Anthropology Waiting/Results 2012

[306 & 100]

CUNY, NYU admits = any news for the rest of us? Especially NYCEP folks? Thanks!!!!

I received my informal acceptance from the CUNY Graduate Center late last night, and that was a pleasant surprise. I remember someone said department visit invitations for local students already went out last week, and given the fact that I live in NYC, I thought I was just waiting for the thank you e-mail. But apparently they are still in the process of making decisions, and I'm under the impression that more acceptances will trickle down. Decisions on funding, too, are not definitive yet, and the acceptance I received specifically said they cannot guarantee fellowships at this point.

I am an international student by the way.

[AlternateAllele]

I have a question for the group... How many of you are in Master's programs applying to PhD programs? My undergraduate GPA wasn't so great, so I figured that if I finished a Master's program first my chances for getting into a good school for a PhD would improve significantly. I also thought that maybe I could out-compete a lot of applicants because they would only have Bachelor's degrees.

However, it appears as though I've been chatting with people who have Master's degrees on here! This makes me nervous, because I don't think I can "out-compete" you guys, lol.

Also, I'm more used to dealing with science-y programs, where going from bachelor's to PhD is standard now. In anthropology, it must be more common to get a master's then apply for a PhD. Or is that just for cultural, not biological?

[TooMuchCaffeine]

I noticed that you're still waiting on 7 more places???? Awful. I'm resentful over the fact that Harvard has already responded to applicants, but not state schools, lol.

I'm slightly put off by my thesis project right now... I have three different advisers on three different campuses. One of them in a different state is supposed to correlate my data with his, and he keeps saying my project is next... I can start on some things, but it's weird for me to start my thesis not quite knowing what my results are. What's more important to me is that I've been promised a first author publication but I need his data! (I've never been a team player for a reason...) And finally, my main adviser is impossible to get a meeting with right now. If a thesis is supposed like a 100 pages, I don't have a clue what to fill it with at the moment.

Best of luck with the thesis... Set yourself up a time table of thesis-writing goals. I plan on doing that as soon as I figure out what's supposed to go into thesis :-)

Yes, seven! I'm assuming that two are rejections, but I haven't heard anything official, so I am trying to remain optimistic!

It sounds like you are having an even crazier time with your thesis than I am with mine! Congrats on a potential first author publication, though!

As far as starting, you might as well get your lit. review out of the way. I feel like it takes that longest anyway!

I have a question for the group... How many of you are in Master's programs applying to PhD programs? My undergraduate GPA wasn't so great, so I figured that if I finished a Master's program first my chances for getting into a good school for a PhD would improve significantly. I also thought that maybe I could out-compete a lot of applicants because they would only have Bachelor's degrees.

However, it appears as though I've been chatting with people who have Master's degrees on here! This makes me nervous, because I don't think I can "out-compete" you guys, lol.

Also, I'm more used to dealing with science-y programs, where going from bachelor's to PhD is standard now. In anthropology, it must be more common to get a master's then apply for a PhD. Or is that just for cultural, not biological?

I also decided to get my Master's before applying for a PhD program because my undergrad GPA wasn't too spectacular. As far as making us competitive, I feel like it depends on the school. It seems as if having a Master's isn't too big of an advantage since most competitive anthro programs only have PhD track. I'm thinking the positive for us is that it does show we can excel in graduate courses despite our poor ug transcripts!

Edited February 22, 2012 by TooMuchCaffeine

[anthro.fish]

Regardless of what some anthropology departments say online, I think (by far) most Ph.D. students that are accepted to top programs have Master's degrees (or more). As an example, one of the very few sociocultural students to get accepted to Stanford last year got her B.A. from Stanford, went to Harvard Law, graduated with a J.D., clerked for a federal judge at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, worked for a super-high-powered law firm in Chicago . . . and then decided to apply to the Ph.D. program in anthropology. As if someone just graduating from their undergraduate institution could possibly compete with that.

[CallieTrichid]

Congrats! I'm there now as an UG

Thanks! What do you think of it so far? And the anthropology department? I plan on coming down for a visit sometime in the near future, but I'd love to hear thoughts on it.

