hantoo

I don't think you need to cite another offer to bargain with them. They already admitted you with at least some offer of funding, even if it's not as much as you hoped for. If a program offers you any money at all that means they definitely want you to accept and they're definitely interested in your research. Communicating your enthusiasm/interest for being a part of MAPSS while (politely) emphasizing that you would need a better funding offer to attend should make a pretty good argument, IMO.
Also (and this may be totally off, I don't know exactly how they determine funding) depending on how many people decline their offer in the coming weeks, there might be more funding available to you after that.
And yassss all of this. This was my first time applying too, and I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky that I got into an (as in just 1 out of the many I applied to) anthro program that I like--I'm pretty fresh out of undergrad so I thought I had a ~0% chance of getting in. After receiving the MAPSS offer yesterday, I'll admit I was kind of disappointed at first too since it wasn't what I had wanted, but then I took a step back and was like...wow what the heck is wrong with me? Am I seriously wasting time being disappointed about getting into a Masters program? 
The application process is INSANE. As @enfp said, we're competing with hundreds of very qualified, experienced people for, in most cases, less than 10 spots. I think it all comes down to the people who are in the room when admissions decisions are made. I saw a very wise post on this forum a while ago that said something along the lines of "rejection is a big part of academia" from applying to schools to trying to get research grants and other opportunities once you're in, to trying to find a job when you graduate. We all have to learn to brush it off and keep working hard.
The fact that most of us on here spent a lot of time and money applying and are willing to commit a solid chunk of our lives to grad school should indicate that we're pretty freakin' excited about anthropology and want to dedicate our lives to it. @ironshieldmaiden what I'm trying to say is just keep working hard if it's what you love. Something good will happen.
**ends long and emotional rant**

Hi, 
Without knowing anything about your research, I would say the 'contextualizing' means fitting your research back into relevancy. So if you are studying A, don't just talk about A and why you like it and what you want to do with it, but how does A affect B? How can A and B then open up the possibilities for tackling C? What are the issues with current research in A? What are some ways that A can be improved? Why are you studying A? It's essentially putting your question back into the greater picture of anthropology.
I hope that rambling was helpful!
Feel free to PM if you want to discuss more!
 

I don't think you need to cite another offer to bargain with them. They already admitted you with at least some offer of funding, even if it's not as much as you hoped for. If a program offers you any money at all that means they definitely want you to accept and they're definitely interested in your research. Communicating your enthusiasm/interest for being a part of MAPSS while (politely) emphasizing that you would need a better funding offer to attend should make a pretty good argument, IMO.
Also (and this may be totally off, I don't know exactly how they determine funding) depending on how many people decline their offer in the coming weeks, there might be more funding available to you after that.
And yassss all of this. This was my first time applying too, and I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky that I got into an (as in just 1 out of the many I applied to) anthro program that I like--I'm pretty fresh out of undergrad so I thought I had a ~0% chance of getting in. After receiving the MAPSS offer yesterday, I'll admit I was kind of disappointed at first too since it wasn't what I had wanted, but then I took a step back and was like...wow what the heck is wrong with me? Am I seriously wasting time being disappointed about getting into a Masters program? 
The application process is INSANE. As @enfp said, we're competing with hundreds of very qualified, experienced people for, in most cases, less than 10 spots. I think it all comes down to the people who are in the room when admissions decisions are made. I saw a very wise post on this forum a while ago that said something along the lines of "rejection is a big part of academia" from applying to schools to trying to get research grants and other opportunities once you're in, to trying to find a job when you graduate. We all have to learn to brush it off and keep working hard.
The fact that most of us on here spent a lot of time and money applying and are willing to commit a solid chunk of our lives to grad school should indicate that we're pretty freakin' excited about anthropology and want to dedicate our lives to it. @ironshieldmaiden what I'm trying to say is just keep working hard if it's what you love. Something good will happen.
**ends long and emotional rant**

