I Dont Know what I'm doing

Congrats to the poster who received an interview call from Stanford! Assuming that they see this of course-- did you apply to the Society and Culture track?

I had my Michigan interview (sociocultural Anthro) a few days back. The allotted time for the interview was 20 mins as my two POIs mentioned right at the very end but it overshot by another 20. Strangely enough, I wasn't asked a single question. Instead, they encouraged me to pose questions to them and the conversation meandered from that point, touching upon various things. I found that quite relaxing but very strange given the experiences posters have shared on this very thread itself. This was my very first interview. I am not sure what counts as a good interview and what doesn't so I am not sure how helpful this response would be.

Congratulations on the interview call ! This is a very useful topic and could be an extremely important thread. I am an international applicant and this is my first cycle (applied to 6 schools). I have not heard back from any of the Universities yet, which is understandable. But I would love to know more about the kinds of questions that shortlisted applicants can expect during interviews. In your case @masthanaif I may, how long did the interview go on for? In your experience, how do you think POIs respond to the transition from earlier work to the proposed project? You mentioned the continuities between the two that was brought up for discussion during your interview but in my case, there is a complete empirical shift which I have tried to justify in my own way in the SoP.

Thanks so much for your response, @bonesandbakes. I am an international applicant and I will be applying having done an MA and M.Phil. I have been told by some people that certain committees do not even review an application if the GRE scores are below a certain threshold-a threshold I don't think I meet. Would you know if this is the case? I honestly do not have the funds to retake the test. However, I have (at least I think) managed to establish a correspondence with POIs in departments that I want to apply to. Besides this, I really am putting all the eggs in the SOP/ LOR/ Writing sample baskets and hoping for the best.

Anyone from the Anthro program at Pittsburgh or planning to apply there? Just wanted to find out if their funding package is decent for international students. Not mentioned anywhere including the spreadsheet pinned above. Appreciate any help

I took my GRE last week and managed a laughable 298 (V- 151, Q- 147, AWA- 4.0). Should I consider retaking the GRE given that the combined score is below 300? I am not sure if the committee would be interested in reviewing my application to begin with. Anyone who how this works other than the generic "GRE scores aren't everything but try to get the best possible score". Thanks

So I have just started going through various Anthro departments and am broadly trying to identify departments that have a strong media studies focus. I am not keen on applying to Media/ Cinema studies departments and am instead curious if there are any Anthro departments that seem to really stand out on that front? Any potential POI's that one must look at? NYU is one place that appears to be quite popular. I plan on applying this Fall (first cycle) and have just started this very daunting process. Not sure if the forum is very active at this point in time but if there are recommendations that come to mind, please feel free to suggest. Could do with any help.

Long time lurker and a first time poster. Here's hoping people have made it to their respective programs of choice and that this cycle has been quite kind to you! I am an international applicant who plans on applying to Sociocultural Anthro streams this year for Fall 2020. I have been going through a range of Anthro department pages over the last few months with the intention of having a long shortlist for the departments that I think are good 'fits'. Reading through some of the earlier posts on here has made it abundantly clear to me that figuring out which departments are good 'fits' is basically one of the most important things that applicants need to consider while applying. And although a lot of attention has been paid (quite rightly) to the SOP's and recommendations and GRE scores, I was looking for some clarity on the writing sample. Basically- assuming that most applicants apply to more than one department, how does one go about tweaking/changing drastically the writing sample? This would obviously vary depending on the applicant's situation but I highly doubt it would be feasible to prepare NINE drafts of the same sample, if one is applying to say nine places. Also, how do you select your writing sample? Do you focus on the ethnographic work you might have done (if any)? Appreciate the help!