trogdorburninator

anyone apply to this fellowship this year? any news?

a friend got accepted today, so I think there should be just/mostly good news on the way !

I have a couple friends who it has happened to, one more than once (!!) so I was very prepared for that as an option. Especially since this round they had like 181 applicants where I think the last time I applied it was more like 100, it makes sense that the "15-20%" is perhaps not a very good estimate of how many folks get funded, and perhaps its more shaped by budgets. the program officer referenced some of the feedback in the "good" review I recieved as justification, as well as expanded a bit on their own concerns, and said that the panel reccomended more people for funding than they could fund (this seems to be usual). re: notification - fastlane status changed, reviews are available, and my PI was emailed - the student/co-PI's dont get emails.

more rejections - I got mine today. was ranked competitive, high priority by the panel but was not reccommended for funding. good luck to everyone else still waiting!

received email approval today! glad this wait is over.

like you need extra help remembering that you haven't heard from them! i'm tempted to reach out to find out if it'll be via mail or email, but also, maybe i can just sit on it for a few more days.

ditto- the nails are not good!! haven't heard of any mail / email award notices out yet.

no, cultural... so possible that's its a different timeline altogether. waiting suuuucks

I know some folks who have recieved (cultural anth) rejections. I'm still waiting - I did talk with the program officer who told me it would still be a few weeks until he had more news (in line with what @RepatMan said).Unlike the fellowship apps, grant apps are all individually approved or rejected, so seems like it could be between now and... who knows. ? unfortunately. In the fall I got my "needs serious revision" rejection exactly 2 months after I applied.

thanks @Harlan Pepper, makes me feel a little less skeeved out about it. I also am under the impression that if you get the request for budget $, you get the $ - at least thats the perception in my department and what seems relatively true from my long-ass time spend mining the boards. I also have no idea what "numbers" usually make it to the funding stage. seems like it changes year to year and previously, the folks who actually were awarded didn't see their "score", only those who were declined. I just go a bit nuts for data/like to know how I stand, I suppose.

hi! did you folks also see your reviews? usually those aren't released until after the final decisions are made, so it's weirding me out a bit to get the email about budget and also see my rating... would love to know if its the same accross the board.

alright! I accepted my offer from University of Chicago, Comparative Human Development. The deed is done.

Congrats on making a decision! I'm fairly sure that its would take something radical to shake me out of my home, but I'm not convinced that radical somethings won't happen *quite* yet.

oh hey! sure. hit me up.

Absolutely thinking of this. Part of the reason I have a professional, not academic, MA was because I know how unlikely the chances are on the academic job market. But, I'm also still hoping so both sides matter.

*funding *attrition rate *job market placement *mental health: students reported quality of life, support for the unexpected from faculty (location too- bonus point for not having to move away from my partner, cats, community) *ability to access courses and research opportunities relevant to my interests, either inside the department or not *quality of faculty AND student work. If I think the faculty are great but the students are not working anything I find interesting or cool, that's weird to me

You should shoot for above 150 in both sections. The math is not conceptually difficult, just practice, practice, practice. I would think a 140 Q could be an avoidable red flag that you don't want unless you have seriously tried and can't improve it.

My advice, if you are still an undergrad, is to not spend money on an MA at this point, and give yourself some time to decompress from school and, while maintaining ties with those who know your work, just do something else. It might not terribly strengthen your academic application a ton but if it helps you grow and adapt as a human, you (might) be glad for it later on. This is a v. personal opinion, but I (really) don't think it makes sense for people to go straight into a phd program from undergrad barring circumstances like being undocumented or other obstacles to obtaining livable employment (that don't stop you from being a good graduate student), or if you already took time off during/before doing a BA.

UNC is a great place to do med anthropology! I was seriously considering applying except that I was very financially strapped and not sure that their approach completely meshed with mine. are you funded there? Why Irvine over UNC? congrats!

all my results are in! I don't think I realize how much tension I had been carrying around until after getting that last email. for y'all stuck in limbo--- hang tight.

You should try and do as well as you can reasonably expect yourself to do. Don't kill yourself, pay a ton for GRE prep, or stop yourself from applying because of the GRE. You should, however, study, practice taking the test (because so much of it is just test taking skills), and work to brush up on your high school math and vocab. I know that lots of people have test taking anxiety, and also a hard time with these types of high stakes exams, but for most individuals looking to go to grad school, it's highly learnable.

you two both know my deal, and I mostly agree with you, nwnh. particularly at the programs regarded as 'top' in the discipline. one of the big questions I asked every program I reached out to before applying was "how does the *department* feel about US based projects?" because I knew that was a big problem for me. I was also very skeptical about my odds applying to straight antho programs (hence, only 2). but, I didn't even get to ask that to each place. I have also been incredibly surprised by both the number of prospectives still in or just out of undergrad at the interviews I've been too, and, honestly, impressed by how much a year or two of growth can do to nuance your project and perspective. So, that's a choice which often has me raising my eye brows at adcoms, and thinking that you shouldn't totally throw the pooch if you're not from the right background.

trying to spin yourself and your story so it fits a department can definitely be a struggle. I had a LOT of insecurity coming from interdisciplinary-gradeless undergrad followed by professional-not-specialized-in-what-I-wanna-study- program, and clearly a ton of it (for me) had to do with finding the right place! Don't know if this is round one for you, or if you're possibly going around again next year, but it can really be hard to find your intellectual home.

not over until its over! hope good news comes your way soon.

Thanks! The UN interview visit was great- students there are super chill, very approachable. Got my official berkeley rejection while I was there, but didn't cause too much heartbreak as I had already counted them out- got another acceptance this am, so feeling EXCEPTIONALLY good about my fun. feels good to have options!