NOWAYNOHOW

I submitted my first 3 over the last couple of days. I don't know what is more difficult - submitting them or not going over the materials obsessively afterwards!

How are we feeling about funding at Amherst? I was not enthused by their support info. It sounds like they don't fund 50% of the incoming cohort?

Last year I watched all 5 seasons of Fringe - highly recommend if you are looking for a pretty decent show and something engrossing enough to keep your mind from application results.

Yikes! Just submitted my first application. One down, nine to go! FYI, I only submitted early (early-ish) because I noticed my recommendation writers wouldn't get notifications until after I submitted. This was for UMass Amherst, so if you are applying there, here's your warning. Does anyone know of any other programs that have this weird feature?

The one thing I have been stubborn about is my writing sample. If it was good enough as a distinguished thesis, it's fine now. I don't want to look at it. I've read it so many times that the "tiny little turds" don't even stick out, so the whole exercise is futile. I can't wait to submit my applications and pretend my life is not in the hands of a bunch of professors who don't know me from a log. Speaking of, I had a POI meeting yesterday and it was totally weird! They invited me, first of all, out of the blue, saying there was a colloquium talk after I should attend. Our meeting was very pleasant, but they had no questions for me or anything to say regarding the department and its program. It was like getting in was an afterthought! I had to make conversation and try to direct our conversation either to my research or theirs, but it was bizarre to say the least. Very different from the other POI meetings I've had so far. I mean, it wasn't bad. It just wasn't...anything? A nice enough professor though! Anyone else have any totally bonkers POI tales?

I agree, though seeing the quirks of different application interfaces has been pretty weird. MIT's is easily the most low-tech I've seen. You have to manually email your letter writers their form email!

Trogdor, if you want to do an SOP swap (do you?) I'd be into it, since you're medical and so am I...let me know!

This is actually great advice, but it is also making me LOL a bit -- "No more than a sentence should be devoted to your undergraduate career...You are a Chicago graduate now" and "We will not jeopardize the the cachet MAPSS has achieved with the major social science doctoral programs across the country by appearing to support half-baked applications" and "This is, after all, Chicago."

I have reached out to a lot of POIs this cycle (about 30) and more than half have responded thoughtfully. Some queries have panned out into larger conversations (IRL, phone, email) and some have not, but they have all usefully provided information I should incorporate into my SOP. Examples of the kind of things I've learned about via exchanges with POIs: - Emerging department projects and areas of interest (ie. "We are increasingly focusing on X and Y") - Incoming faculty - Centers/working groups/research institutes/labs relevant to my topic - Faculty in other departments I should mention - Graduate students doing similar or complementary work A lot of the email exchanges fill in the blanks of what isn't always online or readily accessible through GSAS-type sites. The tips they've been supplying will, I hope, really make my "Why X university" section stand out. Just an FYI on why this type of communication has been valuable.

I don't agree. 5 pages of bibliography (single spaced) seems like quite a lot for a 2 page (single spaced) document. If you are citing with particular regularity, and if you did indeed cite for each professor you'd like to work with (about 4 per program, 1-2 citations each), I imagine it would break up the text structurally/visually and potentially make it look like you were compensating for not reading their work by using information available on Google Scholar. I mean, I'm not in a PhD program, but I do edit academic writing for a living and have published some of my own, and I know that the SOP shouldn't look like a lit review. It seems to me there is a difference between "fully cited" and citing too much. I think you can talk about, say, the methodological power of ethnography and not cite Malinowski, just as I think you can talk about discipline without citing Foucault. Perhaps I misinterpreted your use of "fully cited," but I know it is easy to get carried away with citations in a literal sense (being too thorough) and symbolic (check out all the stuff I know).

I'm not citing anyone for ontology (my MA thesis was on multiple ontologies, so that is where it gets mentioned. If they want citations they can enjoy the million citations on ontology in my writing sample) and citations on affect have more to do with the topic (ie. emerging scholarship on X where affect is a big part of it, not just work on affect itself). Hope that makes sense! I know this sounds confusing! I think Heidegger and Negri are fine!

