Fall 2023 Admissions

[anthrokiddo]

Just now, WICW said:

To which stream you applied to? 

Sociocultural!

[anonthropologist]

57 minutes ago, anthrokiddo said:

Sociocultural!

i had an interview with berkeley for sociocultural and have also not heard back! 

[substitutemeat2022]

Just got an update from Stanford. I got an offer of admission! I'm pretty certain that this is the offer I'm going to accept. It's finally over?

3a (Stanford, Duke, UCSD)/1w (UCBs Joint Program)/many confirmed and assumed rejections?

[PhilAnthro]

23 hours ago, substitutemeat2022 said:

Just got an update from Stanford. I got an offer of admission! I'm pretty certain that this is the offer I'm going to accept. It's finally over?

3a (Stanford, Duke, UCSD)/1w (UCBs Joint Program)/many confirmed and assumed rejections?

Congrats! That must feel great!

How much time did it take preparing the applications (you seem to have applied to a lot of programs so it must have taken a lot of time)? And is this your first round of applications for anthropology programs?

 

[OffSTpl]

On 2/23/2023 at 9:42 AM, TinCanBaby said:

STANFORD UPDATE - Got my email to check the portal ? so for those who DID interview updates must be coming soon.  I did not get interviewed and was DENIED.

1a/5d/0w/4p 

USC interview tomorrow.

Hi, may I know who are interviewing you? How's the USC interview like?

[substitutemeat2022]

3 hours ago, PhilAnthro said:

Congrats! That must feel great!

How much time did it take preparing the applications (you seem to have applied to a lot of programs so it must have taken a lot of time)? And is this your first round of applications for anthropology programs?

 

Hello! Thank you so much. More than anything else I'm relieved and grateful for the opportunity. 

I finished a master's in philosophy last August. Took a few weeks off and spent September to November working on the application. This was my first time applying.

Applied to 13 places in total (Stanford, Duke, UPenn, UCB, UCI, UCSD, UCLA, MIT HASTS, Cornell, Brandeis, UPitt, CUNY, UMich). It took a lot of time to check for fit and narrow down on that list, get in touch with profs/grad students and finally figure out how to position myself in the SOP. 

Edited February 24, 2023 by substitutemeat2022

[TinCanBaby]

15 hours ago, OffSTpl said:

Hi, may I know who are interviewing you? How's the USC interview like?

I sent you a message.

[chompsky]

16 hours ago, TinCanBaby said:

I sent you a message.

Hey! Could you please send me that message too as well? Thanks so much

[TinCanBaby]

46 minutes ago, chompsky said:

Hey! Could you please send me that message too as well? Thanks so much

Sure

[crthomps]

On 2/16/2023 at 3:11 PM, bleem7 said:

One question I'd ask is whether (aside from UCLA, which appears to have a fairly clear policy of no interviews) it is frequent at any school for an applicant to be accepted without any interaction with faculty.  I think it's not uncommon for students who communicate with a POI informally prior to applying (or after, I suppose) to get admitted without a formal interview.  The prior interaction seems to be a sufficient substitute at least in some cases.  But how often does someone get accepted who has not communicated with faculty at some point? At UCLA the application seems to encourage interaction (they ask you who have you talked to, not just who do you want to work with).  Some schools discourage interacting with faculty, some encourage it, others are silent or say it doesn't matter, but whatever you do don't carpetbomb everyone in the department with an email. I wonder if it's possible to just apply, list faculty without interacting with them, and then get in without an interview.  My bet is that it would be infrequent with at most a few exceptions.

A bit late to the party here, but I was accepted at UCLA this year (sociocultural) with no contact with faculty (and of course no interview). 

[anthrokiddo]

Berkeley applicants (non-medical) who  did interviews, any updates from the dept?

[titus_sloan]

Hi, a few weeks ago I was informed via email that I had been placed on a waitlist for NYU sociocultural anthropology. It has been a bit excruciating, so reaching out here. Is there anyone else on here who received a similar email? Do you have any information on how things are progressing or anything? Just any information would be greatly appreciated. 

