phyanth

It sounds like you really took an unfortunate situation and made it work for you so that you're more successful this round! I hope you are admitted somewhere, you already have more positive results than last round

I think you will do an amazing job! You have a master's degree from an amazing school, and it sounds like you worked hard to make up for that Ugrad gpa. Keep me updated, I hope everything goes well for you this round

I'm torn. My dream schools with an amazing fit are WUSTL, UVic, and Berkeley. However, I had a sub 3.0 GPA from an awesome public uni. I did well in my Master's program and had 2 publications. I'm just worried that my ugrad gpa will be a deal breaker for PhD programs. I originally had three strong letters from academics, but one of the professors was dismissed after allegations of sexual assault so I had to get a letter from my former boss, who is a pathologist. I'm also worried that my fit isn't perfect for schools and they won't be interested... Literally all I want is a fully funded offer from a decent program. Anyone who has ever worked with me has told me I am incredibly bright and am one of the best at what I do, but I don't feel it. It's so common for people in my field to not even be accepted to any programs the first round, but I've honestly have never been rejected from any colleges before so I don't know how I would handle that.

@jamesaly, I'm not too familiar with sociocultural depts with regards to strength of program, but I know UC Riverside is an 5th, WashU/WUSTL is Jan 1st, and Cornell is Jan 1st. You might want to do some intensive digging around online

@jamesaly, I completely understand where you’re coming from. I was originally going to apply to 4 schools, and then realized that I might be limiting myself; There are probably plenty of professors who would be interested in what I want to do, even though it’s not necessarily a 100% perfect fit. So I ended up submitting 5 apps so far, and 4 coming up. I can’t really afford to apply to many schools, but thankfully I got waivers for 3 of the most expensive applications. There are many schools who have a Jan 1st deadline, so you could still pull together an application by then!

PM me, I'll look it over.

So, as I was working on an application for UVic, I saw that the fee to apply for international students is $150. I definitely choked on my water a little bit, and then realized that this is hopefully in CAD, haha.

@bioarch_fan Awesome, thank you!

I think that anth programs are more interested in the total package more than just scores and grades. They want to see what sort of relevant experience you have, research you may have done, fit between what you want to study and what the dept has to offer, and most importantly, your statement of purpose. But as for your questions: 1. It definitely won't hurt you! It might be helpful if they are deciding between you and another applicant, or who to give funding to. Not sure about Berkeley. I think it's very difficult regardless of sub discipline. 2. No. I would send the score with the higher verbal, anthropology programs seem to care more about that than quant, unless your proposed project is quant heavy. 3. I can't tell you that. I don't know everything you have to offer as an applicant, and none of us are on committees that decide admissions. What I do know is that the more competitive schools tend to receive hundreds of applications for MAYBE 2-4 spots in your sub discipline. Less competitive schools might receive around 100 applications, but they usually don't have as much funding, and therefore do admit even less people. So it's extremely competitive across the schools. There are many instances where applicants do not get into any schools. The best thing you can do is try to distract yourself while schools are deciding. Good luck!

In my mind, I keep thinking, I should hopefully get in SOMEWHERE, right? But obviously there are a TON of people who don't get in at all... So I'm both excited and concerned.. Can January get here already??

@GameofLoans16 https://www.ets.org/gre/subject/about/fees/reduction/

@GameofLoans16, you can apply for a waiver

@jamesaly okay awesome! That's good to know. Luckily, I have an able bodied husband, so he can work and support the rest of what we need while I'm in school. Do you know much about University of Victoria? That's where I'm applying, but I've never been to the area or know a whole lot about the school outside of the anth dept.

@Bschaefer: man of sage words. Also, does anybody know if Canadian schools offer funding like American schools do? E.g. tuition waivers and living stipend

@GameOfLoans As far as PhD results go, that's awesome! But what if the reason you were a top applicant and were selected/waitlisted was due to your GRE scores? It's one of those deals where you want to be as strong as you can be in every aspect so schools don't have a good reason to waitlist you/turn you down I mean, I don't think studying like a total madman and trying to ace it is the goal (Or healthy), but definitely putting a little elbow grease into the quant section will go further than you think! I'm a pretty optimistic person; everyone could use a little support in their lives!

@museum_geek @Bschaefer So what you're telling me is that I can start neurotically checking on my status online beginning January, eh?