[aforman1]

I have a question for the group... How many of you are in Master's programs applying to PhD programs? My undergraduate GPA wasn't so great, so I figured that if I finished a Master's program first my chances for getting into a good school for a PhD would improve significantly. I also thought that maybe I could out-compete a lot of applicants because they would only have Bachelor's degrees.

However, it appears as though I've been chatting with people who have Master's degrees on here! This makes me nervous, because I don't think I can "out-compete" you guys, lol.

Also, I'm more used to dealing with science-y programs, where going from bachelor's to PhD is standard now. In anthropology, it must be more common to get a master's then apply for a PhD. Or is that just for cultural, not biological?

I think it really depends on the department and how well an applicant seems to "fit" in a program. I've had a 3.9 GPA in undergrad and in my MA program, and my GRE scores were decent; when I applied the first time around, I was accepted to 3 schools, including a PhD program with a massive fellowship. This time around, I've applied to three schools, and so far, I've got two (probable) rejections and have heard absolutely nothing from the third program. Compared with my first round, I'm definitely a much stronger applicant now: I've taken comps, been awarded a few research grants and fellowships, and have a much clearer sense of what I want to focus my research on. Bu~ut, it's very likely that I'll be rejected from each of the schools I've applied to, so there's that.

At the end of the day, we can only do so much to make our applications appealing to prospective programs. I have a strong academic and theoretical background, sure, but I haven't published anything either, and because I've chosen a very non-traditional project/area of interest makes me (I believe) a less appealing applicant for some programs. But I know a lot of people who have gone directly into a PhD program from undergrad, so it's not unheard of; also, anthropology programs sometimes admit people from related fields, which further complicates matters. Out of my MA cohort of 15, only 10 of us had backgrounds in anthropology. And also, UCB is a feeder program, so most of the PhD students are admitted internally ....

Anyways, in summary: I think it's about 80% chance, and in a lot of cases, the strength of your application doesn't necessarily come down to whether or not you have an MA, but whether or not you are a good fit for the program. And, since this is where I'm coming from, I'm hoping that the two years I was a graduate student have helped me to strengthen my background enough so that I am competitive ... but who knows.

CLEARLY this huge text blaughhhh means that I need to get some official word already! Question (and possibly tempting fate): If rejections are being posted to the results section that have been received via postal service over the last week or so, no acceptances have been posted at all yet, and according to the online application my status is still "submitted," am I still allowed to hope?

[anxiousanthro]

Regardless of what some anthropology departments say online, I think (by far) most Ph.D. students that are accepted to top programs have Master's degrees (or more). As an example, one of the very few sociocultural students to get accepted to Stanford last year got her B.A. from Stanford, went to Harvard Law, graduated with a J.D., clerked for a federal judge at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, worked for a super-high-powered law firm in Chicago . . . and then decided to apply to the Ph.D. program in anthropology. As if someone just graduating from their undergraduate institution could possibly compete with that.

I am a senior right now. After receiving a few rejections, I met with my faculty advisor. Apparently people who go straight thru from undergrad are much more likely to take longer to finish because they have a tendency to burn out. So, if schools have limited funds, they will likely preference someone who has some "real world experience" under their belt post-ug because they will not have to fund them for so long etc. I don't think its necessarily that other people have Masters degrees. In fact, many schools won't accept Master's degrees from other institutions (e.g. my advisor has an MPhil from Cambridge and was forced to "redo" a masters at the school where she got her PhD).

[nyc2482]

CLEARLY this huge text blaughhhh means that I need to get some official word already! Question (and possibly tempting fate): If rejections are being posted to the results section that have been received via postal service over the last week or so, no acceptances have been posted at all yet, and according to the online application my status is still "submitted," am I still allowed to hope?

Ha! Are you waiting on American, too? I'm in the same boat. Perhaps they're doing everything by mail? I may email my primary POI tomorrow.

[whoneedsfreetime]

I have a question for the group... How many of you are in Master's programs applying to PhD programs? My undergraduate GPA wasn't so great, so I figured that if I finished a Master's program first my chances for getting into a good school for a PhD would improve significantly. I also thought that maybe I could out-compete a lot of applicants because they would only have Bachelor's degrees.

However, it appears as though I've been chatting with people who have Master's degrees on here! This makes me nervous, because I don't think I can "out-compete" you guys, lol.

