Phd in Anthropology, how competitive?

Graduate School
1

<p>Yes, this is basically a "what are my chances" type of question, but please bear with me, I do come from a somewhat different system of higher education.</p>

<p>I am mostly interested in USC, Columbia, NYU, University of Toronto, but will gladly take any suggestions. IMy area of interest is physical anthropology, human evolution in particular.</p>

<p>As I have already mentioned, admission into phd in my area differs somewhat so I am not completely clear on where I stand according to US/Canadian criteria.</p>

<p>So, here I go.</p>

<p>I have BA in Anthropology and in English (double major) and MA in the same double major combo. Is there a double major considered a disadvantage? My GPA is 3.8/4 all together, and 3.92/4 in anthropology.</p>

<p>I have not published a lot, 2 papers altogether, and one of them is only somewhat related to the field of study I would like pursue.</p>

<p>I am not entirely sure what is considered under research experience. I participated in one excavation and volunteered for several years in forensic anthro lab. Does that count?</p>

<p>And I can get pretty good letters of reference, from internationally recognized anthropologists. How important are those, anyways?</p>

<p>I know I also need GRE, that should not be a problem.
Seeing that anthro programs usually have language requirements- in terms of admission, does it in any way work in my favor that I speak five languages?</p>

<p>And the final question is, how competitive are the programs I mentioned earlier? All things considered, do I have any chance of admission into mentioned schools? What could I do (if anything) to improve them?</p>

2

<p>We can’t speak to your chances for admissions into PhD programs, since it varies wildly based on the application year, the program itself, your particular research interests (not just broad area). The best people you can ask are physical anthropologists familiar with the programs and the faculty there, but even they can only give you broad information, not hard-and-fast chances.</p>

<p>But you are a great anthropology PhD candidate yourself. The languages that matter are ones that are relevant to your research interests, so assuming that you will need to do research in the languages you know, you’ll be fine. Publishing any papers as an undergrad is good - most entrants to PhD programs do not have any papers. And yes, your research experience counts, and letters of recommendation are important.</p>

<p>No offense to you, but this kind of sounds like a parody of the “I’m kind of awesome but I’m not really sure whether or not I will get into these PhD programs with my near-perfect profile, plz halp?” chances posts we get all the time. If anthro programs will turn down an applicant like you, who do you think they are accepting?</p>

3

<p>Oh, wow, I really didn’t mean to sound like that, I am really sorry if it turned out that way. Here where I come from, the admissions are waaaaaay different and basically, all that matters are your grades. And the tuition you pay. </p>

<p>So I really had absolutely no idea what constitutes “relevant work experience” that I am expected to have and what other candidates are like. </p>

<p>I see your MA programs include lots of research opportunities, and they are really scarce at my university so I figured everybody else just had tons of it and papers to prove it. I guess I thought that I was supposed to have lot more experience having done my MA and that letters of recommendation are the only thing going for me. (Again, at my uni, letters of recommendation are mostly overlooked and pro-formae, so I wasn’t really sure about that).</p>

<p>I know it admission depends on a particular program, but I really had no idea how I stood so i was just looking for something along the lines of “plausible” or “don’t even bother”.</p>

<p>Thank you very much for your reply. </p>

<p>And I apologize once again if I sounded like “look at me, look at me” type of person. I just really have no perspective coming from a different system and had no idea what other candidates might be like. I really thought I was on the “don’t even bother” side of the spectrum.</p>

<p>Thanks again, it is really good to know it is worth a try.</p>

4

<p>I’m a double major in geography and anthropology (archaeology). Honestly you sounds like the perfect candidate I know most programs want you to know 2-3 languages, ideally, and be able to write and read text in those languages for research purposes. A double major in English probably also works in your favor being able to write is a definite advantage. Two published papers, a great GPA, excellent references. I would just research programs come up with a list and apply! You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. </p>

<p>Field school experience might be useful, although I’m not quite sure how beneficial - aside from something to add to you CV.</p>

<p>[Archaeological</a> Fieldwork Opportunities Bulletin - Archaeological Institute of America](<a href=“http://www.archaeological.org/fieldwork/afob]Archaeological”>http://www.archaeological.org/fieldwork/afob)</p>