Prepping for the 2018 cycle!

[smallaxe]

1 hour ago, phyanth said:

Good work, @EvelynD! I'm sorry about your job, but hey, maybe life is trying to free you up for all of those interviews and acceptances you're going to get

What an incredibly positive way to think about it! 

LOL go for it. If earthquakes are a regular thing they'll at least be prepared for it...

As far as the last part of your comment, it depends on what you wrote. Sometimes I will send emails and wonder why I haven't received a response and later realize that there was nothing that really needed one. If there were some questions, it's probably just busy-ness/lack of urgency. 

[phyanth]

@jamesaly, well, I sent my CV and poster as requested, and requested that they let me know what they think about my project. And then it was crickets...

[EvelynD]

3 hours ago, phyanth said:

Good work, @EvelynD! I'm sorry about your job, but hey, maybe life is trying to free you up for all of those interviews and acceptances you're going to get

Has anyone heard of successful applicants who reached out to POIs and heard an initial positive response, only to follow up and hear nothing? I'm trying not to read too much into it, but speculation is all I have at this point and I am trying to tamp that down, lest I start spiraling into a cycle of negativity, haha. 

Haha, lets hope so! Well this actually happend to me, I haven't heard back from a PoI ever since I told him I am reapplying this year.

Do I think it means anything? If I look at the whatsapp groups I am in, it sometimes takes my best friends days to reply. I can be the same and it doesn't have to mean anything!

Edited December 6, 2017 by EvelynD

[Archaeodan]

@phyanth I wouldn't worry. I take it as, if they answer the first time that means go ahead, if they don't answer again, they got busy/considered you set and are waiting for the application review stage to review you further. Personally, if I were a POI, I wouldn't want to have to review you twice in addition to my busy schedule. If I get the feeling you're going to apply, I'd wait to put more time into during the application review phase. But, what do I know lol

[phyanth]

@Archaeodan Ah, that seems logical. Frankly, I would be thrilled to just get into one school with funding. I wonder what the statistics are for people who receive a funded offer their first round vs people who didn't receive any offers. It seems like a real possibility that one may not receive a single offer in the first round...

Edited December 6, 2017 by phyanth

[Archaeodan]

I won't lie, @phyanth. The funding situation is bad, and half of us commenting this year are back from not getting in last year. Shit happens. The stats are unpleasant. My best advice, don't think about it and try as hard as you can to get in. That's all you can do. If you don't get in, it might have nothing to do with you. Just don't lose hope and don't stop trying. We only lose when we give up.

[EvelynD]

22 hours ago, Archaeodan said:

I won't lie, @phyanth. The funding situation is bad, and half of us commenting this year are back from not getting in last year. Shit happens. The stats are unpleasant. My best advice, don't think about it and try as hard as you can to get in. That's all you can do. If you don't get in, it might have nothing to do with you. Just don't lose hope and don't stop trying. We only lose when we give up.

You are right,..and what else can we do but try? Worrying isn't going to change your chances...(I say this after downing half a bottle of wine. The stress is killing me).  

[Archaeodan]

@EvelynD I mean, yeah, don't get me wrong, I never said I was good at taking my own advice. Do as I say, not as I do (this post can be re-titled the World Wide Wine Club of Stress cause I'd imagine you and I can't be the only ones drowning our sorrows in wine) 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

I'm drowning my sorrows and pain (oh, in such pain right now) with chocolate. @EvelynD @Archaeodan

[EvelynD]

11 hours ago, Archaeodan said:

@EvelynD I mean, yeah, don't get me wrong, I never said I was good at taking my own advice. Do as I say, not as I do (this post can be re-titled the World Wide Wine Club of Stress cause I'd imagine you and I can't be the only ones drowning our sorrows in wine) 

This made me laugh out loud at work

 

Yeah and chocolate too, Im so not stepping on the scale right now! I did quit smoking a couple of weeks ago! Now Im chewing gum like crazy.

[phyanth]

So, I noticed on the results board this morning that someone was already accepted to Georgia State in Anth (master's for F18) before even finishing an application. That seems odd, is that something that can happen? I've never heard of that before 

[smallaxe]

1 hour ago, phyanth said:

So, I noticed on the results board this morning that someone was already accepted to Georgia State in Anth (master's for F18) before even finishing an application. That seems odd, is that something that can happen? I've never heard of that before 

GSU has rolling admissions with a November 1st deadline for the Spring term and April 1st, 2018 for the Fall term. The person could be a current student which would expedite things as well.

[Alynnh]

1 hour ago, phyanth said:

So, I noticed on the results board this morning that someone was already accepted to Georgia State in Anth (master's for F18) before even finishing an application. That seems odd, is that something that can happen? I've never heard of that before 

That was me! I'm not a current student there, and I was super surprised they looked through the my application already. At the time I was accepted only one of my letter writers had submitted their reference, but I'm not complaining! 

[phyanth]

@Alynnh, they must have loved your application so much that they wanted to extend admissions to you before others did!  Congrats!

Side note: Do you go to MSU? I'm from Michigan!

Edited December 8, 2017 by phyanth
typo!

