2018 Interviews and Results Thread

[Blaubaer]

5 hours ago, sideeye_emoji said:

So many more Berkeley interviews coming up on the results board than in previous years! I can claim one. But I'm curious about how big their shortlist is this year... from the email I got (which was from the head of the adcom, not my POI), it sounds like there are a lot of interviews to schedule. I remember last year someone said they heard it was around 20, but there were many fewer interviews on the results board then. Any other invited folks want to share their experience?

I'm invited as well (sociocultural). Super excited at first when I read the word "finalist" in the email but then I became more sober seeing all the interview posts in the forum. Well there is still a long way to go! My POI mentions also that the interview is going to be about 10-15 minutes. I wonder how such a short meeting is going to play out in the application.

2 hours ago, telesto said:

Hi all,

I have a question to Berkeley sociocultural interviewees (Skype) if you're out there.

I got an e-mail about the interview with two dates for selection (on 22/1) to which I replied. But I still haven't got a reply back confirming which date. Is this normal? Not sure if they will confirm or not - should I just be waiting for 1.5hrs on my proposed date?

Another related question, the professor who sent me the e-mail seemed to emphasise that the interview was not necessary. He said that since I'm in a time-zone that might be difficult, or Skype can go wrong etc, even if I can't do the interview it won't penalize my application. It had me confused for a bit, thinking whether it was really optional. Any thoughts?

Cheers.

Same international applicant here! I also did not receive any feedback after sending out my proposal of interview time. Judging from your profile and the wording of the interview request email, I guess it's pretty likely that we share the same POI! 

[waltzforzizi]

Wow, so many awesome updates. Congrats to those set to interview or are already on a list of sorts. Good luck! 

[telesto]

10 hours ago, Blaubaer said:

I'm invited as well (sociocultural). Super excited at first when I read the word "finalist" in the email but then I became more sober seeing all the interview posts in the forum. Well there is still a long way to go! My POI mentions also that the interview is going to be about 10-15 minutes. I wonder how such a short meeting is going to play out in the application.

Same international applicant here! I also did not receive any feedback after sending out my proposal of interview time. Judging from your profile and the wording of the interview request email, I guess it's pretty likely that we share the same POI! 

Now I'm getting a bit anxious about not getting any confirmation of the interview date. What if they call me on Thursday instead of Friday (my proposed date)? In Hong Kong Thursday's already almost over...

Have you got a reply back yet? I'm just about to email the POI.

[Blaubaer]

3 hours ago, telesto said:

Now I'm getting a bit anxious about not getting any confirmation of the interview date. What if they call me on Thursday instead of Friday (my proposed date)? In Hong Kong Thursday's already almost over...

Have you got a reply back yet? I'm just about to email the POI.

No I still haven't received a reply either and I've scheduled the interview on Thursday afternoon (PT) which is just a few hours ahead. Getting nervous as well.

[telesto]

3 hours ago, Blaubaer said:

No I still haven't received a reply either and I've scheduled the interview on Thursday afternoon (PT) which is just a few hours ahead. Getting nervous as well.

POI still hasn't got back to me. I'll just assume they're calling on Friday... Good luck on your interview!

[AnthroScout]

Howdy everyone!

Has anyone heard from/applied to any east coast schools (American, GW, UVA, UNC, etc.)? I had interviews with two of my POIs from American a few months ago, both phone and in person.

tl;dr - My undergrad GPA sucked but my MS is a 3.975, solid GRE, one single author publication in an anthro journal, good LORs, super anxious.

[TheNewGuy]

Can anybody from the recently interviewed Harvard crew confirm whether or not all interview requests have been sent out? Thanks and congratulations!

[marvel2375]

On 1/22/2018 at 10:35 PM, anthrosalts said:

And also to anyone who might have input, is there a different timeline that they review the applications for international and domestic students? Or send out acceptance letters/interview requests? Any international students here who can shed some insights PLEASE DOOOOOO I'm literally panicking rn  

It is my understanding that regardless of whether or not you are an international student, your application will be reviewed alongside other applications from students applying for that cycle. What I will tell you is that some programs might have different application deadlines for domestic and international students (the latter tending to have earlier application deadlines) as processing immigration-related documents for international students (I-20s, F-1 visas, etc.) takes time. I have worked at an international student office at a large research university, so I can speak on that. 

Regarding application notification requests (i.e. campus visits, phone/Skype interviews), it varies from program to program. However, faculty are aware that many international students live in different time zones; therefore, some departments might schedule interviews with international students at different times during the day or week to take into consideration these time differences. I also wouldn’t worry if I didn’t receive a campus visit invitation from a university that I have applied to as an international student as the respective department might assume that only domestic applicants are likely able to visit the campus as it would be very expensive (and for many students) difficult, if not impossible to visit a university campus in a different part of the world, let alone when the student is on such a short notice!

