GreenEyedTrombonist

I definitely agree with @Sigaba . Don't retake more of the exam than you need to. Your written scores were sufficient so move on to showing you have improved in these areas in your orals. You don't need to study 100% of the time. Give your brain some breaks so you don't burn out. Also, you definitely should practice the orals multiple times before your retake. If your written answers were good but your orals weren't, maybe there is some way you are presenting the information verbally that is hurting you? In any case, it's good to practice. As for the refusal to see you, it could be a specific prof's whim, a condition of you being allowed to retake, or something else. You don't know so try not to take it personally.

Hey OP, I'm not in your area, but wanted to mention that I graduated undergrad in 2012 and didn't go back for my MA until 2015 (I was 25). I was underemployed the entire time I was out of school and not doing much that could go towards academia. The year before I returned to school, I participated as an independent scholar in a conference (co-wrote a paper with my friend) and began as a volunteer content creator/ "professor" for an online fantasy education-based MMORPG. I utilized these experiences in my letter of intent to show that, even though my work experience was lousy towards my grad school aspirations, I was still thinking academically and pursuing academic interests in my own time. Rather than panicking about the work, if you want an academic masters, see if there are any ways you can participate in a conference, volunteer for work related to your interests, or even do something like start a blog about your research interests. Rather than panicking about the experience you lack, figure out how to leverage what you've done (and add what you can before you submit your apps).

@museum_geek Oh, what I have for the first draft will definitely not be good. Hoping that a bunch of nice people will be willing to edit so I can make it something decent. Yeah, I was speaking about it with my 3rd committee member. She's in Comm, but she only had me for an undergrad class and wasn't really involved with the steps of my project (though she provided very thorough edits that helped the final product) so she wasn't comfortable being an LoR. She mentioned it probably won't be a big deal as long as the profs know me and can speak to my skills in a doctoral program.

Yeah, I have put off the fit section specifically because I've been emailing programs and POIs to get a better understanding of the department culture and how my interests fit with their faculty. Since I know the research project I want to do I decided to start writing that section while I wait for replies and follow-ups. Since I've done my MA already and have a couple research projects under my belt, I used part of the focus section to explain how my focus came from the intersection of previous projects I have already conducted; kind of a way to explain not just what I want to do, but why I am a good candidate to conduct the research. That's why I think my focus section will be longer. My fit section will explore how my research will benefit from specific professors, how I fit into department culture, and then other facilities/programs the department has access to to which I can contribute.

Glad we could help! I'm working on my SoP right now and am focusing on getting all of the information out first (before editing and tailoring to each program). My focus section is about 5 paragraphs at the moment (about 1.25 pages single spaced/724 words), though I expect that will reduce as I remove fluff and interweave my focus with the fit. I expect my sections will be focus (longest), fit (next longest), future (fairly short and direct). Right now I think the hardest part for completing it will be tailoring the fit section to each school, mostly because I'm looking at 11 programs, haha.

@EvelynD Yeah, there was a thing that happened that made me stressed about it. I've moved into the acceptance phase, haha. I've been working on my SoP and should have it ready for a first round of edits this week. I don't think it's good yet, but I'm getting my thoughts down on paper and progressing so I'm counting it as a win. I've got more emails and writing to do today, but I also have a phone interview soon, haha. How are you doing?

@EvelynD Just stressing over applying to Comm programs with only anthro profs.

That could depend on the school (you're right, it's definitely from ETS and the GRE). Some schools may have specific percentage/score cutoffs for sending information, but it's most likely all automated and no one is actually seeing your scores.

@EvelynD I don't think the mixed methods approach is a bad thing. I'd listen to the advice from your other post and reach out to your POIs. Let them know that the thesis is from some time ago and ask if you can either do some edits before submitting it, submit a different writing sample, or also submit a more recent writing sample. I'm trying to figure out my LoR situation now. :/

If anyone has a different experience, feel free to correct me, but 12 point font is the gold standard for academic writing, including SoPs. Since I'm not from your field, I would suggest maybe looking at the requirements for other programs you chose not to apply to. They may include reqs for SoPs that make it clearer what is normal in your field and what your adcoms will probably expect. Although it is good to do focus/fit/future these do not necessarily need to be 3 large paragraphs. You may have more than one reason or more than one thing you wish to discuss in fit or future, or you may want to break your focus down to topic and methodology. It's perfectly acceptable to have more than three paragraphs while sticking to those three main topics.

I'll be applying to several Comm programs this season, but my background is in anthropology. Although I know no one can say for sure, do you think not having a rec letter from a Comm prof could hurt my chances? Has anyone switched at the grad level and had this problem? How did it work out for you?

