Quasi-Anthropology Undergrad to Anthropology Grad?

[AnonApplicant38419]

Hi everyone!

 

So my undergraduate school has this thing called "Program II," where you're pretty much allowed to make your own major with a pre-determined set of coursework. My program is called Visual Anthropology, but it consists of only two actual Anthropology classes, which both also happen to be electives. My coursework mostly consists of Visual Media Studies and Sociology classes.

 

However, I'm heavily considering attending graduate school for Anthropology (Sociocultural Anthropology), and I was wondering if this would be an issue during admissions. If you look at my transcript, only one courses is listed under Anthropology, which may raise some red flags.

 

I also considered Sociology, which seems much more relevant to my transcript, but I'm more interested in fieldwork rather than quantitative surveys, and have more experience in fieldwork as well (mostly documentary and oral history work). I can also overload and take some required Anthropology courses, which I would also like to avoid if possible, so my GPA doesn't suffer from the extra work.

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

[bsharpe269]

I am not in anthro but saw your post and thought my situation might be relevant. I was a math undergrad and will be doing my PhD in biophysics. Most people getting PhDs in biophysics either come from physics or biochem (maybe with a physics minor) backgrounds. Professors were excited about my "different" background because it gives me a different perspective and different set of skills than the average person in the field. I think that a big part of my application success though was that despite being a math major, I am well read on current biophysics literature so I can chat in depth about current research in the field and about my specific research interests. Also, I only applied to schools with multiple professors in my subfield of interest.

 

I think that a couple things will be important to keep in mind if you want to change fields.

1) You should be as well read on anthro literature as other people coming from anthro undergrad majors. Make sure you are regularly reading about your topic of interest and can discuss it from the appropriate perspective.

2) Apply to schools that are great fits for your topic of interest.

3) Sell your background. Your quantitative strengths that come from sociology coursework are probably rare in anthropology. These differences in curriculum arent bad. You just need to find a way to discuss the aspects of your background that will help you do PhD research.

 

Maybe others with more knowledge of anthro specifically can give advice too. Hopefully this can help you some though since I was successful in PhD applications, despite an odd undergrad focus.

[palaeopathetic]

bsharpe269 has covered some good advice, so I won't reiterate.

 

I didn't start out as an anthropologist, either. I am now a holder of a MSc in an anthropology subfield, having completed the degree in a pretty major UK department. Please keep this in mind, as it might skew my experience in relation to yours. I did a BAH in History and Classics (there wasn't an athro department at my university, but Classics had archaeology classes so I loaded up on those), a MA History in Canada and my MSc in an anthropology subfield in the UK. I've also done a few digs in Italy, outside of field school. I know this advice is solid because I was offered a major fellowship at a well-respected anthropology department for PhD study last year. I didn't take it, but that's neither here nor there. You can do this. Here are my thoughts:

 

I found that what they're really looking for is your ability to do the anthropology work and have the right experience behind it all. So, even though I came from more of a history background, I had the interest, and had demonstrated some basic archaeological training. So, you should definitely take more than 2 anthropology classes if you want a better chance at getting into anthro for grad school. Start trying to beef up your anthro credentials now; volunteer at a local museum helping with an anthro collection, offer to help a prof in anthropology with some grunt work on a project, etc. See if you can do an independent study project as a senior, and tailor it to be anthropologically heavy. It's going to be hard - nobody said it would be easy here in academia - but you can easily become a very good candidate if you work toward it.

 

Here's the good news: you can spin a combination of classes from related fields into a good background and offer of admission because social sciences are becoming interdisciplinary (and use that term when explaining how your current and future experience during undergrad relate to what you want to study and why you fit into an anthropology department). Sociology, history, anthropology, etc., are all interrelated, and this is your crux.

 

The rest? It's luck and dedication.

Edited April 14, 2015 by palaeopathetic

[smg]

You'll be fine if you can pull together a solid SOP outlining a do-able project.  If you have an idea of what you want to study in grad school I'd start reading the relevant literature and show that you know what your talking about in your SOP.   A solid project proposal is more important than a slew of undergrad courses under your belt. 

[AKCarlton]

Hi everyone!

 

So my undergraduate school has this thing called "Program II," where you're pretty much allowed to make your own major with a pre-determined set of coursework. My program is called Visual Anthropology, but it consists of only two actual Anthropology classes, which both also happen to be electives. My coursework mostly consists of Visual Media Studies and Sociology classes.

 

However, I'm heavily considering attending graduate school for Anthropology (Sociocultural Anthropology), and I was wondering if this would be an issue during admissions. If you look at my transcript, only one courses is listed under Anthropology, which may raise some red flags.

 

I also considered Sociology, which seems much more relevant to my transcript, but I'm more interested in fieldwork rather than quantitative surveys, and have more experience in fieldwork as well (mostly documentary and oral history work). I can also overload and take some required Anthropology courses, which I would also like to avoid if possible, so my GPA doesn't suffer from the extra work.

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

 

If you apply to programs that best "fit" your needs and and provides ample research opportunities that again, "fit" your career goals, you should be fine.

 

You just need to make contact with POIs there, maybe visit the programs you're interested and write a kick-butt letter of purpose/statement.

 

There are a lot of people who are getting accepted to Anthro programs with diverse backgrounds such as yours. You have the drive, you have the experience, you just have to find the program that is the best "fit"!

 

Good luck!

[smg]

You're over thinking this stuff.  Focus on keeping your grades up and write a killer SOP with a solid project proposal.  My undergrad transcript is filled with classes that are irrelevant to my current research interests. Its not a big deal.