GreenEyedTrombonist

I haven't been reading as much as I want, but I am slowly making it through 1984. Last night I finished part 1 and got down to 2 chapters to read in part 2. I'm still on track to finish it before the semester starts (and I'm actually assigned to read it, haha). I've also been working my way through the Valiant Universe (comic books) because I volunteer as a moderator for a company that's partnered with them and I want to better understand the background material for one of the shows. Right now I'm in the middle of Act 3, hoping to get to Act 4 before the end of February.

Also agreed. The difference between an A- and an A is not the difference between getting admitted and getting rejected, but trying to earn that A instead of building out your research experiences or being a little less stressed about school could hurt your application (depending on your current research experiences and how much time you plan to dedicate to the application process starting this semester).

@Mugi Mila I'm in an M.A. program for anthro right now so the only master's I applied for is an M.S. in Comparative Media Studies (aligns with my research interests). When you visit Mercyhurst, consider what you want to know. You'll probably want to ask questions that give you an idea of the upcoming research professors are planning, get an idea if the campus and department culture are right for you, talk to students about their workload and impressions of the program, and anything else that might be pertinent to your interests and could help with the decision.

@DBear It has been quiet. I also haven't seen much come in from Communication programs. I've been more active on the Anthro post since Irvine started sending out interview invites. Haven't gotten one so I'm freaking out, haha.

I'd follow up fuzzy's advice with, if you want to publish based on your research, that should be included in the proposal you give your professor, ideally under some kind of deliverables section. However, if you've never published anything before this will take research as well because you'll need to state which journals you intend to submit articles to regarding your research (each journal within a field will typically require articles of different lengths, format, and often have different focuses within that field). You should also realize journals don't accept all articles and that many journals have a huge backlog, so even if your article is accepted it might be a while before it's in print. If you'd like to be involved with other research that should lead to publications while working on your own research, find out if any professor's taking on grad students for a project and the deliverables they intend to produce for that project. However, just because a project involves a professor doesn't mean the publication process will take less time or that an article will ever actually be published. At present, I'm working on several articles for various publications based on research I did with professors during my M.A. and intend to write up articles based on my own research once my final report is approved and turned in. However, I'm trying to temper my joy at writing these things with the reality that, even if accepted, I may not see my words in official print for a long time.

You do need to find your own topic. I think this is a fairly standard practice, though some programs do have research opportunities come up for students. However, I don't personally see an issue, if you're having problems choosing a topic, with fleshing out a few ideas and discussing them with your advisor. If I'm understanding your post correctly, it sounds like your advisor wants a proposal to discuss to get the ball rolling.

Thanks @AnthropologyNRT! It definitely helps to have a better idea what's going on.

I did contact my POI before applying but have no idea if that would replace the need for an interview. I also have no idea if Irvine interviews everyone they consider accepting or not. Did you just see the new result that came in for Irvine Anthropology?

Have you talked this over with your advisor? Did you need to write a formal proposal before starting your research? Speaking everything over with your advisor and going back to look at your proposal could help you figure out how you want to approach the dissertation. For my M.A. I ended up going down the project path instead of a thesis, but I still just had to give my advisor a 50 page document that is my main deliverable and will probably end up with about 100 pages for the final report. I talked over the grand scheme of the doc with her (about how I thought having it split into three main parts would flow best) and then I outlined each part down to the subheadings. I knew about how many words I needed for each section to reach my personal goal so I tackled each section in whatever order felt best for me. I also wrote each section in a separate doc before transferring it over to the main doc. This helped me write ~20k words in roughly 2 weeks (with breaks for a party and general procrastination). Talking over your research with someone may also help you solidify what it is you want to say in your dissertation and how it would be best organized. As for readings, not sure if I can help you too much. If they were articles I would say read the abstract/intro, methods, and conclusion and you would be good. For literature, maybe start with reading summaries of the books so you don't spend as much time trying to figure out the plot? Hope this helps!

Send a pleasant reminder and check-in email at the one week mark. I'd still want some kind of confirmation they got the email, but a lot of professors don't work on those things until right around the deadline so there's probably nothing to worry about.

