Graduate School Application Process for Anthropology Majors

First Things First: Identify your interests

Early Preparation Stage (between September and November)

  • Prepare a notebook or use our website's Graduate School Checklist (pdf) to keep track of the various stages of your application process.
  • Begin researching graduate programs.
    • Use the AAA Guide To Anthropology Departments to become familiar with the faculty of each Anthropology program you apply to. Identify faculty specialties and the programs the department offers. The Department has a hard copy of the AAA Guide available to borrow.
  • Make a list of 5-10 schools to which you want to apply. Your list should combine highly competitive schools with middle range schools and schools that you are fairly confident will accept you. Anthropology faculty can help you rank schools.
    • Remember, most programs have applications fees between $40-$80. Some will waive these for disadvantaged students.
  • Find out about funding possibilities at the institutions you are applying to (many will have fellowships, teaching assistantships, or research assistantships reserved particularly for first or second year students). Also, check out the scholarship opportunities through the
    College of Charleston Anthropology program as well as those available through the college's Career Center.
  • Collect addresses and phone numbers for the programs you will be applying to and call, write or email to get the most recent application mailed to you. Most departments print these materials between October-November.
  • Take the GRE as early as possible. There is NO special subject exam for Anthropology. Give yourself at least five weeks to prepare for the GRE exam. To prepare for the exam, talk with the staff at the Center for Student Learning or at the Career Center about the GRE.
    • Don’t be disappointed if you don’t score as well as you expected on your first try. However, remember that there is a sizable fee (approximately $100) each time you take the exam. See the Educational Testing Services website for more information about the GRE.

Filling Out Applications (between November-January)

  • Start early and turn your applications in early, if possible.
    • Try contacting the faculty members that you would be most interested in working with and try to make contact with them before you complete your application. If possible, a face-to-face meeting is best. Write a letter or send an email of introduction before calling to set up the meeting.
    • Faculty want graduate students to work with, and if you hit it off well with a faculty member, they may be able to help get you accepted into the program even if they are not actually on the admissions committee.
    • Also consider contacting some graduate students in the schools you apply to. They should be able to give you the best sense of what a department is like.
  • Letters of Recommendation

    "The statement of purpose is central to the application. The statement should be limited to two or three single-spaced pages. You should clearly articulate your intended research interests. If your research plans are not yet entirely specific, you should clarify the range of issues in anthropology that you are most interested in pursuing and sketch out plausible contexts for studying them. It is best to avoid extended statements about personal history, except as relevant to your research plan. Overall, your statement should reflect intellectual sophistication, good writing, and a sense of important research direction within some area of cultural, medical, or biological anthropology."

    "Any of the following strengthen the personal statement:

    • The intellectual or practical importance of your area of interest
    • The names of specific faculty with whom you may want to work
    • An indication of your awareness of the current literature on your field of interest (use citations selectively)
    • If appropriate, mention a specific world area or ethnographic sphere relevant to your research interest
    • Your relevant prior experiences, courses, research training or publications
    • Compatibility of your interests with the [university's] Anthropology program/faculty research area(s)."

Waiting for a Response (between March and April)

  • If you do not hear from the program by late April you have every right to call them and ask for an explanation.

    • Often your call can work to your advantage. Accepting applicants is not an exact science. Programs sometimes end up with unexpected openings. If you continue to show interest, you may be able to get in even after being denied admission.
    • Prepare back-up plans if you don't get into the school of your choice.

What To Do When You're Accepted

  • Find out what kind of funding you are being offered. Then, negotiate. As with the acceptance process, the funding process is a great deal more flexible than programs will have you believe.

    • Ask if there is additional funding available. The worst thing they can do is say no.
    • Be certain to get any promises they make in writing. Faculty and administrators turn over quite a bit, so the person who made you the promise may not be there next year. Having everything written down could save you many headaches in the future.
  • Try to visit the campuses where you have been accepted. If that's not possible, email graduate students in the program. Graduate school lasts a long time and programs have unique "cultures." In addition to making sure your intellectual needs will be satisfied, it is also important to make sure you attend a program where you can feel comfortable and happy personally.
  • Find out what type of housing is available as well as costs the cost of living.
  • When you have decided where you'll be going to attend school make sure to meet with the Graduate Advisor before you begin to figure out your class schedule and specific requirements.

This description of the Graduate School Application Process is indebted to Anna Sampaio, University of Colorado at Denver, Department of Political Science, Denver, CO 80217 and Lisa Garcia Bedolla, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA  90840.