Edited January 26, 2018 by anthrobserver

[anthrosalts]

1 hour ago, anthrobserver said:

It is my understanding that regardless of whether or not you are an international student, your application will be reviewed alongside other applications from students applying for that cycle. What I will tell you is that some programs might have different application deadlines for domestic and international students (the latter tending to have earlier application deadlines) as processing immigration-related documents for international students (I-20s, F-1 visas, etc.) takes time. I have worked at an international student office at a large research university, so I can speak on that. 

Regarding application notification requests (i.e. campus visits, phone/Skype interviews), it varies from program to program. However, faculty are aware that many international students live in different time zones; therefore, some departments might schedule interviews with international students at different times during the day or week to take into consideration these time differences. I also wouldn’t worry if I didn’t receive a campus visit invitation from a university that I have applied to as an international student as the respective department might assume that only domestic applicants are likely able to visit the campus as it would be very expensive (and for many students) difficult, if not impossible to visit a university campus in a different part of the world, let alone when the student is on such a short notice!

Thank you for your input! Do they necessarily interview international students, too? I haven’t heard back from any of the schools and the wait is truly excruciating. Will they send out the interview schedules on different days for international vs. domestic students then? 

I had a friend who was accepted by both Stanford and Columbia for a masters program last season, and she didn’t have any interviews. Just a straight up notification that she got in (her program was East Asian studies). Hence I was wondering if all schools have interviews for Anthro? Well, at least for the top 10 or 20 schools? 

On a side note, anyone knows if any schools accept anthro Phd WITHOUT interviews? 

[phyanth]

24 minutes ago, anthrosalts said:

Thank you for your input! Do they necessarily interview international students, too? I haven’t heard back from any of the schools and the wait is truly excruciating. Will they send out the interview schedules on different days for international vs. domestic students then? 

I had a friend who was accepted by both Stanford and Columbia for a masters program last season, and she didn’t have any interviews. Just a straight up notification that she got in (her program was East Asian studies). Hence I was wondering if all schools have interviews for Anthro? Well, at least for the top 10 or 20 schools? 

On a side note, anyone knows if any schools accept anthro Phd WITHOUT interviews? 

Plenty of schools don’t formally interview for PhD programs. It also depends on your subdiscipline. Of the 9 I applied to, only 3 conduct interviews. And that’s a mix of top/mid rank schools

[tamaloo]

Hey, I noticed an interview call for WUSTL on the board. Does the poster know if any other emails from PoIs have been sent out? Has anyone else received any communication from them? 

Edited January 26, 2018 by tamaloo

[sideeye_emoji]

To the people asking about Harvard here/on the results board, we were told in the email that the "medium short list" consisted of less than 10% of the applicant pool. The email seemed to imply that all finalists were being interviewed and said that the department administrator would follow up in the next few days to set something up. She has since done so (with me, anyway). I would assume that some communication has been initiated with all finalists by this point, but there's no way to know for sure... Hoping that doesn't mean bad news for those asking.

 

Edited January 26, 2018 by sideeye_emoji
clarity

[anthrosalts]

Honestly now I'm just nerve wrecked that I may have been rejected by all 8 schools I applied to. Haven't heard from any of them, and am thinking that its the worst case (confirmed for Yale, Berkeley, Harvard (?)) for these 3 schools. I really wouldn't know what to do if I can't get in anywhere... 

[boneflower]

5 minutes ago, anthrosalts said:

Honestly now I'm just nerve wrecked that I may have been rejected by all 8 schools I applied to. Haven't heard from any of them, and am thinking that its the worst case (confirmed for Yale, Berkeley, Harvard (?)) for these 3 schools. I really wouldn't know what to do if I can't get in anywhere... 

Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Yale, Berkeley and Harvard are three of the most difficult schools to get into in the USA. Not getting in doesn't necessarily mean you are not good enough, it just means that this cycle they were looking for something different. Sometimes faculty alternate who gets a student, or funding is tight so they admit less than they wanted. If you don't end up with a successful application, I would recommend spending the next year getting a job or internship in your field as to get experience and possible publication credits. 

Crossing my fingers for your other applications. Good luck! Keep taking deep breaths and all will be okay

[anthrosalts]

15 minutes ago, boneflower said:

Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Yale, Berkeley and Harvard are three of the most difficult schools to get into in the USA. Not getting in doesn't necessarily mean you are not good enough, it just means that this cycle they were looking for something different. Sometimes faculty alternate who gets a student, or funding is tight so they admit less than they wanted. If you don't end up with a successful application, I would recommend spending the next year getting a job or internship in your field as to get experience and possible publication credits. 

Crossing my fingers for your other applications. Good luck! Keep taking deep breaths and all will be okay

Thank you so, so incredibly much for your assurance. All I can do now is to honestly just keep hoping and praying for the best for the rest of the applications. Hopefully I will hear back from at least one school? In the meantime just trying to spend my time more 'productively' instead of letting the anxiety jet up and camping on my email inbox or the results page. 