I don't think you need to cite another offer to bargain with them. They already admitted you with at least some offer of funding, even if it's not as much as you hoped for. If a program offers you any money at all that means they definitely want you to accept and they're definitely interested in your research. Communicating your enthusiasm/interest for being a part of MAPSS while (politely) emphasizing that you would need a better funding offer to attend should make a pretty good argument, IMO.
Also (and this may be totally off, I don't know exactly how they determine funding) depending on how many people decline their offer in the coming weeks, there might be more funding available to you after that.
And yassss all of this. This was my first time applying too, and I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky that I got into an (as in just 1 out of the many I applied to) anthro program that I like--I'm pretty fresh out of undergrad so I thought I had a ~0% chance of getting in. After receiving the MAPSS offer yesterday, I'll admit I was kind of disappointed at first too since it wasn't what I had wanted, but then I took a step back and was like...wow what the heck is wrong with me? Am I seriously wasting time being disappointed about getting into a Masters program? 
The application process is INSANE. As @enfp said, we're competing with hundreds of very qualified, experienced people for, in most cases, less than 10 spots. I think it all comes down to the people who are in the room when admissions decisions are made. I saw a very wise post on this forum a while ago that said something along the lines of "rejection is a big part of academia" from applying to schools to trying to get research grants and other opportunities once you're in, to trying to find a job when you graduate. We all have to learn to brush it off and keep working hard.
The fact that most of us on here spent a lot of time and money applying and are willing to commit a solid chunk of our lives to grad school should indicate that we're pretty freakin' excited about anthropology and want to dedicate our lives to it. @ironshieldmaiden what I'm trying to say is just keep working hard if it's what you love. Something good will happen.
**ends long and emotional rant**

I don't think you need to cite another offer to bargain with them. They already admitted you with at least some offer of funding, even if it's not as much as you hoped for. If a program offers you any money at all that means they definitely want you to accept and they're definitely interested in your research. Communicating your enthusiasm/interest for being a part of MAPSS while (politely) emphasizing that you would need a better funding offer to attend should make a pretty good argument, IMO.
Also (and this may be totally off, I don't know exactly how they determine funding) depending on how many people decline their offer in the coming weeks, there might be more funding available to you after that.
And yassss all of this. This was my first time applying too, and I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky that I got into an (as in just 1 out of the many I applied to) anthro program that I like--I'm pretty fresh out of undergrad so I thought I had a ~0% chance of getting in. After receiving the MAPSS offer yesterday, I'll admit I was kind of disappointed at first too since it wasn't what I had wanted, but then I took a step back and was like...wow what the heck is wrong with me? Am I seriously wasting time being disappointed about getting into a Masters program? 
The application process is INSANE. As @enfp said, we're competing with hundreds of very qualified, experienced people for, in most cases, less than 10 spots. I think it all comes down to the people who are in the room when admissions decisions are made. I saw a very wise post on this forum a while ago that said something along the lines of "rejection is a big part of academia" from applying to schools to trying to get research grants and other opportunities once you're in, to trying to find a job when you graduate. We all have to learn to brush it off and keep working hard.
The fact that most of us on here spent a lot of time and money applying and are willing to commit a solid chunk of our lives to grad school should indicate that we're pretty freakin' excited about anthropology and want to dedicate our lives to it. @ironshieldmaiden what I'm trying to say is just keep working hard if it's what you love. Something good will happen.
**ends long and emotional rant**

I don't think you need to cite another offer to bargain with them. They already admitted you with at least some offer of funding, even if it's not as much as you hoped for. If a program offers you any money at all that means they definitely want you to accept and they're definitely interested in your research. Communicating your enthusiasm/interest for being a part of MAPSS while (politely) emphasizing that you would need a better funding offer to attend should make a pretty good argument, IMO.
Also (and this may be totally off, I don't know exactly how they determine funding) depending on how many people decline their offer in the coming weeks, there might be more funding available to you after that.
And yassss all of this. This was my first time applying too, and I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky that I got into an (as in just 1 out of the many I applied to) anthro program that I like--I'm pretty fresh out of undergrad so I thought I had a ~0% chance of getting in. After receiving the MAPSS offer yesterday, I'll admit I was kind of disappointed at first too since it wasn't what I had wanted, but then I took a step back and was like...wow what the heck is wrong with me? Am I seriously wasting time being disappointed about getting into a Masters program? 
The application process is INSANE. As @enfp said, we're competing with hundreds of very qualified, experienced people for, in most cases, less than 10 spots. I think it all comes down to the people who are in the room when admissions decisions are made. I saw a very wise post on this forum a while ago that said something along the lines of "rejection is a big part of academia" from applying to schools to trying to get research grants and other opportunities once you're in, to trying to find a job when you graduate. We all have to learn to brush it off and keep working hard.
The fact that most of us on here spent a lot of time and money applying and are willing to commit a solid chunk of our lives to grad school should indicate that we're pretty freakin' excited about anthropology and want to dedicate our lives to it. @ironshieldmaiden what I'm trying to say is just keep working hard if it's what you love. Something good will happen.
**ends long and emotional rant**

