Fall 2019 Applicants

[Psyhopeful]

14 minutes ago, pyramidstuds said:

Makes sense! What about programs that don't interview? The programs to which I applied seem to be 50/50 interview or not (and I don't think Illinois interviews).

Oh I see what you’re asking. I spend most of my time in the psychology forum where  an implied rejection means you didn’t get an interview, because most programs or at least POIs interview there. My guess on the answer to your question about places that don’t interview would be that most departments are small with limited staff handling the graduate application process. There is a lot to do once a cohort has been selected and my guess would be that they prioritize that since there is the April deadline for those selected to commit to a program. After that’s done, then they send the rejections. Probably with the assumption that most people will move on when they don’t hear anything right away.

[jp5125]

Hey all, 

Just wanted to stop in and post a little update about where I'm at, as the nerves are starting to set in and I wanted to chat with others going through this struggle of applying. I'm applying to study bioanth, particularly nonhuman primate social behavior. I applied to a wide swath of schools, all of which are PhD programs besides UCW: NYU (Anthropology), CUNY (Anthropology), Columbia (Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology), Stony Brook (Anthropology), UC Davis (Animal Behavior group), Arizona State (Anthropology), University of Michigan (BioPsychology), and University of Central Washington (Primate Behavior Masters).

So far, I was rejected from University of Michigan, which wasn't a huge surprise considering I'm an anthropologist applying to a crazy competitive psychology program... Although I did get an email from my POI at CUNY asking more about my project ideas, if I applied to the NSF GRFP (I did), and about possibly scheduling a skype call to discuss conditions at her field site and tweaking my current research ideas to fit her study species.... so I have some hope!!! 

 

Haven't heard anything from other programs so far, wondering if anyone on here has heard from any of the programs I listed... Besides that I wish everyone the best of luck in the coming months! 

 

[LetsGetThisBread]

I see an interview went out at Berkeley! Congrats to the recipient! Wonder who the PI is. Could this be? Another rejection？?

I’ve heard Berkeley’s process is a bit less streamlined than the others, so fingers crossed. 

Edited January 20, 2019 by LetsGetThisBread

[socio1251]

Hey all! I just found out this thread and it eased my nerve a bit, cause as least I don't have to check out the result page ten times a day without knowing the exact status of my application!

I applied for four socio-cultural anthropology programs this year: CUNY, NYU, Indiana Bloomington, Minnesota-Twin Cities, and nine sociology programs (I figured out urban sociology is more related to my research interests when doing program research, but I was obsessed with anthropology at that time so I had decided to apply to four schools.) NYU and CUNY are my top choices among all the programs I applied, cause I really love NYC! I am an international applicant and got an MA from NYU, I wonder if anyone is in the same boat.

Will most of the anthropology programs request interviews before making their decisions? I've read it on Minnesota Q&A page somewhere that they will interview applicants since December, but I didn't see anyone post interview on the results page, so I am hoping for the best. If anyone applying to Minnesota got an interview already, please claim it! So I can lower my hopes haha.

Anyway, good luck to you all!

Edited January 20, 2019 by ALieNNatioN

[LetsGetThisBread]

27 minutes ago, ALieNNatioN said:

Hey all! I just found out this thread and it eased my nerve a bit, cause as least I don't have to check out the result page ten times a day without knowing the exact status of my application!

I applied for four socio-cultural anthropology programs this year: CUNY, NYU, Indiana Bloomington, Minnesota-Twin Cities, and nine sociology programs (I figured out urban sociology is more related to my research interests when doing program research, but I was obsessed with anthropology at that time so I had decided to apply to four schools.) NYU and CUNY are my top choices among all the programs I applied, cause I really love NYC! I am an international applicant and got an MA from NYU, I wonder if anyone is in the same boat.

Will most of the anthropology programs request interviews before making their decisions? I've read it on Minnesota Q&A page somewhere that they will interview applicants since December, but I didn't see anyone post interview on the results page, so I am hoping for the best. If anyone applying to Minnesota got an interview already, please claim it! So I can lower my hopes haha.

Anyway, good luck to you all!

Good luck on your apps! 

I’m not sure about NYU since the posted results don’t make it super clear, but CUNY definitely interviews, likely to decide who gets which fellowship. 

[socio1251]

2 minutes ago, LetsGetThisBread said:

Good luck on your apps! 

I’m not sure about NYU since the posted results don’t make it super clear, but CUNY definitely interviews, likely to decide who gets which fellowship. 

Thanks for your info!! Hopefully we will all hear from our dream schools soon! 

