Anthro Grad Students // Humanities Question

[anthro1]

Hi,

I graduated in '08 from a top level anthropology program on the East Coast USA with a 3.8 GPA (with a high verbal GRE score but fairly weak scores on the math portion) I only applied to 3 grad schools for my Masters in Anthro, thinking that having a Masters would boost my prospects for entry in to a well regarded PhD program. (I was also very ill during my app process which made applying to more schools impossible.)

I've been given a full tuition + stipend for a masters program in Canada. The school is well regarded in Canada, although not well known in the USA. I would be given a lot of support, opportunity for research and obviously would have no debt. I would also have money to do research/travel for my thesis research and opportunity to network in my chosen field of anthro.

However, I'm worried that by taking an MA from a lesser known school than my undergrad degree, I might actually be hurting myself and making it more difficult to get entry into a really solid PhD program (Brown, Cornell, NYU, U Texas Austin, the UC school system, U Michigan, U Penn.) Would admissions look at my history and wonder why I went to a lesser known school for my Masters, while I went to one of the top anthro programs in the country for my undergrad? Or would my research make me more 'unique' and therefore marketable?

What is more important -- the name on the degree, or the amount/quality of work I put out during my masters?

I'm at a complete loss and would love constructive input.

Thanks. If you need further details, you can message me, but I'm trying to be fairly vague on a public forum setting for obvious reasons. Sorry to be rather vague on here, but I look forward to any insights. Thank you!

[Sparky]

For a master's degree in the humanities and most social sciences, the general rule is "follow the money."

Also, I don't know what the situation is in anthro, but if you look at school with top history programs, most of them are PhD only or grant MAs only on the way to PhDs. "Top" MA program is a completely different story from top department, in some--obviously not all--cases. (An important exception here is religion, where many of the schools with top PhD programs have really excellent M* programs as well. This is because, or possibly part of the reason why, religion PhD pretty much require a master's as a prerequisite for admission. But I digress).

Are there people in your subfield with whom you will be working? Are they well-known? If so, it is important to get LORs from them. Supposedly, LORs from academic demiurges are weighted more heavily than ones from profs with steady but unremarkable publication records.

That said, my LORs were all from profs with steady but unremarkable publication records, my MA is (will be) from a solid but by no means "top" department, and I am going to my dream school next year. Oh, and the reason I chose my MA school? I followed the money. (ETA: I turned down a couple of M* programs that have Name Value but did not give me a ridiculously awesome funding package.)

Edited March 29, 2010 by Sparky

[pomodoro]

Hi anthro1,

If you like, please feel free to pm me- I'm currently finishing my MA in anthropology at a well-respected Canadian school and possibly could give you some advice.

Cheers,

pomodoro

Edited March 29, 2010 by pomodoro

[easttowest]

I took an undergrad honours degree in history from a Canadian school, but am looking at MA visual anthropology programs in the UK for next fall. Since there will be limited funding available for me, but I should be able to meet the cost regardless, what factor would you place higher in making a decision-access to facilities or the overall reputation of the school? Thanks