CarlieE

You may want to try non-American journals ie. journals from Australia or elsewhere since in those places many unis forego the MA thing and have only PhD programs. How this benefits a UG writer is that journals are more willing to look at work done by a junior scholar. There are also specific journals for UG - try googling undergrad journals. Many are school-based so you may want to try to write for a journal which is affiliated with a school that is strong in South Asian studies. If you are already in an MA program, have you spoken with you adviser? This is something they can help you with generally..

Just wondering.. in reading some of these threads, I wonder how many different "ways" people write their SOPs. I never addressed grades or their research (at length). I had 4 of my professors look over my SOP before I sent it and I included (in almost this same order): My proposed PhD research, Current and prior research, Study Abroad programs and field schools I have been on, Scholarships I've gotten, My future career and professional goals (I want to teach and do research ie. become ONE OF THEM), A bit about my personal background and history (as related to my career goals) Three professors in their program I want to work with and why, What did you put in yours and why?

cartoon heroes

I agree with WRTIY.. It's not quite the beginning of March yet. I'm sure that whatever impressions were made during the interview were duly noted, and I'm sure you made it a point to be memorable in a really good way. They'll remember you. I wonder if adcomms basically have decided who they like/dislike at the time of the interviews, but give it a few weeks to kind of mull over the funding ie. which students gets how much...

Marvin Harris' History of Anthropological Theory is a good "classic" to give you an overview of all the major theoretical movements from the "very beginning" - then you can look up other names.. Also for a shorter reading Sherry Ortner's Anthropological Theory since the Sixties (or something like that) is a good read to bring you from the 60s to the 80s.. It's on PDF in Jstor and its only 42 pages.

Personality fit is important but it sounds like Program A might suit you better. You might also want to keep in mind that while you will spend a lot of time with your POI, that you will also build up a life w/o that POI and so you have to really like all the other elements of your program. Perhaps drawing up a list of pros & cons will help and whichever programs gets the most Pros "wins"? Maybe you should go visit both campuses and make appointments to speak with other members of the faculty or grad students etc.

I think it's ok to mention health issues but to keep it to one or two sentences at most. You don't want to sound like you're making excuses for yourself.

Perhaps your POI is not an email person? I'm horrible with phone calls and I hate voice mails so I am awful at responding to phone calls and much prefer email or texting.

I'd say that if you're worried about it, make sure you send a kick-ass writing sample. Sometimes writing samples are "optional" but I always included one. I also chose a WS that was a complete and finished paper, not a draft or a partial; one that I had received an A on, or gotten awesome feedback on from a professor.

Being originally from Southeast Asia where there is a lot of public transportation and walking is just how it's done, I'll say the transition takes time. I've lived in the US now for more than a decade, but the differences are still there and sometimes it still sucks. Depending on where you are going, you "will" probably need a car to go wherever you want to go with convenience. I suggest saving up and getting a cheap used car and your drivers license (Are you from Europe? I assume you don't have one?) DLs are not difficult to obtain or expensive and you don't have to go through a driving school to get one - but a good friend who is willing to teach you the basics and kind of be your "mentor" for a few weeks is very, very, very helpful. I have a car, but I am thinking of just keeping it in my driveway and using a scooter for school - MUCH cheaper on gas and I've found brand new scooters for under $500. If you are not coming to the US with a spouse or kids etc, then you might consider this kind of transport to get you around faster than by the (usually non-existent or highly inconvenient) public transportation systems. About cities being welcoming and historic... well, I think that depends on what you consider historic. I agree that it seems 200 years isn't as long as history as in some other places (Haha Angkor Wat for me LOL) but US cities can still have "sacred" kind of feel. It is simply a different culture in the US than elsewhere. Sometimes it feels as though Americans are not as friendly as people where I am from and sometimes really rude. I found it very rude when I first got here that people would ask me how many siblings I have, or what my parents do. I thought it rude that Americans asked so many personal questions right up front. Over time I realized that this means they like me and are trying to make me feel welcome. Of course, I have also had horribly racist encounters too.. ie. "Wow, your English is so good. How did you learn it?" or "Do your people know about Christmas?". To the first question my answer is: Missionaries. And to the second, my answer is, Only those of us who have internet access in our jungle tree houses. I'd say to expect a bit of culture shock. You will find new friends and its THOSE people who will make America a great, great place. Good Luck