How long until the letter is due? If it's not due for a while the prof might just be focusing on other things. It's also possible that they don't check their email as often during the break or are currently away for a vacation despite usually being available. I'd send a follow-up just asking for confirmation they got it if you go a week or so without a response.

I agree with most of the responses here. How your credits appear on your transcripts are highly dependent on the school you're attending and if excess units will apply to a new degree is highly dependent on that school and program. I finished undergrad with excess units and will also finish my M.A. with excess units, but I have no expectation that my school will separate the credits that don't apply to my degree nor do I expect a school to accept them toward my new degree (if I get into a new program). I happened to go to the same school for undergrad and grad (though with a 3 year break in between) and my excess undergrad units didn't apply to my M.A.

I think part of this comes down to what your subject is. Anthropologists usually land on the more business casual side of the spectrum while med school or law school are on the more professional business attire side. However, this can differ by program and even between staff in that program (I have one professor who talks about the virtues of being a slick dresser pretty often while my advisor, though a good dresser, does fit more of a bohemian look). Wear something you are comfortable being in for the whole day and, if you're not sure about the attire, bring a few things that allow you to dress them up or down.

Do I think you're overly critical based on the information presented here? Not at all, though this may not be the whole story. It sounds like your advisor didn't fulfill his role by ever actually advising you. Should you acknowledge your advisor even though they've been absent for most of the thesis process? Yes, you should. Not doing so will raise red flags and, since he is well-known in his field and an established researcher, those red flags will reflect poorly on you. In addition, slighting him like that, whether he deserves it or not, might make him think twice about being your reference for either further schooling or a career. If he is that well-known, this again will look bad for you. Furthermore, acknowledging him doesn't necessarily raise his prestige, but it can raise yours, assuming you meant well-known in the sense he's respected in your field for his work. That being said, your acknowledgement doesn't need to be waxing poetic about his many virtues. You can simply thank him for being your advisor and helping you through the process (he signed papers and agreed to be your advisor so technically, this is true). A sentence or two and you're done without lying and without snubbing him. Probably not the advice you want to hear, but I think this is the most likely to get you through without potentially causing backlash. I'm not an expert though. If anyone else has experience with this sort of thing and disagrees, I'd love to hear from them.

In most cases, if you tell them you want to be taken off their contact list they are legally obligated to do so. That doesn't mean they always will, but it might get a few of them off your back.

I give my advisor (and other profs) chocolate when the occasion arises. I think I'll write thank you letters to my rec letter writers and maybe thank you cards at graduation. And @Need Coffee in an IV I'm sorry your dad is like that. According to my dad, he learned long ago that I'm going to do what I want so he doesn't often speak out against my choices. When I travel both parents insist I have to contact them when I get their safely, which usually isn't a problem (was annoying after flying to Japan and being too tired to function, but still had to email them before sleeping).

I still let impostor syndrome get to me, but my first semester of my M.A. a professor talked about how everyone, even him, gets it. He reminded me that I'm not alone which helped so many times over the last year and a half. Still freaked out about possibly not getting in, but not as bad as I would be without that talk.

Same over here too. I've got my notification sound up, but my heart starts racing with every ping now. x]

Can you spin the jobs or volunteer experience in a way that does relate to your research interests? I noticed your profile says history. Are you interested in the history of a particular region or a time period that relates to where you've traveled? If your CV doesn't look super empty without that information, I wouldn't bother adding it unless I could show how it relates to my future interests. Honestly, even at that point I'd probably just relay some of the highlights in my SOP if I wasn't comfortable with adding it to the CV.

I'm not sure if Irvine is a school that interviews everyone they're considering accepting. However, looking through the last two years of interview invites, it looks like emails were sent out over 2 or 3 days by the school, so there's still time. I'm in the same freak out boat, just trying not to think about it...

I definitely had a dream about getting an email, haha. Nothing yet.

I saw that! Congratulations to whoever that was! It is making me nervous though, since I applied to Irvine, haha.

Looking at the language used to discuss outer space is really interesting! It definitely sounds like the kind of thing I'd want to read about or attend a presentation for. I just finished writing my main deliverable and sending it to my advisor for review. In total, it was a 49 page document and will be the core of my final report. I'm kind of terrified that she's going to email me back and tell me to scrap it completely...