@Islamahmed I am applying to PhD only. I just got my MA in Applied Anthropology, so there's no reason for me to apply to do an MA again. On the Comm side, I'm not necessarily opposed to entering at the MA level, but might as well try for the PhD. @EvelynD Doing better than me! Writing is pretty much on the wall that I'm much more likely to get into a Comm program given my interests. x] Regarding the submittal of your thesis, I would reach out to friends to see if they'd be willing to edit a chapter or section for grammar. Does the content suck because of the findings, the quality of the methods, or something else? Some of these can probably be corrected for before submitting it with your app. Still need to edit my SoP, but I have an article due today (not academic/journal, just for work) so I'm procrastinating...

@EvelynDMe too! I applied to 5 last year and am currently looking at 11 this year (still need to contact a couple POIs). It does feel like if I don't get in this year I won't be able to apply again. I'm trying to ignore that and just work on my SoPs and whatnot. :/

@museum_geek thanks so much! I'm trying to do some work on them this weekend.

My situation is a bit different than yours, but I would suggest, given your situation, to at least do a few editing rounds again with the SoPs you submitted last time (you might have missed something the first time or want to update it, like you mentioned, to reflect some of your changes over the last year). For me, I believe my SoP was the weakest element of my apps last year, so I've chosen to start from scratch. Best of luck!

So there are the obvious things, like gender and race, but there are also more subtle things. Honestly, if you are having trouble figuring out how you aren't privileged (and therefore how you contribute to diversity) fill out something like the Buzzfeed How Privileged Are You checklist. I did that for fun a while back and it actually helped me gain perspective on the different forms of privilege outside of the most obvious.

You've spoken about your resume and that it's good enough to get you the interview. What is happening during these interviews? What are some of the questions asked and your answers to them? Is it possible that something is falling short during the interview process to keep them from moving your application forward?

@renea thanks for the advice! I'll definitely be looking into additional resources. I know I lean towards interdisciplinary approaches to research and have training in both quant and qual methods. Though it's not been the biggest deciding factor, I have been looking at foreign language requirements. I love the idea of learning a new language, but usually when this is a requirement in anth it indicates a program that still expects students to "go live among the natives." Not necessarily a bad thing, but if I need to learn Spanish to fulfill the requirement when Java or Python would actually be more useful to my research interests, that's something to consider.

Thanks @TakeruK ! I am limited by funds so I've been keeping track of the schools with fee waivers. I have a spreadsheet with each of the schools, program, due date, rec letter number, sop/personal statement/cv requirement, fee amount, fee waiver availability, and a few other things. I just finished my MA and my third committee member is from Comm, so I plan to email her today or tomorrow about being an LoR and discussing the Comm programs. I'll also be emailing my advisor at the same time.

Hey guys, I'm still in samman's previous boat, haha. I'm down to 14 schools, 15 programs total right now and having a tough time reducing it. My problem is that I intend to apply to both anth and comm schools. I have 9 comm programs that I'm interested in and 6 anth. I believe I'll be able to get the anth list down a bit more (my research interests are largely digital in nature and most anth programs are either not there or don't value it as much yet). I want to get my list down to an absolute maximum of 12 programs, with 10 or less being the ideal. I've reached out to all of the Comm programs so far (mostly just the DGS to ask if my anth background is a problem with their program) and have heard back from all but one (all either positive and suggesting I apply or neutral and giving me a ton of information about the program and app process). The one anth program/prof I've reached out to hasn't gotten back to me since she sent a two sentence email, so I think I can take that school off the list. All programs I've included have at least 3 faculty with interests that connect to my intended research, though these connections are stronger in the Comm programs. Any other tips for narrowing down?

How closely does each faculty member apply to your research? How are you mentioning them? If you're doing a quick sentence or two explaining that you've read such and such from this faculty and believe their research/methodology complements your intended research in this way, not a bad thing to mention more than one, as long as it strengthens your letter. No point in adding a bunch if you're taking more than a paragraph to explain how each one connects to your research/if the connection isn't great there. You want it to look like you've carefully considered the research and methodology of those you mention and that it's a perfect/near perfect fit. If it looks like you're trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, that will detract from your app.

So you've mentioned what you want to study, but not how. What methodology are you interested in utilizing? Both of these can easily fit within anthropology as research topics.

I just emailed a potential PI today. Since they are in Comm and I come from an Anth background, I mentioned a little bit about my background (like, two sentences or so) and then spent a few sentences on the topic I wish to pursue. I found out about this PI's recent research through a friend in the program and mentioned this as well as how I would like to incorporate this research into my project. Then I asked a few questions (will my anth background be a hindrance when applying here, suggestions for reducing the gap in knowledge before attending the program, etc). Probably a longer email than you want to send if you are within the same field or talking about already published research, but I think it suited my needs fairly well. We'll see if they respond, haha.

Good thing to ask @Doll Tearsheet I think I'll be able to do some feedback in a few months so feel free to shoot me a DM at that time.

hey @Doll Tearsheet ! I think you've gotten some good advice and inadvertently started a hot debate, haha. Are you still looking for advice/do you have follow-up questions?