<p>So, I am a college junior right now and I may be applying for grad school in anthropology/museum studies this upcoming fall (I really want to take a year off to go abroad and work though). But I am just sort of confused by all the things one has to do to apply for grad school. The first thing is that I'm not sure when I should take the GRE. I got mixed answers when I asked on the college life board. I know that you should probably only take it twice max, but when? I am going to be in France for half of the summer, if that makes any difference. </p>
<p>Another thing is letters of recommendation. Do they all need to be in your major field of study? The anthropology program at my school is really small and only has 4 professors, and I've only had 3 of them. I don't really like one of the professors that much and his concentration area (archaeology) doesn't interest me either. I don't think I would have a problem with the other two professors giving me recs, but from what I've seen most grad schools want you to have 3 recs. Would a professor I've had several times for classes in my minor (French) be okay? I get along really well with this professor and enjoy his classes.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Based on my recall when I was applying to grad school:
If you are taking time off, take the GRE before the time off while your brain is still in school/test mode. If you did well on the SAT you will be fine for the GRE. And you can have your third letter of reference be from a prof in your minor or some other field - no problem! The French professor who you have had several classes from will be fine.</p>
<p>Yeah, I was planning on taking it before I finished school. I just wasn't sure when was the best time to take it. I will be taking 17 hours in the fall so I feel like it might be too stressful to take it then, and also I really don't want to take it right when I get back from France either because then I will spend my whole trip worrying about it. So I guess I should take it sometime in June before I go, and hopefully I will do pretty good the first time. I'm not really sure what the GRE is scored up to. I know most of the programs I'm looking at require minimum 1000 but what is the highest score? Is it 1600 like the (old) SAT? If it is then I would hope I could get at least a 1200 since I got almost 1300 on the SAT (I'm sure the GRE is a little harder than SAT). </p>
<p>Also is a 3.3 gpa "good"? I'm kinda proud of it and I know it's not like genius or anything, and I'm still working on improving it (had a bad sophomore year which brought it down), but I don't think it's too bad. I'm not looking at Ph.D programs right now, just MA's. That's my cumulative also. My major gpa is about a 3.6-ish.</p>
<p>Good thing you're taking a year off because you'll need to pick one for your MA- anthro or museum studies (though you might be able to find such museum studies program that has anthro focus). I considered a MA in Museum Studies because I wasn't sure about going all the way for the PhD in another field and my advisor advised me against a terminal MA in that field.. so anyway... Muesum Studies is fantastic- lots of theory-baed and usually you'll have a semester-long internship or have a exhibition design project for your thesis. </p>
<p>Two anthro professors are appropriate for anthro MA and the third can be anyone who knows you and your potential well. For Museum Studies, anything goes really as long they're good. Don't worry about your department being small (it's just unfortunate you don't have a wide range of professors to choose from but that's probably a little better...) If you can have some of these professors again for your upper-level courses, all is better. The more they know you, the stronger the letters will be.</p>
<p>For the GRE, I agree to take it two times max in case you think (and are very sure) that you were totally off on the first try. It's nothing like the SATs at all- very different feel to it... almost like playing a quiz on the Internet. Since you're taking a year off, just save it for your last semester or at least in whatever semester that you're NOT writing your thesis. I know people who wait until the summer after their graduation to take their LSAT and MCAT because they wanted the time to study in order to do well.</p>
<p>To really at least make yorself considered for a MA program. 3.0 is usually necessary so your GPA is just fine.</p>
