Advice in application....

[Duaa77]

Hello,

I have been lurking on this forum for a while and find it very helpful, and need advice. I have an undergrad in Religious Studies, and a master’s degree in Social Work, and want to pursue my Ph.D. in anthro. My masters is a result of family pressure, and was not something I wanted to do (all education is useful, but I do not like Social Work). I didn’t know much about anthropology when I was doing my undergrad, otherwise I would have done my undergrad in it. This past fall I applied to do my Ph.D. in Anthropology and did not get accepted to any of the schools I applied to. I contacted the universities I applied to get a better idea of why I didn’t get accepted. Only one of the universities gave me a response, and basically said my lack of background in Anthro was the reason I did not get accepted. I currently am studying to retake the GRE (even though that was not a noted concern, I still feel I should do it again to improve my score), and I am going to rework my LOP. I contacted several universities about going back and getting my undergrad in Anthropology, and they have all stated that they do not accept students to do another undergrad. I think one of the problems was my research interest, which perhaps was not worded in a way that sounds like anthropology (I want to research the effect the Muslim rule of India had on a culture of a particular state of India). I am fine studying most topics in India, but the struggle I am having is how to word my entire LOP. In the one I used I went through my educational background, and tied it into anthropology (please note I am referring to cultural anthropology). I have searched the web and cannot find many examples of purpose statements in anthropology, and so I feel very stuck. I am looking to apply to schools again, but I am nervous (I was very disappointed to not get in anywhere obviously), and because no one in my family has gone to college, let alone have any knowledge of anthropology, I have no place to turn for advice. I also went through all of my education and tried to tie it to anthro, but I do not know if that was effective. I should also mention that I have reached out to staff in anthropology and have not gotten responses (I know they are busy with other matters). Again any advice would be great.

 

Thanks,

Eugenio

P.S. Before someone comments, I am aware of the bleak career outlook for professors in Anthro, and still want to do my Ph.D. in it.

[rising_star]

Going through all of your education in a SOP (or LOP) doesn't make sense. You want to present a cohesive narrative about what you want to focus on for your PhD, why, and what you've done to prepare for that, which is hard to do if you're also trying to go over everything you've ever done. Instead, think about what you gained from the courses (language skills, research experience, writing, etc.) and use those to help argue the case for your preparation to do a PhD in anthropology. In addition, you'll want to make sure you're applying to the right programs in terms of fit and that there are at least two professors willing to work with you at each program. It's a bit early to be contacting professors as most are still away for the summer (in anthro, many of them are probably in the field and thus have limited time/desire to deal with emails from prospective students).

That said, have you considered applying for master's programs in anthropology or (South) Asian Studies? Doing a master's would allow you to take courses in anthropology, get recommendation letters from anthro profs, develop/showcase your language abilities, and potentially get some experience doing fieldwork in India, all of which would be an asset for future PhD program applications.