modernity

http://ls.berkeley.edu/soc/diversity/apply/samplestatement-1.html This one? I found this site to be a pretty useful tool so far. Duke's also.

Wow. That's really an unfortunate series of events, but kudos for using the word "pwned" in an academic forum. (Well, it made me giggle anyway.) Are you sure that the guy never got back to him because he wasn't interested in the work though? Perhaps he was just not interested in working with the professor you know? It can be rather common in anthropological academic circles (primatology/evolutionary anthropology especially) to have grudges/vendettas or just plain snobbishness abound. Besides that outside possibility, I wouldn't give up yet. There may be other professors at that university interested in your work, or in your background as long as some of your other interests were evident in your application?

Scrap your entire first paragraph. It doesn't really add anything to the essay, and a short intro sentence before your second paragraph will get things going just fine. Don't worry about introductions, just get into the meat of what you want to talk about. Adcomms know that with limited word space you don't have time for the formality of an introduction. In your third paragraph - show, don't tell - instead of saying costa rica served a dual purpose show how it did... say "i used my spanish language skills, while instructing" or something of that nature... Don't say I was personally instructing or I heard directly from these students - this is redundant and wordy. Say I instructed or I learned from my students instead. Your second to last paragraph seems to be stating things that people in your field are already well aware of, and seems like another good place to cut your word count down. I think you could probably summarize it in a sentence and find a way to attach it to your previous paragraph. Your last paragraph is starting to sound a little like an advertisement for the program you're applying to. You have to show more specifically how you're interested in the program. Perhaps go back and elaborate on how this degree is going to take you from the narrowness in your current situation to the breadth you're hoping for, or a particular professor or research project at the school that you're interested in or something of that nature. I hope this doesn't sound harsh in any way, because I certainly don't intend for it to - but I always feel like I should add that disclaimer at the end when I am commenting on another person's work. I think over all it's a good SOP, there is just a little bit of extraneous packaging around it.

As I am sifting through my google searches for "good SOPs" or SOPs that got students accepted into programs to compare mine to - I thought you guys might be a good resource for this. Know of any school websites or others that have some good examples and suggestions?

I've heard it both ways - that breaking a rule like this "shows you can't follow rules, and can hurt your chances" and breaking a rule like this "goes unnoticed"... The conservative thing to do, I think, would be to not go over the word limit. They impose those word limits for a reason usually- likely with a place like SIPA they get hundreds of applications and it can be irritating if everyone were to go over their word limit (20 extra words times 200 applicants is 4000 extra words that an already tapped out admissions committee has to read). Ultimately though, only the adcomms there know how they feel about this rule... so are the 20 extra words you have to say worth potentially breaking a rule or irritating someone? If they are make or break for your application, I'd say do it if you must... if they're not I would question whether or not it's really worth it. I also have to say I doubt they are counting words, and the only way it might become obvious to them is if they were reading shorter essays before yours and yours somehow look unusually lengthy.

This already happened to me as well, different school/discipline. I think it's going to be a hard year for this sort of thing.

That is very odd. The only thing I can think of is that they are comparing your GRE to your SAT possibly to check for how you do with standardized testing or see a trend?

It sounds like professor number one might know you the best, but professor number two might write you the more relevant LOR. I think you have to weigh what your other two letters would have succeeded in covering, and use the third to make up for any potential "light" areas.

So jealous!!! I am smack dab in the middle of mine (I had much later due dates) so I can't wait to be on your side of the fence.

I would say more than personal reasons, if they are asking you point blank they are looking for something more than that. However, I would find a way to spin it so that you can avoid any stigma- maybe just say "medical condition" or "medical costs", something like that should be sufficient.

They probably shut it down because their computer system is having issues and they were tired of having their customer service reps screamed at by stressed out grad school applicants. Hopefully their tech people have their system back up soon, but I can't really blame them for trying to protect their reps from our craziness right now. Haha.

To answer your questions (as best as I can anyway): 1. There have to be some more west coast schools out there for you - I felt like every west coast school I looked at had at least half a department full of asian focus professors - have you looked into these? I can't think of any specific names as this is not my area of expertise. 2. I've seen a lot of 4.5's on this forum and others. Its not the best score - but if you read the description on the GRE it means you completed the essay with only minor errors that did not distract from meaning. It's also above the cutoff for most schools that I've seen. I think as long as you write a powerful SOP you'll be just fine. I hope schools realize how flawed the writing scores are - how often in academia are you going to write a timed (in minutes) paper on a random topic? Never. Okay that was a bit off topic, but you get my point. 3. Whether or not you want to add "safeties" is up to you. As people on this forum could tell you, having a good profile doesn't guarantee you'll be accepted. You could perfect - and they may only have one slot open for your specialty this year, and the ad comm just so happens to admit one of the applicants that has a lesser profile based on superstar LORs, for example. The schools you're applying to have hundreds of applicants every year..and there are many unknown factors to acceptance when you apply. You have to weigh how you feel about that - would you be happy at a safety school, or are you determined for top schools only? My question, for you and others... how relevant is Lambda Alpha?