Also, I'm more used to dealing with science-y programs, where going from bachelor's to PhD is standard now. In anthropology, it must be more common to get a master's then apply for a PhD. Or is that just for cultural, not biological?

I applied with just a bachelors and have been accepted to doctoral programs for bioanthro. That being said, I have gotten the impression that a MA is fairly common for cultural anthro students- at least, more cultural anthro students than bioanthro students seem to have gone for a MA before applying to doctoral programs.

[aforman1]

Ha! Are you waiting on American, too? I'm in the same boat. Perhaps they're doing everything by mail? I may email my primary POI tomorrow.

Haha, for some reason I thought that I wouldn't upset the balance of the universe/tempt the fates if I didn't mention the program name, but yes, waiting on AU. I just checked the site, and it looks like they do everything through postal service, including admits, so who knows! I can't really tell using the results section if they are a school that sends out admits first or second; every admit listed has been for the public anthropology program rather than the PhD. Stressful!

[baybiobabe]

I also decided to get my Master's before applying for a PhD program because my undergrad GPA wasn't too spectacular. As far as making us competitive, I feel like it depends on the school. It seems as if having a Master's isn't too big of an advantage since most competitive anthro programs only have PhD track. I'm thinking the positive for us is that it does show we can excel in graduate courses despite our poor ug transcripts!

Regardless of what some anthropology departments say online, I think (by far) most Ph.D. students that are accepted to top programs have Master's degrees (or more). As an example, one of the very few sociocultural students to get accepted to Stanford last year got her B.A. from Stanford, went to Harvard Law, graduated with a J.D., clerked for a federal judge at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, worked for a super-high-powered law firm in Chicago . . . and then decided to apply to the Ph.D. program in anthropology. As if someone just graduating from their undergraduate institution could possibly compete with that.

Yeah, I think it's becoming more and more common to grab a MA degree first, if only to be sure that you're confident in your research choice before you start the long haul = no one wants to get stuck with a project they don't enjoy! In my case, a MA was almost necessary to make the transition from my cultural heavy undergrad to bio anth. Competition is heavy out there, but don't feel badly. I remember very clearly what my MA advisor told me a few years back when I got rejected from PhDs the first time around = "don't worry; hardly anyone gets in the first time they apply. you just have to reapply because they love to see that you're dedicated" Unfortunately, there's not a lot of funding in the field, so it's becoming more important to demonstrate how serious you are about the discipline. On another note.....having a MA doesn't count for anything if you aren't finished with a final draft of the thesis by the time decisions come in!!

[baybiobabe]

I applied with just a bachelors and have been accepted to doctoral programs for bioanthro. That being said, I have gotten the impression that a MA is fairly common for cultural anthro students- at least, more cultural anthro students than bioanthro students seem to have gone for a MA before applying to doctoral programs.

give us some stats please. where did you apply? and where did you do your undergrad? thanks!

[TooMuchCaffeine]

On another note.....having a MA doesn't count for anything if you aren't finished with a final draft of the thesis by the time decisions come in!!

Hahaha! True, true.

[AlternateAllele]

Anyways, in summary: I think it's about 80% chance, and in a lot of cases, the strength of your application doesn't necessarily come down to whether or not you have an MA, but whether or not you are a good fit for the program. And, since this is where I'm coming from, I'm hoping that the two years I was a graduate student have helped me to strengthen my background enough so that I am competitive ... but who knows.

CLEARLY this huge text blaughhhh means that I need to get some official word already! Question (and possibly tempting fate): If rejections are being posted to the results section that have been received via postal service over the last week or so, no acceptances have been posted at all yet, and according to the online application my status is still "submitted," am I still allowed to hope?

lol Afroman. Yeah, keep hoping. Your coursework/scholarship history sounds pretty exceptional.

I think your "good fit for a program" is an interesting point. It's hard to judge though. One program I think I'm perfect for and wouldn't require much training. The other program the POI told me, "I just want students that are excited about what I'm doing." I might think I'm good, but who the heck knows what they're thinking... maybe they want someone exactly like me but with better GRE scores!

I applied with just a bachelors and have been accepted to doctoral programs for bioanthro. That being said, I have gotten the impression that a MA is fairly common for cultural anthro students- at least, more cultural anthro students than bioanthro students seem to have gone for a MA before applying to doctoral programs.

