Should I apply for a PhD position on a different topic?

[EvelynD]

Hey guys,

Last year I got rejected from the 4 programs I applied for. I learned a lot from my first application cycle and I understand why I didn’t get in. No hard feelings!

This year I am doing things differently and or practice I am now writing a full-blown research proposal instead of ‘just’ a statement of purpose. Once it’s time to start working on my statement it is going to be much better than last year because I’ll know so much more about my subject! I’m also applying at universities in Australia and New-Zeeland, and I’m giving it another go in the US this fall. I’m spreading my chances.

There is also a vacancy at a European university I am interested in, however, the topic is different than what I have in mind. The last couple of months I have really been investing in my own research ideas (in the literal sense of buying books, but also learning about the culture/subject itself). The PhD vacancy I found is about the same broad anthropological research interest, but instead of focusing on subject A in country B, it focusses on subject C in country D. The methodology and theoretical framework is also different.

On one hand I think I would be stupid to pass down an opportunity like this (full tuition, good salary, benefits, good university, etc) but I’d be giving up on my dream subject and project. On the other hand, what if I don’t make it in Australia, ZN, or the US, and I let this opportunity pass by? I might end up with nothing at all.

What would you guys advise me to do?  Applying doesn’t cost my anything (besides having to write a completely different research proposal on a subject I know nothing about, and I’m already struggling to find the time to develop my current proposal), and it also doesn’t automatically mean that I get in. Shall I just take it as an exercise and go for it?Or am I wasting my and other peoples' time?

[TakeruK]

Is the European university position for this fall (i.e. a few months from now?) If not, then there's no reason why you can't apply to the European school and also the US schools and then decide what you would like to do more later on. I think Australia has a different academic year, so that might be tricky to apply to both US and Australian schools, but definitely doable, especially if you are applying to start in the US in Fall 2018 and in Australia for Spring 2019.

I am also not sure what is standard in your field, but applying to 4 schools is a very small number if you are considering the USA. In my field, it's normal for most students to apply to around 10 schools if they are applying to the US.

Finally, to address the main part of your question! Maybe this is just my field being different, but I think it is a little strange that you are applying to graduate school with a specific project in mind already. I think it's more typical for students to apply with some broad interests in mind, but what you actually work on will depend on what opportunities exist when you get there. As you said, for this particular opportunity, there is research funding, benefits and a good salary! I feel that in academia, what you work on depends more on what you are able to get funding for, not what you are personally interested in. So, my approach has always been to focus on developing skills and experience that will make me useful/valuable to my field, rather than worrying too much about the specific project. This PhD comic strip is making a joke, but it's also kind of true http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1436

[hantoo]

I agree with @TakeruK that you should (if possible) apply to all of these programs you're interested in, and if you plan to apply to U.S. programs again, apply to more than four. I certainly don't think it would be a waste of time to apply to an additional program that might turn out to be a great fit for you! I don't know what your exact area of research is within anthro, but so long as this other program is at least related to your interests and experience and not something completely different, I think it would be fine. I'm pretty sure I remember you from the Fall 2017 application thread in anthropology as well, so maybe I can give some feedback on what I found helpful and what worked for me, and what I would do differently if I had to apply again! (Sorry if this goes way beyond your original question, but I thought this info might be helpful/relevant to you)

I actually think it's great that you have a very specific research topic in mind. Depending on the schools you apply to, some programs request a very specific statement of purpose that outlines your proposed research. That was true of a few schools I applied to. For other programs, their guidelines requested that applicants gave at least their subfield, geographic area of interest, and a few broad questions on the topic they hoped to study. I think that for anthropology PhD programs in general, it's better to be specific. Of course it's always possible for your research interests to change, but I think anthro adcoms like to see right away that you're a serious researcher and student and can explain your interests in a succinct way.

If you haven't done so already, I would also recommend contacting faculty members you hope to work with in the programs you're applying to. I did communicate with several faculty members during the application process, but I honestly regret not doing so for every program. Unless a department page specifically says it's not necessary to get in touch with faculty members (one program's website did say this for a school I applied to) I would just try to email at least one person from each program. Even if they don't respond to you, I think it's absolutely worth a try. For the program I'm attending this fall, I was in contact with two faculty members, both of them helped me specify some of my research questions in my SOP, and I was able to Skype with one of them before I submitted my application. When the time came to commit to a program, it made my decision easier because I had had so much communication with them and felt very sure of my choice.