As a fellow anthropology applicant, I think you have a good mix of reaches/mids/safeties on your list. I would say though with places like Duke and Penn on your list adding more schools like Berkeley/Michigan is weighing heavy in reaches. (I am not applying to any of these schools and I am in a different sub discipline so don't worry about me discouraging you competitively speaking!) If you had plenty of money, I would say go for it! You never know! But especially Berkeley, which is insanely hard to get into- I think its admissions standards are even more rigorous than Duke who had some that nearly made me faint- and also has some potentially major budget issues (and possibly more still to come) because its Cali - I would say that its a risky bet. We all have the "maybe I should add one more school to the list" moments.. but I think its just the application process getting to us more than the actual necessity.

Also how I did it. As mentioned in another post, they probably won't use your envelopes/stamps as they'll have their own letterhead but I think its good form to provide them anyways.

All right... I promised myself I would stay away from this thread, but since it has been resurrected from its grave I read what people had to add. The other person was right I believe, about the fact that the letters could not be accessed unless the student got into the school - so if they didn't get into the program, there should be no way they have access to the letters. The argument was more that if they got in (based on the merit of the other 2+ letters they sent in) and read one that was less than nice...there could be the potential for backlash. I don't know why anyone would do this, and it would have to be an extreme circumstance...but I am sure the professors have considered the possibility - if they have less than nice things to say, or if they don't have much of anything to say and the student doesn't waive their rights. One of my professors told us a story about how when they read their letters later (I believe they had extra copies), they found out that the one professor had essentially confused them with another student...which of course made the professor look a little silly. I would gather this might happen on occasion considering the number of students that go through certain undergraduate programs. Which may be yet another potential reason professors don't necessarily want you to have access. All of that aside... I am in the application process now, and have already found the following warnings: "It is strongly suggested you waive your rights" or "If you choose not to waive your rights be aware some recommenders may refuse to write for you." So...I still feel my point stands that it is customary to waive - if you choose not to for various reasons I don't think it will absolutely kill your chances - especially if you are on a familiar basis with all recommenders and the adcomms at the program you're applying to, which I know some of you are. However, I would say if there is any question in your mind, it's probably better to waive.

I think it could hurt, especially when fit is supposed to be the most important thing about grad school apps. I agree to think of it resume wise, or even like a date. Sure we all want the highest paying job or a rich husband/wife... but it's supposed to be a side benefit to something you already love and would want even without all the money. If they offer a generous package, I am sure they know it and are aware people apply for that reason.

I do not know anything about your field...and I also know that if you're a non native speaker they tend to go easier on you with GRE verbal/AW scores...but I would say that you may have a tough time. If you don't need funding, and you're comfortable going to a school that is further down on the list - you have a shot. I also don't know if I would recommend schools in places like San Fran as California(n) Schools (and others, really - in any of the states that took large economic hits here in the US) are in some cases not accepting any students for some programs, and only a few for others....and funding is definitely sparse if you need it.

Ugh. I had similar issues last year... all sorts of last minute things that broke out of nowhere. Its the reason I started much earlier this year, but I will probably still encounter some of it. Some things you just can't plan for. Hope things work out for you though!

I would also say (after having looked over this myself since I wasn't sure of the rules) - read the fine print on the application instructions. Some of mine specifically say "outline all employment history since completion of BA" some say "all employment history" and some say "employment history as relevant to your academic pursuits"

For me it was different- the verbal/comprehension is a breeze... the math makes me question my intelligence. haha. When I felt like I was under a lot of pressure, I would spend more time racking my brain if I had covered all the rules properly than I did on the solving of the problem. So I have to say sometimes, it was easier just to plug in to solve (although I wouldn't really consider this a new found trick Princeton, as I remember being taught that in grade school). I also thought it was a good back up method for when I found myself second guessing my answer. Like you said, it's all very relevant to background though, and where your strength lies.

Yes it can be more than one page - some professors have CV's that go on and on and on... I am not sure of the rule on this one... but I am. I worked a lot of hours during my undergrad and even though its not relevant to my degree it helps explain why some other things are missing from my CV (ie being published or something of that nature).

The math may be simple but it requires having a lot of formulas memorized that I hadn't seen in the years since I took it in high school, and had long since forgotten because it has no relevance in my studies or day to day life (with the exception of stats courses). It's not that I didn't know how to use them- once I used the book I had a lot of "Oh yeahhh I remember that now" moments. It's a great refresher tool for those of us who hated math, haven't taken it in a long time, and will only need it for taking the GRE. I agree that this may be a smaller pool of people because of all the sciences, engineering, etc. people out there... but it was relatively helpful for me.

I am putting both of my undergrad institutions on mine. I'm going by the rule that if I'm sending my transcripts, and I did relevant coursework there... I'm putting it on.

Here's the rule I suggest... don't look at your applications after you have submitted them until after April 15th, when you have or have not gotten into a school. (If you got in, you may not even care!) This is the only time its really important and relevant for you to look over your application again. If you look at it now... you're just going to torture yourself over the next several months (ugh. months!!!) over what you could have improved or changed - and there's nothing you can do. Its just going to keep you up nights wondering. So don't do it!! I also must say that forgetting a "the", especially if it was missed by everyone else that read it, may very well be missed by the committee too.

Its good as a general guide, but I would imagine that some of those schools have moved up the ladder (ASU comes to mind now that Johanson is in residence there, among other factors). Also, like you mention... this would vary wildly depending on field. I had another ranking bookmarked somewhere but I've since lost it - it was from 02 I believe. If I find it I'll post it.