clashingtime

Most of the people on my facebook that post things like this brag about their accomplishments all the time, so I've come to associate it with annoyingness. However, if I were accepted anywhere, I would probably post something later on at the end of the semester. Several people in my department are applying to some of the same schools, and I wouldn't want to potentially clue them into their admission status. One of my FB friends got into the PhD program at my top school with full funding, while I was rejected. Needless to say, her bragging, "in your face" status update about her acceptance only made me feel even crappier. Think of your peers! This is the only reason why I would be hesitant to post anything.

If you are interested in ethnobotany, look at Texas A&M. They have lots of great labs- palynology, paleoethnobotany, and archaeological ecology. PM if you have any questions!

So, my friend took the GMAT about a month ago- but she was having an awful day and it ended up going really badly, so she got just below a 500 on it. She went ahead and applied to a few MBA programs, and the admission committee emailed her from one school offering her to retake the GMAT to make her application a little stronger. They told her she still has until early May to retake it, so there's plenty of time for her to study and work towards a better score. She just wanted to ask if this was normal, and how much it would really improve her chances if she retook it. Thanks!

Oh, it totally hurt! What makes it suck even more is that one of the recommenders is my current honors thesis advisor, who I've been working with for 2 years now. I thought he would have something really awesome to say, but I guess not! Luckily, the prof I applied to work with is helping me get a a volunteer opportunity at one of the labs at the school, so I can start building relationships with the people there!

So, I've been flat out rejected across the board, and I contacted the professor I applied to work under at my top school for some advice about how to improve my application. Here's what she told me: I was a really strong candidate with a great GPA, SOP, CV, etc, but my letters of recommendation weren't great. Ouch. She said they had only really nice things to say, but there were other candidates who had recommenders that just gushed about how fabulous, brilliant and insightful they were. Mine were nice, but not of that caliber. From this, I've learned my lesson, and I figured I would pass on the advice as well. Don't just ask people if they can write you a letter of recommendation, ask if they can write you an excellent one. It has to make you sound like the long-awaited golden child. Make sure you get people who can express how great and rockin' you'd be to have as a grad student, and that passing you by would be an awful thing.

Thanks, I really needed that! I just got rejected from my top choice today, so I really appreciate that.

I'm going to have to second this. I remember freshman year after taking the intro biological course, when we finished up our unit on forensic anthropology we were all super pumped and in love with forensics. She quickly squashed our dreams by telling us that there are only a handful of forensic anthropologists who do that full time, and the rest do contract work, and may get work in forensics once or twice a year. It's a really popular field, and she made sure we all knew it wasn't going to be like Bones, and it was really tough to get work in. There is also anthropological work that doesn't involve the biological factor per se- I work in a palynology lab, and the guy who runs it does contract forensic work for the CIA and FBI involving pollen. But that's only contract work- his full time job is to teach. With all that said, I wish you the best of luck!

It went really well! She was really nice, and the fact that her voice sounded just like one of my best friends' actually helped alleviate some of my nervousness. We chatted for about 30 minutes, and I managed to make coherent sentences!

It's going down today, in about an hour and a half. Wish me luck!!

I have heard pretty much the same thing from the moment I chose my major. As for forensics, a prof at my school that does pollen forensic work for the CIA said that forensics is becoming bigger, and places like the FBI and CIA are really great about hiring people who have that kind of expertise! So, I don't think you're majoring in unemployment.

So, right now I'm kind of on the fence about the whole grad school thing. I know it's something I want to do, but I don't know if I necessarily want to do it right now. I'm feeling really burnt out, and I think in order to effectively embark on another decade-ish of school, I need a year off. I've been pressured by a lot of people (parents, research advisor, etc) to apply places and pursue a PhD and just keep on going, so I have been. If I do get in to my choice school, I'll defer. But if I don't get in, I'll be disappointed, but a little relieved at the same time. I guess I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced this!

I think so- on their site it just says that they want a LOR, so that's what I'm giving them. Cool! Forensics is really interesting. I'm hoping to go for genetics, ancient DNA and modern identity- kind of a mix of biological and cultural, I guess.

Hey, I'm applying to UTK too! What subfield are you looking into? As for your question, I don't think it's need for the anthropology department since it isn't specified on their webpage. I look at some other departments to see if they mention it, and some (like sociology) do mention that they want it. So, since they don't explicitly say to include that form, I don't think it's needed.

http://science-professor.blogspot.com/2007/12/writing-to-me.html There's a link. It's written by a science prof, but the principle is still the same for any field. My research advisor says that he usually ignores the first two kinds- if they can't take enough time to write out a concise, detailed email, then neither can he.