I'm pretty sure there's a bunch of field-specific threads on here already about what to include in a strong SOP, how to write those emails to faculty members, etc. so I won't ramble on here.

Best of luck in the application process and it seems like you're already improving your chances of getting in by casting a wide net and applying to a lot of different programs!

[EvelynD]

On 26-7-2017 at 11:41 PM, TakeruK said:

Hi @TakeruK The deadline for the European university position is Augusts 30, the interviews are around late September / early October. The deadline for my New Zealand application is around the end of October and then US deadlines are in December of course.

The one thing that is holding me back from applying in Europe is that I want to be an anthropologist who focusses on human-horse dynamics. With this PhD I would become an anthropologists specialised in the relation between humans and other species of animals (not horses). I'm afraid that this sets out my career and that I would never get another opportunity to work on horses.

I just received note that I was rejected from the Australian program, but there were more than 50 applicants and only 1 position available. It was a good exercise to apply so it wasn't a waste of time. 

I know applying at four schools in the US isn't a lot, but with my research interests (animal studies in anthropology) finding suitable schools is difficult. The theories that you use are so specific that you need to find someone who does the same type of research as you do, you can’t just go with someone who works in your geographical region. Luckily I have found more schools so far (I think I’m make it to 10 this year), although I don't think that applying to more programs would have gotten me anywhere last year. I think I just wasn't quite there yet with my proposal. Also, in my experience in anthropology you need to be specific about what you want to research. I got rejected from one school because I wasn’t clear enough about my theoretical framework. 

 

 

 

[EvelynD]

On 30-7-2017 at 3:43 PM, hantoo said:

Hi @hantoo, thanks for you reply! I am interested in the relations between humans and animals (from an anthropological perspective). If you would have the time to share your experiences from last year that would be great! Were you able to get in last year? 

I contacted faculty members last year, I'm already doing the same thing at the new schools that I found. The only thing that bugs be is that I haven't been able to gain more research experience. I got rejected from one school for this reason and I'm afraid this year I will be a 'weaker' candidate again because of this. But then again my proposal has improved..

I decided that I am going to apply for the position at the uni in Europe I was talking about. It doesn't cost my anything and it will be a good learning experience! And who nkows what might come out of it!

 

 

 

[TakeruK]

Sorry to hear about the Australian program. 1 in 50 are very tough odds! 

With regards to research topic, I see that different fields have different expectations on how well formed a research topic needs to be when applying! When I was applying to postdocs last year, I definitely needed to have a well fleshed out research program. But the odds of these positions are even lower: typically 200 applicants for one or two positions. So, my strategy was to not be too invested in any particular project. I found good opportunities out there and then came up with a research program based on what would be a good fit there (in terms of who is there and what resources are available). In the end, I wrote at least 3 distinct research plans for the 15-20 positions I applied for (telescope resources in my field are shared by networks of schools, so fairly similar research proposals can be used for several different schools).

Again, I know this is different between fields, but my advice above wasn't just that you should be more vague/broad in each application---as you said, your field requires you have a specific project in mind and go to it in depth. But I meant that across all of your applications, you could consider a wider range of research possibilities. So maybe you find 5-6 schools that would be really great for human-horse relationships and write a strong proposal to do that. Then, maybe through your research of these schools, you find programs really great for another topic that you also care about, maybe another animal. But whether or not this is a good idea for you would depend on whether or not you still wanted a career in Anthropology even if you never studied human-horse relationships. And that's just up to you of course. 

Maybe this part is different between fields too, but one warning sign of a field that only has a very limited number of programs in human-horse anthropology is that the number of researchers interested in human-horse relationships might be very low. One of the reasons I decided to change research topics from during my Masters to my PhD is that there were like 20 people in all of the US that study that topic. To me, it felt that if I wanted an academic job, I would likely have to work at one of those places, which would very strongly limit my career options. In addition, there is no non-academic application of that field. So I switched to something that is a major subfield in Astronomy now in order to improve my chances of finding work.

So, I think it's important to also consider your post-PhD plans when deciding on which subfield/topic to follow. In my opinion, passion for the topic is important, but so is employability and interest from others (to get grants for example). My personal concerns about entering a topic with very limited interests (even if it was what I wanted to do the most) was that 1) I will likely have to change it after the PhD if I want to have more work opportunities and 2) if I become too specialized in an unpopular field, then that might make finding future work difficult. So, my approach was to be passionate about the methods and the idea of the science, but never actually become too invested in any particular topic. Kind of like a "science mercenary", I wanted to develop a set of skills that I could use to solve whatever science problem comes up. So far that has worked well for me but this is a personal choice of course. Not saying that this is what you should also do, but just providing a perspective to also consider.

