GreenEyedTrombonist

@phdthoughts @Tyler on The Road and then we'll all be stressed waiting for results, haha.

Hey @fuzzylogician ! Thanks for the reply. In the SoP I have focused on my independent research (the online workforce and the online community projects) as it is a more direct line between those projects and my intended research. I've left the other projects to my CV (including presentations and publications I've done related to those projects). If you'd be willing, I can send you the current draft of one of my SoPs. The projects I've conducted were with two professors (technically three, but the households and stuff project was a while back and that prof is retired now). One of those was also my adviser, who taught two of my MA courses, and has agreed to write letters for me. The other taught one of my MA courses and I'm hoping to hear back from them next week. My third LoR is coming from the graduate program coordinator (taught two of my MA courses and is aware of my research and contributions to the program). I've provided a doc to my writers with a description of each program, the relevant faculty, my level of communication with the program, deadlines, and, of course, my intended research. Many of the programs to which I'm applying require the writing sample be all or part of my MA thesis, so my intent is to use that for each app (also solving the issue of collaborative work). My SoPs are a max of 1k words (except for one which is 500) and I'm having trouble discussing all of my contributions, my intended research, and my fit in the program (relevant faculty, facilities, and how I benefit the program) in that space. Would it make sense to add a short explanation of my contribution to each project on the CV (right now it just says whether I was a student researcher, independent scholar, principal investigator, etc)?

Thanks everyone for the replies. It's been a while since I made this post so a few things have changed. Although I can see your point, @hats in my original post I was alluding to a comparative project. 2020 may seem far away, but all of the programs I am looking at are 2-3 years of coursework followed by a couple years for research and dissertation. So, if I start in Fall 2018, I'll actually need to have IRB approval within 1.5 years for my project. Although it's the 2020 race, campaigning starts early and I expect I'll either need to start research in 2019 or will need to include archived tweets in my analysis to examine the period prior to IRB approval. I already plan to incorporate archived tweets for previous campaigns anyways. The quote you have pulled is not my own speculation, but speculation from other researchers of politics as well as journalists. @cowgirlsdontcry I may not have been clear in my original post, but I intend for this project to have a past/present/future trajectory. As in, I plan to study campaigning in the past (especially social media use), social media use in the present (which will be 2020 by that time), and what the future implications could be, dependent on my findings and insights. @boneflower I definitely agree that fit is the most important factor and sort of made this post assuming good fit (I should have made this clear). As an update, I am down to 7 programs, all in Communications, and all with good fit. I've actually spoken over the phone with professors at 3 schools, have a fourth scheduled, and had a long email exchange with the director at a fifth. I have explained my research interests and background at length with these individuals and they have said they think I would fit in well in their programs. The sixth program doesn't really encourage emailing profs beforehand and I only recently emailed the seventh (due to outside factors) so I'm still waiting to hear back there.

I'm glad we could help out and it definitely sounds like that person is the one out of touch with reality. As samman eluded to, applicants sometimes get into the top 20 schools and rejected from their safety (usually due to goodness of fit). Write a great SoP, apply to the programs where you and your research are a great fit, and keep doing you. <3

Before anyone can give you advice or discuss programs, it would be good for you to state exactly what you want to do for your research project.

As long as you are choosing schools based on goodness of fit, it sounds like you have a good chance of getting in (pending SoP, writing sample, and GRE). Was this a professor, a fellow student, or someone else? What are they basing this on?

Man, 500 limit is tough. I only have that limit for 1 school (though they state it as 4k characters rather than words) and they have two essays (1 for research and 1 for personal history) so it's almost like having a 1k SoP...

I agree with fuzzy. #1 reads as though you don't have any real direction/knowledge of the area while #3 reads as you being too set in your ways/stubborn and unwilling to learn something new.

samman, this may be a discrepancy between our areas of interest. I don't know if it's standard for people in your field to request this info from applicants, but this is what my experience has been. The third I'm waiting on was actually a writer for me last year and they send out a survey so you can fill out your academic information, research interests, any personal hurdles you've overcome, etc. It may just be a bi-product of anthropology; anthropologists like to learn about people.

