phyanth

For those of you who had to apply via the Applyweb portal: When a decision was made, where did you have to navigate to in order to view the decision? Was it in the checklist? Or did the little green submitted bar next to the form change to something else?

Thank you for the info! I'll just reach out to admissions

Hi all! I'm applying to UVic for a PhD in Anthropology as a US applicant. Does anyone know if Canadian schools let international students know of decisions earlier for visa/planning purposes?

No, I'm looking mostly at the pelvic canal

Congrats, that's awesome! Yeah, I had some later deadlines, so I figure we won't hear back until at least early-ish Feb. But its sounds like you already have promising prospects, so hopefully it's a little less stressful in that aspect That sounds like a blast! Well, hopefully you start hearing back soon I'm hoping to continue my thesis work, which is in functional morphology, female skeletal anatomy, and obstetrics.

Okay, phew! That gives me a little peace of mind. Who all have you heard from, if you don’t mind sharing? I’m basically waiting on everyone. I applied to 9 schools, but to my knowledge, no one has sent out interviews for bioanth. Yale, Princeton, Berkeley, WUSTL, Michigan State, UTK, LSU, Kent State, and UVic. I wouldn’t worry about 3! You just have to find who has the best fit What’s your general focus?

I would love to hear back this week, but I have a feeling we probably won’t receive any decisions/interviews until at least the week after... Some of the schools I talked to haven’t even really begun to look at applications!

From what I've seen on the boards and results, it seems like the sociocultural and bioanth committees convene separately and most of the results are for sociocultural tracks. Has anyone applying for bioanth tracks heard anything regarding interviews/offers?

Plenty of schools don’t formally interview for PhD programs. It also depends on your subdiscipline. Of the 9 I applied to, only 3 conduct interviews. And that’s a mix of top/mid rank schools

I'm so stressed about applications that I've been really dizzy/lightheaded and having heart palpitations. I really wish they would let me know. :/

Yeah, I noticed that too. And, this seems to only be sociocultural, not even bio (which is what I applied for). They may just have more funding this year, or wanted to give more candidates a chance since an interview is completely different than what a committee sees on paper.

So, I noticed that someone from one of the schools I applied to searched for my thesis and viewed it online on Jan 8th... that must be a decent sign, eh? At least they took the time to look me up! Regardless, it made me happy that someone is even remotely interested in my work. It's the small victories! Anyone else have any small victories this week?

Welcome, and good luck! It sounds like you're in a great position, congrats!

Congrats!! I hope you receive an offer!

I just say that out of hundreds of applications, they only pick one or two people for my subfield. If they still have hope, I just chuckle and say, "we'll just wait and see".

Can we revive this thread?! I'm hoping I will be able to put a story here in the upcoming months, but I would love to hear from people this cycle, happiness is contagious

That’s something you have to decide. Which of these categories is most important to you? Find what schools fit most of these categories, and other categories you think of. You want to go to the school that best fits everything, and if not that, the one that fits the most important categories for you!

Hahaha absolutely not! I am honestly probably going to end up doing that, I'm seriously that kind of person And thank you! It's relatively low risk, so fingers crossed Thank you!! I'm doing my best, but it's definitely hard to not get anxious about surgery. Oh gosh, I hope your surgery goes well for you too! Be sure to try and drink some lavender tea and relax for your interview, you're already most of the way towards an acceptance, I'm excited for you! I honestly wouldn't worry about your age, I don't think it will be an issue at all. My best friend went straight into a PhD in clinical psych (not sure if it's the same thing as you), and she was only 21!

Thank you!! I'm going to try my best, haha. Wait, are you concerned that you're too old, or too young?

Absolutely nervous right now. The next two weeks are basically when most people who are admitted to anthropology programs are notified. I'm having neurosurgery in the next two weeks. I hope I hear back before the surgery, so I don't stress myself out post-op about looking at results

1. Coursework. Make sure there are enough courses you like that are offered that will enhance your studies. Also, will a lot of your courses be in tandem with undergraduates? Or are there mostly dedicated graduate courses? 2. The City. Make sure that you will be happy living in whatever city the college is at. Are there lots of cities nearby? What things are there to do outside of the program? If there isn't a lot to do, and the city is far from neighboring cities, you may find yourself bored or miserable a few years in. Remember, you will be living in a city for possibly 4-6+ years. 3. The People. If you have an opportunity to visit and meet other students in the department, do it! I'm not saying these have to be your best friends or anything, but you want a group of people that you can work with, bounce ideas off one another, and even socialize with. Drama in a department is stressful, emotionally taxing, and can even affect your quality of experience. If you can't visit, I would still reach out and e-mail students to get a feel for the people and department. 4. Opportunities. Apart from the coursework and standard process of research/comps/dissertation, what other opportunities does the university have to offer to supplement your experience there? Are there opportunities to workshop on grant writing? Is there a lot of mentorship in publishing articles/are there opportunities to possibly work at some capacity on a journal? What conferences do students from the dept attend/what networking opportunities do faculty facilitate while at said conferences? 5. Family. If you have a significant other/spouse, or are close with family, you will want to take this into consideration. How often do you want to see your family, and how expensive will it be? I say this because I moved to a pretty isolated city for my master's degree, and even though I'm not super duper close with my family, it was still hard only being able to afford to travel home once or twice a year. 6. Cost of Living. Even though the stipend may seem generous, make sure to check out apartment/house rental pricing in the area, what is a safe area to live, commute times, etc. Sometimes the cost of living in certain cities is shocking and almost impossible to survive on a stipend, unless you have multiple roommates. Hope this helps!

paint can

This is definitely causal, easy reading, but I loved The Bone Woman, by Clea Koff and Stiff, by Mary Roach! I have a few more suggestions, but I can't remember them, so I'll have to wait until I go home

gear crank

First of all, congrats! That's amazing To answer your questions: 1. Absolutely not. While your odds certainly increase, e.g. 5/10 vs 10/200, an interview definitely does not guarantee an acceptance. Treat it like it's an interview, not as a guarantee. 2. I don't know how your field is, but my best advice is to bring the suit, and then feel it out when you get there. It's much much better to be overdressed than under dressed!