Fall 2017 Applicants

[museum_geek]

@DancinFool I seem to remember the Fall 2016 applicants thread having a pretty good discussion on MAPSS.  You can also check around some of the other subforums for info, since MAPSS and MAPH take people from multiple disciplines.  A quick search should bring up tons of threads!

[ironshieldmaiden]

I'm still waiting on news from Rice and Columbia. Columbia told me I would hear something in late March. I haven't heard a single word from Rice and it's driving me absolutely bonkers. I've emailed the department as well as the director of graduate studies and I haven't heard anything back. I even tried calling the director of graduate studies and didn't get an answer. Should I just assume I was rejected at this point?

[ironshieldmaiden]

On ‎3‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 6:52 PM, suavesana said:

@hantoo this happened to me when I applied Fall of 2015. I ended up doing MAPSS and am REALLY glad that I did -- I think it has a lot of benefits, including being able to study whatever you want and take whatever classes you want. I think the only downside is the money, but if you petition they end up giving you a scholarship. 

If you don't mind me asking, how do you petition for a scholarship? I was only given one-third tuition coverage and have to come up with over $36k on my own.

[hantoo]

1 hour ago, ironshieldmaiden said:

If you don't mind me asking, how do you petition for a scholarship? I was only given one-third tuition coverage and have to come up with over $36k on my own.

I talked to someone about this earlier today---apparently if you contact the department to request more funding, they will ask you to write a one page "petition" as to why they should give you more. I would suggest communicating to them that you are very interested in accepting the offer, but you will not be able to attend without additional funding. Someone else who has done this before might be able to give your more specific advice about this--I won't be accepting the MAPSS offer i.e. have not personally had to request additional funding, but this is just advice I've received from others.

[runningwithquills]

1 hour ago, ironshieldmaiden said:

I'm still waiting on news from Rice and Columbia. Columbia told me I would hear something in late March. I haven't heard a single word from Rice and it's driving me absolutely bonkers. I've emailed the department as well as the director of graduate studies and I haven't heard anything back. I even tried calling the director of graduate studies and didn't get an answer. Should I just assume I was rejected at this point?

Columbia's unfortunately already made decisions. I was at the admitted students' event on Tuesday. They've accepted 9 people (8 sociocultural; 1 archaeology). I imagine the waitlist must have gone out as well? Can't confirm that bit though.

[ironshieldmaiden]

17 minutes ago, runningwithquills said:

Columbia's unfortunately already made decisions. I was at the admitted students' event on Tuesday. They've accepted 9 people (8 sociocultural; 1 archaeology). I imagine the waitlist must have gone out as well? Can't confirm that bit though.

I figured as much even though they told me on Tuesday that they hadn't recorded a decision yet. Maybe I've been waitlisted? I'm just having super bad luck it seems. MAPSS was the only acceptance I've gotten so far and I don't have much hope on Columbia or Rice.

Edited March 9, 2017 by ironshieldmaiden

[museum_geek]

@ironshieldmaiden Based on everything I've read - which includes someone active on this thread who has an acceptance in hand - Rice has already done their visiting weekend and sent out acceptances and waitlists.  If you haven't heard from them at this point then it's almost certainly a rejection  

[ironshieldmaiden]

3 minutes ago, museum_geek said:

@ironshieldmaiden Based on everything I've read - which includes someone active on this thread who has an acceptance in hand - Rice has already done their visiting weekend and sent out acceptances and waitlists.  If you haven't heard from them at this point then it's almost certainly a rejection  

Well that definitely sucks for me. I don't know what I'm going to do at this point if MAPSS won't give me more money.

[hantoo]

21 minutes ago, ironshieldmaiden said:

I figured as much even though they told me on Tuesday that they hadn't recorded a decision yet. Maybe I've been waitlisted? I'm just having super bad luck it seems. MAPSS was the only acceptance I've gotten so far and I don't have much hope on Columbia or Rice.

