Fall 2010 - Anthro Admissions Results

[anthroboy2010]

So, as far as I can see, there's no thread specifically dedicated to the narrative side of anonymous result postings, at least for Sociocultural Anthropology. I just wanted to initiate a place where we can post our relative successes and failures (e.g. who calls for an interview, where we get in and what funding packages they might provide, where we get rejected), so that the rest of us can gauge whether we should be getting our hopes up or start burying our own grave.

As far as myself, my thirteen applications have disappeared into the mist of the graduate heavens. I await the University gods to send me a prophetic message, as I am sure the rest of you are waiting as well.

I will keep you posted, as I hope you all will keep me abreast on your journey through this awful awful period.

Let the heads start to roll!

Edited January 22, 2010 by anthroboy2010

[far_to_go]

I just got an e-mail from UVa requesting a phone interview tomorrow afternoon. I'm excited, but quite nervous!

[anthroboy2010]

I just got an e-mail from UVa requesting a phone interview tomorrow afternoon. I'm excited, but quite nervous!

rock on!

I'm dying to know what kind of questions they ask. good luck!

[a fragrant plant]

Hello, I saw on the result page that someone has received an email from Cornell. If you're the person who left the message can you please elaborate?

[anthro]

I'll chime in that I'm dying to know about the Duke and University of Texas-Austin postings on the results page, if anyone would like to provide more details.

[(A)musing anthropologist]

Hello, I saw on the result page that someone has received an email from Cornell. If you're the person who left the message can you please elaborate?

I saw this as well ...(this is basically an admission of the fact that I stalk the Results page)

Ditto: I would also like to by privy to any information anyone wants to offer about Cornell (or Rutgers-New B, or NYU) for that matter....WHEN I hear something, anything, from anyone...*sigh* I'll be sure to let you know

(A)A

Edited January 27, 2010 by (A)musing anthropologist

[denim_pocket]

I saw this as well ...(this is basically an admission of the fact that I stalk the Results page)

Ditto: I would also like to by privy to any information anyone wants to offer about Cornell (or Rutgers-New B, or NYU) for that matter....WHEN I hear something, anything, from anyone...*sigh* I'll be sure to let you know

(A)A

In this spirit of sharing (and shared suffering), here is a copy of the e-mail I received from Cornell (made anonymous, of course)

"Dear Mr./Ms. X

We are currently considering your application for graduate study in anthropology at Cornell. You are on our long list and if your [X language] still needs improvement, it would enhance your chances of admission to apply for a FLAS fellowship in [X language] for next year, which will provide you with a year of support and allow us to spread our resources more widely. It is not a difficult application, and you can download the forms from the Cornell Institute for European Studies web site: http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu/Europe/funding/flas.asp. While the deadline to get it to us has passed, it will be all right if you get it in no later than Thursday (Jan. 28). Please send it directly to the Anthropology department. We can use the letters and transcripts from your Anthropology application.

Thanks, and hope to hear from you soon."

My first reaction was mixed/confused, though my adviser tells me its a very good thing, and that I've gotten past the first round. No clue though whether admission is somehow contingent upon receiving the FLAS, or whether they already want me and see an opportunity to accept someone with potential outside funding for a year. No guarantees either way of course.

What about the applicant who already heard from their potential adviser at Berkeley about being on the short list? I want me one of those.

PS- some inside scoop from Chicago: They have 11 spots for a pool of 286 applicants. This year, rather than accepting ~40 and expecting a yield of a third, they're only accepting as many spots as they have funding for and going down the alternate list when anyone declines. Acceptance or alternate list status will be out no later than February 20th.

[applyingwaitingstressing]

soo for those of us berkeley apps who have not received a phone call... i'm thinking this is not a good thing? also does anyone else feel like the anthro programs are particulaaaarly slow compared to all the others?

[anthroboy2010]

PS- some inside scoop from Chicago: They have 11 spots for a pool of 286 applicants. This year, rather than accepting ~40 and expecting a yield of a third, they're only accepting as many spots as they have funding for and going down the alternate list when anyone declines. Acceptance or alternate list status will be out no later than February 20th.

did you get a flas email from Chicago, as well? I just assumed everyone got one and, naturally, ignored it.

[applyingwaitingstressing]

did you get a flas email from Chicago, as well? I just assumed everyone got one and, naturally, ignored it.

ya i'm pretty sure we all got them

[far_to_go]

ya i'm pretty sure we all got them

I didn't get a FLAS e-mail from Chicago- guess I didn't make it past the first round there. *sigh* I'll be ok with it, I guess.

[applicator]

PS- some inside scoop from Chicago: They have 11 spots for a pool of 286 applicants. This year, rather than accepting ~40 and expecting a yield of a third, they're only accepting as many spots as they have funding for and going down the alternate list when anyone declines. Acceptance or alternate list status will be out no later than February 20th.