Reflecting back on my initial post about theory in the SOP, I think I was over thinking the whole question. Coming from what is essentially a critical theory department, "theory" as I have known it is a bit different (see: unnecessarily complicated) than what it should be in an SOP (unless theory is your thing). For example, theory is not my thing, so my SOP just addresses embodiment and affect (and ontology, to a degree) where it needs to and mentions both foundational studies in my area of interest and emerging work by younger scholars, etc, etc, does the editing ever end? Thanks DayKid!

Because my project could work in other disciplines (STS, American Studies, Public Health) this has been a major aim of my SOP. I am also switching disciplines, so it has been a priority throughout. I think the key isn't asking if the project is anthropological enough, but if you can and do frame it as such. For example, I am mentioning anthropologists currently producing similar work and the anthropology literature that has gotten me to this point. I also discuss in great detail what anthropology can do in my topic that other inquiries cannot, with a special emphasis on the power of ethnography as a method and what it does and can do. It sounds abstract, but if you can answer these questions in regard to your topic (I like to think of anthropology as squeaking through cracks in the system, going where other disciplines just can't for one reason or another) you should be fine. With that said, if you find yourself unable to answer these, or even unable to conceptualize a potential field study, then yeah, it might not be anthropological enough. Finally, it's worth noting (and I don't know if this applies to you too) that faculty at many different places have told me that because my work is US-based, it is automatically seen as 'less anthropological' and that detail works against me from the outset. If that does apply to you, it might be worth really focusing on this part of your proposal - why anthropology, and why you are qualified to do anthropology.

Is anyone going to AAA in DC this year? I'm going to be there and it would be fun to meet some other applicants! Thoughts?

I think I'm going to keep my list of 10 a bit quiet until I know where I am at (it was too depressing last year when I just kept crossing things off after putting them out there!) but I'm very aware of programs pretty much anywhere in the northeast. I just can see when I'm obviously not going to be a fit (like I said, BU, Harvard, but also Princeton, Temple...). If you are super curious it probably isn't that hard to guess, or you can PM me. I have another question or two for the crowd -- where are you at with your SOP and theory? I had a couple professors tell me the SOP was great, but another that it seemed like it wasn't yet fully theorized; however, that professor comes from critical media studies, and the others anthropology...I have nods to other fundamental studies on my topics, I mention some theory (from my MA thesis) but haven't devoted space to it otherwise. Seems odd unless it's a big part of your orientation, right? Like, I'm not here for continuing my work on ontology, so I didn't elaborate. Secondly, are you going over a lot of what is included in your CV + transcripts in your SOP? Last year I used a lot of SOP space to explain why I was qualified for graduate study in anthropology (talking about courses, professors I'd already worked with) and I struck out, so haven't done much of that this year besides mention my MA work, my thesis adviser (prominent in my field), and how that project connects to proposed PhD work. I've so far left out my teaching and professional experience (R1 research)...maybe that is a mistake? 1,000 words is not a lot of words! tl;dr are you including a lot of theory in your SOP? Are you reiterating a lot of stuff from your CV + transcripts in your SOP? Thoughts? Off topic, but a POI elsewhere warned me about the $$$ at Berkeley - even if they do fund you, I was discouraged from applying because of an "unreasonably low" stipend.

After initially making a giant list of over 25 schools (including media studies, STS and communications programs) I have whittled my list down to 10 programs (9 anthropology, 1 STS). I've reached out to at least 3 faculty members at 9 of the schools (30+ faculty total), and have already had 2 in-person meetings with POIs, one of whom helpfully proofed my SOP. Another POI asked to see my MA thesis. Last year I applied to 7 programs, reached out to only about 5 POIs and had no in-person meetings with anyone. I got in nowhere. I'm hoping this strategy will work out better. I'm already feeling a lot more confident and less nervous than during my first application cycle, despite finding that this topic (very different from last time) is not easy to frame as being a "nice fit" for most places. I also have already cut down my thesis from 50+ pages to writing sample length (25 pages not including works cited), and locked-in my letter writers. I sent my GRE scores and transcripts to places that request official or hard copies. Still need to update my CV and configure my SOP for each program, but otherwise well on my way. I have hit some snags: it seems like funding overall for my area is in decline, I fit best with a program in a geographic location that isn't personally feasible and my #1 choice POI is probably leaving their department, sooooooooooo Is 10 programs enough? I am limited to a geographic region and there are a few programs I am not applying to, as well as cities I haven't considered despite being doable-ish. For example, I have nothing in DC on my list and am not applying to BU or Harvard (I don't think I'm a great fit for either). How is your process going? Where are you at? How are you feeling?

