NOWAYNOHOW

I'm so glad you all responded! Thank you for the awesome advice. Anthropologie, I guess I should clarify, I am at NYU now doing my (mostly-funded) MA in another department. It's a pretty interdisciplinary degree, so I am taking multiple courses in the NYU Anthropology Department with anth facutly. I think that probably translates into what postbacc credits would do for my transcript, except now they count toward my current degree! I think I am more worried about being able to translate my experience in the discipline to departments at other universities. Is it just having anth faculty recommenders? Do I need field experience? Is it just a matter of really connecting with professors that dig my interests? Or proving that my work is relevant? What sparked all this is one of my profs saying that the department preferred more traditional candidates, though they do make exceptions. But aren't most departments moving toward a more interdisciplinary approach anyway? I find it hard to imagine "traditional" candidates when even places like Columbia have really let loose a little...

I'm not applying this round, but would be interested to hear about your experience applying (and potentially getting accepted) to cultural anthropology programs without having a BA or MA in the field. I will be applying in the fall with an MA in media/cultural studies that includes a semester's worth of credits taken in my university's anthropology department. My work lands somewhere between STS/science studies and medical anthropology, so not every anthropology department is right for me; however, there are definitely a few (NYU, for example) that do welcome this kind of research. Thoughts, anecdotes, serious warnings and ominous portents are all appreciated. Hope you're having a lucky application season!

I just finished my first term with MCC at NYU. I'm pretty happy with the program--it is very theoretical, I wouldn't recommend it for people looking for professional media industry prep. You can PM me if you have more questions.

The graduate admissions coordinator informed me they were still reviewing my file and promised to let me know when a decision is made. The GAC has no reason to lie; if they had rejected me, I would know by now. That makes me think they aren't even done reviewing the stack of misplaced applications! Plus, considering they had already sent out all notifications and THEN noticed the slush pile, it means that the people in that pile were being read against an already-full list of admitted students. They can't just increase their number of admitted students to accommodate a few files that fell through the cracks, because it would skew the number that generally produces their desired yield. It's like if you applied to a program that was already full--your chances of admission are considerably lower because there's just no room for new students. All I'm saying is that I wish they'd be honest and let me know what is really going on. I don't even care if I get my application fee back. I'd rather get a fair shot then a refund, you know?

I don't want to get TOO specific, but I applied to program X and program X has already sent out all of their notifications, including rejections and wait list information. I hadn't heard anything, so I figured that maybe they were staggering notifications. I emailed someone in admissions and that person informed me my file was still under review, which struck me as odd considering I know the majority of decisions had already been made. I shrugged it off. The next day, I saw a post on another blog from a fellow applicant to program X saying that someone in the department had called offering a spot in the program, and had apologized for the delay as they had misplaced a stack of applications and only noticed they had missed these until after all notifications had gone out. They said this would be the final admitted applicant. I didn't want to assume I was in that stack of misplaced applications, so I politely emailed the person who contacted the other applicant requesting a status update and received no response. When I followed up with my contact in admissions (they had promised to make an inquiry to the department on my behalf) I was informed that they hadn't responded to the initial request. At this point, I have to assume my file is one of the ones that was overlooked during the initial admissions process and is only being reviewed now. Of course I expect that since program X has already admitted the new class, I will be rejected regardless of the quality of my work. Still, no one will admit to me that yes, my application was misplaced. Am I jumping to conclusions? Or am I right to ask for my application fee back if I am rejected next week with no explanation or admission of guilt on the program's part? Normally I wouldn't make a big deal about something like this, but I only applied to this program and am totally qualified to attend! I made it clear to the program that if offered a spot, I will accept...but now I'm stuck in limbo! Help!