I would say MA is more common in cultural because of funding... Not a lot of anthro programs have enough funding for 6+ years of research for one student. In my field, most professors have duel-appointments, so the majority of their research funding comes from biological sciences. It's been great being a biological anthropologist, I can bust out a thesis project in less than no time and getting funding for PhD programs should be much much easier.

[Boaty McBoatface]

Hey everyone

I'm a bit off-topic, but there's a question I wanted to ask. Is it possible for schools never to send you a rejection email/letter?

Acceptances for two of the schools I applied to came out last week, and I didn't hear a thing, which means I didn't get in (according to people on the Grad Café, all admitted students have been told). But do you think it's possible that they'll never tell me? That they'll just throw my file without bothering with an email or status update? Do I have to email them to get the confirmation that I've been rejected? It's just that I want to tell my advisor and she won't believe me if I tell her that I found out through Grad Café. She always thought I'd get in everywhere (but I've only got rejections so far).

Another of my schools, U Arizona, has accepted some students and rejected some students last week. Again, I haven't heard a thing. Does it mean I can count myself out? If I haven't had any positive news... Should I email or patiently wait?

Sorry to annoy you with my stupid concerns... I just want to move on with my life

[nyc2482]

Hey everyone

I'm a bit off-topic, but there's a question I wanted to ask. Is it possible for schools never to send you a rejection email/letter?

Acceptances for two of the schools I applied to came out last week, and I didn't hear a thing, which means I didn't get in (according to people on the Grad Café, all admitted students have been told). But do you think it's possible that they'll never tell me? That they'll just throw my file without bothering with an email or status update? Do I have to email them to get the confirmation that I've been rejected? It's just that I want to tell my advisor and she won't believe me if I tell her that I found out through Grad Café. She always thought I'd get in everywhere (but I've only got rejections so far).

Another of my schools, U Arizona, has accepted some students and rejected some students last week. Again, I haven't heard a thing. Does it mean I can count myself out? If I haven't had any positive news... Should I email or patiently wait?

Sorry to annoy you with my stupid concerns... I just want to move on with my life

In the case that you are rejected, it may be that they contacted accepted/waitlisted students via phone or email but forwarded your name to the university to send you a rejection letter by mail. It would account for the delay. You can always email someone to check the status of your application if you can't wait any longer!

[AlternateAllele]

On another note.....having a MA doesn't count for anything if you aren't finished with a final draft of the thesis by the time decisions come in!!

lol, Don't remind me. I applied for a Fall PhD 2012 program, but because of "paper work" issues, I technically can't turn in my Master's thesis project until Fall of 2012. My school couldn't accommodate how fast I went through this program... Most people it takes 3-4 years to complete their master's (a lot of them work part time, have kids... etc), but molecular projects can be much much faster than say, in archaeology.

In my applications, I tried to avoid mentioning my true graduation date. I said I was working on my thesis this semester, which is true :-) I figured though, Master's class experience along with publishing a paper (keeping my fingers crossed that'll happen pre-Fall) would be enough to get me into a PhD program. Technically I wouldn't have to turn in my thesis at all, but I'm hoping I can 'negotiate' a quicker PhD track once I do have a Master's.

Edited February 23, 2012 by AlternateAllele

[slc1404]

GWU Masters people - has anyone gotten any funding?

I've been checking my mail every day, but still no information for me at all yet. Hopefully it'll get here soon!

[lumbarmoose]

Hey everyone

I'm a bit off-topic, but there's a question I wanted to ask. Is it possible for schools never to send you a rejection email/letter?

Acceptances for two of the schools I applied to came out last week, and I didn't hear a thing, which means I didn't get in (according to people on the Grad Café, all admitted students have been told). But do you think it's possible that they'll never tell me? That they'll just throw my file without bothering with an email or status update? Do I have to email them to get the confirmation that I've been rejected? It's just that I want to tell my advisor and she won't believe me if I tell her that I found out through Grad Café. She always thought I'd get in everywhere (but I've only got rejections so far).

Another of my schools, U Arizona, has accepted some students and rejected some students last week. Again, I haven't heard a thing. Does it mean I can count myself out? If I haven't had any positive news... Should I email or patiently wait?