Honestly I drew the line with the GRE. I bombed the math, but with a full-time job, teaching and other responsibilities, I had to weigh the importance of literally relearning all of high school math (either myself or by taking a GRE course AGAIN) and just focusing on my other application factors. I decided my life was more important than math, and if that keeps me out of academia forever, then I don't even want to join their stupid math club.

Last year I let the fear of my competition cripple me -- all I did was focus on what I didn't have (field work, publications, good GRE scores) when I SHOULD have been working on developing connections between what I did have. I am not letting that happen this year, and I don't think anyone else should either. When it comes down to it, competition only matters between people with the same or similar topic focuses. Don't let it get you down!

I'm trying to stay anonymous, given that letting on too much about my topic would make it very easy for someone to identify me with a quick google search.

Like, hypothetically, say you are proposing a study of doctors that also love banana splits that live in a certain part of Baltimore. If you don't already work with doctors, or banana split producers, or at least in Baltimore, part of your SOP, as I understand it, needs to show that you have the ability to actually procure access to this community. Obviously, sometimes it is a question of language (if these were Mexican doctors who love banana splits, you'd need to speak Spanish) or of expertise (if it is nuclear engineers who love banana splits, you need to understand a little nuclear engineering). In my case, I want to work in a very small regulated sector and despite having a lot of knowledge and critical understanding, I've had trouble so far gaining physical access (digital is a different story) to the people I want to study. I haven't worked with/around them, etc. Hope that makes sense.

I'd count that as field work -- I don't think it has to be methodologically sanctioned to count. It just means hands-on work with your population of choice. I don't have that IRL (not counting media ethnography/digital ethnographic etc), but am still trying! That is my plan, but I get nervous about proving "access," which is crucial to my proposed study. Thanks!!

I am worried about not having field experience before applying, especially since I am coming from outside the discipline. I have an MA, teaching experience, coursework and some minor publications, but am having a lot of trouble (due to my work schedule and the difficulty of getting access to an already secretive and regulated sector) actually getting into the field. Last year I struck out (for multiple reasons!) and a lot of helpful people from this board let me see their SOPs after the fact. The most common thing I found among these applicants, outside of being strong students with defined goals, was that they highlighted experience in the field they'd already done, successfully showing committees that they were able to accomplish the doctoral work they were proposing. What are your thoughts on this? Is someone coming from another discipline just going to have to be able to prove they can work in the field before beginning the PhD? Do you have field experience already? Are you trying to get it now?

I think the value in it is probably knowing from the source what people are working on. For example, I recently ontacted a POI and while I thought she was a good match for me overall, I couldn't have known that her next project was an even better fit. Now we are planning to meet in person to chat. I'd say those are the rare 'wins' in the process of reaching out to a POI. The other side of that is when you think someone is a fit, but they can tell you that they are moving away from your area of interest or even taking a leave/sabbatical and this changes how you relate to them, etc. etc. Hope that is helpful.

I think you are expected to have a high GPA and that's pretty much a given. If you already have an MA, I don't think your UG GPA counts as much, but then you're expected to have an even better MA GPA. I hate the GRE and I have a v. respectable verbal score, but an abysmal quant score. I'm not sure if I'm going to retake, as I have heard it is not a big deal with many schools and if you come to over 300/1200 it's supposedly fine. This is a very personal choice and it is a big risk, but I feel my other qualifications speak more for my accomplishments than a test score. I don't know anything about USC, sorry!