clashingtime

Thanks everyone, for the advice and encouragement! One thing I forgot to add is that next semester after I've collected all the data for my honors thesis, my advisor is putting me in charge of a short forensic study to look over some bones, get some data, write a short report, and then return the remains to the Caddo Nation. I don't know if this will help my chances at all...but I hope so!

I'm an anthropology major, and many of the undergrads, graduate students and even professors at my school have several tattoos. However, they still cover them up. One of the profs writing me a letter of recommendation has some hardcore tats going on, and he always wears long sleeves to cover them up. I plan on getting a few myself, but in places that can be covered up if need be. With all that said, it seems that tattoos are becoming generally more accepted overall. I know I've seen more and more folks with them.

Thanks anthropologygeek, I hope so too! My advisor thinks I have a good chance, but luck does have a lot to do with it from what I've seen. From what I've been told, you can't really be 100% about grad school admissions. Tenn is my top choice, so if I don't get in, taking a year off to relax, recuperate from a hardcore undergrad career and gear up towards working towards a Ph.D might not be a bad idea. However, I won't really know anything until I send everything in and wait to hear back! P.S. Anthropologygeek: Since I noticed that you were successful in getting admitted to a grad school, do you have any tips for someone who is applying? Feel free to PM!

Eugh, I actually thought I had a good chance since I've been doing independent research, I've interned, my GPA is higher than the requirements, and I've been selected to do an honors thesis. I hope to focus on paleopathology. Tennessee is my top choice since some of the faculty have research interests which overlap with mine, but from what I've learned, that probably won't happen. Anthropologygeek- I'm getting married next June, and I've applied to places where he can get a job (i.e places with a national lab). Luckily, there are a lot of great schools in those places. I don't really have the money to apply to 8 schools, so if I don't get in to anything (which is very, very likely it seems) I'll take a year off, and find a way to get experience in the field and apply again.

So, I've put the final touches on all my applications, and after listening to some of the grad students at my university talk about how hard it is to get in, I'm super terrified I'm not going to get in anywhere. So, here's the basic rundown of my stats: Double major in Anthropology and history Overall GPA: 3.626 Anthropology GPA: 3.888 History GPA: 3.80 GRE: 1070 (not so great, but I actually brought it way up from my first go around). Experience: Undergraduate Research junior year- topic focusing on paleopathology and relation to health today among Zuni Summer internship at a museum Selection to participate in Honors research scholars program- goal is to write a thesis, publish it, and present in a public forum. My topic concerns reconstructing ancient diet. Team member of Ft. Hood cultural resources contract The schools I'm applying to: University of Tennessee University of New Mexico Texas State University of Texas