anthropologygeek

I would highly suggest contacting potential advisors. It could save you money with no wasting an app. fee. And like above I know a lot of departments won't accept you without making contact first. Some apps even ask you who you want to work with and who you were in contact with.

Take a class, get to a prof so you have at least one recent recommendation. Do some research in what your interested and poster or present at even a small conference would definitely help your chances.

I'm sorry you got offended. I didn't mean to offend you. I just know a lot of people who want to do solely forensic anthropology and their dreams get crushed when there really isn't a job market for it. I would think schools don't care to much about which department you got a masters from but more about what are you interested in and what research you did while you were there. Again sorry if I offended you.

Well, forensics is not good for job prospects. Very little jobs out there just to do forensics. Most do physical anthropology and do forensics on the side.

There is no safe schools in anthropology. Every school is competitive. You need to apply to schools who have profs that have the same interest as you since fit is the most important issue.

From my experience when looking for crm jobs your almost always start off be a shovel bum even with a masters these days. The difference is you will advance vs just a ba you won't advance

You sound like an applicant who both gets rejected year after year and one that gets accepted even multiple acceptances. How was your fit within the program? Maybe the profs you applied for weren't even taking students and/or retiring. That's why contacting is a must. Also, when I was applying I got into places that I visited and ones I didn't visit so I am not sure it helps but I doubt it hurts to visit. You have a good chance if you pick the right profs and right schools. I hope you get in your dream school with unheard of funding.

What I would do if I wasn't happy with my score. Take it again aug. 1 and if I'm still not happy take the new one in October plenty of time to send it in.

You want to contact the poi to see if they are taking students. Your gre scores are so-so and really limit your chances for funding. You might want to retake the gre. There are so many schools out there, I guarantee there are other schools with people that do what you want. Go the the results page find out all the schools that have results posted, go to their websites and find people that do what you want and then go to the websites of school they got their phd from.

I feel what really matters is who your advisor is since rankings were done last time in 93 and many programs didn't want to be included. If you put your subfield people could help more.

Well in grad school the only finacial aide is student loans. The schools can offer an assistantship which covers vary.

When deciding where to apply, there are a limited number of forensic programs and I do not believe any of them are ivy schools.

Some schools allow it while others dont. You have to contact the school to know if its possible or not.

Yes reputation matter but more so of what the reputation is like in your speciality and not so much the reputation of the department overall. Also who your adviser is matters. How are they thought of? Where you go matter especially in anthropology however the other country universities are thought of highly if you have the right adviser.

This topic has been discussed before just research it/ Summary schools can hold you to your decision and make you pay a semester tuition legally. Most won't be some do. And professors can be vindictive and ruin your reputation and I have seen this done also. Remember academia is a small community and you really don't want to piss anyone off especially this early in your career. If i accepted an offer I wouldn't go back and I definitely wouldn't without getting a release from the school.

It happens to everyone. A few years later I still have doubts and think I should of accepted one of my other options even though the one I have picked is perfect for me. Your have doubts but just remember every has regrets.

Whatever they do for undergrads is what they will do for you. Your just need a student ticket and grad student get priority like 4th year undergrads.

Did you sign anything? If not a nice email. If you did, you have to ask be granted a release by that school.

They sometimes don't. Some have a secretary dismiss some that don't meet the requirements.

The april 15 only applies to sschools in the agreement, not all signed it, and also if you read it carefully it only applies to funding phd offers. But like I said I doubt the school would make you pay once you sign but legally they could take you to court and enforce it but I HIGHLY doubt they would. It more out of respect to the school and being true to your word. They potential advisor could be vindictive and try to give you a bad reputation. However, all this could be avoided by simply asking for an extension to the deadline like 2 weeks. Just say your having a hard time deciding and need more time. I haven't seen or heard of a school not giving more time.

Once you sign you are legally going or the school can make you pay the first semester tuition. They can even sue for the money but most won't if not all. However depending on size of your field they could negatively affect your reputation. Why don't you try asking for more time to decide?

Rankings for anthropology was done in the mid-nineties and only done on the programs that allowed/wanted them to rank them. A lot of programs said no thank you so you can't just go off the rankings. I don't go to georgia but have heard that they have a very good and respected culture program. For jobs, it's mainly is your advisor respected and what do you do while there. The advisor can get you an interview. also schools need to respect your advisor. I am not culture so I am not sure how they are respected but you did apply there for a reason since you should never apply to a university that you don't what to go to because you can only get one phd, in theory.

Mac all the way. I used to be a pc user but realize my error went Mac and never looked back.

I think it depends on the department. In my field it is not uncommon for you to be accepted without funding.