Thanks for the advice everyone! When I'm meeting new people and I'm nervous, I tend to either clam up and only reply with really short answers, and I've been told that makes me seem cold and rude. Or, I sometimes take the chatter really fast and do an awkward crazy laugh every now and then. Either way....it weirds people out. Good thing I don't plan on going into cultural anthropology...right? But once again, thanks for the advice. I'll try to not think about how weird I am around new people, just try to be myself, and I might even work on a list of things that I could ask her to get things going. Thanks for the help!

So, I've been in touch with several professors from my top school. They've all be super kind and helpful, and they all are interested in me and my research. The prof I'm hoping would be my advisor if I were to be admitted has asked me if I'm available for a phone date after thanksgiving since I wouldn't be able to actually visit the school due to financial reasons. I'm really excited about this, and this prof seems to be as well. One problem: I'm extremely awkward and socially impaired. I've got good credentials (except for my GRE, that's good enough to just fit their min), and our research interests overlap perfectly. I'm just worried that once I open my giant awkward mouth, things will start to go downhill. It won't help that I'm suuuuper nervous about this. Anyone have any advice, or anything to alleviate my fears about being all weird?

I was told that you needed to send in all post-secondary transcripts. One of my applications even stated that if you didn't send them all in (even JC), it would be considered that you were intentionally withholding information. So, unless it specifically states you don't need JC as well, send 'em all in.

cschwartz: I'm in the process of applying to grad schools too, so if you ever want to freak out feel free to PM me! I know my family and friends are probably reeeally sick of all of my spaz attacks!

I know it'll be disappointing, but from what I've been told it's normal for a lot of folks to not get in when they first apply. If that is that case, I've been told to consider taking a GRE course and taking it again to get it as high as you possibly can, and get some experience in the line of work that you want to do. That way when you contact people again for another LOR, it won't seem like you've just wasted time for a year. From what I've heard, a lot of it is timing and luck. You might have the right credentials, but you may not be a good fit, or the professors who suit your needs aren't taking on grad students. Best of luck to you!

Eh, and here I was hoping for something good. Oh well. Guess I'm overly optimistic.

So, I emailed a prof at one of the grad schools that I'm applying to. I basically just explained who I was, research that I had done, and my interest in his research. I also asked if they planned on taking on any grad students next fall. He replied with a very kind email, letting me know that if I wanted, he would be more than happy to tell me the titles of some books and articles related to my research topic. He said that he wasn't planning on taking on any grad students next fall, but was planning to in 2012. He gave me the name of another prof in the department that I might fit well well, and told me to get in touch with them as well. He finished up by encouraging me to still consider applying to the school, and telling me to just email him back or give him a call if I had any questions about the program. This is good...right? He could have been like, "Sorry. Not taking on anyone next year." but he wasn't. Are responses that helpful and nice the norm?

I found a really helpful page- written by a science prof, but the idea is applicable to other fields. They gave examples of the different kinds of emails they get from prospective grad students, and the kind of impression they got from it. Basically, the idea was do your homework on the prof and the school and show that you are genuinely interested in their research. Don't send a really short basic email that's obvious that you're sending it to everyone. Personalize it to each prof, and put as much detail as possible without making it obnoxiously long. If I can find the link again, I can post it if anyone is interested.

I was planning on emailing them. My top choices are out of state, and I haven't had the time or money to make a visit. I just wanted to touch base, and hopefully have someone remember me (in a positive light) when they're looking over applications.

I've had professors tell myself and other students that GRE scores aren't the main focus and are becoming increasingly less important- I've looked on TN's site, and haven't been able to find anywhere where they mention a specific GRE score they want you to have, and New Mexico's site gives a really wide range of scores that successful applicants had. TX State even sent me a letter based purely off my score, urging me to apply. Sure, it's not as stellar as other people's, but I do have some good attributes, you know. I don't think they'll throw out my app immediately or tell me not to apply just because of that one number.

So, I've been considering doing this for a few weeks now. At my top choice grad school, there is one prof who has work and interests which overlap perfectly with mine. I had planned on introducing myself and mentioning my research interests, mention how I had read a few articles they had written and looked over their CV and research interests and saw that our research interests overlapped in quite a few places, mention which program I'm applying for and when, and asking if they were planning on taking on grad students. I'm not really sure if I should do it, because I've heard you can either make a good impression, or it can totally backfire and bite you in the butt. I wasn't planning on listing off all my achievements, or kissing his ass and gushing over how brilliant and insightful his work is- I just wanted to ask him some questions about his research, and just generally make myself known. Is this a good idea, or should I skip it?