[gradanth]

Hi if anyone would be willing to send me an example of their SOP I would be very appreciative!

I'm having a bit of trouble because I'm unsure if I should be writing 4 different SOP with thesis ideas geared to each program. I know that each SOP needs to be unique to the program I am applying to, but to what degree should they be shaped. Some of my programs have a geographical focus should I reframe my SOP to embody that. I know I am a bit late to having my SOP ready.

Also if anyone would be available for a possible phone or skype call to answer some questions that would also be amazing. 

Wishing everyone the best!
 

[Bschaefer]

Hi @Alynnh - I finished my MA at gsu Anthropology and will be teaching intro to bioanth in the spring. Feel free to pm me with any questions. 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

Hey @gradanth So the topic of my research was the same at all my programs (I specifically looked for programs for this research), but I emphasized different things depending on the program. Basically, the first section about my previous research was pretty much the same, the second part discussing my research was catered to the school based on faculty, other elements (labs, clubs, certificates, etc) that could be beneficial/I could contribute to, and then also some tailoring for methodology (some of the programs I applied to were mixed method, some more qualitative, and others quant heavy), and finally, the final section about future and send off was also catered to each program, dependent on what their stated career paths were. I was able to cater my future section because, though my ultimate goal would be to be tenure-track, I am well aware this path is hard to achieve so I'm not ruling out other careers. Hopefully, this helps a bit.

[phyanth]

@gradanth, you should have research interests, and then find the schools that fit with those research interests. Your SOP can be completely unique, but I doubt you will have enough time to write four polished SOPs by the deadlines. What I ended up doing is:

P1: Introduce why I want to pursue anthropology and my general research interests

P2: Discuss what I want to research and why it is important

P3: Not everyone will have this, but I already completed a masters, so I discussed my research and how that fits with what I want to do at the doctoral level. 

P3: How I intend to complete this research and what I hope to achieve with this work. 

P4: My educational and employment opportunities that show how I am prepared for a dissertation and original research

P5: This is the MOST IMPORTANT. Discuss WHY you want to study at X University, how their research fits with your interests, the people you want to work with, and how your research will help them. 

So basically, you will really end up changing the last paragraph. Hope this helps! Feel free to PM me with any other questions.

Edited December 8, 2017 by phyanth

[Alynnh]

@phyanth  Thanks! I do go to MSU, I'm from Michigan as well! 

[Archaeodan]

Question: how specific did you guys get with your SOPs? All advice I got led me to stay rather general, but a POI just got back to me that they want more specifics. My difficulty I always run into with narrowing down my interests any more is what if I propose a project POI is not interested in and I get pigeonholed as just wanting to do that so I get rejected when in all reality I like everything under my broad interests and I'd be happy working on any related project. So. Yeah. Stress. So, how specific is right?

 

[hats]

Don't try to be broad, try to show you're flexible. If you don't give specifics, professors may not think you can propose an actually feasible project to tackle an aspect of your broad questions. The advice you received not to seem like you are committed to one, and exactly one, project, and are uninterested in considering any other ways to investigate these issues is correct. The solution is not, however, to say "I'm interested in the rise of social inequality in the North American woodlands" and then stop. You have to continue. Say, here's one way I imagine taking it! That shows you actually have the skills to visualize all the steps you need to complete a dissertation. Maybe you can say two or three kinds of data or two or three kinds of sites that might speak to your work. There's a middle ground between over-rigid commitment to a narrow project and a hand-wavey breadth of interest that doesn't give committees a sense of how you work as a thinker. (I'm interested in 'the rise of social inequality in the woodlands civilizations', too, but I've never been on a dig or analyzed any archaeological data, so you shouldn't admit me to an archaeology program based on my ability to state a broad archaeological theme that interests me!)

Can I direct your attention to these two threads? Of the recent discussions in this subforum, I think these both had good discussion about how to balance this issue.

 

[Bschaefer]

Echoing @hats, you should be more specific with the theory/method if anything in your SOP. as hats said, “interested in social inequality in the North American woodland period” and continue by saying through diet (if bioarch), through textiles and fabrication of high status textiles (Arch), or something similar to that effect. 

[Archaeodan]

@hats Thanks! That's exactly the advice I got and no one ever really went further than that to explain it! OK. Road map potential projects. I can do that. 

[sierra918]

On 12/8/2017 at 1:00 PM, gradanth said:

Hi if anyone would be willing to send me an example of their SOP I would be very appreciative!

I'm having a bit of trouble because I'm unsure if I should be writing 4 different SOP with thesis ideas geared to each program. I know that each SOP needs to be unique to the program I am applying to, but to what degree should they be shaped. Some of my programs have a geographical focus should I reframe my SOP to embody that. I know I am a bit late to having my SOP ready.

Also if anyone would be available for a possible phone or skype call to answer some questions that would also be amazing. 

Wishing everyone the best!
 

I'd be happy to help if I can. I'm at a geographically focused program as well, so maybe I can offer some suggestions there. Just let me know!

[phyanth]

... I am currently struggling to pare down my 1700 word SOP to 1000 words for my apps due this week.... It's at 1082 words, and I literally can't cut out any more without losing highly relevant content