Sorry to annoy you with my stupid concerns... I just want to move on with my life

I'm going nuts waiting on U of A too =\ Although at this point I've convinced myself that i'm not getting in anywhere, haha.

[Boaty McBoatface]

Same. Do you think we should have heard good news by now? Do you think we should give up hope? I applied to 4 universities and it's the only one that hasn't rejected me yet/ for which we don't know if all (edit: accepted) applicants have been notified.

Edited February 23, 2012 by Anzaria

[aforman1]

Hey everyone

I'm a bit off-topic, but there's a question I wanted to ask. Is it possible for schools never to send you a rejection email/letter?

Acceptances for two of the schools I applied to came out last week, and I didn't hear a thing, which means I didn't get in (according to people on the Grad Café, all admitted students have been told). But do you think it's possible that they'll never tell me? That they'll just throw my file without bothering with an email or status update? Do I have to email them to get the confirmation that I've been rejected? It's just that I want to tell my advisor and she won't believe me if I tell her that I found out through Grad Café. She always thought I'd get in everywhere (but I've only got rejections so far).

Another of my schools, U Arizona, has accepted some students and rejected some students last week. Again, I haven't heard a thing. Does it mean I can count myself out? If I haven't had any positive news... Should I email or patiently wait?

Sorry to annoy you with my stupid concerns... I just want to move on with my life

This probably is a rarity, but I never ever received a rejection from Tulane when I applied there in 2009. When I contacted my POI in March, she told me that I had been accepted, but emailed me a couple days later to tell me that she was going off of meeting notes from the first round of application reviews, and that they had ultimately decided against admitting me (I'm not kidding, the subject of her email was "My Bad," soooo heartbreaking!). And ... then I never heard anything from them again; no official rejection, no letter, no email, nothing. I know someone else who applied for a MA program, never heard from them again, and then received a letter in the mail letting her know that she had been accepted ... three years later. Ah, the fun we put ourselves through!

I used to work for graduate studies in UG, and our policy was that the admissions decisions were sent to us from the departments, and we were responsible for sending out the appropriate letters/forms. So, as others have suggested, it's possible that some admits/wait listed people have been informally contacted, and official letters are in the mail. If they've sent out admits and rejections, I say it's probably okay to email your contact in the department to see what's going on. If nothing else, you'll be sure where they are in the decision-making process if they can't give you a definitive answer.

Hope this helps!

[lumbarmoose]

Same. Do you think we should have heard good news by now? Do you think we should give up hope? I applied to 4 universities and it's the only one that hasn't rejected me yet/ for which we don't know if all (edit: accepted) applicants have been notified.

I really don't know what to think. The info that was posted on the results page was so random and it was hard to get a sense of much of anything from it. I'm tempted to call or email or something, but I'm too much of a wimp haha.

[lumbarmoose]

This probably is a rarity, but I never ever received a rejection from Tulane when I applied there in 2009. When I contacted my POI in March, she told me that I had been accepted, but emailed me a couple days later to tell me that she was going off of meeting notes from the first round of application reviews, and that they had ultimately decided against admitting me (I'm not kidding, the subject of her email was "My Bad," soooo heartbreaking!). And ... then I never heard anything from them again; no official rejection, no letter, no email, nothing. I know someone else who applied for a MA program, never heard from them again, and then received a letter in the mail letting her know that she had been accepted ... three years later. Ah, the fun we put ourselves through!

I used to work for graduate studies in UG, and our policy was that the admissions decisions were sent to us from the departments, and we were responsible for sending out the appropriate letters/forms. So, as others have suggested, it's possible that some admits/wait listed people have been informally contacted, and official letters are in the mail. If they've sent out admits and rejections, I say it's probably okay to email your contact in the department to see what's going on. If nothing else, you'll be sure where they are in the decision-making process if they can't give you a definitive answer.

Hope this helps!

Wow, that story is INSANE. Almost makes me glad that Tulane rejected me!

[sarge4786]

Anyone any info on Boston University???

[Boaty McBoatface]

I really don't know what to think. The info that was posted on the results page was so random and it was hard to get a sense of much of anything from it. I'm tempted to call or email or something, but I'm too much of a wimp haha.

Hey, if you call/email, let me know what they say.