[(A)musing anthropologist]

Thanks denim...

hopefully this is a good sign for you (i.e. that they REALLY want you at Cornell and are trying to do what they can to make that happen). I haven't heard anything yet, including from Cornell....I hope that no news is good news... I hope.

Thanks again, I think I'm living vicariously through other people's contacts with Universities

[anthaspirant]

Hey guys,

I can give a bit more info about the Duke thing (my post). This was an e-mail from the grad coordinator... not cause I'm special, in reply to an ongoing exchange about an issue with my application:

"Our faculty are reviewing files now and will be meeting next Monday, Feb. 1, to choose our finalists, so watch for an email about that. If you don't get one, you probably didn't make that cut. Here's hoping you do!"

So no need to worry yet. At 12:01 AM on Tuesday you can start hanging your head.

As for the UT-Austin thing. I have a feeling that person didn't know there was an "other" option and just clicked "accepted" for no reason in order to put out that information.

[vanishingpoint]

Hi folks,

The UT-Austin acceptance was mine. It's funny, I've been a little cautious about providing additional information, just because my subfield (Folklore and Public Culture) is so tiny and I am a little paranoid about posting information that could identify me. But I suppose that it doesn't matter, and anyway I got the snail mail letter from UT yesterday confirming their offer. So now it feels a little more official than it did.

My sense is that public universities admit a handful of applicants early so that they can be nominated for university fellowships. (I am being put up for the Harrington Fellowship at UT, which my POI says I am extremely unlikely to get: they only give out four doctoral ones each year, across the entire university.) And I'm actually not convinced that the people they nominate for these fellowships are even their absolute top picks for the program; the department may just think that these admits have the best chance of attracting extra-departmental funding.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Hang in there, everyone.

Hey guys,

I can give a bit more info about the Duke thing (my post). This was an e-mail from the grad coordinator... not cause I'm special, in reply to an ongoing exchange about an issue with my application:

"Our faculty are reviewing files now and will be meeting next Monday, Feb. 1, to choose our finalists, so watch for an email about that. If you don't get one, you probably didn't make that cut. Here's hoping you do!"

So no need to worry yet. At 12:01 AM on Tuesday you can start hanging your head.

As for the UT-Austin thing. I have a feeling that person didn't know there was an "other" option and just clicked "accepted" for no reason in order to put out that information.

[applicator]

Hi everybody! I have a couple questions, and I have a feeling others are wondering the same things...

First:

A couple days ago someone posted that they'd received a call from a potential advisor at Berkeley. The advisor told the student that he/she was among the Top 75 applicants (which would then be narrowed down for the 23 available spots)... did any other Berkeley applicants get a call like this? Is everyone in the "top 75" getting these phonecalls? That would seem unusual (after all, what would anyone gain through all that effort?), but I don't know how this stuff works and I'm very curious whether I might have already been cut, since I didn't get a call...

Second:

Yesterday someone posted that Chicago has 11 spots this year for their 280-some applicants, and that they've changed their system a bit-- does anyone know how the poster got this information? Has anyone else heard about this? Was the info in an email from the school, circulated to all/most/some applicants? (In that case, I never got the email and may have been cut already-- hence my curiosity...)

Answers would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for the useful information on this site! (And good luck!!)

[denim_pocket]

Hi everybody! I have a couple questions, and I have a feeling others are wondering the same things...

First:

A couple days ago someone posted that they'd received a call from a potential advisor at Berkeley. The advisor told the student that he/she was among the Top 75 applicants (which would then be narrowed down for the 23 available spots)... did any other Berkeley applicants get a call like this? Is everyone in the "top 75" getting these phonecalls? That would seem unusual (after all, what would anyone gain through all that effort?), but I don't know how this stuff works and I'm very curious whether I might have already been cut, since I didn't get a call...

Second:

Yesterday someone posted that Chicago has 11 spots this year for their 280-some applicants, and that they've changed their system a bit-- does anyone know how the poster got this information? Has anyone else heard about this? Was the info in an email from the school, circulated to all/most/some applicants? (In that case, I never got the email and may have been cut already-- hence my curiosity...)

Answers would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for the useful information on this site! (And good luck!!)

A few things...

The good news is that I spoke with an admissions coordinator at Berkeley today on the phone, who said that he had no idea about any short list and that someone must have misinterpreted that information because he would have been the one to compile that sort of data. He said no decisions of any kind have been made that he is aware of (and I think he would know). The best part was that he assumed I had heard the rumor off thegradcafe, and told me that I should take anything on the site (and I quote), "with a pound of salt." Talk about ironic. So bottom line: there's no reason to fear about not having heard from Berkeley.

I feel the same way about Chicago and the FLAS e-mail. Though I got the e-mail myself, it's dated from December 29th- I highly doubt that in less than two weeks they already made any cuts, though that's just my opinion. I don't think it means anything.