Even though you don't want to study for the quant, you're going to have to if you really do want to get into a PhD program in the future. Based on what you've given us, that means you got a 139 in quant. While quants probably don't matter for cultural anth, you still need to put in the effort to at least break 150. I would be concerned that schools wouldn't even look at your application because of the scores. For that reason alone, you should really put in the effort. The math isn't so much about rote memorization of formulas, so much as being more like logic puzzles. You identify patterns within the problem and I would say that about 35% of the time, you don't actually need to use some formula forgotten years ago. A lot of the problems that show up on quant only require you to use basic math (e.g. ratios, fractions, percentages). You could definitely pop that score up to 150 if you even put in a few hours a week! But, you mentioned that you studied for the verbal. You will also have to raise those scores if you want to be competitive, even at the MA level, ESPECIALLY since you want complete funding. GRE scores are usually how they determine funding, since most candidates are on the same level in all other aspects. For that reason alone, you absolutely need to put in the effort to study for both of the sections. Magoosh has an awesome free app for learning verbal vocab. Trust me, nobody wants to relearn math or vocab, but we all do it to remain competitive! It's been five years since I've taken a standardized test. I have a pituitary adenoma that causes severe hyperthyroidism, which in turn leads to panic attacks daily, shortness of breath, heart malfunction, dizziness, nausea, etc. I took the time to study for about 8 hours a week for 2 weeks, through all of that miserable health stuff, and took the test under those conditions. I ended up doing pretty well, all things considered. If I can do it, YOU can definitely do it, as long as you truly want this!!

Whoaaa, so soon?? Were you already in contact with your POI? I had brief communications with most schools, but did not continue to keep up with them after they stopped responding because I didn't want to pester them during such a busy time in the semester. Were these informal interviews or invited ones after you submitted apps? Haha, sorry for the barrage of questions; it's my first go applying for PhD programs, so I'm not sure what to expect. P.S. It took two hours to shave the last 85 words off, down to exactly 1000 words. I ate half a tin of gingersnaps after that........

So for whose who have previously applied, when did you start hearing back for interviews/results? I've looked at the results page, but was wondering what your personal experience was like!

Yeah, for real! But I feel like anthropology is just as competitive, if not more. In order to secure a decent job out of a PhD program in Anth, you either have to go to a great program and/or have excellent networking skills. At least with psychology, you are almost guaranteed a job when you finish the program!

If you were a top applicant at Notre Dame last year, I'm sure you're bound to get into one of your pick this year! But hey, I don't make the decisions, so who knows? I had a friend who was a merit scholar, 4 pointed college, full ride, near perfect GRE, extensive research, peer-review published by the time she finished undergrad and got rejected from every school she applied to. Granted, this was psychology, but life is crazy sometimes!

Oops, just saw on your signature that you are applying to MA programs this year. You should fare better

I would retake the GRE if I were you, or focus on getting into an MA program so you are more competitive for a PhD program. GRE scores aren't super important, but poor scores will inevitably hurt your application, as would any significant poor performance in other parts of your application. Having that low of a GRE score may indicate that you didn't bother putting in enough time and effort studying, though standardized testing may not be your forte! It's most likely a combination of having only a BA and low GRE scores. Remember, schools sift through literally hundreds of applications to pick a few people for a PhD program. Often times, most of these people already have a master's and probably have a combined GRE of over 300. Where all did you apply? That may be indicative of why you got rejected, especially if you applied to top 10 programs for your subfield.

... I am currently struggling to pare down my 1700 word SOP to 1000 words for my apps due this week.... It's at 1082 words, and I literally can't cut out any more without losing highly relevant content

@gradanth, you should have research interests, and then find the schools that fit with those research interests. Your SOP can be completely unique, but I doubt you will have enough time to write four polished SOPs by the deadlines. What I ended up doing is: P1: Introduce why I want to pursue anthropology and my general research interests P2: Discuss what I want to research and why it is important P3: Not everyone will have this, but I already completed a masters, so I discussed my research and how that fits with what I want to do at the doctoral level. P3: How I intend to complete this research and what I hope to achieve with this work. P4: My educational and employment opportunities that show how I am prepared for a dissertation and original research P5: This is the MOST IMPORTANT. Discuss WHY you want to study at X University, how their research fits with your interests, the people you want to work with, and how your research will help them. So basically, you will really end up changing the last paragraph. Hope this helps! Feel free to PM me with any other questions.