You should still feel awesome about getting into MAPSS! That's a really competitive program and there are plenty of people who were rejected from UChicago that didn't even receive an offer to do the Masters. They also have a really impressive placement rate for PhD programs their graduates apply to after completing that degree. If you make your case well, I think you could probably get additional funding. Hang in there!

[ironshieldmaiden]

1 hour ago, hantoo said:

You should still feel awesome about getting into MAPSS! That's a really competitive program and there are plenty of people who were rejected from UChicago that didn't even receive an offer to do the Masters. They also have a really impressive placement rate for PhD programs their graduates apply to after completing that degree. If you make your case well, I think you could probably get additional funding. Hang in there!

How do you make your case well? With how it is right now I don't have anything to use to bargain with them because I'm pretty sure I've been rejected from seven schools, so I can't use another offer against them. Well, I feel awful about it to be perfectly honest. I feel like nobody wants me and they just felt sorry for me and threw me a bone.

[enfp]

46 minutes ago, ironshieldmaiden said:

How do you make your case well? With how it is right now I don't have anything to use to bargain with them because I'm pretty sure I've been rejected from seven schools, so I can't use another offer against them. Well, I feel awful about it to be perfectly honest. I feel like nobody wants me and they just felt sorry for me and threw me a bone.

If there's anything this process tells you, it's that rejections are often a matter of politics, bad luck, and frankly statistics - i.e. apps are a crapshoot. If, for example, Columbia is taking 8 students out of approximately 200 applicants, I  for one refuse to believe that means there were only 8 qualified candidates! It's a matter of a very limited number of seats. There's lots of people on this forum who've been rejected in previous cycles and are now getting into several schools. For one @AnthropologyNRT (don't know why I'm not being able to tag them, but shoot them a PM in case they don't see this?) was accepted into all three programs they applied to this year after two failed cycles. And yeah, this isn't to say your app can't be improved - it always can. It was good enough to get an offer from MAPSS, which as mentioned above is actually a very competitive program and is definitely not a mere consolation prize. 

Edit: Just to add here: From everything I hear about Chicago, they're definitely not the kind to feel sorry for people lol. So there's that

Edited March 9, 2017 by enfp

[hantoo]

1 hour ago, ironshieldmaiden said:

How do you make your case well? With how it is right now I don't have anything to use to bargain with them because I'm pretty sure I've been rejected from seven schools, so I can't use another offer against them. Well, I feel awful about it to be perfectly honest. I feel like nobody wants me and they just felt sorry for me and threw me a bone.

I don't think you need to cite another offer to bargain with them. They already admitted you with at least some offer of funding, even if it's not as much as you hoped for. If a program offers you any money at all that means they definitely want you to accept and they're definitely interested in your research. Communicating your enthusiasm/interest for being a part of MAPSS while (politely) emphasizing that you would need a better funding offer to attend should make a pretty good argument, IMO.

Also (and this may be totally off, I don't know exactly how they determine funding) depending on how many people decline their offer in the coming weeks, there might be more funding available to you after that.

1 hour ago, enfp said:

If there's anything this process tells you, it's that rejections are often a matter of politics, bad luck, and frankly statistics - i.e. apps are a crapshoot. If, for example, Columbia is taking 8 students out of approximately 200 applicants, I  for one refuse to believe that means there were only 8 qualified candidates! It's a matter of a very limited number of seats. There's lots of people on this forum who've been rejected in previous cycles and are now getting into several schools. For one @AnthropologyNRT (don't know why I'm not being able to tag them, but shoot them a PM in case they don't see this?) was accepted into all three programs they applied to this year after two failed cycles. And yeah, this isn't too say your app can't be improved - it always can. It was good enough to get an offer from MAPSS, which as mentioned above is actually a very competitive program and is definitely not a mere consolation prize. 

