sabana15

I got it and I went to a small LAC that is completely unknown and that rarely sends students to grad school. I think it just depends.

Anyone know anything about Michigan--where they are in the process, when their visit day is, etc? I've heard that it's the weekend of march 13-15, but want to know if this is a rumor or if there's evidence out there somewhere. Also, any idea on when we'll be hearing back (aka: should I call them soon)? I've heard from my other top program and want to know how difficult of a decision I will have to make.

From what I understand, I think the point is for the awards to be announced after everyone has made their decisions. You might benefit more from speaking with the TA school and discussing your offer at fellowship school, rather than waiting for NSF funding.

Why?

Ok, so I know this is a realllyyyy stupid question, but I'm having a hard time understanding what anthropology grad students do, how important your adviser is, etc. There are TONS of resources out there for other disciplines (like comp sci), but not nearly as many for anthro and so I'm trying to decide how I evaluate (any) offers I get. [no, i haven't heard anything, but here's hopin'!] My question to y'all is what is the life of an anthropologist like? How important is your adviser (how big of a role does s/he play in your life)? Will you need to be on the anthropology faculty or are there jobs available at smaller universities that might not have anthro departments? Are there any great websites/blogs out there that talk about the life of an anthropologist or an anthro grad student? FWIW, I'm switching fields from the sciences to anthro and am looking at a couple physical/bio anthro programs but I'm not sure how to evaluate them. One of the programs has a superstar prof whose research I've read and was very influential, but i'm not sure will be sticking around at this program much longer. The other program is very strong overall, but there's no one person whose work I know in-depth. Any/all advice is welcome!

Hm. I used a google doc--the spreadsheet--although the notebook is a good idea. i might have to use that for my (potential) visits...

Hey all, anyone care to update this thread--where to live/not live and what there is to do? Is the weather that bad? Where should one buy a house? thoughts/suggestions? thanks!

does anyone listen to pandora.com? i've been doing calexico (good mellow-i'm-at-work-but-not-working music) or some variation of iron and wine or brendan james.

good point, adaptations. sorry about spreading rumors, all. obviously i'm a bit naive, lesson learned

from: http://www.poliscijobrumors.com/topic.p ... 580&page=3 Iowa and FSU have already sent out the first wave of offers FYI. idk if it's true or not, but thought i'd pass it on. it's weird watching the discipline areas creep ever so closer to social science on the results feed...

I'm with you. I would be devastated if I got flat-out rejected and I would definitely sulk about, but life goes on. I'd move to one of my top-choice cities and start taking classes as a non-degree student to try and bulk up my experience and to make myself known to the faculty. Besides, I feel better knowing that I have some form of plan in place for my life after my current job ends 6.01. If not, it would be the great unknown for me, something my SO finds a bit disturbing/concerning/ridiculous.

I might look near maple then. I've heard not-so-pleasant things about ypsilanti (although I've never been to MI, so I have no real basis for this), but i'd like to live in town. My huz and I are still considering about 3 other cities, but I might take you up on your offer, thanks!

sorry to burst your bubble. funny that both our scores went MIA! Good luck to you!

which school contacted you--I just got e-mailed by Rochester today and I turned my app in before winter break.

I feel like I keep swinging between blind optimism (of course I'll get in! i have great letters!) to full-on despondency (yeah, letters from unknown professors at a small liberal arts college!!). I'm afraid to check up on my department websites to see what else is going on--what if I get my hopes up? or dashed? Found the statement below from http://www.poliscijobrumors.com/topic.p ... 064&page=2 I did this a bit--to see what students are studying, but I didn't think about this angle. Now I'm worried if I look back, I'll see my interests are being phased out

I was also wondering if there would actually be more TAships and postdocs with fewer TT hires to lighten the burden of courses to teach (and the inherent costs). In this case, things could be OK for us now, but not so fab come graduation.

unstable? ouch! no, I'm not worried. My undergrad adviser was fantastic and told me to apply to programs where there were good potential advisers doing what I wanted to do--hence the variety. however, i did honestly wonder whether the programs to which I applied would think I was unstable, so I tried to 'shield' them a bit on the 'where else are you applying part.' for example, i listed pol sci/social sci together, anthropology/social sci together, but i tried not to put down ALL the programs so i'd appear more focused to potential programs. btw, does anyone know the purpose of the 'where are you applying' portion? i put a blend of schools/rankings but i didn't provide a comprehensive list.

I was a math/phil major and went to college as a math major thinking I'd be an actuary. However, once I got there, I started taking phil classes and fell in love. Add in a semester studying abroad in central america and mathematcial modeling competitions and i knew there had to be more there. i'm acutally the second person in my family to complete a ba--my mom went back to school when i was elem.--so the prospect of grad school, much less a phd is pretty crazy. my family thinks i'm a bit nuts however, i really fell in love with political systems--and man-made social systems--and using mathematics to explain them. the only real way to do that is through graduate study. i took two years off to refocus and to find my 'dream' programs that would let me get right down to what i wanted to do right away, versus starting in math and then switching over eventually. and now, here I am

Seriously, i've become obsessed too! I'm glad I'm not the only one

fyi: i just got an e-mail from Rochester (poli sci) that they were reviewing my application (and that part was missing )

my first time i was not very happy with my AW score either--i had a 5, but the 'average' for my top choices were 6 or 5.5 (!)--so i decided to retake the exam to try and up my overall score as well. I used www.number2.com and thought it was more challenging than some of the other resources out there--but they don't have full-length practice test (i don't think) which are a MUST. for the AW, i prepped a LOT and used a 15$ grading service from ETS to have THEM grade my essays. My first one was another 5 (!!) but then I did a second practice essay and got a 6. I also got a 6 as my official AW score. I would reccomend the essay grading service for anyone wanting a top AW score who just needs some tweaking. i honestly didn't take the AW as seriously as i could have the first time. studyordie. if you wanted to try the essay prep (I can't remember its official name, but you can click around on ets to find it, i'm sure) and have it grade you, maybe that would settle whether you wanted to shell out for the $55 or not? that way, it's only $15 (or maybe $10??) and if you get the same score, then you'll know. if you get a 6, then you might consider having them redo it? just a thought.

I applied to three sorts of safeties: one was a school where i couldn't find a clear ranking on them, but the faculty's interests were similar to mine, the funding is good, and the university is decent, the other is to a program with a low rank where I've heard the general grad school dept is good (maxwell @ syracuse), and the third is one where I've heard the not-quite-as-qualified applicants are bumped to the masters program with funding, rather than flat-out rejected (CMU). This way, if i just make it to one of the latter two schools, I'll still be able to progress toward a master and then reapply so I won't have any more breaks in my ed ...of course, there's always plan b as well

i would say 9 apps: 2 accepts 2 possible accepts 3 i have no freakin' ideas 2 rejects

Yeah, after a VERY informal assessment of my schools, I think the week after Valentine's day is when i'll start realistically expecting to hear back (of course i can hope to hear back sooner )

Nice, katanianQ! 1. it's refreshing to think of dealers so dedicated that they will deliver through rain, sleet, storm, or 12' snow 2. im glad my subfield is slightly broader, hah!