Good luck!!

 

[EvelynD]

28 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

You raise some interesting points!

I think I might have become too invested in my horse project, now you mention it. At first I had 2 different projects to choose from but I dropped one because I didn't have the time to develop them both. I'm now super attached to this idea and I don't want to change to something else. Maybe I should be more flexible about this. 

It might sound as a coincidence but the last couple of weeks I have came across schools that have interesting different program like senvironmental studies, ethnozoology, and animal geography. I will rework my idea's to be able to apply there too and spread my chances like that. 
You asked if I wanted a career in anthropology if it is not focused on human-horse relations.  Yes, but like I said, I am so attached to my idea that choosing something else over my own stuff (like the European position) sounds scary. (I'm saying this and I haven't even applied yet, let alone recieved an offer). 

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it! 

 

28 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

 

So, I think it's important to also consider your post-PhD plans when deciding on which subfield/topic to follow. In my opinion, passion for the topic is important, but so is employability and interest from others (to get grants for example). My personal concerns about entering a topic with very limited interests (even if it was what I wanted to do the most) was that 1) I will likely have to change it after the PhD if I want to have more work opportunities and 2) if I become too specialized in an unpopular field, then that might make finding future work difficult. So, my approach was to be passionate about the methods and the idea of the science, but never actually become too invested in any particular topic. Kind of like a "science mercenary", I wanted to develop a set of skills that I could use to solve whatever science problem comes up. So far that has worked well for me but this is a personal choice of course. Not saying that this is what you should also do, but just providing a perspective to also consider.

Good luck!!

 

 

[hats]

I haven't paid attention to that many anthropology searches yet, but I believe the specificity of anthropology graduate training vs. anthropology jobs often diverges a lot more than in most fields. For an anthropology PhD, you really do need to work with at least one person who shares your theoretical framework—for @EvelynD that wouldn't be quite as specific as human-horse relationships, but "animal studies" or one of its cousins—but departments hire at the field level. Note: here "field" doesn't mean "discipline." Anthropology has approximately four "fields": (socio)cultural; linguistic, which is sometimes called a subset of sociocultural; biological; archaeology. Some jobs are more specific than "field," like you might see "sociocultural work on race in the Americas." However, I've seen a fair number of job search listings that are for sociocultural (or even sociocultural or linguistic) anthropologists with topical specialization open and regional specialization open. I couldn't say whether that's 60% of ads or 10% of ads that are that broad, but a lot of job searches do advertise within very wide parameters. In sociocultural and linguistic anthropology, you don't need a lot of resources or collaboration to keep doing your work. So once you have the appropriate training, which can only usually be obtained at a somewhat limited number of schools, you can usually apply to more jobs than you could apply to PhDs. Standard caveat about there being very few jobs available at all, but that's a different kind of limit not the than Evelyn having to apply only to work at the same ten universities where she applied for graduate school.

Ten is a good number of US anthropology programs, also. Four was too few, but ten sounds about right.

[TakeruK]

Yeah, looking into programs about topic X might get you really interested in topic Y. One of the most helpful pieces of advice I got from professors when applying to grad schools came after I said that I really wanted to work on X in my PhD program. They asked me to reflect on why I was so interested in X and to ensure that my interest didn't just come from the fact that I was already familiar with that topic from my undergrad/Masters work (i.e. the only topic in my field I knew well enough to be really interested in it). A lot of US programs in my field actively encourage you to work on multiple projects in the first few years so that you know what you don't want to do as well as what you wanted to do!

[rising_star]

Honestly, if you're only willing to work with someone who does "human-horse relations", you're probably overly limiting your potential programs far more than you should be. There are plenty of folks in animal studies who might use relevant theories for thinking about other animals and from whom you could learn a great deal by studying under. Moreover (and this builds on what @TakeruK has said above), in thinking about the job market, it's worth thinking about whether there will be any jobs looking for someone in "human-horse relations". There are certainly some jobs in animal studies but even that is more of a niche than something like human-environment relations or other aspects of sociocultural anthropology. 

[Concordia]

40 minutes ago, rising_star said:

someone who does "human-horse relations" 

Is this the kind of thing you might have to go to Vermont to find?