Dept Culture

[NewHat]

I'd love to hear impresssions--however general or specific--on what different anthro PhD programs are like (mostly in terms of sense of community and student life). I hope that I have already gotten a decent impression of which depts may have people in line with my interests, but I am also wondering about the environment--competitive or friendly and open? Hands on or hands off in terms of professor/advisee relationships? I know the danger here is overgeneralization or devolving into hating on specific people, and I know that much comes down to specific advisor/advisee relationship, but still. . . some places feel like a real place when you visit and others feel like a collection of random, competing individuals under a roof. . . . I'm particularly interested in hearing about chicago schools, new york area schools, and stanford (i know the stanford story, but I wonder what it is actually like now that the subfields have reconverged!). I plan to get in touch with current students for places that accept or wait list me but I also just want to hear some "chatter" from some folks still in the same boat as me. ... as yet still undecided (and hopeful that there will be a decision to make!). I'm sociocultural btw.