[archwizard92]

On 2/21/2023 at 11:57 AM, AnthroApplicantPerson said:

I was just about to write this question. Had my interview over 4 weeks ago, and nothing since then.

Edit: Sociocultural

Same here - especially since they said they would let us know early/mid February - Has anyone heard anything - good or bad?

[AAAAAYYYYY]

Saw someone accepted by Berkeley's sociocultural track last week (?)... Now I am getting confused and anxious again  

[PhilAnthro]

On 2/24/2023 at 4:42 PM, substitutemeat2022 said:

Hello! Thank you so much. More than anything else I'm relieved and grateful for the opportunity. 

I finished a master's in philosophy last August. Took a few weeks off and spent September to November working on the application. This was my first time applying.

Applied to 13 places in total (Stanford, Duke, UPenn, UCB, UCI, UCSD, UCLA, MIT HASTS, Cornell, Brandeis, UPitt, CUNY, UMich). It took a lot of time to check for fit and narrow down on that list, get in touch with profs/grad students and finally figure out how to position myself in the SOP. 

What are your confirmed rejections? I'm just wondering because you were accepted to top programs so it's baffling that you were rejected from lower ranked programs

[substitutemeat2022]

1 hour ago, PhilAnthro said:

What are your confirmed rejections? I'm just wondering because you were accepted to top programs so it's baffling that you were rejected from lower ranked programs

Hello! I have received letters of rejection from UMich, Cornell, UCLA, Brandeis, MIT HASTS. I think my rejections were largely based on fit and had little to do with rankings.

However, in one interview, ranking might have played a role. During the interview, I was asked if I had applied to other programs. I chose to reply honestly to such questions in all my interviews (I don't know if this is the best strategy, though). One of the profs on the committee asked me to rank my application preferences. I evaded this question. His response at the end of the interview was, "I'm sure you'll get accepted into a bigger program than ours". I was ultimately rejected by this department. So I think at a small program, they consider how serious you are about joining them in the event that you get an offer from a better-ranked program. 

[PhilAnthro]

16 minutes ago, substitutemeat2022 said:

Hello! I have received letters of rejection from UMich, Cornell, UCLA, Brandeis, MIT HASTS. I think my rejections were largely based on fit and had little to do with rankings.

However, in one interview, ranking might have played a role. During the interview, I was asked if I had applied to other programs. I chose to reply honestly to such questions in all my interviews (I don't know if this is the best strategy, though). One of the profs on the committee asked me to rank my application preferences. I evaded this question. His response at the end of the interview was, "I'm sure you'll get accepted into a bigger program than ours". I was ultimately rejected by this department. So I think at a small program, they consider how serious you are about joining them in the event that you get an offer from a better-ranked program. 

Thank you!

Well, this is scary. Even if most of these rejections are due to fit problems, it seems pretty random because you applied to schools with the right fit as you said. So if you were rejected by these, then I guess the whole process is more of a crapshoot than I thought

[substitutemeat2022]

46 minutes ago, PhilAnthro said:

Thank you!

Well, this is scary. Even if most of these rejections are due to fit problems, it seems pretty random because you applied to schools with the right fit as you said. So if you were rejected by these, then I guess the whole process is more of a crapshoot than I thought

Oh... I'm not entirely sure about it being a crapshoot. Every program on my list is not a "good fit" to the same degree. Stanford, Duke, UPenn, UC Irvine, UCB (in no particular order) were the best fits for me. I'm assuming its a rejection from UPenn since I wasn't invited to interview. Not sure about UCI yet (was told by POIs that I will hear this week). I made the long/short lists of the other programs.

That being said there are several factors that are out of the applicants control - whether a prof is available for first year supervision (which some programs consider to be quite important), the intended topic/area distribution for incoming cohort, funding for projects in your area, the departments (not just the POIs) interest in what you have proposed etc.

