Armadilla

I have a similar question: how do you actually know if your application is complete?There seems to be no way to find out.

Were you that guy on the cover of Forbes magazine last month?

Thank you, Anthroman!That was very comprehensive!I have another question: as an international, I presume I can't apply for the NSF Fellowship, so I will just ask about your particular experience with their feedback. You mentioned that they found some parts amateurish, could you please give an example of what could come across as amateurish in a SOP?I just decided to apply for the 2013 cycle (although I still might apply for a terminal MA program this year because their deadline is an April, I am still debating it, because it's a two-year commitment and yet another cycle of the student visa ordeal) and find the best application strategy before I submit my package to the Ph.D. programs. P.S. Congrats on the UCSB acceptance!My thesis supervisor went there and it seems like a really great school!

Janusnor, I spent two years on Riverside (east Austin) and that was extremely dangerous. I would never ever recommend an out-of-town person to live there, especially if you are international. My french friend got assaulted in his own apartment on Riverside!!!He was so freaked out!As an international student, I would strongly recommend to stay away from Riverside and get an apartment somewhere around West Campus. Plus, you can always live in the Co-ops, there are plenty of them and they are a lot of fun!!And there is one for international students too!

Congrats, Anthroman!I remember reading your posts last year, this is really awesome you got in!!!I have a question: how was your strategy different this year?Did you pay attention more to some things in your application package and less to the others?

How did you get interested in Russian and Slavic studies?It's always so cool to meet people who are genuinely interested in my culture!

Well, I don't know if you know this very prevalent feature of Russians (and some other Slavs, too)-- we are very superstitious so we don't ever say where exactly we are applying or what exactly we are trying to achieve until after the results are announced, otherwise you are gonna attract a 'bad luck' (and there is a long anthropological explanation of why we act like that, it's complicated ) But my concentration is anthropological linguistics, so just basically looking at some pieces of Russian literature through the lenses of anthropology and comparative linguistics.

yep (but I am applying only to one program in Russian lit, all my other applications are in a different field)?what is your concentration?Literature or linguistics?Russian or Polish?

I totally agree with you, guys. Anthrogeek, there were some good presentations from NYU in Montreal, but I definitely wouldn't say that this year's AAA's were dominated by that department. I really don't get newleaf's fascination with all the elite schools. It makes sense in our highly "stratified society", but this kind of thinking is really far away from anthropology and the nature of anthropological thought. I think that kind of thinking is more applicable to an MBA.

ehhh...I am 2 blocks away from the University of Texas at Austin (if that's the UT you are talking about) . Anyways, most of my friends who are in the PhD programs at UT (anthro and linguistics) not only did an MA at a number of very much unknown schools from texas (although, to be fair, all these schools are located located an hour 9or 2 hours) away from UT so everybody knows everyone) but also did their undergrad at some foreign universities that never come up on the US News report or whatever. The big research universities are not looking for a stratified sampling of East Coast elites from Beacon Hill (if that's what you are talking about), they are looking for people who can actually DO the research because in the end, those are the people who make these universities so prominent and outstanding.

Well, if you are into feminist anthropology and effect of bipolar drugs on the brain cognition or something, then Dr. Martin's letter can get into a program where there is FIT, i.e., a professor who studies similar issues and actually sees some potential in you. If she just barely knows you, I doubt that a letter of rec might make that big of a difference. However, if she REALLY knows you and is willing to support your candidacy and even go out of her way and give whoever a call, then you definitely have that competitive advantage that other people do not have. The irony is, you can have all these perks without going to NYU--you just have to work hard, go out of your way and do interesting research projects on the national or international level.

BrazilianGuy, are you applying for anthropology as well? que legal!

I agree with Vaar!In current linguistic anthropology, there is so much research that does not require any knowledge of a foreign language. Plus, sign language is algo a huge field in linguistic anthropology!I worked as a foreign language captionist for students with disabilities and although it was a big challenge for them (some of them could not hear at all), they all did very well eventually!One student (who could not hear at all and who was not a native English speaker nor a speaker of a European language!!) did so well in his classes that he always scored the highest on the exams in all of his language courses!He was just so dedicated and passionate about it, he was amazing!I can see him working as a translator (especially of some academic texts) because his grammar (in some of those languages) was impeccable, he worked really hard!