I don't think you need to cite another offer to bargain with them. They already admitted you with at least some offer of funding, even if it's not as much as you hoped for. If a program offers you any money at all that means they definitely want you to accept and they're definitely interested in your research. Communicating your enthusiasm/interest for being a part of MAPSS while (politely) emphasizing that you would need a better funding offer to attend should make a pretty good argument, IMO.
Also (and this may be totally off, I don't know exactly how they determine funding) depending on how many people decline their offer in the coming weeks, there might be more funding available to you after that.
And yassss all of this. This was my first time applying too, and I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky that I got into an (as in just 1 out of the many I applied to) anthro program that I like--I'm pretty fresh out of undergrad so I thought I had a ~0% chance of getting in. After receiving the MAPSS offer yesterday, I'll admit I was kind of disappointed at first too since it wasn't what I had wanted, but then I took a step back and was like...wow what the heck is wrong with me? Am I seriously wasting time being disappointed about getting into a Masters program? 
The application process is INSANE. As @enfp said, we're competing with hundreds of very qualified, experienced people for, in most cases, less than 10 spots. I think it all comes down to the people who are in the room when admissions decisions are made. I saw a very wise post on this forum a while ago that said something along the lines of "rejection is a big part of academia" from applying to schools to trying to get research grants and other opportunities once you're in, to trying to find a job when you graduate. We all have to learn to brush it off and keep working hard.
The fact that most of us on here spent a lot of time and money applying and are willing to commit a solid chunk of our lives to grad school should indicate that we're pretty freakin' excited about anthropology and want to dedicate our lives to it. @ironshieldmaiden what I'm trying to say is just keep working hard if it's what you love. Something good will happen.
**ends long and emotional rant**

If there's anything this process tells you, it's that rejections are often a matter of politics, bad luck, and frankly statistics - i.e. apps are a crapshoot. If, for example, Columbia is taking 8 students out of approximately 200 applicants, I  for one refuse to believe that means there were only 8 qualified candidates! It's a matter of a very limited number of seats. There's lots of people on this forum who've been rejected in previous cycles and are now getting into several schools. For one @AnthropologyNRT (don't know why I'm not being able to tag them, but shoot them a PM in case they don't see this?) was accepted into all three programs they applied to this year after two failed cycles. And yeah, this isn't to say your app can't be improved - it always can. It was good enough to get an offer from MAPSS, which as mentioned above is actually a very competitive program and is definitely not a mere consolation prize. 
Edit: Just to add here: From everything I hear about Chicago, they're definitely not the kind to feel sorry for people lol. So there's that

You should still feel awesome about getting into MAPSS! That's a really competitive program and there are plenty of people who were rejected from UChicago that didn't even receive an offer to do the Masters. They also have a really impressive placement rate for PhD programs their graduates apply to after completing that degree. If you make your case well, I think you could probably get additional funding. Hang in there!

You should still feel awesome about getting into MAPSS! That's a really competitive program and there are plenty of people who were rejected from UChicago that didn't even receive an offer to do the Masters. They also have a really impressive placement rate for PhD programs their graduates apply to after completing that degree. If you make your case well, I think you could probably get additional funding. Hang in there!

I talked to someone about this earlier today---apparently if you contact the department to request more funding, they will ask you to write a one page "petition" as to why they should give you more. I would suggest communicating to them that you are very interested in accepting the offer, but you will not be able to attend without additional funding. Someone else who has done this before might be able to give your more specific advice about this--I won't be accepting the MAPSS offer i.e. have not personally had to request additional funding, but this is just advice I've received from others.

You should still feel awesome about getting into MAPSS! That's a really competitive program and there are plenty of people who were rejected from UChicago that didn't even receive an offer to do the Masters. They also have a really impressive placement rate for PhD programs their graduates apply to after completing that degree. If you make your case well, I think you could probably get additional funding. Hang in there!

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.

@hantoo this happened to me when I applied Fall of 2015. I ended up doing MAPSS and am REALLY glad that I did -- I think it has a lot of benefits, including being able to study whatever you want and take whatever classes you want. I think the only downside is the money, but if you petition they end up giving you a scholarship. 

@hantoo Thanks for your insights! I just don't understand why they won't reject me already. It seems like a good number of people have received rejections and I don't see the logic in not rejecting me alongside those other people. 
& Thanks also for the positivity!

I've done two campus visits so far and have found that grad students are a great source of information.  I've asked about summer research funding, conference travel, how the program handles prepping for quals, language training, etc.  It's also a good idea to ask them about the area - cost of living, areas to check out/avoid, good/bad places to rent, cohort cohesion and collegiality of the dept in general (though this is easier to glean from observation during a visit than from an email/phone call).  I think you can learn a lot about the minutiae of life in a specific department by talking to grad students - I hope they're able to help you out!

Admission offered from UT Austin today! After two years of rejection I have been admitted to all 3 programs I applied to. Keep on keeping on!

