Chances and Other Questions for Bio Anthro

[CallieTrichid]

Admittedly, I didn't do as well as I'd hoped when I graduated undergrad. Though I graduated with a 3.1 GPA, I had two bad semesters. One of which was transferring into the university I graduated from (1st semester sophomore year) and the other was first semester senior year when I was dealing with a family emergency. My other semesters (junior year-senior year) were a 3.2, 4.0 (summer--only two classes), 3.6, 3.25, and 3.19.

I recently took the GRE and got a 1130--630 verbal and 500 quant (Ouch! I'm not very talented at math, though, so this surprised me). Haven't gotten my analytical scores back yet.

I'm not looking to go into an Ivy League program or even a Ph.D.--I just want to get into a Master's program for primatology-related things for right now. This is where I feel like my quantitative score is going to bite me in the behind. However, if it helps--I have two previous research-related experiences (one captive and the other field work), and have another planned in a few months. I'll have a LoR from one of the experts in the field too, along with two other good ones.

Eventually, I'd like to go on and get my Ph.D. at somewhere like UTSA, UIUC, or Stony Brook, but I know that I'm putting the carriage ahead of the horse and way too ambitious with my scores. So, for now, I figure I'll just focus on getting a Master's and cross that bridge when I get to it. I've never had a class on Pre-Calc/Calculus, so I plan on auditing some courses if I can on the subjects just so I have a background when taking the revised GRE for a Ph.D. program.

I'm looking at Central Washington (M.S. in Primate Behavior--plenty of Anthropology professors though), San Diego State (one of the professors there is doing EXACTLY what I want to do), Cal State Fullerton (two primatology folk in their Anthro department), and Iowa State (close to home, and a professor doing some cool stuff). I think I've got a decent shot at Central Washington and SDSU, but I'm not sure about the rest. I've also given consideration to Hunter College or U of Iowa (though, I don't think I have a good shot of getting in there). I'd also like to consider SUNY-Buffalo, but they accept a minimum GPA of 3.0 and GRE of 1100, so I think my chances are pretty bad.

So, out of curiosity--what say people?

Also, some other questions I have--

Are there any other places you guys might know of that have a primatology-person on staff and offer a Master's program? I'd like to see what options are available, but I'm not coming up with too much.

Do you guys know of any good websites with sample SoPs? I wrote one last year when I applied to law school (it was a decision I regret and made out of stupid anxiety), but I'd like to see some that are based more for graduate school than law school.

And, how does one go about approaching a PoI? Is it better to start a conversation and then lead into it? Or is it better to e-mail information (CV, transcript) and talk about self, ask a few questions, etc.?

Thank you so much!

[anthropologygeek]

You want to contact the poi to see if they are taking students. Your gre scores are so-so and really limit your chances for funding. You might want to retake the gre. There are so many schools out there, I guarantee there are other schools with people that do what you want. Go the the results page find out all the schools that have results posted, go to their websites and find people that do what you want and then go to the websites of school they got their phd from.

[noodles.galaznik]

I think your GRE scores are probably ok for getting admitted, but just like anthropologygeek said, they're going to limit your funding opportunities. The GRE is something that can be studied for. My score was actually pretty low, lower than yours, but I bought some books, studied like crazy, and I boosted my score by 250 points. It can be done!

[CallieTrichid]

Thank you both for the advice!

Unfortunately, I don't think the timing is right for me to re-take the GRE this year (the ETS is delayed this year with the revised GRE, I guess, and you'd need to take it in August to have it sent out on time?)--especially given the fact that I've never taken a Pre-Calc/Calculus course, a month is too short for me to get that material.

But I'll just have to see what's offered should I get accepted, if it's that bad, I guess I'll just take another year off.

[riceandbeans]

UT San Antonio has a masters program in anthro and two faculty members who are primatologists. You also might want to look at George Mason's anthro program (they also offer a MA). For contacting POIs, sending a short e-mail saying you are interested in applying to the MA program at their school, talking about your research interests a little, asking a few questions (like, are you taking MA students next year), and attaching your CV would be a fine starting place.

[CallieTrichid]

UT-SA is definitely one of the programs I'm looking into. I checked out George Mason, but there isn't too much there that interests me. But thanks for the help!

[a154c]

For the MA, those GRE scores don't actually strike me as too bad. Although quant is low...

The real problem seems to be that it's a low GRE in conjunction with a low GPA. Except for the summer, even you "other semesters" aren't stellar. I wonder if doing very well in a Calc course might impress departments? Just a thought. You seem to have the right drive, so I suspect it might be doable.

[CallieTrichid]

Unfortunately, right now, I'm strapped for cash so doing a course right now in addition to applying to grad programs isn't really an option. :\ But if I get rejected, I'll probably wind-up doing that.