medanthrograd

I have just negociated a bit my package for a PhD at another school (in the UC system, despite the so called crisis!) From what I know, it is totally acceptable to negociate with the place where you really want to go, in order to make it possible to attend. Considering your medical situation and the fact that you got a better offer elsewhere, they should a) understand why you ask, be sympathetic and c) be slightly afraid to lose you... Just explain the situation and say that you are hesitant to make the leap because of financial concerns... If you are considerate in your demand, there is no reason why they should be offended! Good luck both with school and with you arm!

Well, why do you hesitate? MP me if you want! If you went to the visit at UCI, we met...

You might want to put ECE in the title of you topic, or post this in the part of "the menu" that corresponds to your field, since your questions are so field-specific... I'm sure that many people who looked at your topic just have no idea of what you are talking about (including me...)

One of the ways I decide on stuff is to flip a coin... Not to rely on chance, but to see how happy or disapointed I am about the result. If you feel that pinch saying "oh no, I wish it turned out to be the other side..." then follow your gut feeling! I would personnaly go for clin psy over neurosci anytime. Clinical psychology can lead to very interesting research, you don't have to become a counselor, but it's nice to keep that option! Plus the understanding of the person is generally so much more hollistic, which allows you to consider so many different aspects in your research. And the unique mentoring you would get in the clin psy program sounds really attractive... Where do you see yourself in 5, 10 and 20 years? How would each program support your development? These to me are more important questions than the ranking of the universities... Good luck with you decision, and keep us updated!

Finally decided today (*relief*): I'll be joining the UC Berkeley/UCSF med anthro program, on the UCB side... It took me a long time to decide, because UC Irvine was such a great option too and I was torn for a while. For people reapplying next year, if you have a good match with faculty, go for UCI, it's such a great place for anthropology right now! Very dynamic and innovative! Good luck to everyone!

If school A makes you unhappy to the point that you might drop out of school, or become severely depressed, than of course school B is a better fit! But if you can survive, be reasonably unhappy (meaning only sometimes unhappy...) for two years and find a way to make it work by living out of the city (as mentioned by origin415), than it might be worth it... If you are lucky enough to have parents supporting you, the assistanceship should not, in my view, influence your opinion too much. Plus you might be able to get a job on campus at school A too, once you get there... Keep in mind that admissions decisions are made in each department, unlike in college. If they accepted you, in both places, it is because they REALLY want you! You will be embeded in one department, have a smaller cohort and a somewhat structured curriculum, which is quite different from college. Good luck with your decision, and keep us posted!

Update: I've heard from a Pr. at Harvard that they only took 6/7 people out of 200 in socio-cultural, and 1 in the med anthro track (someone who is already doing a MD there if I understood corectly)... It made me feel less sad about not getting in, so I thought that other would like to know too...

Nice! Congrats! Just to share some news, I've heard from a Pr. at Harvard that they only took 6/7 people out of 200 in socio-cultural, and 1 in the med anthro track... It made me feel less sad about not getting in, so I thought that other would like to know too...

Thanks!-) I'm agonizing and cannot seem to reach a decision right now... It felt great to be accepted in different places, but is really hard to know wich one will be the best for my development... I've had weird dreams lately! Good luck to you both for the next round, I'm sure next year will bring you many choices!

NB: I know that most of the people in this discussion thread do not give a lot of weight to these rankings, but I just wanted to make things clear: the NRC rankings are the result of a survey performed in 1993. A new survey has been conduced in 2006 but the publication of the results has been delayed many times... Not only do I not believe in the idea of ranking, but I also think that these results are totally obsolete! The field of anthropology has changed a lot in the last 15+ years, I'm pretty sure the next ranking is going to look very different... I would advise to talk with people in the field (and in your specialty) rather that rely on this kind of information! To answer to the question about "successful aps," I'd say that it really comes down to the SOP and the match of interest with faculty. I got into 3 schools that I am very excited about, including two with comprehensive financial packages. One is in the curent alleged "top three" and another one in the "top ten," altought I'm pretty sure that the third one that is not on the map in these past results will be very well placed when the news ones are published (I know, this is pretty funny to say after the comments I just made...) I believe that I got in these 3 schools because they are the best match for my research and have the most faculty working on my area of focus, over the 4 other schools to which I applied. I had poor GRE results from a few years back (didn't take it again because I don't think it matters too much in anthro), kick-ass TOEFL ones, a very good international graduate GPA and an average undergrad. international GPA. A few grants and honors, plus research and applied experience that relate to my subfield. I had two LORs from Prs. in Europe that no american scholar had probably heard of, and one from an up and coming professors in anthro from the US. My SOP talked at lenght about my projected research and showed how I got there by tying together many of my previous interests (school, jobs and life experience). It concluded by a lenghty explanation of why each school was a perfect match, refering to precise work of certain professors working there. My research project was supported by my writing sample in a close subject, but from a different angle and disciplinary stand point. It was an extract from a masters' thesis, showing that I had graduate experience but also demonstrated that I could bring into the picture my training from an other related discipline... I had extended contact whith one school, but no contact with the two others, a few professors didn't respond to my emails a few months ago and I thought I was out for that reason! They just were very busy but noted my email, I've heard afterward. Hope that helps!

Just a question, what is U of C? If you are refering to the University of California, which one have you been shortlisted for? For example, I am going to decline an offer from UCSD next week and it might open a spot for someone on the waitlist, but they didn't give me any funding, so I'm not sure that the next person would consider it... My advice would be to call the program you are waiting to hear from, ask them about your position on the waitlist and what the funding would be like for people on the waitlist... You should also ask the MAPSS program if they can keep their offer for you a bit longer, why not try? I was visiting a school this weekend and there was one grad from the MAPSS, she seemed very happy about the training there and she was a very interesting person! Good luck with your decisions!

