RPCV Cameroon

who got the Michigan ling anth interview?!

Hey all! I'm not a faculty member, but I saw that the PoliSci people have a thread for faculty to share their perspectives on the admissions process (applicants can ask questions, too), and I thought, "What a great idea!" So, I hereby invite faculty to take part in the discussion via this thread. If you have a specific question for anthro faculty-in-general, post it here to get the ball rolling! ... Hopefully someone is actually out there...

How much is the fee for a parking pass at/near UVA?

So, it happened, and it went well. The lady was pleasant, she wasn't green, she didn't have a tail... It wasn't nearly as terrifying as I'd imagined. She asked about my proposed project and why I chose it, why I was looking to move to anthropology (from psych), and how I felt about taking on a whole new discipline. Come to think of it, she didn't ask why I applied there, but I made it pretty clear in my statement, I think the connection is obvious, and I had already communicated with everyone whose work was relevant to my ideas, so it wasn't like I was popping out of nowhere. She also gave me some good information about their goals for students and the program, clarified some requirements and some things about timing, and told me what the teaching responsibilities were generally about. I had SO many other questions I wanted to ask... What are some questions you guys have asked in past interviews?

I remembering seeing someone say that Stanford did "rapid fire" interviews with candidates (some year in the past), but I'm not sure if they were via Skype or in person. If you can't find out who they're with, I'd say focus on where you fit in, i.e., knowing about the profs you mentioned in your SOP/profs whose work is relevant to yours. Why would they expect you to know a whole lot about the others at this point?

Good tips -- thanks! Is it appropriate to ask questions about funding and lifestyle at this point in the game, or is it better to focus on questions about research and the program itself?

I, too, have been looking at apartments, and plenty of the programs I applied to don't notify until mid-late February ...

Thanks!! I'll PM you after the interview. I got SIUC! 1st acceptance -- woo!! Won't know about funding until 2/13, though. Definitely need that.

Yes, I'm the VA interview. This is the 3rd time I've applied for PhD programs (1st time applying to anthro, other times I applied to psych, which I ultimately decided couldn't fully encompass my interests)... so obviously it's really important to me. Last time I applied I BLEW one of my interviews -- I was so busy trying to be an expert in what other people were doing that I didn't prepare my OWN ideas enough. Duh! Oh well. Learning experience!

Is there a topic? Any guidelines? I won't know the answer to your questions, but I am curious!

Would you guys say that these resources are generally correct in terms of what to expect? http://www.lse.ac.uk/study/graduate/enquirer/howToApply/interviews.aspx http://sociology.pages.tcnj.edu/opportunities/careers-graduate-schools/the-interview/

Hi everyone! Let's start an anthropology-specific interview advice thread! ... Like, right now, because I have an interview soon. Wisdom appreciated!

OMG ... I think I have Skype interview. I am so nervous!!! How do I prepare? What should my priorities be when preparing? What are they going to ask me? Oh my gosh oh my gosh...

How do you know they were Googling you? From your academia.edu analytics, or did you set up a Google Alert? ... It's probably better for everyone's mental health if they don't know about any other ways to waste their time trying to figure out everything that's going on at their prospective institutions... lol

Does anyone know if they invite applicants living outside of the US to interview weekends? Or do they only invite people living in country?

I applied there, so thanks for sharing this!

Thanks! I'll try emailing the graduate secretaries. It can't hurt, I don't think.

Hey all! I wasn't sure where to post my question about this application cycle, so I started a new topic on the anthro forum. Will you guys please check it out and answer my questions (if you can)?? Title: "Choosing a subfield -- ADVICE??" I can also re-post it here, but sometimes that annoys people, so I'll ask first. Thank you!

Hi all! Well, I already submitted most of my applications. My proposed project has a very strong focus on language, and many of my POIs are linguistic anthropologists. However, the project does bridge the linguistic, psychological, and sociocultural subfields, and I listed professors from all 3 of these subfields as POIs on my SOP. Anyhoo, when filling out the online application, I wasn't sure which subfield to check, and I wasn't sure how much it mattered in terms of admission. I figured everyone would see my application anyway, right? And if they thought I picked the wrong subfield, they would ask me about it, right? I ended up checking "sociocultural" because it seemed the most broad, and because my background is in psychology and human behavior. I do not have a background in linguistics (or anthropology). My lack of a background in linguistics was mentioned by several POIs back when I was emailing them before applying, which is another reason I thought it might be smarter to check "sociocultural". Well here we are ... I emailed my POIs to let them know that I did apply and that I listed them on my statement. One responded and mentioned that I wasn't on the ling anth applicant list. Of course, now I'm flipping out thinking, OMG! I assumed they'd ALL see my application! I thought there would be people from all subfields on the committee! I thought they'd distribute the applications according to which POI was mentioned on the statement!! You mean all my ling anth POIs won't get my application?! OMG! OMG! Should I be worried about this? How *does" the circulation of applications work? Did I make some faulty assumptions? Should I call all the schools and ask to update that section of my application? Help! *

Not sure which ... maybe ask V what he/she thinks.

What if the deadline was just a week or 2 ago? (i.e., it's December 23rd, and deadlines were 12/1 and 12/15) What about attaching your SOP and CV (or other application materials) to your email and just saying they're "for your reference"? I figure it's convenient for the prof -- they have them if they want/need them. I suppose it could go either way, but I figured it would be stupid and lazy to not reach out with an update and a thank you... PS --- I'm referring to emailing profs you had a previous, positive conversation with.

I'm looking at participants (especially women) in gender equity-related social development programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Basically, the programs attempt to teach new communicative norms, and I'm interested in the social and psychological effects of them, as well as how discourses surrounding them articulate with discourses surrounding modernity, HIV/AIDS, and development. I'm also interested in the role of "edutainment" (radio dramas with embedded "lessons" about some social issue) in all this, but I just mentioned those in passing in my statement -- they're more of a side note.

What's your topic? If no one else responds, maybe we can trade..? Disclaimer: my background is actually in psychology.

Hello! My main interest is in language socialization, language ideologies, and interdiscursivity. I'm mainly applying to PhD programs in sociocultural and linguistic anthropology, but I do have a couple of communication departments on my list. These apps are due in early January, so I need some advice on how I can adapt my personal statement for these apps. It was written to appeal to anthropologists but is quite relevant for the "language and social interaction" branch of comm. Can any comm people give me some advice on this? At this point, I simply don't have time to do a lot more reading. So yes, I need a "quick fix". Please let me know if you can advise and I'll send you a link to my Google Doc. (This forum has a PM function.... right?) Thanks!!

I'd like to second that! Can you also send me the POI/info?