elunia

Hi all, I applied for the DDIG Biological Anthropology section for the November 2015 deadline. I had a review date of 2/18/16, so based on past experiences I'll probably hear in 2-3 weeks. Does that sound about right? Anyone else apply/hear anything yet? This is my second time around, so fingers crossed!

Hi all, I've been gearing up to apply to the ACLS/Mellon fellowship, but looking at past successful applications I'm not sure I'm in the target field. I do bioarchaeology in an anthropology department, and I'm pretty focused on disease, ecology, diet, etc. So I'm solidly on the "science" side of "social science". By contrast, all the successful proposals for the fellowship are in parts of social science very closely allied with the humanities (sociocultural anthropology, Classical archaeology, etc., and not a single biological anthropology project that I could see). What do you y'all think? Worth applying or should I focus my energy elsewhere? Thanks!

Just signed in and saw "pending", wrote to Rebecca Ferrell and she responded quite quickly... not funded I'll read the reviews and try again next round!

Where do you see those status updates? Are they in fastlane? I still haven't heard anything

Hi all, Thought I'd start a separate thread for the Bio Anth section of the DDIG. I applied for the March 12th deadline. The response times seem to be quite varied, depending on when the review committee meets. Anyway, I'm not expecting to hear for a few months, but it can't hurt to start worrying now....

As a follow up: a week or so after the deadline when I hadn't received an email response, I called the office again and this time I got a very polite and helpful confirmation that they had received my application. Phew!

Thanks so much Secret_Ninja! That does make me feel better! I sent them an email today as well, so they'll have a record that I applied before the deadline. Fingers crossed!

Hi all, I just submitted my applicaton for the Sigma Delta Epsilon/Graduate Women in Sciences National Fellowship. I'm confused about the online application portal. I hit "submit" and was taken to the payment page for the application fee (I'm a member so it was $0). Once I went through that, I just got a page thanking me for my "order" and an email confirmation for my "order" of the $0 appication fee. No email confirming that they received my application itself. I called to check, and spoke to someone in the office who said she would get back to me. I'm worried because it's due at midnight tonight. Anyone else have this experience? Thanks!

It arrive at 11:30 AM. My main issue is I can't know what my study sites/populations are until I arrive in person at the collections in China (no central database, no way to know for sure what's there without literally walking through the collection room). So there won't be any point in applying againin May, since I won't be in China till June. Good luck everyone!

Tomorrow it was. Just got the rejection email - didn't make the first round cut. The main point of the reviewer comments was that I wasn't detailed enough in my methods and study population, which makes sense. But it also says I used only half the space in the application, which I did not realize I had done. In fact I thought my essays filled the entire space on the application form? Congrats to anyone who did make the cut!

I applied as well, since as you said Cicero it wasn't much extra work. Yeah bummer that it's such a long time till we hear. I will be on my way to the field already at that point!

On the one hand, of course want to advance to round 2, on the other hand, if I don't advance I won't have to wait until April for a deifnite answer!! I'll just do my best not to think about it until we hear. Incidentally, anyone have any experience with the Lewis and Clark?

I'm a bioarchaeology grad student with a project in China. How about yourself? Does anyone know when the first-round decisions went out last year?

Hi huntress, Is there a reason you want to get an MA and not go straight to a PhD? An MA can be the right move for some people, but if you skip the MA you will avoid tons of debt an shave some time off your total grad career. But, it can also help to sort out your interests and boost credentials before the PhD applications. I went straight to PhD, so that's just my opinion. If you do this option, I'd also consider taking some time off before grad school, it can keep you sane and give you perspective. When I started applying for bioarch places I looked at the AAPA's website's list of programs and went to every single school's website to narrow down where there were people I was interested in working with. You should consider what kind of training you want: some schools are straight up bioanth/bioarch, and others incorporate training in archaeology and anthro more generally, which obviously gives you a different perspective. (I'm in the latter type of program.) If you have only done labwork so far, I would VERY strongly suggest you do a bioarch field school. Even if you don't plan to be a field researcher, you need to see how excavations work to understand the biases/problems/issues of the material you'll be seeing in the lab, and it will help in your grad apps. Also check out Arizona State, Ohio State, the NYCEP consortium in NYC (all heavily bioanth programs) - there are plenty of programs out there, but again the focus might be different in each.

I agree with aforman1 that you should take a break when it feels natural. The correlate of that is not to feel pressured to hurry into grad school. Especially PhD programs are a LONG slog (the most apt metaphor I've heard is a marathon), and you will not be as successful or happy if you are burned out. I was a traditional undergrad, and did two years off (AmeriCorps and nonprofit work), and I'm so glad I did. I wouldn't even have known what subfield to apply for if I'd tried to go straight out of college. My work experience has been very helpful for my personal development and perspective.