[KuroNeko]

11 hours ago, pmcol said:

Hey KuroNeko, good luck to you. I hope that this round goes your way. 

It's great to hear that you've received an acceptance from an institution in your country of origin! Let me congratulate you on your hard work, I'm sure this bodes well for your other applications. I, too, have yet to hear from universities in either the United States or Canada, so let's keep our fingers crossed for each other.

I've only recently heard of the MAPSS program, but it seems quite divisive. Maybe you can provide us with some insight? It may help those of us who find ourselves in a similar position this application round, having to decided between a gap year or attending a program like MAPSS.

Thank you! It's not my country of origin, but the geographic area/country I've been looking to study, which is why I moved here after MAPSS, to get experience in the country and to improve my language skills. I'm hoping that counts for something during this round. But I'm American, applying as a domestic student, out of country. 

As for MAPSS... it primarily exists to serve two functions. One, to earn money for the university. Two, to discourage people from continuing on to a PhD program. My cohort was around 180 students, which meant they basically had no meaningful way to give advising to anyone. They had current phd students serve as discussion moderators during the "core" class in the first quarter, who also helped with proposal writing for the thesis. In fact, many of the faculty don't want to bother with MAPSS students at all, and it was really difficult for many in my cohort, including myself, to find an advisor for the thesis. 

Their marketing is that they get their graduates into funded PhD programs, but they manipulate those numbers. They don't actually support everyone, and they only support those who they think will get in. They seem to be rather successful at discouraging people from pursuing an academic career, and I only know a handful of people personally from my cohort who successfully made it to a PhD. 

It's not a bad idea to do an MA before reapplying to a PhD, but I think just about any other traditional MA will be a better choice than MAPSS. Trying to do nine classes, fieldwork, and write a decent thesis in nine months is nearly impossible, especially given the lack of advising, guidance, or support. I'm currently a research student at an Asian university at the moment (because I didn't have the letter writers I needed, and my MA thesis needed serious work to serve as a writing sample or to be publishable), and the differences are pretty stark. I've gotten so much support from professors in my current department, from writing fellowship applications, work-shopping my writing, and just general camaraderie. At Chicago, I felt unwanted and lacking, a reason why I'm not reapplying to their PhD program either, though I'm sure it's a very different experience for the actual PhD students. 

I won't say I gained nothing, as I absolutely did. I found directions I wanted to pursue further, and I think I did some decent fieldwork in that very limited time. But I could have done that anywhere, and I think the gains I made were in spite of the program, not because of it. 

Anyway, in case anyone else is faced with this decision, I'd be happy to discuss my experience further to anyone interested, or to answer any questions. 

[LetsGetThisBread]

15 minutes ago, KuroNeko said:

Thank you! It's not my country of origin, but the geographic area/country I've been looking to study, which is why I moved here after MAPSS, to get experience in the country and to improve my language skills. I'm hoping that counts for something during this round. But I'm American, applying as a domestic student, out of country. 

As for MAPSS... it primarily exists to serve two functions. One, to earn money for the university. Two, to discourage people from continuing on to a PhD program. My cohort was around 180 students, which meant they basically had no meaningful way to give advising to anyone. They had current phd students serve as discussion moderators during the "core" class in the first quarter, who also helped with proposal writing for the thesis. In fact, many of the faculty don't want to bother with MAPSS students at all, and it was really difficult for many in my cohort, including myself, to find an advisor for the thesis. 

Their marketing is that they get their graduates into funded PhD programs, but they manipulate those numbers. They don't actually support everyone, and they only support those who they think will get in. They seem to be rather successful at discouraging people from pursuing an academic career, and I only know a handful of people personally from my cohort who successfully made it to a PhD. 

It's not a bad idea to do an MA before reapplying to a PhD, but I think just about any other traditional MA will be a better choice than MAPSS. Trying to do nine classes, fieldwork, and write a decent thesis in nine months is nearly impossible, especially given the lack of advising, guidance, or support. I'm currently a research student at an Asian university at the moment (because I didn't have the letter writers I needed, and my MA thesis needed serious work to serve as a writing sample or to be publishable), and the differences are pretty stark. I've gotten so much support from professors in my current department, from writing fellowship applications, work-shopping my writing, and just general camaraderie. At Chicago, I felt unwanted and lacking, a reason why I'm not reapplying to their PhD program either, though I'm sure it's a very different experience for the actual PhD students. 

I won't say I gained nothing, as I absolutely did. I found directions I wanted to pursue further, and I think I did some decent fieldwork in that very limited time. But I could have done that anywhere, and I think the gains I made were in spite of the program, not because of it. 

