LongGraduatedStudent

I got invited to an optional recruiting weekend, but I probably can't go. It is from Thursday 2/10 to Sunday 2/13 at UIUC. I will be missing a lot of class, and I happen to have at least one midterm on the 14th (I may even have midterms on the 10th and 11th, the semester hasn't started so I don't have syllabi for most of my classes yet). Would not going significantly hurt me?

22- straight out of undergrad

Both UIUC and UCLA had PDF making issues. My solution was to CutePDF each individual page. My UPenn app and my other UIUC app which are coming up on the 15th and the 1st, respectively, are both also using ApplyYourself, so I can't get free from the damn system... UFlorida, CUNY, and NYU luckily all use different systems.

the damn thing kept freezing everytime I asked for a pdf of my application, after a while, I decided just to cutepdf each page... It keeps freezing I try to submit...

ApplyYourself is pissing me off too... For my next set of applications, I am going to try not procrastinate...

just so it is clear, this is for online applications

Do I need to submit today, or do I have until tomorrow?

UIUC's grad app requires me to number my financial aid preferences. The options are Teaching Assistantship, Research Assistantship, Fellowship, Tuition waiver only I know what the first one and last one of those two are (as they are pretty obvious), can someone explain me what is the difference between a fellowship and a research assistantship?

I think i've decided on using my permanent address. Also, for whatever reason the mailperson (or one of the mailpersons) who deliver the mail to my apt often decide to leave large envelopes out in the open instead of putting them in my box (instead of bending them and putting them in). I don't want that to potentially happen to any university mail

I call my parents everyday (if I didn't my mom would get mad), so if anything gets mailed home I would figure that out pretty quickly

I have an old copy of Campbell in my closet. I figure I will start working through it. I am thinking about buying the Princeton Review book. I used it for the general test and it helped a lot.

UCLA wants this test (and they are the only program of the eight programs I am applying to that wants it) I have one month to study for it. How have you guys studied for that test?

Some of the places I am applying to say they make decision in Late-Jan Early-Feb. Berkeley Winter Breaks' extend to about the 20th of Jan.

I am from a suburb in Los Angeles County. I am 400 miles from home. I am thinking now I will use my permanent address.

This thread is for people who have applied to graduate school while they were completing their last year of undergrad. I am wondering should I put in my permanent address as my mailing address, or should I use my college apartment as my mailing address. My fear is if they send anything in the mail during winter break, I won't get access to it for a long time, but if they mail something home when I am in Berkeley my parents can forward it to me or scan the documents and email me them. Would it be wiser to just set my permanent address as my mailing address?

UCLA is the only school that wants it (and one of my least favorite choices), so I am thinking about not taking it They told me that I could still get in without it, but they strongly recommend it.

Coursework does matter in the SoP in cases where you coursework is not the best match for the programs your applying. My background is in one thing (paleontology and evolution biology) and what I am applying to grad school for is a very different thing (molecular anthropology), so in my case explaining my coursework and why it is different from what I am applying to graduate school for is probably rather important (and the SoP is probably the best and only place to explain it). I am not listing specific courses except in one case. I am basically saying my course track was in X and I realized I didn't know what I wanted to do, and then I explained what changed my track Anyways, now my last paragraph where I get much more specific on what I want to study at UFlorida and why UFlorida is a good fit etc... is a solid third of my SoPs My CUNY/NYU ones are still fairly identical barring a couple sentences about the individual professors (since they are both for essentially the same program), but they both have a section about why I think NYCEP is a good fit, etc...

I am using this paragraph from http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mooreks/sop.html as a type of mental template for what my last paragraph should be As I've been writing, I have been using http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mooreks/sop.html, http://grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/state_purpose.shtml, and https://career.berkeley.edu/grad/gradstatement.stm for ideas on how to write and they've all been telling me to write about my coursework and how my interests got to where they are.