<p>Oh well I was mostly looking at anthropology programs that had something like either a graduate minor or certificate in Museum Studies. I've found a few schools who offer such things which was perfect really because then I didn't have to pick between them. I want to eventually go back for an anthro PhD (most likely) but I can't really wrap my head around so many more years of school right now. I want to take a year off (work/travel) and then go to grad school for two years and then try to work in a job related to anthropology for a while before going back for my PhD eventually. I can't really decide exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life which is why I'm taking a year off after undergrad, to narrow my focus. I know that I'm not remotely interested in archaeology and not incredibly so in linguistics but I like cultural and physical anthropology equally (as of right now anyway) so I can't really decide. I'm also really interested in museums and collections, etc. thus the museum studies part.</p>
<p>GRE - somewhat similar to SAT. Verbal and Quant scores go 200-800, the two-part writing section 0-6. It is often said that the GRE can't get you in but can keep you out. It may also have an impact on university wide fellowship awards. Aim high - the anthro average at UMn for example, is about 1275. Get a book (I liked Barrons) and download the PowerPrep package from ETS - it is virtually identical to the real thing. Application deadlines start as early as mid-December of the year prior to your projected start date. So if you're looking at Fall 2009 admission, I'd suggest taking the GRE no later than mid-summer 2008 to allow planty of time for a do-over if your tank it or ETS screws up somehow.</p>
<p>GPA - 3.3 is OK but it may be a bit low for top programs (e.g. Michigan).</p>
<p>SOP - For some reason people often struggle with this. When you're working on the statement of purpose always remember it is not an autobiography. It is a statement of your PURPOSE for enrolling in the program. My experience was that once I focused on the "P", my statement took about an hour to finish.</p>
<p>LORs - if your school has a credentials service, use it. It will save you endless worry. My experience this year was that even schools that seemed to require online LORs or had special forms were perfectly fine with getting the LORs from the service. But do call and ask in each case just to be sure.</p>
<p>Writing sample - you may need a writing sample for some programs. Ideally it will be a substantial course paper that shows you can engage with the primary literature of your field. Talk to your professors about what would be suitable.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>My GPA is just a 3.3 right now. I'm planning on it being at least a 3.4 before I graduate, and aiming for a 3.5. I just had a rough year my sophomore year (2.75 and 2.83 for the semesters) which brought it way down. I'm not applying to the super-top programs like Michigan, I'm waiting on that for Ph.D. MA programs I'm interested in: Florida State*<em>, Alabama, Nebraska, Hawaii, Arizona State (a bit of a reach probably, seems like a very competitive program). Can anyone tell me a little more about the anthro programs at these schools? How high are they ranked, etc? I've looked over their programs which seem interesting but I don't really know how "prestigious" they are or anything.
*</em>FSU is my top choice right now. I'm really interested in their program (and the fact that they can fully fund Master's students.)</p>
<p>Ah! if your GPA took a hit that early don't worry about it. Many applications also ask for your last two years' GPA and GPA in major specifically because they are usually more relevant (and so many folks do have a rough start).</p>
<p>And don't sell youself short - apply to at least one high end program. A quick browse of the acceptance threads will reveal quite a few cases of being accepted by the "reach" and rejected by all the safeties.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Thanks. I had heard about the last two years' GPA thing, but then after telling someone that, on another (college life) board, got told off that "of course not just the last two years are important what were you thinking?! blah blah blah" by some dude. I was sure that I had read that somewhere though, so thanks for letting me know I'm not making things up, lol. </p>
<p>I am really trying to get my GPA up though, especially in my major classes. I got a 3.54 last semester and I am aiming for at least that this semester (trying for dean's list which is 3.7-ish). </p>
<p>The reason I'm not aiming for any really top top programs yet is that most of them are straight Ph.D programs, and an MA is only acquired as you work toward the Ph.D which is not what I want right now. I would like an MA first and then taking a break from school for a while before I go back for the Ph.D. I am planning to get a Ph.D eventually, just not yet. </p>
<p>I am planning to take time off after undergrad because when I finish I will have been going to school for sixteen straight years (and I haven't had a summer off in college yet) and I'm going to need a break. I already feel like I need a break, tbh. Plus I will only be 20 when I graduate and I really don't want to start grad school that young. I don't think I will be ready for all of the work involved.</p>