Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

Hi Everyone!

I've been out of school for a while and am planning on applying to PhD programs next year. I'm interested in medical anthropology, but I didn't do any work in this area as an undergrad. I'm thinking of undertaking an independent month-long research project to produce a better sample, but I was wondering how admissions committees would view this. Would doing something like this work in my favor or just be seen as bizarre?

Thanks!

Posted (edited)
  On 5/15/2012 at 4:34 AM, fanfanfan said:

Hi Everyone!

I've been out of school for a while and am planning on applying to PhD programs next year. I'm interested in medical anthropology, but I didn't do any work in this area as an undergrad. I'm thinking of undertaking an independent month-long research project to produce a better sample, but I was wondering how admissions committees would view this. Would doing something like this work in my favor or just be seen as bizarre?

Thanks!

I'm no expert and come from a social anthro background, but I'll provide my opinion FWIW. I guess it depends on the program. For a decent PhD program, I would suppose that if you don't have a solid grounding in medical anthro research/lit/theory and don't have a 'research match' - then I'm guessing chances are slim.

I know that one person in my Masters program was admitted (with funding) from a non-anthro background, but she had a solid research idea/proposal, and knew all the hot/relevant theory for her 'worthwhile and creative' research topic. In certain cases, you might be better off doing a Masters first ...

Edited by simulant
Posted
  On 5/15/2012 at 7:19 AM, simulant said:

I'm no expert and come from a social anthro background, but I'll provide my opinion FWIW. I guess it depends on the program. For a decent PhD program, I would suppose that if you don't have a solid grounding in medical anthro research/lit/theory and don't have a 'research match' - then I'm guessing chances are slim.

I know that one person in my Masters program was admitted (with funding) from a non-anthro background, but she had a solid research idea/proposal, and knew all the hot/relevant theory for her 'worthwhile and creative' research topic. In certain cases, you might be better off doing a Masters first ...

Thanks for your reply! Are there any funded Master's programs? I do feel a bit rushed when it comes to a PhD program...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use