Berkeley

[enoughisenough]

There is much cause for celebration and sorrow.

From personal phone calls bestowed on the winning applicants to terse and long awaited rejection letters.

Here is a nice place to vent or wax poetic over Berkeley.

Blame it on Kroeber.

[Harry]

There is much cause for celebration and sorrow.

From personal phone calls bestowed on the winning applicants to terse and long awaited rejection letters.

Here is a nice place to vent or wax poetic over Berkeley.

Blame it on Kroeber.

I have to ask, given the odds on being accepted anywhere, and the expense of applying which must be considered, why would anyone say they wasted $90.00? What's that supposed to get? Is it supposed to guarantee something beyond the consideration and processing of an application, and notification of the results in time to accept other offers? I was told by Ned that I'd hear by the end of February, and I did. I didn't get in. I assume the profs read my app. I'd think the fee was wasted money if I knew they didn't, but I have no indication of that.

"Love is a gamble, like the wise man said...."

By they way, I had a smoke with Kroeber recently. He said it isn't his fault. He tried to break through to this dimension to give feedback, but it didn't work.

[anthromind]

I have to ask, given the odds on being accepted anywhere, and the expense of applying which must be considered, why would anyone say they wasted $90.00? What's that supposed to get? Is it supposed to guarantee something beyond the consideration and processing of an application, and notification of the results in time to accept other offers? I was told by Ned that I'd hear by the end of February, and I did. I didn't get in. I assume the profs read my app. I'd think the fee was wasted money if I knew they didn't, but I have no indication of that.

"Love is a gamble, like the wise man said...."

By they way, I had a smoke with Kroeber recently. He said it isn't his fault. He tried to break through to this dimension to give feedback, but it didn't work.

Agreed, I don't know why people are being so weird about Berkeley. Did you lament the same way when you got rejected from X undergrad institution? Berkeley has less than a 10% acceptance rate for their anthropology program. Sorry, life isn't as easy as we want it to be.

[enoughisenough]

Glad to read that we have all "kept" our sense of humor.

In all seriousness, not everyone had to pay for the application, Ned and the crew were all very forthcoming, and the process was everything it should have been; it was what it was.

For all those who got in: What is your specialization? Where are you planning on doing your field work? What are you most thrilled about?

[straycat]

I was an undergrad in the Anthro department there, spending many hours in labs in Kroeber Hall. I remember overhearing several conversations between grad students and professors regarding the new grad students accepted into the program. Typically, the grad students accepted are from well known colleagues in the field from the big name schools or worked with big name CRM firms (if archaeology). They were saying things like, "So-and-so came from Harvard and worked with XYZ...or So-and-so came from University of Chicago and worked with ABC..."

Then I remember them talking about one student who was the affirmative action acceptance and they had no idea who he was or who he worked with as an undergrad and were talking about how worried they were. Those professors are very picky as to which undergrads they write letters of recommendation for as it could either make them look really good or bad. I learned that the hard way after a year and a half of research.

If you're set on Berkeley, you might want to try the Masters route or research route first. Good luck.

[angelstern]

Agreed, I don't know why people are being so weird about Berkeley. Did you lament the same way when you got rejected from X undergrad institution? Berkeley has less than a 10% acceptance rate for their anthropology program. Sorry, life isn't as easy as we want it to be.

Is that true about the less than 10% acceptance rate? I got my email yesterday directing me to the very terse "Deny letter" on their website and I have to admit that even though Berkeley wasn't my #1 choice I was a little bruised by the rejection. My faculty advisor at my school knows everyone at Berkeley and had assured me I was a "shoe-in" so I guess I had unrealistic expectations....