Do you know anyone in the area? Or one of the current grad students? When I interviewed, we had a lot of contact with the current grads and they were very forth coming with advice and information about where to live, cheap and good places for food, etc. Perhaps they can help you understand how much of a "sacrifice" you will have to make if you take the offer etc. Sparky's advice is really reasonable too. As much as it sucks, and not saying you're not frugal - but there simply might need to be more penny pinching. I regularly grocery shop at the dollar store. TWO pounds of pasta for a $1 and $1 cans of Hunt's pasta sauce. Throw in maybe a $0.25 for grated Parmesan cheese, dried basil and a clove of garlic and TA-DA - 8 meals. As far as moving goes, I will have the same problem - I got accepted and am going to have to move across 3 or 4 states. I think I'm going to use a POD to move and kind of wing it. I do have a friend who lives in the nearby area so I can try to get him to put me up for a few weeks until I find a place. Do you know anyone in the nearby area? Or have good friends who have Other friends in the area? Try looking up couch surfing.

A good friend of mine is also in the same bind. He ended up enrolling as a Student at Large for this Spring semester at the uni he got his UG from and has been trying to renew his network at school ie. attending presentations and conferences out of class, going to see former professors during office hours. I think you might be surprised to find that a lot of professors will remember you, especially if you did well in their classes or participated a lot. Professors also talk among themselves; a few times since I've applied to grad school (and got accepted) I've been introduced to professors I didn't know (at all; didn't take their classes, not my department) and received responses like "Oh, I've heard about you" or "Congratulations, I heard..." The former response "Oh, I've heard about you..." always gets me. Is that good or bad??? Either way, my point is, you might find that you are more well-known than you think you are, especially because you had a high GPA and were a good student.

Well, I just treated myself to a kindle. I am ALL about reading - anything and everything now. I had a nook color and it killed my eyes so I never read off of it but my bf LOVES his kindle so I traded my nook in for a kindle keyboard and promptly downloaded all those articles off jstor I have been saving for "time to read". Then we went sat in b&n yesterday and spent the entire day reading. Academic reading just became really, really, really fun again. Although, I admit, I interspersed anthro theory reading with a few O. Henry stories. There are a huge number of books that are completely free for kindle that I never thought would be free.

Ahhh. So that's how it works. Someone else had also said the same to me, but I wondered if they were just trying to ease my pain. Thanks laurissimo

What I don't understand is why I HAVENT gotten my rejection letters from Cornell and Chicago yet! If people have already starting getting acceptances and rejections, via email, then where are mine? I am 95% sure I am not accepted (no interview, no responses from POIs), so why haven't they just sent me the rejection already?? It feels like I've got my head on the block and the executioner hasn't shown up yet, but I KNOW he's coming!!

I have some friends who are in the same situation and a few of our professors offered this advice: 1. Build up your CV by writing papers for student conferences or smaller, local conferences and presenting them. Or, if stage-shy, present a poster. 2. If you don't have any "original" research, approach one of your UG or current professors and ask them if you can work with them on a research project (either have one in mind when you go see them or find out if they have an existing project you can kind of piggy-back onto). 3. Don't be afraid to ask for help from prior/current professors. They've all been through the same thing. Good Luck

I can understand the difficulty. My Dad went to college, but not my mother or my brother. And I'll be the first one to go to grad school. I live in the US but my parents and all of my family live in Southeast Asia (and are from there). It's a 36 hour trip (one way!!) and typically a $2000 plane ticket. It can be hard to make the transition, especially if you can't visit your family often. It will be hard, but if your family is anything like mine, they won't want you to give up the possibility of gaining a first class education. I wasn't there when my grandmother died, or when my dog died, and now my 95 yr old grandfather is failing. My mom had a nervous breakdown - and I also couldn't be there for her through that. It IS hard and Christmas and holidays can be very depressing - but if I gave up, I would be letting my family down too. The ones who are living AND the ones who have passed on. So far, the sacrifice has been worth it. Facebook, email and skype help a lot, even if they aren't as fulfilling.