I say apply. I was in a similar situation where I wasn't sure if I was going to attend UNLESS I had funding from the uni. They send an email with details to apply and so I did. Ultimately I didn't attend this uni but knowing that this app was sent in for consideration can't hurt. Plus if you decide not to attend, then that uni can give it to another student - or whatever. 
But, yes-Apply. It's money 

I was just admitted to a PhD program in Sociocultural, but a lot of my research background has been in archaeology. I finished my undergraduate degree fairly recently, and it was in general anthropology, and I do not have a Masters. Over the past few years, knowing that I wanted to focus on cultural anthropology, I kind of had to get more creative in the ways I gained research experience in that subdiscipline, and it involved a lot of interdisciplinary work.
For example, I did a study abroad program outside my major during college because I knew it would involve more hands-on fieldwork. I ended up participating in a geography/sustainability study abroad program in Peru, where I was able to work with indigenous communities to study the impact of tourism and new infrastructure on their local environment and livelihoods. It wasn't an anthropology course, but it provided me with a really significant amount of experience in ethnographic fieldwork that I don't think I would have gotten through another program and certainly not in the classroom. Even if you're not currently in school, there are programs to research abroad out there that can be really helpful in gaining experience in the field and figuring out exactly what your interests within sociocultural anthropology are. You might consider checking out a "continuing education" certificate program with a particular focus related to your cultural anthro interests, or if you're really unsure of what it is you want to focus on, maybe even consider doing the Peace Corps in the area that you want to research in--a lot of cultural anthropology people do that before going to grad school. 
In regard to making your archaeology experience fit with your current interests in cultural anthropology, I think it's really important in an SOP and on a resume or CV to emphasize how that background informs your current research focus. My proposed research focuses on the impact of non-profit women's cooperatives on traditional ceramic production in a specific community in Honduras, and how these changes influence social roles and environment. My previous experience in archaeology, specifically in ceramic classification, production, and chronology, certainly played a role in how I developed my research questions, and in my application materials I really tried to explain that.
Obviously I don't know exactly what your interests in cultural anthro are, but for me, my research focus is certainly informed by my archaeology background. Also, it's important to remember that a lot of people who enter anthropology graduate programs (esp. in cultural I think) may be coming from completely unrelated fields. In the end I think it's about how you explain your research experience and education background and the ways those things have influenced your current interests.

Even though it's not super easy to do, I would recommend maybe searching for some research opportunities outside or in addition to CRM. This past year I've been working at my internship (which is awesome but unpaid) as well as a part time job, which is difficult and was especially challenging while I was applying to schools, but I think more than worth it in the end. I gained incredible research experience through my internship and had access to resources that I didn't have during undergrad. Even if it's a lot of work and obviously challenging to make much money doing this, I think it really is worth it for the experience and the connections you make in the process. Also, I do think schools like to see that you're the kind of person who can balance/handle a lot of work at once--grad school is hard and they want to know you won't burn out.
Also, although my focus is sociocultural anthro, I can say that I've really tried to get interdisciplinary experience over the years, and I think that's something that a lot of grad programs like to see. I've done archaeological field schools and lab work for many years, museum research, and NGO and community outreach work, all of which contributed to the development of my proposed graduate research and helped me connect with more people in the academic community.
You might consider getting any job you can in a museum or research institution just to get your foot in the door--I have close friends who worked in visitor services or front desk jobs at museums, and then were able to make connections with the anthro departments there which helped them gain experience. One friend in particular (although she was formally working at the front desk selling tickets) was ultimately able to volunteer to do lab research, become a part of a curator's reading group, and get heavily involved in an amazing anthropology department at the institution she worked at, all of which helped her get in to a lot of great graduate programs. There are also, believe it or not, paid research and lab positions out there if you know where to look. You said you have a Masters degree too--you could probably find a museum research job or more relevant position at an institution because you have that additional experience/certification.
I would also recommend staying in touch with the people you work with, former professors, etc. because often times they can offer you amazing opportunities to add to your CV. For example, I'm currently working on a publication with a former adviser who I had stayed in contact with--she was one of the people who wrote my LoR's, and she somehow got my university to pay me for working on this project with her.
We all know it's not easy (maybe even nearly impossible) to be really successful in this field. It's important to be creative and reach out for every opportunity you can find, because if anthropology is something that you're truly passionate about, it's worth working for!

Heard back from my POI at Syracuse, funded for four years with a pretty good chance at getting a fifth year through the Maxwell School!  It feels so good to have a realistic (read: funded) PhD option!

If this was true, it would have had to take them about a week to have figured out something was wrong. Seems off to me.

Yeah I agree. All seemed standard to me.

Me, waiting to hear back.