I am perparing to purpose my personal statement for grad program anthropology program need advice!?

Question

Help! I meet with a advisor to discuss admissions into the University of Chicago's PHD anthroplogy program. She said my personal statment on my applaction should be a purposal almost of something I'd like to research or a dilemmia that dervers more research and study consindering I have a background in journalism (B.S.) how do i go about this decding?

Answer 1

I don't mean to seem rude, but if you want to get a PhD in

Anthropology, why don't you already have an idea about your research interests?  

In other words - why are you going to graduate school?  Answer that question and then work from there to determine

what your statement of purpose should cover.    You don't necessarily have to be specific, your research interests may change as your studies continue, but you should have a general idea of what it is you want to do and why you want to do it at the U of C.

The advice from earlier posters regarding researching the Anthropology department at U of C and figuring out just what it is various professors in the department do is excellent.  You should also contact the department to see if you can get in touch with professors who share your interests.  It would also be a good idea to see if you can get in touch with current graduate students in the department.  Current students are often far better resources for information about what the department is like, what is expected of students, etc.

If possible, you may also want to try to visit the department in person.

My statement of purpose for my application to graduate school (and I'm currently an advanced graduate student at the University of Chicago, though not in Anthropology) covered both my research interests and my prior experience in the field.  

I'd also advise you to very carefully proofread all your application materials and/or get a friend to do the same.  I realize that this is a casual forum and that many people do not proofread posts they make on the internet, or do and don't catch everything, but your question contains a number of spelling and grammar mistakes.  Similar mistakes in your application materials may be enough to immediately disqualify you.

Answer 2

U of Chicago... I'm a 70 yr old engineer & would like to get in their biology grad program just to work with Bruce Lahn.  Why not research the reasons for the heavy positive selection of the ASPM & MCPH1 genes recently discovered by Bruce Lahn's team.  I think an anthropoligist's view of these genes & reasons behind their recent positive selection among homo sapiens would be of help to all science fields.

Chuckle, I was selected for grad school in the EE field because I spoke English & they needed some teaching assistants.  However, find out what the school & the Department head needs, then do your best to meet that need.

Answer 3

Subtly work in your masterful cocksmanship.

Answer 4

Your adviser is right.  In your personal statement, I've been told that it's best to focus on what your research goals/interests are going to be in the future and how that fits into the larger anthropological picture.

I have really awful, cynical advice so I'm sure so happy first year grad students in anthropology will come along and say NO NO, but if I could go back and apply again, I would be more practical in choosing what I claimed my research focus in.  Look at what the faculty at Chicago are doing and try to make your interests fit into that in some way. Also, it's not a bad idea to browse the kind of anthropology proposals that are getting funded through the SSRC or Wenner Gren.  See what looks like it's getting attention and see how your project can relate to that.  

Make your project/interests sound as anthropologically hot and trendy as possible.  

Oh, also, it's important to have a clearly stated geographical area as well as theoretical areas. I know that it's kind of lame and old school but at least on applications people care. (Of course, if you're project is transnational in some way, that's different.) In terms of geographical areas, it's a good idea to stay away from studying the U.S. (again, I realize this sounds like such 1950s advice but programs are often less excited about US based project. If you really want to work on the US, drop that on them after you've been admitted.)

It's also a good idea to target certain faculty in your essay and suggest that you would like to work with them/they influence you/etc.  Browse their work and get a feel for what kind of questions they're interested in and then try to make yourself seem compatible and interesting to them.

Don't misrepresent yourself, just make yourself seem as snappy as you can. that's my advice.

Also, don't put all of your eggs in Chicago's basket. I've heard that once you get in there, it's hyper competitive and getting faculty attention can be tricky. I don't go there though so I can only base that on rumors and such.  There are lots of other really great programs out there. (Chicago is a great prgram though...)

Anyway, good luck.

Answer 5

Well, for my graduate program the statement of purpose that they wanted was not exactly what I was going to study and do my thesis on, but a general statement about what sub-field of anthropology I was going into.  I'm studying forensic anthropology and so in my statement I merely said that intended to study that subject.  You might say you're going to study MesoAmerican archaeology or iconography, sort a general statement but specific enough that they know what you'd like to do.  

I think the best thing for you to do is find out if the school has an advisor who is also part of the faculty, or if they don't simply a faculty member you'll most likely be working with, and ask them what sort of statement they expect.  If they're anything like my faculty advisors, they'll be happy to help and it also shows them your interest in their program, which they love.  Every program is going to expect something different, so try and find out more about what they want and then write it.