Anyway, in case anyone else is faced with this decision, I'd be happy to discuss my experience further to anyone interested, or to answer any questions. 

Hey Kuroneko,

i has a similar experience with MAPSS. They asked me to come because it would get me into PhD programs afterward, but quickly changed their tune when I accepted admission to one of the PhD programs they had advertised. Scaring me into thinking I wouldn’t get support or that it wasn’t good enough. 

Noticing your username, are you applying from Japan btw? There are some really brilliant anthropologists of Japan in the US. Good luck with applications! 

[pyramidstuds]

20 hours ago, Psyhopeful said:

Oh I see what you’re asking. I spend most of my time in the psychology forum where  an implied rejection means you didn’t get an interview, because most programs or at least POIs interview there. My guess on the answer to your question about places that don’t interview would be that most departments are small with limited staff handling the graduate application process. There is a lot to do once a cohort has been selected and my guess would be that they prioritize that since there is the April deadline for those selected to commit to a program. After that’s done, then they send the rejections. Probably with the assumption that most people will move on when they don’t hear anything right away.

Thanks! It's my first cycle and this forum is very eye-opening to the nuances of the process. Sorry for all the questions. What is the work to be done between now and April for the departments? After interviews, are they managing conversations with admittees, do they recruit or just sit back? I'm super curious about all of it. I imagine it's a lot along with other duties related to their posts.

For those not on this forum waiting in agony for decisions...it just seems they should send 'em out! Notre Dame didn't select me for an interview but they let me know, and formally rejected me, rather than just ghosting me (that's kinda what this is...ghosting, haha)

[perpetualalligator]

22 hours ago, pyramidstuds said:

For those not on this forum waiting in agony for decisions...it just seems they should send 'em out! Notre Dame didn't select me for an interview but they let me know, and formally rejected me, rather than just ghosting me (that's kinda what this is...ghosting, haha)

I agree with you! I think that putting rejections in the back burner is just rude and inconsiderate. Rejections are quite generic so I don't think it would be a lot of work to send an email saying "sorry you didn't get in" at the same time they email acceptances or do interviews. It's better for everyone in my opinion but that's just me (or my anxiety).

I was also seeing that Berkeley has been sending out interview requests. Good luck to all the Berkeley applicants. Based on my obsessive research on the results page Harvard interviews might also come out sometime this week or next so it's getting very real. I am so nervous.

By the way I just saw this bad boy in the results page:

Since a lot of us are applying to NYU, I thought it would be a good idea to share it here. I don't really remember whether or not interviews are part of the application process, but what do you all think this means? Are we all screwed??

[Lemonsour123]

I have no idea if NYU interviews are mandatory, and the inconsistent results on the page kinda make me think they aren't? Most programs with mandatory interviews have data every year where several people get interviews at a similar time, and those interviews seem to come from the grad program rather than the POI. This seems like just a POI wanting to talk to them further but I'm just guessing. Personally I'm hoping that because I had a phone call with my POI there before apps were due that I'm still in the running lol. 

For Illinois, I think rejections will come in the next few days. In previous years they come within a week of waitlists/acceptances on the results page. I have no idea why other schools don't send them out right away, its seriously annoying. The only thing I can think of is that they may want backups so that they aren't left with a smaller cohort than anticipated. 

Also if anyone is curious, my official acceptance letter for OSU just came today, 11 days after my unofficial acceptance. I know I was wondering when it would come so this might be useful for future students. Funding info won't come until the end of Feb so I have a while to wait for that. 

[Psyhopeful]

23 hours ago, pyramidstuds said:

Thanks! It's my first cycle and this forum is very eye-opening to the nuances of the process. Sorry for all the questions. What is the work to be done between now and April for the departments? After interviews, are they managing conversations with admittees, do they recruit or just sit back? I'm super curious about all of it. I imagine it's a lot along with other duties related to their posts.

For those not on this forum waiting in agony for decisions...it just seems they should send 'em out! Notre Dame didn't select me for an interview but they let me know, and formally rejected me, rather than just ghosting me (that's kinda what this is...ghosting, haha)

It’s my first cycle too, but I assume it’s all of the things tied to enrollment, like funding packages and getting official transcripts and everything needed to finalize the acceptance plus organizing any welcome events or whatever. There is a lot of information that needs to go out to the people admitted. They’re probably fielding a lot of questions too. Plus they will be tracking which offers were not accepted so they can admit waitlisted people, etc. 