One of the things that both of my confirmed writers have asked for (still waiting on the third to confirm) is information about the programs and what research I plan to conduct at each school. I created a Google Doc with each school, the name of the degree (I'm switching from anth to comm and degree names range from "Communications PhD" to "PhD in Emerging Media Studies"), the deadline for each app (also arranged the schools by deadline), a paragraph about the program, a list of the relevant faculty/what they do/how I see their work connecting to my own, and my current communication level with them (I've had phone calls with PoIs at 3 programs with a 4th scheduled and a fairly lengthy email exchange with a 5th, but have yet to have really in-depth conversations with the other programs so I felt it was important to include this). Not only was this information requested by my writers, it helped me succinctly state what I like about each program and locate holes in my research of the schools. This actually helped me eliminate 1 program today and get myself down to a pretty comfortable number of applications. I also sent the writers the excerpt of my SoP draft that talks about previous research and how it connects to what I want to do in a doctoral program since they asked for more concrete details regarding my future research project. I plan to input their contact info for all apps at the end of this month since one of my writers can't submit anything after Dec 10th and one of the schools is more likely to award research fellowships to early applicants.

Ok, so about point 2. I do think it could be good to show responsibility and other soft skills given your circumstances. However, what you are doing here is telling me you are responsible, not showing me. It's kind of the opposite of explicitly stating how your research connects to faculty and the program. Anyone can tell me they're responsible and have good time management, but only so many people will actually show up every day on time and will complete a section of a project that someone else was supposed to do and bailed on. For research interests, explicitly stating the relationship is best because it shows self-awareness and indicates you can connect previous publications with your current work (lit review). For soft skills, give examples that illustrate the skills rather than saying "I am responsible because x." Conversely, if one of your LoRs is from your lab director, you can mention that you'd like them to discuss how you were in the lab (not just the work you produced, but how you produced it) when talking about your LoR request. This will carry more weight coming from them.

We've talked a bit before, so take my advice for whatever its worth. 1) There may be some differences here between your area and mine. However, the way I approached this was to mention their research and how it directly ties to what I want to do. For example, one professor is using a methodology that I think will be beneficial to my project so I emphasize that connection while another has a history of looking at these areas connected to my research so I emphasize that. These are not all those profs do, but I tried to show (in a sentence or two) that I have read some of the prof's work (not just their faculty page) and am thinking about the theory and methodology that would connect my work to theirs. I do not think it's appropriate to hypothesize on someone else's work in your SoP. Rather, state that you are excited to explore X with Y professor. X can include future implications, not just the present cut and dry topic, but don't say, "I think your research could go in this direction and I want to work on that." 2) Mental development is difficult to discuss well in your SoP. If not done carefully, this can come off as childish. In your example, "Being part of a lab full time, and taking classes full time, really taught me how to meet deadlines and manage my time better" is something that (personally) makes me cringe. So you took classes and worked in a lab full time, many do. This may still be something you want to emphasize, but framing it the way you have here makes me feel like you might be unprepared for the more difficult load that is a doctoral program. This is the difficulty of discussing mental development. Although you may have grown as a person (and that's good), if you don't discuss it carefully you may give off the impression that you have not grown enough (see your feedback on my SoP about discussing my break from academia). 3) The school already knows what they have and what they don't. They don't need you explaining what they have. They do need you explaining how what they have would be useful to you and how you would be useful to them. Your E.G. tells me what the school has, but it doesn't tie that into your own intended research and ultimate professional goals. Don't leave the adcom thinking, "so what?" when they're done reading your SoP. They should have a clear idea about how they can benefit you, how you can benefit them, and that you will be the perfect fit for their program.

