trogdorburninator

Hah! SMG, you're a better person than me. I still have plenty to do but sans a few days off i might just cave..i Owellllll

y'all, I am so enjoying this break between the 1st and fifteenth, nothing but menial office work and old TV. at least, until the weekend. how are the rest of you managing until wave #2 is due?

I should stop typing on my phone....

I would be surprised if it were anything bit the norm, which is to say that your GRE will be a part of the picture both for admission and for funding. Sometimes the gradate school (as opposed to the department) has more cut and dry requirements (3.0gpa, for ex) but I haven't seen any discussing GRE scores in this case.

Just submittedy first 2 applications! Wheeeeheeeweeee.

yep, I've got two due monday and the sample to finish, the sop to finish, the personal history to finish (good grief, berkeley), but also am sitting around have a very nice coze with the family...... need to get a little push to the home stretch! where are you all getting that last inkling of inspiration?

hah! I love this. and agree with it. sometimes I convince myself if I change out of my house pants when I work on applications it will filter into the system that i am a SERIOUS APPLICANT, not someone who generally just mainlines gilmore girls and has an offensive amount of recycling piling up. also, smg, working on my writing sample reminds me of why I put if off for so long............. its going to be a tense week until dec1.

If you have friends/colleagues whose writing you enjoy, don't be afraid to ask for friendly peer editing.

pulling my hairs out. each of 'em. I'm actually looking forward to the day I have to stop and turn them in.

yah! PM'ed you.

SO true (the eyeroll, that is, ha!)

found this, thought you all might be interested in their guide to the personal statement.. http://stepbymiserablestep.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/applying-to-phd-programs-after-maps2012.pdf

Since MSW are professional programs, they are rarely funded, and so its unnecessary to contact a specific professor to ask if you will be able to research with them (and therefore receive funding for your degree). Additionally, depending on what kind of social work you want to do, and where you are going, there will be a lot of requirements to fill and professional field placements rather than research placements with professors.

I'm not sure what rankings (or whose) since they are very field (and specialty) dependent, but I am not applying to any schools that would be considered "safety" both because I, like maelia8, am in a field where the TT market is abysmal. Additionally, I want to work where there are cross-disciplinary opportunities and strengths, so when you start asking for quality in lots of different areas, plus access to certain populations for research, plus I don't have the funding to apply to 10 (or 8, or even 6) programs..... just 4 great programs, and if I bust, at least I bust big.

Thats what I'm hoping..... I also heard that in most instances your writing sample is going to get a cursory look over (this might be particular to that dept) and the SOP is what makes or breaks you, so I have been trying not to worry over it too much. but its time to get a little worrying/revising going. thats for sure.

not really.... coming from a professional MA, I only have a few options that seem appropriate. The one I might like to use is sort of related- coming from a course where I am discussed a US health related thing, biopolitics, human rights, whatever. However, I didn't knock it out of the park at the time. It got a B. Here's why I still might use it- got tons of v. specific and useful feedback throughout as well as a good comments about my writing quality and the ideas. So, I can work on it. The other problem, however, is that the person I wrote this paper for is the head of one of the departments I'm applying to. uhhhhhhhhhhh. do I look like a chump using that sample? will they just be like, um, this is the best you have? I saw this. whatever. other relevant options include: short essay from social policy class, includes field notes but is only 8 pages and from my first year, or short seminar paper (12pg) which is largely a close reading of texts rather than an argumentative paper (though at least they are athro texts). blargh. the one thing I am happy abt is berkeley v. short writing sample page limit, which makes it perf. for an STS related mini-ethnography/proposal I got great feedback on but is only 5 pages.

writing sample --> :-/ feeling confused about it.

I have a US based project also and this has come up in convo; mostly in terms of gauging what departments support US based work and which really don't and picking appropriately. It has made me work hard in my statement to communicate why I am interested in approaching these questions from an anthro perspective while also maintaining my interest in working with sts clusters and gender studies, in particular. I think its just one more "fit" item to go through.

felt too guilty and busy with work + internship + school during year one of my MA, decided to switch work for yoga year 2 and felt wayyyy better, now I"m in app season, unemployed and living a 24/7 couch/netflix/box wine/tater tot life. NOT GOOD. I definitely stress eat. And I can do very well when I'm on my game (happy to cook vegetables, bike commute often, sometimes can have 1 beer not 5..) but have zero motivation when I'm anxious.

1) nat geo photographer (not in any way qualified) 2) marine biologist (large critters not snails). (missed that "boat" long ago) 3) STS/Anthropology TT professor/researcher/activist extraordinaire (maybe someday) 4) equally split time between sex education/reproductive health research and food blogging/critic'ing

I did speak to one person @berkeley recently who told me they (in anthro at least) really do only admit who they can fund for 5yrs. It might not be fellowships but I'm hoping that's the truth! Maybe we should keep that secret tho, cut down the competition?

cool. lmk if you have q's re: chicago that are unspecific to the anthro dept. thats where I did my social work MA and my partner is in a phd program there.

that is dope. the faculty I spoke with is in between projects so maybe that, in part, kept us from jamming but I did get some encouragement to contact more established people in the dept. and some good info about the program as a whole. So, I will take it as a win, or at least not a loss. sort of related- have you settled on a final list of programs to apply to?

also smg how did the convo go? I feel like I have no real way to gauge what happened except they weren't like SCREW YOU DUMMY or PLZ B MY STUDENT. anything in between is too subtle for me I'm afraid.

I should have gone with that. I'm (pretty) sure I sounded fine but also sweated thru my shirt? so........