kandai

Don't take my word for it! There are many experiences out there. Just, getting a Master's in liberal arts doesn't really train you for any field in particular and employers know this for sure, and MAPSS is just 9 months. I'd suggest doing a two year program that will allow you to network more deeply, which is really how most people find jobs out of grad school as far as I can see. Just one person's opinion! And if it's your dream school then go for it!

@purpleatheart1994 MAPSS is really what you make of it. I had a not so great experience with the MAPSS career department when I was there and looking for jobs in 2012 (they were basically useless for my line of work), but I'm sure other people had better experiences. There is absolutely no guarantee you'll land a job after a liberal arts M.A., so if that's your goal I'd think hard about it. Since you're a U.S. citizen, though, you won't have any time constraints, which is positive.

@G_speed Ditto. I'd imagine they do interview people based on past results tho. Sadly not good news for us. Such is life.

@SmauelJ Wondering the same. It's also not clear to me if everyone who is accepted gets interviewed...?

@grcalt It was a really generic letter in their application system. I got an email with a link to the update. I don't believe they wrote anything specific about acceptances. They're probably figuring out funding offers, which might take some time.

Question--I was accepted to Case Western Reserve's Anthropology graduate program earlier this month and it's unclear to me why they make the distinction on their current graduate student profiles between "Graduate" and "PhD." It appears all of the current students listed on the department page are Phd candidates, but sometimes their "type," which is listed in its own column, is listed as "Phd" and sometimes as "Graduate." Any ideas?

@grcalt I got a rejection last week from Berkeley's med anth program after interviewing with them on the 29th. If you haven't heard you might be on a waitlist? Secretly breathing a sigh of relief--cost of living there is crazy.

It's hard to maintain perspective in the face of rejections, but just look on the bright side -- if we don't get in to our chosen programs we are probably on track to be ahead financially and practically in life over those who sacrifice six or seven years at poverty level fellowships and stipends. I applied to seven schools, interviewed at one and then rejected from that school plus two others. No word yet from the other four, but implied rejections from two of them are expected. I'm not hopeful at this stage and ready to move on with my life. Graduate school is not the only path to happiness and knowledge, just one of them.

Are we sure that if you haven't received an interview request from Harvard or Yale that you are out for this cycle? I ask because there was just one interview reported for each, while in past years there were several. Anyone?

@HealthyAnthro Were you the other interview on the 29th?

My Berkeley interview for med anth went badly (my gut feeling). I was just way too nervous and word vomited. Sigh. I'd just like to have a definitive answer. My interview was on Jan 29th and it's been longer than the week they said it would take for an answer, which I am taking to mean bad news, along with the added interview two days after mine (I'm taking to mean they didn't like me, so they went on to another promising candidate). Mentally moving on, but would like that closure. Also what the heck are they looking for in a candidate when they stick to a 15 minute interview slot? Ok... mine was 17 minutes, but that was because they allowed me to ask one question.

@perpetualalligator--Just one, though? Judging by past years there should be several interviews reported around the same time.

@perpetualalligator I'm wondering the same thing. I've gotten one interview and one rejection, but haven't seen anything posted about or heard anything from the other five programs that I've applied to. Have also checked the status on the online apps which says "submitted" for all five. I guess it's just a waiting game? I saw one blip from someone claiming an interview from Yale last week, but nothing else. Anyone?

I'm in a similar boat, now waiting on app news for Fall 2019. I'm also 30 (married no kids), working at an international development/research organization in a city I like, but started feeling the itch to pursue PhD level research after my experiences in the field managing/implementing development programs. If I get into a program I'll be 31, but my gut tells me my experiences in the field and conducting ethnographic research will put me at an advantage to younger, less experienced students, as will my professional contacts. I do not hope to be a professor, so these contacts are important for employment later on. I also worked in CRM before getting my masters in the U.S. southwest region (based in CA). I was an archaeologist (mostly survey/monitoring work and report writing) and found it to be highly enjoyable but knew that it wasn't enough for me as a career. I also wasn't trained in archaeology beyond a two month field school I attended one summer. It seems to me that most young PhD students I know have a skewed view of the world because of a lack of experience. (Also entirely possible that I have a skewed view of PhD students...). In any case, I think age may work to your advantage (I hope mine as well!). Cheers.

My experience with MAPSS was somewhat similar (2011/12). I found the academic experience to be lacking, coming from a very strong anthro undergrad program and having done ethnographic research for my undergrad thesis and having already been published in a major journal. I spent much of my time in MAPSS by myself, studying and wishing for the program to be over and to be far far away from my cohort, many of whom did a lot of complaining and seemed arrogant for no reason. It's just not possible for most people to accomplish much in terms of research in nine months, and most of the UChicago professors know this. My advisor was mostly a joke and clearly didn't care about his MA students (really the feeling was mutual), though my preceptor was very helpful. I did graduate with an "A" on my thesis and with a 3.9 GPA after doing what felt like little new academic work (most of what we did in classes, except for 500 level, I had already read/analyzed as an undergrad). MAPSS was very much a tick in the box for my resume and a tick in the financial box for UChicago (read: cash cow), though I was on a partial scholarship. I went on to work in international development abroad and now hold a senior position at a U.S.-based organization which I enjoy. However I am waiting on PhD apps for Fall 2019 after six years of relevant work experience outside of academia, so we'll see about that. I'd say if you're considering MAPSS, go in knowing that it's a short program and that it is what you make of it. It's more difficult to make professors take notice of you because they know you'll be gone in less than a year. Much of what you study might be repeat from undergrad, and your thesis will likely not be taken seriously (and why should it after two to three months of research?).