I'm 30 and have $30,000 in debt just from my UG degree. I took a double degree and minor so it took me a year and half longer. I just got accepted into a PhD program which is fully funded (THANK HEAVENS) but my stand on the issue is that I'm just not going to think about the debt until I can actually get a job to pay it. My current professors have told me that it's not as bad as it seems - we're not talking about 6 digit debt - and from their experience, it really won't feel long or like a burden once we are out and working (and earning enough money). Sometimes I worry about saving enough for retirement - I've tried not to touch my 401k and IRA but I might have to to help me bridge the gap between the Spring and Fall semester when I begin grad school - but, well.... I would rather be in debt than live my life inside the tiny cubicle that I was caged in before I started going back to school.

Just stick your hand out and smile and say "Hi, my name is ___ ." If the other person turns away from you, then everyone around both of you will think he/she is a jerk (no one wants to be a jerk, so they probably won't snub you). And if they don't feel like talking, you've just let other people within hearing distance know how friendly you are and have thereby opened the door for other conversations to come your way. Be the first to break the ice. You'll leave the most lasting impression.

Thank you smadak!

I found it odd that the online applications had a little box asking me if I waived the right to see my LORs. I never imagined that I COULD ask to see them. I guess I take the point of view that I only asked people for LORs who I was certain would give me a good recommendation. With that said, a conversation I had with a professor sometime ago revealed that there are some professors who will write a "bad" or faintly veiled "bad" LOR for a someone whom they feel is truly wrong for the field. IE. the professor truly feels that the person in question really should not move on. And oftentimes, those professors do not let on that they are writing a "bad" LOR. .... Our recommenders are human after all..

Really? Can they do this? How do they get away with it? ie. if she was keeping up her grades and workload, then how can they do this? One of my good friends just got pregnant her first year in her MA program and everyone is very supportive; instead of the 2 years, she is finishing her MA in 3 (which is not uncommon at the school I'm at). Most of the female professors I know are very supportive of their female students having children in school and even most of my male professors are very understanding. Perhaps the faculty where I am at are just awesome people, but surely most professors went through this same kind of dilemma when THEY were in grad school!!

I'm 30 (will be 31) when I begin grad school in the Fall. I thought that I would be the "only" one in their 30s at the interview and I was completely wrong. There were at least 4 of us (out of 17) that were in our 30s and a few more of us in our late 20s. A lot of people are going back to school and (I think) the grad school experience will be far different from the UG experience we had. I'm a non-traditional student now as a UG - I'm 30 and just finishing my senior year. Most of my friends at school are in their early 20s.. a few in their late 20s.. but I'm generally always the oldest. However, no one makes me feel "old". At the interview though I met with the current grad students where I will be going and many are married, or in their 30s as well... It will be a whole new world.. ---> Also interested in having children before 40. This discussion on having babies in grad school is interesting.. As I said, I'm 30 and my current bf wants children too (he's 28)... We are wondering how we can make it work on our income, with both of us in grad school, research, travelling etc.. Also, where are moving to, neither of us have family nearby..

Good Luck and Congratulations on the Invite! That's surely a good sign. In regards to your last comment, although I understand there are real life restraints to where/what we can go/do, I wouldn't bring this up unless it's specifically asked of you. You don't want the committee to think that geographic location is a primary reason you are applying (although it very well might be)... I mean, no one wants to hear "Yeah, I like you... but partly because it's convenient for me." (It's almost like dating.... in a weird sense). When I went for my interview, the professors did ask how my research might benefit from their expertise.. In my case, an anthropologist studying Pastoralism in Africa seemed wayyyy off my topic of Chinese Identity in Southeast Asia... but then I found the "link" in that many parts of the African continent are post-Colonial - just as many parts of SEA are also Post-Colonial... and therein, a "weak" but pertinent link was forged. Links might be there in ways that we do not foresee, but the professors who interview us see them... There must be something there or else they wouldn't have offered you an interview; there must be something in your research that they think "fits" with their program.. Good Luck again!

Bury me Standing by Isabella Fonseca ...and A Feast For Crows by George R.R. Martin.