And yassss all of this. This was my first time applying too, and I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky that I got into an (as in just 1 out of the many I applied to) anthro program that I like--I'm pretty fresh out of undergrad so I thought I had a ~0% chance of getting in. After receiving the MAPSS offer yesterday, I'll admit I was kind of disappointed at first too since it wasn't what I had wanted, but then I took a step back and was like...wow what the heck is wrong with me? Am I seriously wasting time being disappointed about getting into a Masters program? 

The application process is INSANE. As @enfp said, we're competing with hundreds of very qualified, experienced people for, in most cases, less than 10 spots. I think it all comes down to the people who are in the room when admissions decisions are made. I saw a very wise post on this forum a while ago that said something along the lines of "rejection is a big part of academia" from applying to schools to trying to get research grants and other opportunities once you're in, to trying to find a job when you graduate. We all have to learn to brush it off and keep working hard.

The fact that most of us on here spent a lot of time and money applying and are willing to commit a solid chunk of our lives to grad school should indicate that we're pretty freakin' excited about anthropology and want to dedicate our lives to it. @ironshieldmaiden what I'm trying to say is just keep working hard if it's what you love. Something good will happen.

**ends long and emotional rant**

Edited March 9, 2017 by hantoo

[epi_gene]

On 3/7/2017 at 1:30 PM, Mitchell1 said:

Congratulations to everyone who has been accepted!! My POI is putting me in contact with some grad students from the school where I was accepted and I'm wondering what sorts of questions I should ask them? I'm going to be asking about funding, but I want to make sure that I get all of the information I need to make an informed decision. Does anyone have any questions they would ask/have asked?

 

I agree with everything @museum_geek said. I would also ask how hands on your POI is, so you can gauge whether the relationship will be the right fit for the kind of work you want to be doing and your needs for either guidance or independence. And then as a follow-up to that, asking how much freedom your POI allows to pursue your own research interests, or if you would be restricted to the umbrella of their work. You might also ask about publication requirements - whether certain people in the department who participated little will be added as authors to your publications. One of my professors told me to bluntly ask if the PhD students are happy - he said it's a pretty good way to figure out whether it's the right place to be. Hope this helps! 

 

[klasik]

A friend of mine is asking:

 

Has anyone heard from McGill yet? It seems they have been taking so long. Plus I can't seem to use the uapply link to check my status (system error it says)

[troikaparallel]

Finding this forum and reading through these replies is helping to feel some sense of community in my angst...

I had two questions I was hoping I could get some responses on. (1) I've been placed on the waitlist for Columbia, though I don't know how likely that is to yield a tangible result. Does anyone have any thoughts to offer regarding this? Specifically given that someone else mentioned that Columbia had already accepted students etc. earlier in this thread. And (2), I've been accepted at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I really like my POI there, and the department has been very helpful - offering funding/a fellowship, and generally being very accommodating. Does anyone here have an opinion of the UIC faculty, and their work? And relatedly, what do you think the situation with funding is going to be like in the next few years (given that it is a public institution)?

 

 

Edited March 10, 2017 by troikaparallel
typo

[Konstantine]

I just received news today that I was accepted to the Masters program at the New School for Social Research. It is the only program I've been admitted to so far and I had all but given up hope, and I am currently applying to MA programs at state schools in California here, because I am trying to strengthen my application and do so without going into massive debt. So the New School offered me no merit funding, I don't know if that means no funding at all or what the deal is. I am just not sure if I should even consider this offer, if New School is even that great overall? 

[museum_geek]

@troikaparallel Congrats on the results!  A waitlist at Columbia is impressive and of course the funded PhD offer is great.  I don't know much about the UIC faculty, but I know the program has a deal with the Field Museum which allows PhD students to use their labs/archives/facilities and work with museum staff as committee members, which is a great resource.  As far as funding goes, try to find out if what they've offered you is renewable, and if so for how long.  I would also try to find out how the department helps out its students in regards to external funding.  One of the schools I visited recently told me that they have workshops and lots of individual guidance for people applying to NSF, Wenner-Gren, Fulbrights, etc.

