zillie

To clarify: 1) While it is good advice to collaborate with the different PI but remain in my subfield, it's not something I am going to do. If I stay in my current subfield my future career options are limited only to that subfield, and those are careers I no longer wish to pursue. It's difficult enough to think about finishing the semester doing this research, let alone doing it for the rest of my career. 2) I could become disillusioned with the new research, that's true. But I am unhappy enough with what I'm doing now and have no interest in training for a career that I don't want, that it's a risk I feel is necessary for me at this point. 3) In my department, the professors of these two subfields use entirely different methodologies and research entirely different topics that don't translate to each other. There has been talk of separating this field into different fields of research as opposed to subfields (and has been done at a few universities) but that is not the case at my university. Unfortunately, my current advisor would not be able to continue to advise me in a different subfield, and even if he could, he wouldn't as he views this other subfield as "something he could never handle". This is why I would need to switch advisors, 4) I suppose what I want advice about is NOT should I do this (though I appreciate what has already been said) but rather how to make this a smooth process. Also to hear how other people handled a similar situation. Thank you everyone!

Hi everyone, I know this same topic has been posted before, but i wanted to put my own specific situation out there for some advice. (Be warned, it's quite long.) I'm currently a Phd student in my second year. Right now I have a great advisor who I really enjoy, a dissertation topic, and data. All of this is great, except after researching my topic and my subfield for the past year, I realized I HATE IT. Nothing is wrong with the research, the people in the field, etc. It's just that about every other article I read my final thought is, "who cares about this stuff?? What a waste of time!" Obviously, that's not a good way to feel about your subfield/research. These feelings have been building since last year, and I'm concerned if I stay where I am I'll drop out due to boredom/lack of interest. I love the field I am in, but want to switch subfields, which means switching advisors as well. I'll have to restart my research entirely (which means the entire 1.5 years of research is useless). I've identified a new potential advisor whose research I'm very interested in. I haven't spoken to anyone but my family about this (especially not my current advisor or potential future advisor), and this is where I'm looking for help. I want to make sure I take the appropriate, professional steps for this transition. 1) I plan to meet with my department's Director of Graduate Studies sometime this week and discuss with her if I'm allowed to switch subfields, and if so, what the process is. 2) Once I learn the process, I want to meet with the potential future advisor and verify whether he will take me on as a student. In the past he has made remarks about wanting me to join his team, but I'm not sure if that offer still exists (since more than six months has passed). 3) If all of the above goes well, then I need to talk to my current advisor. This is the part that is most nerve-wracking for me because I do like him, I just don't find the research interesting anymore. What do I say? How do I set up that meeting? How can I change fields without causing hard feelings? If anyone thinks I should do things differently, PLEASE let me know. Has anyone switched subfields and advisors and want to share? Any advice is appreciated - thanks!

Hi everyone, I'm also heading down to TAMU in August. I had a question about grad student orientation. Do we/should we go to the graduate student orientation? Does anyone know what will be covered? Thanks!

Since we have posts for sociocultural and bio readings, I figured I'd start a discussion about essential archaeology readings. Specifically, archaeology readings that discuss peopling of the Americas. One book I would suggest would be The Settlement of the Americas by Thomas D. Dillehay. What are some other suggestions?

I've been accepted into my top program, but am nervous as I have yet to receive ay information about funding. My POI and I have corresponded several times about my acceptance during the past two weeks, but he has not mentioned, or even hinted at, funding. He mentioned I should receive my official acceptance letter sometime this week through the mail (postal). My question is, are funding offers usually included along with the official acceptance or is it something my POI should have already mentioned? I don't want to bother him about funding questions if the info is already being mailed to me. If there is no funding info mentioned along with the official letter, how can I politely go about requesting how to apply for some? During my visit with the department, he mentioned they would be nominating me for fellowships, but I haven't heard anything since. Any help/advice would be appreciated!

I haven't been a TA yet, but I have been teaching for the past two years. My advice would be: 1) Prepare more than is needed for each class. - If you do this, you will feel confident and seem well-organized because you will never have a minute where you're lost or trying to think of what should happen next. Students can almost always tell when you're not fully prepared. 2) Be able to laugh at yourself when you make a mistake. - You said you are a bit emotional, so being able to do this will help keep your spirits up. 3) If faced with a confrontation, always keep your cool. Don't yell or shout. Let the student have their say first and get everything out of their system. If you are flustered and can't think of a response, tell the student you appreciate bringing the matter to your concern and that you will need to take some time to think and will get back to them that day or the next. It is always better to take time to develop a calm, rational, and collected response than to say something in the heat of the moment and regret it later. Overall, have fun! Teaching will be hard, and unfortunately there's no way to be good at it except with practice. If you are positive and receptive to improvement then you will be just fine. Good luck!

Don't worry, politely notify the department that you are unable to attend the interview and request a Skype or phone interview instead. I currently live abroad and had to request other interview methods twice. So far it hasn't been an issue and there's no reason why it should hurt your chances for admission. As snes indicated, this is a common scenario with many applicants.

I was told Texas A&M anthro dept. as a whole will send out official acceptance notices by the end of this week or early next week. They started voting on applicants last week.

In my undergrad program, Ishmael (Daniel Quinn) and Yanomamo (Napolean Chagnon) were two heavily repeated books/topics. I was assigned to read Ishmael 3 times by different professors, and Yanomamo and its controversies was discussed or referenced in nearly every cultural anthro class. I doubt this emphasis is the same with all programs, but they might be books worth skimming over before your program starts.

I am copying and pasting the info from University of Washington's page: Archaeology and Biocultural Anthropology admissions will be run every year, however, Sociocultural Anthropology has moved to an every other year model admitting students in the odd numbered year. Next admission cycle for Sociocultual Anthropology will be for Autumn 2013. Of course, I think most people here are applying for cultural anthropology, which might explain the confusion!

U. Washington isn't accepting for cultural anthropology until 2013, but they are for other subfields this year.

Some of these schools are not ones I personally spoke to, but friends of mine have, so I can't say with 100% certainty. The list of schools are: UPenn, TAMU, Harvard, U. Washington (to send out official acceptances), Washington University, and Washington State. I hope everything stays on schedule and we hear soon!

For anyone who is interested, from what I have heard from POIs and friends, many schools are announcing next week. So maybe most of us only have to wait a few more days!

I want some opinions about an email I received today from a POI. I am not sure if the POI is hinting at acceptance, or if I am interpreting it that way. Here is what the email said (school name and projects removed to preserve anonymity.) Dear BlahBlah, Just wanted to check in. We will be deciding on acceptance of new graduate students next week. Are you still interested in coming to BlahBlah University? I am very keen on working with you on project A and project B and other projects. Professor Blah I have spent half my day interpreting this positively, and then the other half nervously wondering if this is just a normal email, not anything to be excited or disappointed about. Thanks!

Reject: 2 Accept: 1 Unsure: 1