Diospyros

Hey, thanks everyone who replied to my question about PA in reference to the West Coast. Looks like I will be headed to State College come fall. Gotta say, the department is throwing me for a loop about how friendly and incredibly helpful they're being. If everyone in Pennsylvania is as nice as the PSU anthro department I shouldn't have any trouble living there at all. --Diospyros

No idea whether you're still lurking in this forum, LisaMC, but I'll give you my two cents. I got a masters degree in paleopathology (or palaeo, if you prefer) from Durham University, in the U.K., in 2006. It worked out very well for me. Masters' degrees in the U.K. tend to be very efficient (one year) and they have some very excellent bio-anth programs. They're also very focused on classics (which, as a mesoamericanist, wasn't so great for me, but would work for you). On the other hand, I didn't get a lot of attention from my advisors nor did I make very many contacts. Lectures are conducted very formally, in my experience, and there isn't a lot of interaction. Since getting the degree, I've been teaching at community college. I had to pay a company to evaluate my degree and confirm that my international degree was equivalent to a U.S. master's degree before I could teach, but degrees from the U.K. are always accepted as equivalent, as far as I know--it's just a formality. I just finished the PhD application process and will likely be headed to Penn State this fall. As far as I can tell, a masters degree is treated as a masters degree, whether it's from the U.S. or the U.K. It serves to prove that you're committed to what you're doing. The places that accepted me all claimed to be impressed that I had been willing to go overseas to find the right program. I will say that I depended heavily on my undergraduate (U.S.) advisors during my PhD application process, rather than relying upon my U.K. master's degree professors. Keep that in mind if you ultimately want to live in the U.S., and do your PhD here. Overseas professors are less likely to have the contacts and be up-to-date on inter-departmental politics. Be prepared for grim weather and root vegetables. And learn trivia for pub quizzes. --Diospyros

Is anyone else out there weighing the relative merits of getting a PhD in archaeology vs. anthropology? I mean just the actual diploma. My area of interest could be classed as either physical anthropology or archaeology. I was accepted to two programs in archaeology (Calgary and UCLA) and one program in anthropology (Penn State). Now, I'm hearing from my old advisors that current trends suggest that a degree in anthropology will be more marketable for academic jobs. In other words, that universities are looking for more generalists and fewer specialists. Any thoughts? --Diospyros

Penn State. ...Really not the place I expected to end up. But I think it's the best match all around. Also accepted to UCLA and Calgary.

I'm trying to decide between Calgary and Penn State. Penn State is offering me somewhat better funding, but I'd be able to make do in either place. I'll be doing a PhD in archaeology/biological anthropology. Penn State has a few more faculty in my specialty, but both have good people to work with. I'm very reluctant about Penn State's location (too isolation, lacking diversity), but I think I'd like Calgary. Okay, that was just rambling. Here's a real question: Any other U.S. folks wondering about drawbacks to attending a foreign school for a PhD and then wanting to look for academic positions in the U.S.? I've had advice that it's really more about the network you make in your specialty than what country you're in... any thoughts? I've asked in a different thread, but anyone been to Calgary and have any impressions of the city? --Diospyros

Anybody? I second these questions. With my funding offer I'll have about 11,000 (canadian) to live on after tuition. Anybody have an estimation about whether that's doable? Doesn't seem like the cheapest place to live. Thanks. --Diospyros

Anybody move out to State College from the West Coast? I've been reading the conversations about diverse/not diverse, tolerable, intolerable and since, that's all a matter of comparison, I'm hoping someone with a similar scale to mine is out there. I've been accepted into the anthro department with funding that blows everything else I've been offered out of the water. But they flew me out to visit, and in that time felt myself shriveling into husk. Maybe I just had bad luck... only there for two days... but the food was awful, the campus seemed dead, the landscape bleak, people bored. Saving grace might be the hiking. Is that any good? Wilderness as opposed to parkland? ... multi-day backpacking, streams, wildlife... staggering natural beauty? Trying to choose between Penn State and U of Calgary, but that latter thread isn't going anywhere. Diospyros

You know, I applied to eight schools, got into three, and the three that accepted me were the schools where I had contacted someone. That can't be purely coincidence.