Guys!I am not applying to linguistics, but I thought I would ask your advice about the Ivy League applications (I presume the deadlines are the same for my field and linguistics, December 31, January 1, January 2). How do you guys know that they received your transcripts and GRE scores?

Honestly, my advice would be (I speak 7 languages and have gone through this "which language should I study?" ordeal): FOCUS on 1 language and do not over stress yourself with all these other linguistic temptations. Plus, you really do not need to take a formal course in order to be able to speak the language. In fact, I've met so many people who have taken all these languages in college and I was shocked they couldn't really communicate in those languages. recently, I've made friends with a couple of people from one of the best Russian language programs at this Ivy League school (I don't wanna name it) and they 1)majored in Russian 2) did a semester abroad 3) could not communicate with me in Russian even when they were drunk (which is sad!). I would definitely recommend taking a formal course in Farsi because it is a very challenging Indo-European language for an English speaker and the writing system is also something you would wanna be trained on. Just remember one thing: speaking a foreign language is YOUR own achievement which has nothing to do with your grades for the language course. You have to be able to keep up with it, watch the movies, listen to the radio/music, chat on those social networks, read newspapers, make friends and understand a totally different culture without even visiting the country and finally, just fall in love with it and make this language a part of your EVERY DAY life. Hope this helps )

Jimmy, t'inquiète pas!!! Je peux pas continuer en français ici, alors en anglais: I would just not even worry about it!I know tons of engineers from my home country who got in with stellar quant scores and a very low verbal (something around 320-400). A lot of them got into a number of really good engineering schools (UT Austin, CUNY, not sure about Stanford) Although, it would definitely be very helpful if you had a professor of interest at the university who could bat for you. You don't even have to get too personal and explain the GRE situation, just make sure the professor knows who you are and is very interested in working with you. PM me if you have any questions! P.S. I would also like to comment on the statements above such as "people score really high and the score is based on their intelligence" and so on. This might be true for the native speakers, but I'm sorry, when you are not familiar with this whole standardized testing system it has nothing to do with your intelligence! On the actual GRE test I haven't seen a word I didn't know (because I learned over a 1000 words for the test!), but the other day I found the word "sartorial" on the official GRE guide and I am not a native speaker of a Latin-based language nor have I ever had a privilege to use tailoring services in my home country, so does failing a question with the word "sartorial" define my verbal abilities?Or maybe my intelligence??Of course not!

Texas State just celebrated the opening of a huge forensic anthropology lab (on Freeman Ranch which has a huge body farm) and you might want to contact some of bio or forensic anthropology professors at the department and tailor your interests towards their research. They are pretty approachable!

I suspected something like this would happen with U of Wash, because they have already cut their funds for international students tremendously, so it doesn´t look that surprising to me.

Anthropologygeek, so if I email a POI this weekend would it be too late?Kind of late?Good timing?

I'm applying to cultural and but I've considered a bio anthro option as well, I just haven't found a POI in that area yet. How about you?What area of physical/medical interests you the most?

Have you ever been to AAA conference or any other conference before?Is it the AAA conference that seems intimidating to you or just a general experience at that kind of events?What exactly feels awkward?

Hey everybody! I'm applying to cultural anthropology PhD programs and I've been a passionate reader of Grad Cafe since this March!!Finally, it's my time to apply and it is a little bit scary but fun!I still need to take the GRE, finish my thesis, find a job, and graduate in December!I was also wondering, do you guys think it's a little bit late to contact professors in mid-August?I am a bit worried about that too!

So, is anybody going to Montreal this year?I am currently in so much doubt about whether or not I should go. My poster presentation has been accepted, so I will be able to present, but is it really worth going since it's only the poster presentation (I am international student and I will have to run into a ton of issues with the Canadian visa (interview at the embassy required, very expensive, a lot of documents required) and Department of Homeland security when I will be returning to the US. I can figure out how to deal with all these requirements and regulations, but it is VERY difficult and my main question is basically is it really worth it (would it be beneficial when I apply to Grad School?) I would really appreciate everybody's opinions!

I just go to the local book store and do the drills from the Princeton´s Verbal workbook- after comparing all of them, I think I will actually by McGraw-Hill's verbal but I don't want to spend $20 on Princeton's Verbal because I don't even like it (and the author is different from Princeton's General book so the techniques and explanations are slightly different and I don't like them)