waltzforzizi

For both MA and Ph.D. programs, I have a paragraph dedicated to the professor I want to work with and their previous work followed by a paragraph about why I'm a great fit for the program. It was just the outline I figured seemed best. I think it just depends. I have read a large amount of SOP papers. I read one that only mentioned the school and professor in TWO sentences, haha. They were offered a position in a Ph.D. and MA program. As the above poster said, it is all about glorified groveling. Try to pretend you know all about the professor.

For future applicants: This is more than acceptable! Sometimes your first POI may tell you to email the other professors to get to know them or let them know you're interested. That's been my experience after emailing about 4-5 different POI.

If I reply to this, will it become "buried"? It seems like December flew by after submitting my apps. I decided to apply to 3 MA programs, so I'll have to wait those out too..... I'm thinking January will be the same, at least for me with my workload. I'm so excited to see everyone's results!

@kittyball Haha, they usually state at the beginning of the email something along the lines of: " I'm sorry, but this email seemed to have dropped through the cracks." "I apologize for taking so long as I have been experiencing personal issues that left me unable to reply." and so on. My emails are very detailed and concise, but LONG. My proposed research and background in CRM probably "alerts them" as I mesh well with their research and I have experience in the field. I don't have a stellar GPA, GRE scores or any independent research. However, my POI and the program itself seems like a great fit for me. I think that's the main reason, idk though, haha. I'm really shocked everytime a big-wig responds and the email just blows me away and they continue to ask any mundane question I have. In my follow up email(s) I just to make up some excuse or greeting that doesn't come off as TOO desperate or impatient. If they had initially emailed me after a month, but have failed to reply again after 3 or so weeks, I send them an email asking if everything is alright, have a nice break, and blah blah. I usually wait for 1-2 months—for the initial reply—because it's fine with me. I emailed most of my POI earlier in the year. I have found out that professors legit forget about you, haha. They don't have a sticky note with my name on their computer. I have to remind them that I exist.

@Bschaefer Thanks for your advice! I don't think I have good odds at the other schools, for now, just because of my record in undergrad and my GRE. I applied to the schools I did because: I have been "familiar" with one of the faculty members at Stanford for some years, had a Skype interview with my POI at Amherst ( in the summer), and received amazing feedback from the POI at Berkeley. I will apply to UMass Boston without a doubt if I get rejected from all three. I've visited the campus before and am also "familiar" with professors there and my friend is finishing up her thesis there. Boston U is crazy expensive, and the others will be looked after enrolling in a M.A program. Thank you for your recommendations . The program doesn't have to be focused on historical arch at all. It just needs to have one or two professors with scholarship pertaining to ethnicity, gender, collaborative arch, identity, and etc.etc. Wow, this response is way too long, sorry 'bout it. @museum_geek Thanks for this info as well. My proposed research is in America, but I will check out W&M! My friend was gonna do a CRM/environmental CRM something degree there.

Thank you two for this info! I will check out the websites, but as I'm interested in historical arch—crtical theory, gender, ethnogenesis—it might be hard to find a good fit outside of the schools I've applied to.

I can't help you too much, but I've never read anything regarding the "we don't accept LOR if you've graduated 5 years ago." I'm coming up on nearly 5 years since graduating and two of my LOR are from professors from my old UNI. I'm different from you in that I've stayed in contact with several professors since graduating. We are even facebook friends. I think you should try to email the department secretary and go from there. Start with something along the lines of, ' "Hello, my name is ___. I plan on applying to grad programs for .... I attended ___ university from X year to Y year. I took classes from blah blah professors." I hope you catch my drift, haha. If anything, applying 5 years after graduating, with some type of experience that makes you more sought after is best. A program will state if you graduated some time ago that your grades won't be a big factor. Try to get at least 1 LOR from a professor. I had to wrangle up 4 references because I've been gone for a while and have worked in different sectors. My professors can only attest to my abilities a little because 5 years is a LONG time. They have no idea how I've changed as a person. I've seen them once in those five years and they know of my journey, but a lot of context is still missing. You have A LOT time to figure everything out. I don't like the idea of giving up before trying. I'm sorry, I wrote a lot and some of it might be useless, but please still try! Good luck

Yes, I know some schools do offer partial funding for M.A. I will apply to those if I'm not accepted: UMass Boston and the University of Denver. I'm not sure of others one. I'm okay with applied anthro and plan on applying to IUPUI because of Dr.Mullins. I'm interested in doing historical archaeology. Dr. Bonnie Clark won't respond to me ...it's been forever, but I'm waiting it out. I'm in South Korea. I've lived here for 2 years, but I've lived abroad for over 3 years. I previously lived and worked in Indonesia and Thailand. I was intent on joining Peace Corps, but because of Trump and the cuts to humanities and science funding, can't do it right now. Are you teaching? I don't leave until May...it's killing me, haha. I want to return to applied archaeology. It's been too long and this whole grad school thing has made things worse. I don't know of any other schools that offer tuition for MA programs. Would love to know more.

I applied to some competitive programs only because I was told to aim high before dishing out the money for an M.A program. I don't know what to do between now and mid-Feb. I think I will just enjoy my time left abroad and then will wait for the generic reject letter. I will try not to visit this website too often as well, lol. I will take a break from social media for a bit too. I don't want to be engrossed in the thing until I get a rejection letter and prepare for the M.A cycle or Fall 2019 cycle. Best of luck to everyone during this waiting game.

Yay, more people to freak out with. Since finishing my applications, I have zero to no motivation at work. I really want to return back to CRM. I have around four months to go until my current contract ends.

I'm mainly worried about submitting 5 minutes past the deadline because my card wasn't accepted. I had to have a friend help. I know it's stupid, but the deadline was 8:59 pm. I sent mine at 9:05 pm and my profile states application submitted 12/02 instead of 12/01. I only applied to Ph.D. programs because I was told to apply to M.A programs once you get denied funding.

This is for future applicants, but I totally disagree with the "deadline" of 4 days. I've reached out to people from top-notch anthro schools such as Berkeley, Stanford, UT Austin and so on. It took 2-3 months for my professors of interests to get back to me. Once they did, their emails contained a lot of text that was very thorough and detailed. They even apologized for taking so long to reply. Our communication afterward was consistent and still very informative and supportive. Professors are busy. Professors at big-name universities are especially busy. Just wait it out. If you're that worried, send a follow-up email. You will surely receive a faster response with an excuse or apology for the long wait. Another professor of interest took 4 LONG months to finally commit to an hour longs Skype session with me. Everyone is different, but I would say there is no rule of thumb. If you really care about the university and POI, just wait it out :). I received no response from two professors at Berkekely, but one is currently the graduate chair, so yeah, haha.