that happened to you. I guess I'll just give it a go and hope for the best...

Any Northwestern applicants here? There's a video question that just says, "Video Q -- 1:00 time limit: Please tell us why you are interested in attending Northwestern University." Like, ugh. Anyone tackled this yet? Does it let you re-record?

Hi all! Just submitted my last Dec 1 app and thought I'd drop in here to do a happy dance . . . aaaaand onto the Dec 15 apps haha. Best of luck everyone!

That's all really helpful. Thanks, guys! I'm going to have to do some hard thinking and more reading (always more reading...). Will check back in with progress.

What you describe sounds exactly like the work of Eduardo Kohn, who I believe is at the forefront of this field. And he works in Latin America to boot! Grab a copy of "How Forests Think" and see if that's what you're looking for.

Thanks for the helpful responses! Sounds like publishing a paper is unnecessary (phew). But most of the schools I'm interested in require a writing sample anywhere between 6-20 pages, and I don't have any anthropological writing samples of that length or rigor to submit yet. So I'll need to write something for that. I have plenty of topic ideas, but I'm not sure what type of paper to write or what the scope of it should be. Any guidance on this? The paper ideas I have are syntheses of several works with some original analysis. For example: X concept from Strathern can be generalized to give an interesting perspective on Y concept from Oyewumi and Z concept from Tsing... Something like that. Is that the right idea or no? Regarding the SOP, I looked up the samples on the Duke website and they are terrifyingly specific. Right now, my interests could most narrowly be described as "relations of power and marginalization". Is that too broad for a SOP? I can talk in depth about a lot of disparate issues within that category. But there's no way I can narrow myself down to "the cultural dynamics of city planning in Kigali" or something like that. They can't expect me to limit myself so much so soon, can they?

Hi all. Long time lurker, first time poster. Hoping for some guidance. So, I'm a trader at a prominent hedge fund. There, I said it. My undergrad degree (spring '13 grad) is from a top-20 school where I did a double major in Physics and Economics, and a creative writing thesis. High GPA, summa cum laude, phi beta kappa. you get it. After school I did the practical thing and took a very high paying job in finance, where I have worked since. You probably hate me by now -- I get it. So why am I here... In my junior and senior years of college I became very interested in culture and philosophy. What little free space I had in my schedule, I used to take anthro, soc, and philo courses (2 anthro, 1 soc, 2 philo). I was also very active in multicultural and social-justice organizations on campus. Since graduating, I've volunteered at a domestic violence shelter that specializes in services for immigrant women. Not only has it been rewarding and interestingly multicultural, but I've met some brilliant women who have taken my feminism and cultural awareness to the next level. Towards the end of college, I had the idea that grad school was something I wanted to pursue, but it was so much more practical at the time to take the money and get on my feet. Now I'm on my feet quite well and I still can't shake the pull of grad school. My bookcase is full of Strathern, Butler, Foucault, Anna Tsing, Marx, Derrida, Mead, Tannen, Chomsky, Comaroffs, Margaret Lock... I spend a huge chunk of my free time reading and thinking about their work and chasing down other sources. When the market is slow, I lean back and pull up an ebook of Foucault or whoever I'm reading at the time. I have so many ideas rattling around in my head that I want to investigate and share... Guys, I think I need to go to grad school. Comments on my reasoning for attending grad school are welcome, but I'd like to focus on the application process. In terms of knowledge and theoretical literacy, I think I can run circles around anyone with just an undergrad anthro major, but my transcript doesn't reflect this and I don’t know exactly how to show it. I also think it will be hard to explain my years in finance. So the question is: Given my unusual background, how can I position and present myself to get into a top grad program? A former anthro professor of mine recommended I write a original paper and try to get it published, which would show that I can “do” anthropology. I’ve started working on this. Comments on that project, and any other advice or guidance, is greatly appreciated. Thanks!