CarlieE

Professor of Interest

You never know what today's mail will bring!!! Good Luck

I agree with the posters above... but if you CAN go, I would. The professors use the interviews, not as a way to gauge your academic success (they have your stats and CV etc), but to find out if you will be compatible personality-wise and as a person. They have to work with you for the next X number of years, as will the other grad students and they want to know if you will fit well into the department - if you have the "right" attitude, a good demeanor, maturity etc. The kind of things that can't really be gauged on paper... Not saying you can't convey those things in a skype interview, but face-to-face interviews or weekend long interview sessions permit a lot more contact. I agree with asking if the trip will be reimburse, even if not, IMO it's worth the added headache. After all, you might also find out that you don't like THEM, or the facilities weren't what you thought they were ie. labs etc.

Yeah, I already accepted LOL I did it the next day after I got the email with the link to the online acceptance page. I don't know if you're interested but over Spring Break my boyf and I are driving down to Atlanta from Dekalb IL to check out apartments. I found a few complexes already and am starting to do the research... Interestingly there are some differences in how they do their rentals there... ie. most apartments have w/d hookups and there are services from which you can rent a washer and dryer.. I never came across that in IL..

I found this http://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf - it's the April 15th resolution signed by *most grad schools... As I understand it, there's no real legal standing behind the resolution ie. a grad school can't be fined or anything like that by the council, but schools that signed the agreement should uphold it..

Hi All! I got offered and accepted at Emory for the Anthropology PhD for Fall 2012 and I was hoping that those of us who are going or got offers for this program might congregate here (until we meet again in "real life" in Atlanta!) A few of us have found each other here or kept in touch via email and so it might be nice to get together before the semester begins, to help each other move in or find a place or just share information as we come across issues/problems/good news etc. Feel free to PM me, if you don't want to reveal your real name here in this thread and I can do the same. And current grads at Emory in the Anth program - if you read this, please respond too! It will be great to get to know each other before the semester begins!

I agree with fuzzylogician - there's no harm in going to visit, unless your wallet REALLY can't handle the strain of the cost etc or unless your dream school has put you under a time constraint ie: "You must respond in 3 days to tell us if you're accepting or we will give your spot to someone else". It sounds like you have the freedom to check out other offers and schools which is always good - options are always good, in my book.

I thought I got a response from a school (my alma mater where I applied!) and it WAS from said school... but it was regarding something from the honors department and wasn't about the grad application... Pfft. And a bunch of coupons.. Oh, and monthly statements about my IRA telling how much MORE money I have lost.

I totally forgot this is a leap year... Woohoo! Good luck Everyone!!!

I have to relocate in July - the lease is up - but my stipend won't start until September so the boyf and I are trying to save up enough to move and live (in a new place where we won't know the good deals).. If it's any consolation I am cashing in (one of) my (now defunct basically) 401Ks to do it...

I think it's normal to feel a little intimidated, but as Eigen mentioned above, to be actually, truly scared is another thing.. What exactly are you scared of? Letting her down? Getting yelled at? Her going ballistic on you? If you're worried you're going to let her down, or you won't live up to expectations, then join the club - I think we all feel a little that way about our professors, and that's normal... If it's any of the latter, you might want to see if other students have a problem with her and how they've dealt with it, or if your chair is aware of the absolute fear that this woman is causing...

The guys at the interview I did wore suits mostly, a few were in more casual sport coats...

Wow, under 21 and going to grad school? That's awesome ...I'd say it's OK to let them know you're underage... that's a whole better than getting turned away at the door.. But it seems a little odd that you'd be meeting at a bar? Or is this a restaurant with a bar? Are there other students there - if this is a group dinner, then you should be fine.

I'm more excited than nervous... But I am freaked out about moving... It sucks to have to settle in and make new friends all over again, but I'm starting to think that that's just what life is like. I mean, after getting the degree, we'll all have to do this again and move to a new place, with a new job. (Imagine.. if we stay in academia we'll have to go through this application process and LORs etc ALL OVER AGAIN..) It never ends, and once we accept that, we might just feel better than we're doing what we're supposed to be doing and that these feelings are normal.

While I agree that this is what we (as students) expect, I've heard from my current professors that many believe they should be honest in their letters since their reputation - via their recommendation of the individual - is on the line. So, if they only expound on the good, but gloss over the bad, and then the individual turns out to be a nut-job (not saying anyone here is) then their future recommendations lose credibility. Also, just because a professor's been asked to write a letter, doesn't mean that they HAVE to - they only should if they agree to write one. I agree it's best to ask if they can write a strong recommendation and discuss the letter with the recommender to see if you still want them to write one for you.

I sent thank you cards to all the professors who interviewed me and hand wrote them (just my personal preference), and I did also email my primary POI. I also read up on each of the professors in the department; I was advised that we'd be interviewing with ALL the cultural faculty so I wanted to know what kind of theoretical preferences they had etc so, if the questions: "In what ways can our dept be an asset to your research?" or "How do you think you will fit into the program?" came up, I could have a good answer.

Congratulations!!! That is awesome!!

