UC Berkeley Applicants

[FaultyPowers]

Hellooo.

 

Since the application deadline for Berkeley has already passed I figured we could use a forum to corral everybody who has applied. We might end up as cohorts after all! Maybe. Probably not but...maybe. And we could also keep track of any Berkeley-related developments that way.

 

I'm applying to the Archaeology focus, and specifically to do Bioarchaeology with Sabrina Agarwal as my main advisor, Rosemary Joyce as my second. I had an informal interview with Dr. Agarwal yesterday - NOT AT ALL anything that resulted from applications, merely as a result of my already living in Berkeley and asking her if I could come by and introduce myself/chat about the program, etc. - and I felt like it went really well. She seems like an awesome person to work with. Even gave me a cookie! I haven't been able to meet with Dr. Joyce but I've at least spoken to her via email. 

 

I didn't get too much information about the program or about funding, but Dr. Agarwal did mention something about the department trying their best to give everyone some kind of support. How far that would actually go in the Bay Area is debatable though!! And she said that formal decisions are usually available early February. 

 

Soooooo...anybody else out there? 

[smg]

I should have.  Working with Rabinow would have been the coolest.  Instead I applied to UCSB and UCDavis.

[trogdorburninator]

i'm hereeeeeeeeeeeeeee. but i don't have much to say. joint UCB/UCSF medical person. I have also heard that they strive to provide "competitive" funding (but I think you hit the nail on the head when you say the real problem is just how $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ it is to live in that area!)

[FaultyPowers]

Let me give you what I think is the perfect example of how bloody expensive it is here. If I get into and go to Berkeley, I'm planning to hire a contractor and pay to convert a 2 car garage at my mother's house to an apartment. It is literally cheaper to BUILD an apartment than it will be to rent one. I almost hope that's how it works out, just for the sheer absurdity!

[trogdorburninator]

GAaaaaahhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh. it'll be some sneaky, smelly, cornered off laundry room for me, i'm sure. 

[smg]

Is the cost of living extraordinary in all of California or just the Bay Area?

[FaultyPowers]

It's worse here for sure but I don't think it's particularly low in the rest of California. Rooms will be from around 700 and up, unless you get some crazy good deal, studios are maybe 1300+ and it goes on from there. There's rent control but only if the building is over 30 years old and if not rent will increase 10% per year at least. It's ah... it's bleak out here.

[smg]

It's worse here for sure but I don't think it's particularly low in the rest of California. Rooms will be from around 700 and up, unless you get some crazy good deal, studios are maybe 1300+ and it goes on from there. There's rent control but only if the building is over 30 years old and if not rent will increase 10% per year at least. It's ah... it's bleak out here.

 

Brutal. 

[trogdorburninator]

On the upside... The ocean! Lake Michigan just can't quite do it for me and it would be a joy to be back in some kind of drizzle.

[museum_geek]

You mean you don't enjoy slogging through 2 tons of lake effect snow effect every winter?

[SSCCATAGAPP]

I am really crossing my fingers for Berkeley! Even though my statement of personal history was kind of crappy - and I had more than a few grammatical mistakes in my SOP. Maybe they would find it endearing (I doubt it lol).

[FaultyPowers]

I knooooooooooow! Who have you applied to work with?

[SSCCATAGAPP]

I knooooooooooow! Who have you applied to work with?

 

I've applied to work with Aihwa Ong, I'm interested in capital, migration and subjectivity. 

[Meglet]

Berkeley is pretty high on my list, but I'm also afraid to get in because housing is so expensive in the Bay Area.  There seems to be even less affordable housing available around Stanford.

 

Anyway, I applied to sociocultural to work with Charles Hirschkind and/or Saba Mahmood.  I'm interested in Arab expressive culture and embodiment, cultural appropriation, and postcolonialism.

 

I listened to Rosemary Joyce's history of anthropological thought lectures on iTunes University, and loved her!

[SSCCATAGAPP]

Berkeley is pretty high on my list, but I'm also afraid to get in because housing is so expensive in the Bay Area.  There seems to be even less affordable housing available around Stanford.