@Konstantine Congrats on the acceptance!  I'm not super familiar with the New School, but if I were you I would avoid going into debt for a Master's degree, especially if you're using it as a stepping stone to the PhD.  You also have take location into account - NSSR is in Manhattan, which means your cost of living (even if you end up living in NJ or one of the outer boroughs) is going to be high.  That's in addition to taking out loans for tuition.  It might be a good idea to try and negotiate for some funding - it's possible that they might offer some $$$ if other people turn down funded offers closer to April 15.  

[troikaparallel]

@museum_geek Thanks for that! I'm applying as a sociocultural student, so the Field Museum tieup while interesting is not super relevant to my case (and specifically what I'm studying) I believe. With regards to funding, they've been stellar: I have funding for the first 4 years from a fellowship, and they've promised to extend support/help with alternate sources of funding after, as long as I don't prove to be an idiot. Still, feeling a little iffy since I haven't heard too much about the University...

[busybee]

1 hour ago, troikaparallel said:

@museum_geek Thanks for that! I'm applying as a sociocultural student, so the Field Museum tieup while interesting is not super relevant to my case (and specifically what I'm studying) I believe. With regards to funding, they've been stellar: I have funding for the first 4 years from a fellowship, and they've promised to extend support/help with alternate sources of funding after, as long as I don't prove to be an idiot. Still, feeling a little iffy since I haven't heard too much about the University...

UIC is my undergraduate alma mater. It is an amazing, warm, and generous department! If you have any questions, feel free to send me a PM.

[sam bay]

Hi, is there anyone who heard from Kroc Institute at Notre Dame for Anthropology and Peace Studies program?

[RepatMan]

For anyone considering MAPSS, I graduated from the program last spring and have some thoughts:

I had received a well-funded PhD offer from a mediocre program during the same cycle. I had interviewed for UChicago but didn't get the offer, despite my POI's full support in their admission meetings. When he called me to tell me they weren't going to take me, he said he could ensure I got into MAPSS, if I was interested. I told him, since I already had a good offer on hand, and I'd promised my wife not to take on any more loans after my first MA, I needed a full scholarship.

He actually submitted some sort of recommendation on his end to try to get me more funding. I'm not sure how that works, but the moral of the story is, if you have a POI in Anth or any other social science program at UChicago that really wants you there, ask them if they can help. Otherwise, I would say leveraging other offers and a hard line of funding you need to accept is only going to help in the "official" petition others have mentioned.

In general, MAPSS was a fantastic program for the quality of education you receive (nearly all PhD level courses are available to you) and for the support you get from MAPSS in applying for PhDs afterwards. It's filthy expensive, and I wouldn't have done it without a great scholarship, but for me it was the difference between a PhD at a mediocre program and being at a tier one PhD program. I believe that's the case for a lot of candidates (though its by no means a guarantee you'll get a good/better offer).

If anyone has any other questions, feel free to PM me.

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

patiently waits for her last school to send the official rejection so she can be done already  

[museum_geek]

I heard back from Wisconsin today, fully funded for four years, with two of those coming from a  University Fellowship!  Ahhhhhh I'm freaking out!!!!!!!!!

[Mugi Mila]

5 minutes ago, museum_geek said:

I heard back from Wisconsin today, fully funded for four years, with two of those coming from a  University Fellowship!  Ahhhhhh I'm freaking out!!!!!!!!!

Congrats!!!! That sounds fantastic and totally great!!!!! Pat yourself on the back!!!!!! 

[Mugi Mila]

On 3/15/2017 at 10:43 PM, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

patiently waits for her last school to send the official rejection so she can be done already  

I'm in the same boat as you. Waiting for my last rejection, but so far I heard nothing. I know I'm rejected. I checked the grad results and so far one person was rejected. So I'm guessing I'm waiting for my letter of rejection. Oh well, I'm readying myself for next year!