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I'm not sure what you mean by "usually grad schools contact you within three weeks if they accepted you." Grad school applications typically aren't on a rolling basis. Most NELC adcoms meet during the last week of January - last week of February. If you haven't heard by mid-March, then you should contact the schools (unless they historically have been known to admit later...), because likely you would've heard either way by then. Until then, wait it out.

So, there is *the* person that I want to work with at U Wisc. in their Sociology department (Community & Environmental Sociology, PhD track). This person would be a ridiculously good research fit for me, and I think I'm qualified (like everyone else who applies). Now, not always accurate, but Petersons.com, shows that these are their statistics: Average age 32. 195 applicants, 46% accepted, 25 enrolled. Is this skewed (e.g. the Ph.D. admissions/rejections are offset by a high admissions rate to an unfunded M.S. or something), because 46% is a high number for one of the best programs in the country. Thoughts on this? Also, any "unofficial" knowledge of the program's admissions process would be helpful (e.g. GRE cutoffs, making sacrifices to certain deities, etc).

I lived at ANTS while attending Hebrew College next door. If you end up going to ANTS, I would encourage you to take some courses at HC--it is a very challenging and rewarding experience.

FYI, the MTS/MDiv notifications (for HDS) has historically been made available on the second Friday (sometimes late Thursday) in March. I applied twice (rejected each time), and this happened both times.

Here's the deal. You have less than a 3.0 GPA. If you've graduated, it is pretty much too late to improve that, except if you try to do a post-bac somewhere (and that would most likely be prohibitively expensive). Your best bet is to score high on the GREs right now. I suggest memorizing Barron's 5000 word list and doing an intensive math review to start. Second, you can gain "work experience" in two ways: through an internship or through volunteer work. Build up that resume by doing things that are related to what you want to do with non-profit organizations who need volunteers.

I'm a grad student currently at Cornell. I don't know much about the math dept. though. This is my first year here, and clearly although it is a lot colder than Berkeley or UCLA, the weather is just as comparable to Boston (I lived in Cambridge for two years). There are opportunities to be social, if that's your thing (there is a graduate students night every Friday at the Big Red Barn), and a lot of hangout places in Collegetown or in the Commons. There are a billion student activity clubs if you want to be involved in those (http://sao.cornell.edu/SO/). As far as maintaining an Ivy perception, Cornell is like the public university of the Ivy league. Some people wear designer clothes, some people wear pajama pants. It really is whatever you want it to be. You can find whatever you want here. We aren't all wearing tweed coat jackets with leather patches eating brie and dom perignon. I suggest you visit if you can. You'll get a feel for the campus and the people here. Personally, I like it, but it might not be for everybody.

Oh, I know about STS -- I've taken graduate seminars in STS. I apologize if I was unclear. I was just wondering if anyone has spent time overseas doing anthropological fieldwork or anything of that sort (this is particularly in regards to HASTS, not applicable to where faculty seem to focus solely on History of Medicine, etc). I have only a few things (nothing significant) and I didn't know if that would be a big gap in my resume. I don't really know anything that isn't listed on the website. I'm just researching potential programs to apply to this fall.

I'm not sure about Georgetown, but I'd be VERY surprised if you didn't get in at Harvard MTS--most likely with a significant scholarship. They are notorious for accepting anyone above a 3.7 GPA, regardless of other qualifications.

I'm really interested in the MIT HASTS program (applying this fall)...any idea of what it takes to gain admissions? (Apparently, they only take 5/125 applicants.) I have (what I'd consider to be) decent academic stats: Two masters degrees, one from an Ivy...all above 3.7 GPA Presentation at an int'l conference An article published in a collection of essays on Near Eastern Studies Adjuncted 5 college classes Fluency in a research language (Arabic, Hebrew) (and I'm re-taking the GRE to try to break 1500...I'm also taking a class this semester from an alumna of the program in hopes of getting a good rec.) I am concerned that I don't have much fieldwork experience (or any...actually), though I'm applying for a Fulbright to remedy this. Does anyone know how much relevant work experience plays into admissions to this program? Do I sound competitive enough? My interests revolve around international agriculture/water resources in the middle east and development sociology.