Hi there! I am currently an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and I am an Anthropology major with a Bio minor. I would really like to become an applied anthropologist in areas of Critical Medical Anthropology, Biological, and Cultural Anthropology. I was thinking of doing the PhD program at UChicago, but my friend who’s currently in it says that I need to get a Master’s from another University first because it is very rare for undergraduates who didn’t attend undergrad at UChicago to get into the PhD program without a Master’s first. I have trouble finding out which schools have good anthropology masters programs vs good anthropology PhD programs. Looking online, I’m kinda thinking going towards UC Berkely or UCLA for my masters, and then Harvard or UChicago for my PhD, but I am still unsure if UC Berkely and UCLA only offer PhD’s in Anthropology or if they offer Masters as well. I’d also appreciate advice on other schools with amazing Master’s programs in Anthropology. Thanks in advance!
You really should be asking the professors in your current department. They have way more insight into the field than random people on the internet. Anyway, here are some general comments about grad school. Sometimes at the graduate level, selection of a school can come down to working with one professor. Is there anyone you would like to work with? One of the big selection criteria for a graduate program is funding. So you have to find a MS/MA program that will fund you. Recommendations are way more important in grad school admissions than undergrad. There is a reasonable chance that the writer and the reader know each other.
It looks to me that UCLA has a MA and UCB does not. You may want to look at the Big Ten universities for a masters. They are usually good/very good in a lot of subjects. Due to their large undergraduate populations, they need a lot of TAs (funding).