briellemarz

Thank you so much, I really appreciate your reply!

Hello everyone! I am a first generation college student currently studying at my state public school. I am in the fourth year of my study, and I am double majoring in anthropology and biological sciences. Because I am a first-gen student, I never really considered graduate school because I didn't even really know what it was, but once I progressed into my degree, I realized that I had to start thinking about it if I wanted a career in anthropology. I had decided against it for awhile, but recently discovered the PhD program at Duke for Evolutionary Anthropology, and realized that it was the program of my dreams, but I am worried that I have wasted too much time. I have taken a heavy course load of physical anthropology (primate behavior, human evolution, forensic anthro, paleopathology) and my biology coursework has included a lot of ecology, wildlife conservation, and animal diversity material. I do not have any research experience, but I have been quite involved. I have maintained a part-time job serving tables since I was sixteen to pay bills, but I also volunteered as a lab technician in my anthropology department's osteology lab for a year (identifying and cataloguing remains), did a year-long internship at a wildlife center that housed two species of lemurs, was accepted into a job shadow at a lemur conservation foundation (that was cancelled because of covid-19), and am currently employed as an intern at my state's division of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (although this is just as a data technician). I have fairly ok academic credentials (a 3.62 GPA and GRE scores 158/157 that I am retaking in a few weeks), and I could probably receive fairly strong letters of rec from both anthropology and biology professors. I was also elected the president of the anthropology society at my school, and was the treasurer the year before and secretary the year before that. I really want to apply for the fall 2021 cycle, but I am nervous about wasting time/money. I am also nervous because I have no sense of my strength as an applicant. I am also considered applying for an MS in biology in the fields of ecology, wildlife biology, etc. because my interests are very broad. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice or insight, or any other program recommendations, as Duke's PhD program is probably way out of my league ! I am talking to my professor this week, but this is something I can't stop worrying about! Thank you!