My CV is currently 4 pages. It includes my education, research, presentations, publications, awards, other writing experience, and relevant work experience. I included the last two sections because my research interests are primarily in digital communication so I thought it would be prudent to highlight my online writing and other digital work that didn't neatly fit into my research projects and publications.

See if you can find an application FAQ for the school. This isn't something I've come across before.

Do they have two separate sections to fill out for that question? This could mean professors who you have reached out to who have explicitly said you can mention them in your SoP/when applying. It could also just mean "list the faculty you want to work with"

Go for it.

1k words/2 pages assumes you are single-spacing the paper. If you aren't, 1k words/3 pages makes sense.

My MA is in applied anthro. What do you want to know?

Hey fallfish, If you've already asked all of the questions you had and the profs left it on a good note, there is no need to reach out again imo. Instead, reach out and let them know when you've submitted the application and thank them again for taking the time to speak with you before. This puts you in their minds closer to when applications will be reviewed and doesn't take up more of their time needlessly. As for your second question, I'm fairly certain the chances of a prof telling you you'll get in just as long as you apply is slim to none. One professor rarely has the ability to make admissions decisions alone and it would be irresponsible of them to promise something when they have no way to actually guarantee it happens. That being said, professors can say things that indicate they think you are a strong applicant or would like to work with you if you do apply (and are accepted/choose to go there). Just today I spoke with a professor who told me point blank they want me to apply to the program and would be excited to work with me if I go to their program. Again, this is not a guarantee of admission, but is a good indicator that our conversation went well and that I can mention this prof in my SoP. Hope this helps!

Before I provide feedback on this essay, remember that I am NOT someone who grades GRE essays and therefore my evaluation should be taken with a grain of salt. I would rate this essay either a 3.5 or 4 based on the following description of these scores: "Provides competent analysis of ideas; develops and supports main points with relevant reasons and/or examples; is adequately organized; conveys meaning with reasonable clarity; demonstrates satisfactory control of sentence structure and language usage, but may have some errors that affect clarity." Some of your language use seems sloppy (ex. much more quickly) and I am personally not a fan of the dashed parenthetical. Your argument is sound, but I don't think you've thought through the nuances present. Based on the prompt, this is an argumentative essay so I was expecting to see a structure of: Introduction, Argument 1, Counter Argument, Argument 2, Conclusion. Rather than taking an all or nothing approach when choosing a side, try thinking through each side and seeing if there is a compromise in the middle that would allow for environmental protection while also instigating economic growth.

I only put my MA GPA on my CV. My undergrad wasn't bad, but it's not as high as me MA and the formatting looked weird with both. If you want to include neither or both, include both. Your 4.0 is impressive and shows improvement from the undergrad GPA. The upward trajectory is a good thing and the adcoms will most likely be more interested in your most recent GPA and the improvement than interested in judging you for your undergrad GPA alone.

Note that the prompt states the sections included are examples and do not necessarily need to be present in your statement, nor do you need to limit your statement to these sections. Think of these as questions and try to tell a story with this statement. This statement is your chance to talk about your background and why it makes you unique and someone they want to join their program. This is less about your research interests and more about all of the elements that have led to you being you and a future prominent member of your field. Basically, at its core it's a diversity statement.

Hey @Sam12345 I'm switching from anth to comm. One of the things I've done is reach out to each program I'm considering and mention that my background is in anth, what my research interests are, and if my background will be a problem. I've gotten great responses, detailed information on how their program works, who would be good as my advisor, if additional steps would be needed to bridge the gap, and even have scheduled three phone calls with different programs this week. I've already had one of these phone calls and was given information on what additional material would be good to include in my SoP (without me bringing it up) as well as details about the program, school, and surrounding area that I wouldn't have gotten from just reading the website.

Hey Kylie, Consider moving the essays into a google doc. Right now they aren't viewable.

Have you discussed your options and concerns with your MA supervisor?