Wow, I am so glad I found this thread... Thank you, OP and everyone else for sharing. I suppose these these discussions all depend on our individual situations. I was in a LTR with someone for 9 years and never realized that he wasn't supportive of my PhD ambitions - we broke up last year when I finally realized he wasn't going to support me and wasn't going to move with me, or even try to make it work. I'm now dating someone else, and we have a much more solid relationship. My current boyf graduated a year ahead of me, but took a year off and now we're both applying to grad schools. His GPA isn't great and he kind of messed up his last year of UG but he's taking grad classes now as a student-at-large... I just got accepted into a PhD program with excellent funding and I told him when we began dating that I was going to apply to grad school and that I was NOT going to compromise if I got into said school. I did get into said school and I've accepted. My boyf is now applying to schools in that city and we're hoping for the best situation where we can both go to school, however, he has said that in the event he doesn't get in, he'll move with me and attend classes as a SAL to bump up his GPA and then try again in the Fall...

What I want to do over the summer: Read up on anthro theory.. "yes, Evan' Pritchard, tell me more about the Nuer" Rewrite a paper in an attempt to publish it Move to a new city where I'll begin my PhD program Did I mention lots of academic reading? What I will probably end up doing: Move to said city (my lease is up in July so I will either be homeless or will move to said city.) Lie in the sun and stare up at the clouds, looking for bunnies or crap Sleep Read the rest of the Song of Ice and Fire series... Over indulge in Star Trek TNG and BSG on Netflix... Rewrite 2 or 3 paragraphs of abovesaid paper Finish half of the Nuer Read 1/4 of the academic reading list I planned... Did I mention sleep? This happens every winter break. I'm resigned to accepting my failure to complete the reading list as planned.

I think the word we're looking for here is "bragging"... While we all want to be recognized for our accomplishments, we don't want to be marked as a braggart and arrogant. It's a subjective choice as to where that line is drawn. So, for me, I walked right up to that line...and then crossed it with my big fat "I GOT ACCEPTED INTO ____ !!!!". Hahahaha I think it depends largely on one's ciricle of friends (fb or otherwise) and what's acceptable in your circle. I have some friends who are status "one liners" and then I have other friends who LOVE caps lock and have an arsenal of hearts and symbols and all kinds of text-flowers and banners. Interesting to note that regardless of my friends' personal fb status choices I got likes and supportive comments all the way around.

Yes... but not right away.. I think I'll want to rent for a year to figure out where the good locations are, pricing, better school districts, property taxes etc.

I don't know if the expected number of presentations ramps up with each increasing year of grad school but.. But as an UG, I'll have presented papers at 2 student conferences, 1 professional/national conference and 1 poster at a student conference. I've been encouraged by my professors to do at least one student conference (usually one held by the uni) and a professional conference. I start grad school in the Fall, so I expect that in my first year 2 will be expected from me.. Publishing though, seems to be where i am directed to focus on.. rather than presenting.. My UG uni is great; there's no funds for an UG student attending and presenting at conferences but my professor, with whom I did the research and listed me as a co-author, was able to get me some money from the department. I had to pay first, then keep ALL my receipts (very, very detailed receipts; the graduate office wanted to know EXACTLY what I ate) and they'll reimburse me. About lodgings, ask if the conference has blocked out rooms at the hotel where its hosted or a nearby hotel (if held at a convention center) because there might a special rate given to conference attendees. The national conference I just presented at had rooms blocked out at the Riviera in Las Vegas for $69/night.

I'm currently at a uni in the middle of nowhere (cornfields everywhere and.... flat nothingness); it's an hour and half from a big city and we don't even have our own train station. The lack of distractions can be nice, but it can also be really infuriating and the winter-time claustrophobia, cabin fever and subsequent depression can be awful. Combine that with the normal stresses of studying and sometimes it feels like the world has left us behind.... One of my graduate friends is from Napa, CA and he liked it here at first, for the same reasons you cite, but now, after a year, he hates it. I'm not trying to be negative, but there is a downside to quiet "country living" too if you've been urban for most of your life... I've been here for 2.5 years and I am ready to move to somewhere bigger, with more amenities. It seems like a really stupid thing to want, but I can't wait to move to somewhere with a Red Lobster. (I know, I know...out of ALL the restaurants) It's a tough decision for all of us to make - knowing we have to live there for possibly 4-7 years...

I would agree, it generally can't hurt you to just visit and meet with some of the professors. At my uni now, we have a terminal MA program and while there are no formal interviews done, I can say that visits are encouraged and welcomed. As a UG I visited before I declared anthro my major and the chair met with me then and answered all my questions, so I imagine that the same would go for an prospective MA student...

I splashed my acceptance all over fb when I got it a few weeks back. Not gonna lie, I enjoyed the attention and the support from my friends. But, again, most of my friends and family live overseas and we use fb to convey news of this sort frequently (births, weddings, pregnancies, divorces, etc) However, since then I have kept it quiet - mostly because so far no one else in my circle who applied has gotten accepted and the situation has become dismal... I got a rejection from my 2nd choice but I opted NOT to post it, since it seemed rather heartless and somewhat disingenuous, given my acceptance into my 1st choice.