In terms of the admissions stats I heard about Chicago, an admissions officer there told me that over the phone when I called to asked a question about my app. That info also wasn't gained from any "first cut" e-mail, so nothing to worry about there.

Just some advice to those who are waiting like myself- you'd be surprised at how willing admissions staff (not faculty) are willing to talk to you and can share info about dates or the selectionprocess. That doesn't mean you should bombard them, but none have had any problems answering my questions, even if they give a generic "by the end of February" response.

Hope this helps.

[applicator]

A few things...

The good news is that I spoke with an admissions coordinator at Berkeley today on the phone, who said that he had no idea about any short list and that someone must have misinterpreted that information because he would have been the one to compile that sort of data. He said no decisions of any kind have been made that he is aware of (and I think he would know). The best part was that he assumed I had heard the rumor off thegradcafe, and told me that I should take anything on the site (and I quote), "with a pound of salt." Talk about ironic. So bottom line: there's no reason to fear about not having heard from Berkeley.

I feel the same way about Chicago and the FLAS e-mail. Though I got the e-mail myself, it's dated from December 29th- I highly doubt that in less than two weeks they already made any cuts, though that's just my opinion. I don't think it means anything.

In terms of the admissions stats I heard about Chicago, an admissions officer there told me that over the phone when I called to asked a question about my app. That info also wasn't gained from any "first cut" e-mail, so nothing to worry about there.

Just some advice to those who are waiting like myself- you'd be surprised at how willing admissions staff (not faculty) are willing to talk to you and can share info about dates or the selectionprocess. That doesn't mean you should bombard them, but none have had any problems answering my questions, even if they give a generic "by the end of February" response.

Hope this helps.

Thanks!! That really does help! For the last few years (based on the "Results Search") it seems like Berkeley has been letting accepted applicants know during the first week of February, so maybe they'll be working things out this weekend. But there's really not much data about Berkeley's acceptances on here--only 3 or 4 to judge by over the last 4 years. Tons of info on the dates of their rejections, though... yeeesh!

[applyingwaitingstressing]

sooo if we don't hear from duke tomorrow... should we assume we're out of the running? eek

Hey guys,

I can give a bit more info about the Duke thing (my post). This was an e-mail from the grad coordinator... not cause I'm special, in reply to an ongoing exchange about an issue with my application:

"Our faculty are reviewing files now and will be meeting next Monday, Feb. 1, to choose our finalists, so watch for an email about that. If you don't get one, you probably didn't make that cut. Here's hoping you do!"

So no need to worry yet. At 12:01 AM on Tuesday you can start hanging your head.

As for the UT-Austin thing. I have a feeling that person didn't know there was an "other" option and just clicked "accepted" for no reason in order to put out that information.

[coyabean]

sooo if we don't hear from duke tomorrow... should we assume we're out of the running? eek

I'm giving it until Friday and then I'm going to consider it dead to me.

[punkybugsy]

I had a similar email response from the Graduate Coordinator for Evolutionary Anthropology and he said they were meeting to make some decisions today. He didn't specify if there would be interviews or not though. I would assume if there are interviews those of us selected will find out this week. If they do outright acceptances, they may keep us waiting longer. I don't know if this applies to Cultural Anthro as well. Good luck!

I'm giving it until Friday and then I'm going to consider it dead to me.

[denim_pocket]

anthro programs are the sloooowest

every other discipline seems to be hearing already

[papayadance]

wow i am NERVOUS.

the anxiety of the past few weeks has been awful....can't wait for some impossibly far sunny day in May when I'll hopefully have SOME sort of plan and future. ugh.

[samjones]

i was invited for an interview for the CITE Anthropology program at Rutgers last Wednesday.

i'm totally excited (and absolutely nervous) but really confused by the fact that this seems to be the first year people are being interviewed by the program. that is, at least last year no one updated the results search page with an interview invitation but someone was accepted.

i wonder why they've (possibly) changed their process...

[Gigsed]

i was invited for an interview for the CITE Anthropology program at Rutgers last Wednesday.

i'm totally excited (and absolutely nervous) but really confused by the fact that this seems to be the first year people are being interviewed by the program. that is, at least last year no one updated the results search page with an interview invitation but someone was accepted.

i wonder why they've (possibly) changed their process...

I also was invited to interview; in fact it was conducted earlier today. Whole thing seemed passing strange for exactly the reasons you've outlined. I think I managed to overwhelm them with my tendency to ramble though.

I was told though that they are currently on their long list and that they have 3/4 places. Now given that each interview takes 15-20 and they said that the choice of time was 920-1020 on Monday roughly the same time again on Tuesday or Tuesday afternoon it would seem unlikely that they are interviewing significantly more than two dozen applicants. Of course I do not know how big the admissions group is (could be they have more than one set of interviewers).

Anyway good luck if you haven't already done this.