Yeah, I gave up on NYU too. My choice will be between 3 UCs. It's nice because where ever I go, I'll be able to keep in touch with the Pr. at the other UCs, but I'm afraid that a few of them might leave for private schools soon, because of the budget crisis...

Me too! Almost funny because of the timing, but I'm crushed =( Oh well, at leat the wait is over now! Time for decisions... How about you guys, are you still waiting to hear from other schools?

Decisions should be made by tomorrow... I had an informal email exchange with a Pr. in January (specific question about my CV), but have heard nothing since then... Am I the only one waiting? Have you heard anything??

Fortunately I won't have to do it again, but I applied a couple of years ago to a bunch of PhD programs in a different specialty and got accepted nowhere. I was just arriving from Europe and didn't realize that my specialty in EU did not correspond to what was carrying the same name here. Retrospectively, I imagine how surprised they must have been, and how bored I would have been, had I gotten in! Moving was more than a translation, I had to look for the cultural cousin of my discipline. For this round, I did not retake the GRE (I hate it, and I don't think it matters too much in cultural anthro), but the rest of my application has totally changed, except for one recomender and the foccuss of my research that carries through! I audited classes in the US to test my new focus, and developped a strong relationship with a Pr who wrote LORs for me, even if I was never an official student. Also, my writing sample ties my past experience and training to my project in a much more coherent way...

I'm so happy for you, UCLA is a great school and it seems like you would be really in your element there. It's good to hear about your application, thank you for the details! I'm getting to think that the fact that my previous studies were in a related but different field was a drawback for them (contrary to other schools who got excited about that). My potential adviser told me that if accepted, I would have to take classes in the 4 sub-specialities before foccussing on med anthr... The programs I got into so far only offer cultural anthro or have a separate med anthr track. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe it's something totally different, but now I have a theory and can make sense of this, it feels better!-) It's hard to wait, I'm also expecting a "thanks but no thanks" letter from Harvard, and any sign of life from a couple other schools... Good luck with everything! PS: Have you visited UCLA or do you plan to? If you have some specific questions you can ask me in PM, I just went to a conference there and might be able to help.

To people who were accepted at UCLA: congrats! I'd love to know what you think was particularly strong in your application... I was shortlisted, but in the end didn't get in and I'd like to understand why (it's ok, I got into some other great programs, but still!)

I talked with Tracey yesterday, and she said that acceptances will be notified until the end of the first week of March, and rejections the second week. I'm already preparing myself for a big dissapointment, I think that potential candidates have been contacted by their potential advisors and that only formal acceptances are to come. Let's hope I'm wrong!

Yes I did! Either they haven't sorted the transcripts yet, or they are quite picky. I sent my sealed transcripts with the rest of my application, because they came from Europe and I wanted to make sure that they would not get lost in the mail. It seems that they want to receive them directly from the schools I went to. Do you have an explanation for you provisinal admit? I don't think it's a big deal, just an administrative thing to take care of once and if we decide to go there... Have you heard anything from the department itself? I simply got this email from the office of grad studies, but have not heard about a visit nor about funding. I'd be interested to know if you have!

Oh no,so sad... =( Do you know if this includes people who applied to the medical anthropology emphasis as well? Probably, but I'm still hoping a tinsy bit!

I'm new to this forum, but it's really good to hear that other people share the stress of this process. I have even reduced the number of times I check my email everyday thanks to the results search! Here are the news I got from various programs in cultural (or medical) anthropology, hope that it helps - UC Berkeley has invited students to come to a visit in early March (I got the news today - yay!) so decisions have been made, but maybe there is a waitlist? Funding is still worked out. - UC Irvine has invited students for a visit in mid-March, they have accepted fewer students due to the fact that they have an increased retention. Not sure there will be a round 2. We should hear about funding soon and it should be ok since they have private funding in the dep and did not face a hardship this year (just this department, the rest of UCI is under great stress). - UC San Diego has just started sending notifications of acceptance to a first round of students (no visit seem to be planned) and will send a second round of acceptances on March 1st (said the grad advisor D.M. on the phone a month ago), but has also started to send bad news about rejections... I have no idea when funding offers will come out or if there is a visit. Anyone knows? - Harvard will let accepted students know at the latest by the end of next week (March 5?) and will send rejection letters by snail mail then. No official visit planned by the department. - Princeton will make decisions by the end of the 1st week of March, visit is scheduled on April 4 (heard today from C.Z., grad admin, but it's a Sunday so I'm not sure...) I'm trying to reach UCLA and NYU and will keep you updated when I know more, but I've heard from a Pr. that UCLA is pretty far in the process... Hang in there, soon we'll all know more!

I called today and they said that they will get back to all applicants by the end of next week (March 5th?) I might sleep with my fingers crossed until then, do you think that would help?!

Yes, it's a joint UCSF/UC Berkeley PhD program. UCB accepts 2 to 3 students each year, UCSF about 10 every other year (and was open for adm this year) but you can only apply to one side. Stefania Pandolfo, Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Cory Hayden, Lawrence Cohen and Paul Rabinow are at UCB... Vincanne Adams is on the UCSF side. It's a well regarded program, known for a certain degree of political engagement (Scheper-Hughes started "organ watch" for example)

I am wondering about this too. I have heard back from 3 schools at the moment and am debating between two: one very prestigious where they are known for providing a maximum of two year of funding, and a less known one (but a very exciting program!) where they usually give funding for five years... For both, I have yet to get a precise funding offer and don't quite know what to do... I think that I'm going to go for "pondered transparency" and will give details if they ask twice during the visits... We need soemone good at game theory to help us figure this one out!