[yzo]

I see a UCLA post on the results page. I'm wondering who notified the poster of their rejection. Usually acceptances are released simultaneously, if not earlier. I haven't heard anything yet and don't know what to make of it.

[Sawtooth]

Illinois Urbana Champaign sent out rejections today. 

[telesto]

Just finished my Berkeley interview this morning.. feeling relieved but still too wired to go back to sleep. I didn’t actually mention any names on my SOP which is probably a mistake but two faculty members in a similar field interviewed me. I was worried they would ask me about who I’ve contacted since I didn’t contact any faculty but they didn’t ask thank god.

All in all it seemed positive, and they were super friendly. They also said I’ll hear from them “shortly” so I’m guessing I’m one of the last ones to interview and they’ll make decisions soon?

This was my first interview and I hope I’ll do better next time! Still waiting to hear from Columbia, NYU, etc.

Good luck to all of us

[blacklivesmatter]

1 hour ago, telesto said:

Just finished my Berkeley interview this morning.. feeling relieved but still too wired to go back to sleep. I didn’t actually mention any names on my SOP which is probably a mistake but two faculty members in a similar field interviewed me. I was worried they would ask me about who I’ve contacted since I didn’t contact any faculty but they didn’t ask thank god.

All in all it seemed positive, and they were super friendly. They also said I’ll hear from them “shortly” so I’m guessing I’m one of the last ones to interview and they’ll make decisions soon?

This was my first interview and I hope I’ll do better next time! Still waiting to hear from Columbia, NYU, etc.

Good luck to all of us

Just finished my Berkeley interview as well (for sociocultural). It was super short but seemed positive. They encouraged me to visit campus. They also mentioned that tomorrow the entire committee convenes to make a final list, then they have to go through the process of finding each student funding. I was told we should hear back within 3 weeks.  

[museum_geek]

On 1/25/2018 at 12:08 PM, AnthroScout said:

Howdy everyone!

Has anyone heard from/applied to any east coast schools (American, GW, UVA, UNC, etc.)? I had interviews with two of my POIs from American a few months ago, both phone and in person.

tl;dr - My undergrad GPA sucked but my MS is a 3.975, solid GRE, one single author publication in an anthro journal, good LORs, super anxious.

Hi!  I'm currently a PhD student at UVA, and while I'm not sure about when interview invitations are going out, I can tell you that our recruitment weekend for finalists will be going on February 22-24.  When I applied to the program, the process went like this: I participated in a phone interview during the first week of February letting me know I was a semifinalist, and was notified shortly thereafter that I was a finalist and invited to the recruitment weekend.  The recruitment weekend is an event where ~10 finalists spend three days in Charlottesville living with current grad students, interview with faculty members, and attend a couple different parties at the homes of faculty members.  It can be a stressful experience, but ultimately it's a great way to find out if you'll be a good fit in the department. 

In any case, if you've reached the semifinal stage you should be hearing from the department soon about a phone interview.  If you make it through the phone interview, you'll be a finalist and you'll be invited to visit Charlottesville.  If that's the case, shoot me a PM - I'd be happy to show you around town!

[waltzforzizi]

16 hours ago, blacklivesmatter said:

Just finished my Berkeley interview as well (for sociocultural). It was super short but seemed positive. They encouraged me to visit campus. They also mentioned that tomorrow the entire committee convenes to make a final list, then they have to go through the process of finding each student funding. I was told we should hear back within 3 weeks.  

Thanks for this update! I am super jealous of you Socio people ?..Im hoping that the whole commitee meeting means something is in store for the arch people, even if its a rejection ?

I hope it doesn't take 3 weeks to get back to you. Good luck!!

[rosiereal]

Are any of the Harvard interview folks confused about the professors who will be interviewing them? I got the list of professors who will be conducting the interview, and none of them are in my subfield or even my area of interest. Anyone else in the same boat? Is this normal? 

[TheNewGuy]

If anybody needs a little pick me up, here's a cute video of puppies doing puppy things: 

The anxiety has reached new heights! Complete radio silence from the five other schools that I've applied to. Argh.

[phyanth]

From what I've seen on the boards and results, it seems like the sociocultural and bioanth committees convene separately and most of the results are for sociocultural tracks. Has anyone applying for bioanth tracks heard anything regarding interviews/offers?

[Indiana_Bones]

7 hours ago, phyanth said:

From what I've seen on the boards and results, it seems like the sociocultural and bioanth committees convene separately and most of the results are for sociocultural tracks. Has anyone applying for bioanth tracks heard anything regarding interviews/offers?

Nope, not a peep about interviews or decisions here. I did get a question about my research interests from a potential PI, but that's it. The wait is excruciating... I've got my fingers crossed that at least one of my programs release results this week!