[pmcol]

27 minutes ago, Lemonsour123 said:

I have no idea if NYU interviews are mandatory, and the inconsistent results on the page kinda make me think they aren't? Most programs with mandatory interviews have data every year where several people get interviews at a similar time, and those interviews seem to come from the grad program rather than the POI. This seems like just a POI wanting to talk to them further but I'm just guessing. Personally I'm hoping that because I had a phone call with my POI there before apps were due that I'm still in the running lol. 

For Illinois, I think rejections will come in the next few days. In previous years they come within a week of waitlists/acceptances on the results page. I have no idea why other schools don't send them out right away, its seriously annoying. The only thing I can think of is that they may want backups so that they aren't left with a smaller cohort than anticipated. 

Also if anyone is curious, my official acceptance letter for OSU just came today, 11 days after my unofficial acceptance. I know I was wondering when it would come so this might be useful for future students. Funding info won't come until the end of Feb so I have a while to wait for that. 

Congratulations on your official acceptance! 

I'm getting a little anxious myself, it seems UNC Chapel Hill should be sending out information regarding acceptance this week or next.

[Jenny01]

Made an account to follow this thread. I have been stalking the website for a little while and figured I might as well join. I am applying to bioanth programs I have already applied to: 

UT-Austin

Johns Hopkins 

Boston University

University of Toronto-Scarborough 

University of Oregon

This is my first time applying and I have heard back from two of the schools got one interview and contact from POI with encouraging news after the first admissions meeting but no official decisions have been made. Still very anxious about others. 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Eli03

[pyramidstuds]

2 hours ago, pmcol said:

Congratulations on your official acceptance! 

I'm getting a little anxious myself, it seems UNC Chapel Hill should be sending out information regarding acceptance this week or next.

Yep, went there for undergrad and would love to return, but don't feel super optimistic about the fit and had already written it off mentally (still stressed deep down, though). Sadly, I thought Illinois was a good fit, though, with various faculty I would have been thrilled to work with...so maybe my "gut feeling" is actually useless.

[pyramidstuds]

1 hour ago, Eli03 said:

Made an account to follow this thread. I have been stalking the website for a little while and figured I might as well join. I am applying to bioanth programs I have already applied to: 

UT-Austin

Johns Hopkins 

Boston University

University of Toronto-Scarborough 

University of Oregon

This is my first time applying and I have heard back from two of the schools got one interview and contact from POI with encouraging news after the first admissions meeting but no official decisions have been made. Still very anxious about others. 

Welcome (I am also new!) and congrats on your momentum!

[Jenny01]

8 minutes ago, pyramidstuds said:

Welcome (I am also new!) and congrats on your momentum!

Thank you! The momentum has only added to the anxiety as I try to prepare for the interview and have a looming maybe.

[LetsGetThisBread]

6 hours ago, perpetualalligator said:

I agree with you! I think that putting rejections in the back burner is just rude and inconsiderate. Rejections are quite generic so I don't think it would be a lot of work to send an email saying "sorry you didn't get in" at the same time they email acceptances or do interviews. It's better for everyone in my opinion but that's just me (or my anxiety).

I was also seeing that Berkeley has been sending out interview requests. Good luck to all the Berkeley applicants. Based on my obsessive research on the results page Harvard interviews might also come out sometime this week or next so it's getting very real. I am so nervous.

By the way I just saw this bad boy in the results page:

Since a lot of us are applying to NYU, I thought it would be a good idea to share it here. I don't really remember whether or not interviews are part of the application process, but what do you all think this means? Are we all screwed??

Hey Alligator, 

I was trying to parse this out myself. 

I’ve been through the results page way more times than is proobably healthy, and it doesn’t seem like NYU clearly interviews for sociocultural or linguistic, but that they interview for biological seems pretty consistent. Fingers crossed? I’ve got my hopes on that one too.

[perpetualalligator]

@LetsGetThisBreadlol I did the same thing and I agree with you. I also saw that in some years (2013) they actually do two rounds of interviews and actually fly a couple of people to NYC. I think that's probably for like top applicants or something. I don't understand why I'm so nervous. I completely expect a rejection considering that so many people have applied and in previous years like 7 out of 400 people are accepted (I wish I knew that before applying). ?

[LetsGetThisBread]

10 minutes ago, perpetualalligator said:

@LetsGetThisBreadlol I did the same thing and I agree with you. I also saw that in some years (2013) they actually do two rounds of interviews and actually fly a couple of people to NYC. I think that's probably for like top applicants or something. I don't understand why I'm so nervous. I completely expect a rejection considering that so many people have applied and in previous years like 7 out of 400 people are accepted (I wish I knew that before applying). ?

Hmm... I don’t know if I trust anything further back than 2016, just because departments/ adcomms/ admissions change so much over the years. 

