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Hello all, I'm a PhD student about halfway through here. I've been using my program to apply geospatial sciences and remote sensing methods to specific emerging issues in polar regions. I'm angling to develop an expertise in research methods that will be in wide demand by the time I finish... I don't have any intention of entering academia. In the process of my research I've been getting exposed to other areas of research in other parts of the world. I was wondering how hard it is to maneuver to other areas of research when my dissertation research is so focused on a specific topic and region? The methodologies would transition well, but I've been living in a very closed-off professional bubble in terms of my research. It's almost like a sensory deprivation tank, I could talk myself blue about the fine details of my research but lack an understanding of what's beyond the ivory tower... which is necessary if my goal is to not continue in academia. I know PhD's can be simultaneously enabling and limiting, depending on how strategic you are in the process of obtaining one. I'm curious if there are any PhDs out here who experienced the transition, and could let me know just how binding your dissertation topic is to your future career options. Thanks for all your advice and help, have a great week.

Hello All, I've posted here once before in the fall. For those of you who don't remember I sought advice on how to approach graduate school despite a crippling undergrad GPA (). You guys were really helpful then, so I thought I could ask you another question now. While I still have a steep, steep uphill struggle to look forward to in regards to getting admitted into a program, I have been stepping in the right direction by working as a research assistant for the Smithsonian's NMNH Anthro Dept. and I will be heading off to do anthropology fieldwork (conveniently involving the exact kind of anthropology I'm interested in) this summer. Down the road I plan to take loads of post-bac courses and network with professors in programs I want. Hopefully it will work out. That being said, I recently met with an Anthropologist who offered me some helpful, yet somewhat unsettling, words of advice. My main interest is environmental anthropology, and his advice was that I should consider not pursuing a PhD. Or if I do, I shouldn't do it until later. His advice was that, unless I was dead-set on academia, a PhD in a theoretical practice such as anthropology (physical and archeology not included) would put me at an extreme disadvantage. His advice, after listening to what I was interested in, was to get a dual masters instead, coupling environmental anthropology with GIS. Conveniently enough, while I don't have a lot of experience in it, GIS is another realm I have always been interested in. While it is a very real possibility that I may only get admitted into an MA program to begin with, should I place more emphasis on a dual masters rather than using the program as a stepping stone into a PhD? Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE for the opportunity to actually become successful in academia, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be interested in a job with a practical application of anthropology as well, whether it's helping out with environmental policy or with conservation efforts. Which would be more useful? Thanks!

Thank you all for your advice and support. I think I will go with the decision to get an MA (down the road), and if I find that I'm good at it and hungry for more, then I'll keep going from there. Thanks for being such an informative forum :-)

Gotcha. Thanks again for all your help! And you're right, NSF REU would be incredibly useful, and I have looked into programs there. It certainly would be hard to get their attention, given the number of applicants they probably get. I'll start looking. Cheers.

Thanks all, I appreciate your helpful advice. I'll definitely look into getting in touch with advisors. Caffeinated, I have thought about a masters, but to be honest I'm kind of in the dark about what's out there given my situation (I also thought that everyone has to get a masters as the next rung on the ladder) . Half the reason I posted this question was to hopefully hear some name drops of universities and about alternative paths I could take. Funding is a whole other issue I'll deal with, right now I want to just do whatever it takes to get my foot in the door. My main concern isn't whether or not I'm capable; again, excuse my lack of modesty but I've TAed advanced undergraduate cultural comparison classes and have written a 100+ page cultural anthropology thesis that I'm looking into getting published (the 100 page aspect of it makes that a difficult endeavor as well...alas). The only reason I'm even considering further education with my undergraduate GPA is that I know it is not a representation of my overall ability (that is not to excuse the elements that contributed to the poor grades). I want to know what schools will look at my application package overall, rather than do what most schools do when they see a low GPA: toss the entire thing without considering anything else. I'm not saying that they'll immediately accept me if they look beyond my GPA, but I'll at least stand a better chance. I am a little bit confused about your Smithsonian diagnosis though. Don't get me wrong, I agree; Internships with the Smithsonian isn't a ticket into Grad School, but if you look at their project listing for the fall, there are a wide variety of anthropology project listings. Yes, a lot of them are museum related for obvious reasons, but the ones that require you to travel aren't so much. Maybe the project listing was different last summer?

Hello all, if you could take the time to give me some advice it would really be greatly appreciated. I am a college graduate with a poor GPA. A cumulative of a 2.5, in fact, with a 3.2 in my major of interest. I won't bore you with excuses of extenuating circumstances and family matters, all I'll say is that the factors that contributed to this poor GPA aren't relevant in my life anymore and I am very eager and ready to go to graduate school for cultural anthropology. I know if I'm accepted into a program the factors that brought my undergraduate performance down won't interfere with my graduate studies in the slightest. I don't suffer any delusions that applying for Grad School will be an uphill battle now. Many of the programs I've looked at have a cutoff GPA of a 3.0. However, if you'll excuse my lack of modesty, I have a lot of other things going for me. I can get three stellar letters of recommendation from professors, two of them coming from the head of social sciences departments. I have completed a fall internship - and have already been accepted into a spring internship - for the anthropology department of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The spring internship pertains to what I want to go to grad school for. I'm applying for a summer internship to work at the Smithsonian's research center on-site, in the very region I wish to study later on, and given the feedback I've been getting from my email correspondence with those in charge of admissions, my chances of getting in are better than not. Because these internships are unpaid, I'm also applying myself to non-profit opportunities in the D.C. area. So far I haven't heard back from many, but given the number of openings i've applied to, I'm bound to get something. Here is my problem. I have all this experience, letters of recommendation, and I am 100% determined to dominate the GRE. But how do I get the graduate programs to actually look at my application long enough to consider this? I'm afraid they'll take one look at my GPA and simply scrap the entire application. Is my GPA a crippling factor in my application, or is it a flat-out death sentence? What universities would actually take the time to consider me? It was frustrating for my undergraduate grades to be hurt by lousy experiences. I don't want them to do further harm by hurting my chances for grad school! Thanks again for hearing me out and I appreciate all the advice you have to offer!