 

Anyway, I applied to sociocultural to work with Charles Hirschkind and/or Saba Mahmood.  I'm interested in Arab expressive culture and embodiment, cultural appropriation, and postcolonialism.

 

I listened to Rosemary Joyce's history of anthropological thought lectures on iTunes University, and loved her!

 

I don't know how anyone can live out there on a graduate stipend - maybe luck and a lil elbow grease?

[FaultyPowers]

You will probably have to share a place. Not the worst luck but....meh. I lived in a shared house in SF for years, paying I think $650 at the most? Which actually IS cheap, I'm afraid to say! One advantage to sharing a place is that often the houses that are filled with roommates are Rent Controlled Unicorns that are all locked in at whatever they cost when the first person signed the first lease. In that regard it's almost a better idea to live in SF than Berkeley, because with fewer students there's less seasonal move-in move-out. 

 

If/when anybody gets their acceptances I can give you all the housing info you might need in terms of where to look, where to live and where to avoid. I've lived here forever.

[Meglet]

I'm married and we have 2 cats.  My husband doesn't work in a super lucrative industry, but hopefully we won't be totally poor.  The cats and all our books make it difficult to share.

[FaultyPowers]

I found it difficult to share when I did share When we moved the apartment was almost completely empty despite three other people still living there.

[Melian4]

I'm married and we have 2 cats.  My husband doesn't work in a super lucrative industry, but hopefully we won't be totally poor.  The cats and all our books make it difficult to share.

 

Stanford couple housing is actually quite nice and generally much cheaper than regular apartments in Palo Alto. They *technically* don't allow pets but 1) many people have secret pets and 2) if you get a doctor's note saying you need your cats for your mental well-being, they'll let you keep them. I am on the archaeology side of things, but I'd be happy to answer any question you may have concerning the campus and housing!  

[Meglet]

Stanford couple housing is actually quite nice and generally much cheaper than regular apartments in Palo Alto. They *technically* don't allow pets but 1) many people have secret pets and 2) if you get a doctor's note saying you need your cats for your mental well-being, they'll let you keep them. I am on the archaeology side of things, but I'd be happy to answer any question you may have concerning the campus and housing!

That's really helpful to know, and if I get in, I'll definitely contact you.  Thank you!

[trogdorburninator]

Oooch... Friends, it seems likely that we might here good news from Berkeley next week! The first week of Feb always shows a couple acceptances on the survey. Anyone have any contact/dreams/premonitions abt the dept?

[Meglet]

Oh god, the suspense is killing me.  I had a dream a few months ago, the contents of which I don't remember, but I woke up saying my POI's name (not in a creepy or sexy way), and at the time I took that as a good omen for admission.  But these days, I cycle between "It's cool - I'll get several offers and have options" and "Everybody's going to think my proposed project is stupid and irrelevant, and nobody's going to want me anywhere, and I'll have to endure another year of public schools drudgery and apply again, and if I ever get in I'll be in my early 40s by the time I hit the academic job market, AHHHHHH!".

[FaultyPowers]

My refresh button has taken out a restraining order against me.

[grad_wannabe]

I cycle between "It's cool - I'll get several offers and have options" and "Everybody's going to think my proposed project is stupid and irrelevant, and nobody's going to want me anywhere, and I'll have to endure another year of public schools drudgery and apply again, and if I ever get in I'll be in my early 40s by the time I hit the academic job market, AHHHHHH!".

 

SO MUCH THIS. One of my friends actually got mad at me. "What are you worried about? Do you seriously think you won't get ANY offers? How could you possibly think that? Of course you'll have your pick!"

 

... and then I look at the rejections on the Results Search (one of my programs is already rejecting people) and see stuff like "4.0 master's GPA, 4 years of research, 3 first-author publications, 8 conference presentations" and think "jesus I don't stand a chance..."

Edited January 28, 2015 by grad_wannabe

[FaultyPowers]

Obsessing over the results board, and checking previous years' calendars, (like you do) I'm guessing that they're going to send out announcements on Wednesday. Or at least acceptances. So....that's both great and terrible...