PS Besdies talking to profs at your home institution, if they aren't being super helpful you can always write to/arrange to skype with profs at other schools (it might be a good idea in any case, and is definitely a good idea if you're applying to PhD programs at their instutitions). At least in my experience, in the US, most people in the field are surprisingly friendly and willing to help. Also, not being multilingual should not stop you - language skills are just one skill among many you may have to pick up to do your work. A little more time invested now may mean a more fruitful and rewarding career later.

Hi there, It sounds like you're asking good questions, and you do have some time to adjust your studies before finishing your MA. Are you hoping for an academic career or more "applied anthropology"? If you want to go into academics, you'll need to get a PhD. If you do apply for a PhD program, you should focus your studies around a question or topic that interests you. If you choose a subfield because you think it will get you a job, but it's not your first interest, you'll be miserable. If you're going straight into the workforce after the MA, look for statistics on fields that anthropology MAs go to work in. Ask at your institution if they have data on where alums have ended up. Think about what kind of work you are interested in, and then think about which skills you need to acquire in the last year of your program. I don't know that there is a way to avoid fieldwork in anthropology, but you don't have to travel to the other side of the world to do it. Many people in my program are doing their work (archaeology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology) right here in the region of the country where our university is. Many of them have families as well. Hope that helps!

Columbia's physical anthropology is mostly focused on primatology, and is in a separate department from archaeology anyway. Not a great fit for bioarch. Arizona State and WashU are considered some of the best programs, but cast a wide net. I started my application process with the AAPA's list of programs (http://physanth.org/career/departmental-graduate-programs-in-physical-anthropology), and just went down school by school reading the department websites and faculty profiles. The best way to determine fit is to read up on the websites about professors' interests, and even look up some of their publications, then contact people you might be interested in working with. As for MA vs PhD, if you know you want to do a PhD eventually and think you could get in, why saddle yourself with the debt of an MA? I passed up applying to masters in bioarch in the UK, though I would have loved to do one, so that I could start on a PhD, which almost always comes with a funding package. You can even start looking for outside funding (NSF Grad Research Fellowship), if you feel ready to write a short research proposal. (But if you do want to do a masters, look at the MSc programs in the UK - they're usually 1 year, and can be cheaper than an American private university.)

Yeah, where did you hear this?? I was planning to reserve in my first year, yikes!

When you teach abroad, look for a program that will pay you a salary AND give you language lessons. Is there an area of the world you're interested in?

I have met many students with a solid bio background going into phys anth. It definitely serves them well. I had an archaeology background and was still able to make the switch when I applied for PhD programs, but wish I had a more solid science background; I'll be playing catch-up my first couple years! I think you just need to make it clear in your applications how your experience so far led you to your current interests, and to have a specific topic you'd like to research. The best thing you could do would probably be to talk to profs in the field, they will have the best perspective on this.

121 viewers! Is that a record for this thread? EDIT: 123!

Wow are we really thinking it's coming tonight then?? I was determined not to think about this award at all after submitting the application - I don't think I have a shot (first time applying) and I was frankly more worried about just getting in somewhere! But now that I'm into a great school, I can start worrying about something new! I applied in Social Sciences - Physical Anthropology.

Don't forget to factor in visits to programs. If you go before apps are due, they will most likely not reimburse you for travel, but if they invite you to visit you should consider going. Most of my interview/accepted student visits were reimbursed. In the end I spent around $1000 as well, between app fees (to 9 schools), ordering GRE scores, and travel.

I'm glad other people are discussing this. OP: If you get in this year, you should go and just do your best, and you will have a shot at a good career based on your own work. And for you, maybe being with your SO is the right decision, since being apart will affect your quality of life. This is the one aspect of my overall very successful round of applications that is keeping me from getting really excited about starting a program. My bf and I have been together for 4 1/2 years, living together for several years. I got into a bunch of schools, including one right here in the city where my bf and I live. However, it definitely wasn't a good fit for me compared to some of the others. In the end, I went with the program that felt right for me, though it is a 1 hour flight away. I think I will like it: great PoI, great area to live in, other students really supportive, seems like people have good school/life balance.... But my bf isn't happy about this decision. He wanted me to stay here, but I would have really struggled for the 6-7 years it would take to finish, whereas now I have a shot at a good and fulfilling grad school career. As for him, he is looking to leave his current job. He was planning to look here where we live now (a good place for his industry), but since I'm leaving this city he feels no reason to stay. He is now looking for jobs in Europe (he's a dual citizen). Objectively, this would be a great career move for him, and to be fair I shouldn't expect him to limit himself for me, when I didn't limit myself for him. However, there's a big difference between a 1 hour flight and a 7 hour flight, or 10 hour 2-legged flight. We love each other a lot and are super happy together, and being apart is extremely difficult, but I just didn't see a way around this decision. If either of us gave up something to stay with the other, I think we'd feel bitter, but I'm afraid my bf is bitter about my decision anyway. It's really bugging me, and I don't know what to do. I don't want to feel guilty about my successes, but I don't want to lose him!