Edited February 28, 2023 by substitutemeat2022

[PhilAnthro]

25 minutes ago, substitutemeat2022 said:

Oh... I'm not entirely sure about it being a crapshoot. Every program on my list is not a "good fit" to the same degree. Stanford, Duke, UPenn, UC Irvine, UCB (in no particular order) were the best fits for me. I'm assuming its a rejection from UPenn since I wasn't invited to interview. Not sure about UCI yet (was told by POIs that I will hear this week). I made the long/short lists of the other programs.

That being said there are several factors that are out of the applicants control - whether a prof is available for first year supervision (which some programs consider to be quite important), the intended topic/area distribution for incoming cohort, funding for projects in your area, the departments (not just the POIs) interest in what you have proposed etc.

I see, that makes sense. Thank you for your time 

[0000020000]

Who else is in waitlist purgatory? I'm first on the waitlist at a program that I believe does not "over-offer", and there are 7-8 spots. Does anyone know how common it is to have an 100% yield rate at highly ranked PhD programs? 

[jojoank]

2 hours ago, 0000020000 said:

Who else is in waitlist purgatory? I'm first on the waitlist at a program that I believe does not "over-offer", and there are 7-8 spots. Does anyone know how common it is to have an 100% yield rate at highly ranked PhD programs? 

I am on the waitlist at my top choice. If you don't mind, can I ask how did you find out you're the first on the waitlist? I'm thinking of sending an email to learn about my place, but not so sure how to ask in an appropriate way. 

[0000020000]

8 minutes ago, jojoank said:

I am on the waitlist at my top choice. If you don't mind, can I ask how did you find out you're the first on the waitlist? I'm thinking of sending an email to learn about my place, but not so sure how to ask in an appropriate way. 

They told me when I was waitlisted, sorry I can't be more helpful. 

[GradR2D2]

2 hours ago, 0000020000 said:

Who else is in waitlist purgatory? I'm first on the waitlist at a program that I believe does not "over-offer", and there are 7-8 spots. Does anyone know how common it is to have an 100% yield rate at highly ranked PhD programs? 

:') We're in the same club. I don't know where I'm at on the waitlist for mine though.  

That kind of data is probably something that programs keep to themselves tbh. Who wants to say that X number of people didn't want them after all. It's so dependent on what applicants need or want for their own academic journeys too, and not just departmental/university politics. I would imagine 100% has to happen sometimes, but students usually apply to multiple places, so a couple spots probably open up depending on the year.

For the university I'm waitlisted for (Toronto) in particular, I think they usually wait a couple weeks before giving out waitlist, so they can see who accepted their offers right away, versus students who are likely still waiting on results from other applications.

Our programs wouldn't have told us about being waitlisted if they didn't think there might be a reasonable chance we could still fit in 🤞

[0000020000]

8 minutes ago, GradR2D2 said:

:') We're in the same club. I don't know where I'm at on the waitlist for mine though.  

That kind of data is probably something that programs keep to themselves tbh. Who wants to say that X number of people didn't want them after all. It's so dependent on what applicants need or want for their own academic journeys too, and not just departmental/university politics. I would imagine 100% has to happen sometimes, but students usually apply to multiple places, so a couple spots probably open up depending on the year.

For the university I'm waitlisted for (Toronto) in particular, I think they usually wait a couple weeks before giving out waitlist, so they can see who accepted their offers right away, versus students who are likely still waiting on results from other applications.

Our programs wouldn't have told us about being waitlisted if they didn't think there might be a reasonable chance we could still fit in 🤞

Oh, I hope you get in!! The annoying thing is some of the programs do publish the stats, just not the one I am waiting on (eg you can filter anthro yield rate here for UChicago: https://provost.uchicago.edu/initiatives/phd-program-data)... but I also understand that I'm looking for certainty and won't find it haha. 

Fingers crossed for us both!

 

 

[anthromf]

Hello! Does anyone happen to know what subfield the person who was accepted to the University of Washington is? And does anyone know if it was a message from their advisor of interest? I ask because I emailed the director of graduate studies earlier this week to ask about a timeline for decisions, and according to their automatic email response, they were out of the office yesterday when that acceptance went out. I haven't seen anything change on my portal or in my email since I applied, so I'm just curious how this person found out about their acceptance! 

Edited March 2, 2023 by anthromf