I'm working on my CUNY and NYU statements (which are my top two choices). The first two thirds are about how I got into the molecular anthropology and my coursework and why my coursework is more paleoanthro and evolutionary bio based, which is important to keep. The last paragraph is fairly identical for these two, but these two are both NYCEP and the last paragraph is about why I like NYCEP with a sentence and half about why I think I fit well in each prof.'s lab. NYCEP has a single page limit, so I can't extend beyond by much Also some places like UIUC (Program in Eco., Evo., & Conserv. Bio) and UFlorida want 500/- word statements, which creates a space problem when it comes to writing a lot about the institution. I am applying to eight departments at seven schools (at UIUC I am applying through PEEC and Anthro to the same lab at the professor's suggestion) and this is getting very tiring...

How much of it should be focused on each school. For example, for my applications most of it identical, I only have a sentence or two that are actually different.

If there is only one professor at a a given institution that you are interested in working under, should you apply for only that one professor or should you include professors doing different things that are somewhat (but not absolutely) related? I have begun work on my Penn State and CUNY applications and have noticed they ask me to list 1-4 professors. So far I have only contacted one faculty member at each university I plan to apply to, and I am not clear on how I would contact an "alternate professor". I've email eight professors at eight universities. I've got replies from six; five said they are looking for grad students and one said they might be (and asked for a CV and GRE scores). Of the two that haven't responded, one is practically retired (which is a bummer because he was one of my top choices) and the other is apparently on leave. I know that I shouldn't tailor my statement of purpose to be focused completely on molecular anthropology, but it also shouldn't be extremely broad either because there will be multiple physical anthropologists (and probably archaeologists as well) on my admission committee.

Hlusko and White are married, so I would imagine how people view them would be rather linked. I will be going for a rec from White regardless, as while some people don't like him, his rec still holds a lot of weight. I have never had a real class with Hlusko; she knows me because I took a freshman seminar with her and I've taken one of her graduate seminars (Primate Biology Group) a couple times (this seminar is just a seminar where you sit a listen to people present their research, no actual hw/tests/grades). Most of the departments I've looked at want recs from professors I have taken courses with or whose labs I've worked in. I don't know if seminars count for that. Berkeley's population genetics programs have grown tremendously since my sophomore year, when I first took a genetics course (IB 162 Ecological Genetics); I think I know the professor of that class well enough to try to get a rec from her. I will be taking two more upper division genetics courses next semester IB 161 (Population and Evolutionary Genetics) and IB 163 (Molecular Evolution), so I can't ask the professors of those courses for recs. Also does anyone have recommendations on how to email the professors whose labs I plan to apply for?

Due to the stupidity of the anthropology department's policies I don't have the time to minor. Human Paleontology and Human Osteology here are taught by Tim White in IB. His courses are cross-listed between IB and Anthro. I took both courses through IB. Because of that they will only apply credit for one of them towards the minor even though the class is identical regardless whether you register through IB or Anthro. I recently "defected" from "pure" paleoanthropology to human population genetics after realizing that most of research on early human migrations is now done with genetics, so most of the professors I know most are paleontologists. I am going to be requesting Letters of Recs from Tim White (paleoanthropologist in IB) and Tony Barnosky (mammalian paleontologist in IB) for sure, and then either Leslea Hlusko (physical anthropologist in IB) or Charles Marshall (paleontologist) for the third one. I have been working in the Human Evolution Research Center led by Tim White for two years now and I know Prof. White pretty well, so I am hoping his rec will go far. My top choice is UCLA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology under John Novembre, but all my secondary and tertiary choices are anthropology departments.

I am thinking about applying to the Novembre lab. I noticed the EEB website says that the GRE subject test in Biology is required. Does anyone know if this is a recommendation or a flat out requirement?

I'm an undergrad at Integrative Biology major at Berkeley. Most of the programs I am looking at are molecular anthropology labs in Anthropology departments (UPenn, Penn State, CUNY, NYU, UCDavis, UFlorida). Many of you already know, our Anthropology department is shit when it comes to physical anthropology (see http://www.dailycal....es_extinction) so thus I am a biology major. Does anyone here know how difficult it would be for a biology major to get into a graduate program in an Anthropology department.