And it was definitely worth applying. As one of my professors says (about grants): you can’t win if you don’t play.  

[AnNervous]

I really wish that I had been stalking this site during/before applications! I'm so nervous, this is my first year applying. I'm applying to cultural anthropology programs at UC Santa Cruz, UCLA (where I'm currently an MA student in Latin American Studies), UC berkeley,  UT Austin, Chicago, UPenn, NYU, and Johns Hopkins.

Just got an email today from berkeley wanting to do a 15 minute Skype interview tomorrow (gah!! no time at all to prepare!!) 

Anyone know what it might mean to be asked to do such a short interview?? I'm not seeing a lot of those around these forums although I haven't looked very hard. I'm not sure if this is a POI interview or if it means I might be on a shortlist for admission? That seems too good to be true, I have no confidence in myself but that's a story for another day DX

Just gotta suck it up and pretend I believe in myself, right? Haha...

 

Edit: Reason I'm not sure if it's a POI interview is because the email wasn't from a person I stated on my SOP, although someone from my SOP was cc'ed on the email, along with another professor who just seems to be a big deal in the field in general. Oh man I'm psyching myself out a little already.

Edited January 23, 2019 by AnNervous

[pmcol]

5 hours ago, AnNervous said:

I really wish that I had been stalking this site during/before applications! I'm so nervous, this is my first year applying. I'm applying to cultural anthropology programs at UC Santa Cruz, UCLA (where I'm currently an MA student in Latin American Studies), UC berkeley,  UT Austin, Chicago, UPenn, NYU, and Johns Hopkins.

Just got an email today from berkeley wanting to do a 15 minute Skype interview tomorrow (gah!! no time at all to prepare!!) 

Anyone know what it might mean to be asked to do such a short interview?? I'm not seeing a lot of those around these forums although I haven't looked very hard. I'm not sure if this is a POI interview or if it means I might be on a shortlist for admission? That seems too good to be true, I have no confidence in myself but that's a story for another day DX

Just gotta suck it up and pretend I believe in myself, right? Haha...

 

Edit: Reason I'm not sure if it's a POI interview is because the email wasn't from a person I stated on my SOP, although someone from my SOP was cc'ed on the email, along with another professor who just seems to be a big deal in the field in general. Oh man I'm psyching myself out a little already.

Congratulations AnNervous, that's amazing! I'm extremely excited and happy for you!!

First of all, let your nerves settle. You've got this in the bag, all you have to do is be confident in your own knowledge, ready to ask questions, and, most important of all, be yourself. Seeing that the interview is short, it may be worthwhile trying to be concise in your responses.

This thread, although related to a different discipline, may be of some use: 

I have my fingers crossed for you, best of luck!

 

Edited January 23, 2019 by pmcol

[Lara5]

has anyone applied to the mphil in sociology at Cambridge university? any response yet?

 

--- actually never mind. just saw this thread is for anthropology applications. sorry! ?

Edited January 23, 2019 by Lara5

[RepatMan]

On 1/20/2019 at 1:08 AM, KuroNeko said:

It's not a bad idea to do an MA before reapplying to a PhD, but I think just about any other traditional MA will be a better choice than MAPSS.

If anyone would like some insight from someone who had a bit more of a positive experience in MAPSS, feel free to PM me. Or check out some of my past posts on my profile. I'm now working on a PhD at a "top-tier" institution and definitely think MAPSS helped. Not to say KuroNeko didn't also mention positive aspects, just have seen a few significantly negative posts that (while justified) don't always correspond to the experiences of the wide variety of MAPSS-ers.

[pyramidstuds]

To @KuroNeko, @RepatMan, and others who completed a master's before PhD--any insight as to how beneficial (based on your respective cohorts) this is to acceptance and (optimistically) performance in a PhD program?

I'm graduating with an MS (not MA) this May. I keep seeing MA and not MS, which has me worried. I have a BA and soon an MS. The MS is very related to anthropology and the work I have done within fortified my interest in pursuing a PhD. I'm being sketchy about revealing the specific subject of my MS because it's a very niche subset of study and would make my identity easy to find. Not a huge deal but I'm embarrassed by this process, and being rejected, so I'd planned not to reveal too much personal stuff lest someone I know browse these forums and recognize me, and my failures. Also, the specificity of my field of study is why I'm applying for PhDs in anthropology and not my subject, because there are basically no PhD options for it.

If my being cagey is annoying and unhelpful, let me know...

Basically, I'm concerned about MS vs MA...what does that mean for anthropology PhD programs, in your opinion/experience?