earn a PhD

I’m 0/3 on applications I submitted for Fall 2012 admissions. Surprisingly I don’t feel that bad about it. Today I was reading an article about how unemployment in recent college grads is over 50%, and anthropology was cited as the #2 most unemployed major. At least I finished my BA & MA before the recession hit and have a semi-decent career at the moment. But the high unemployment rate definitely made for a surge of grad school applicants this year and some pretty stiff competition.

I received my first letter of rejection from one of the programs I applied to last week. Apparently, traditional PhD programs are extremely competitive this year—with some programs having over 300 applicants for less than 10 spots. I’m still waiting on 2 more programs and also considering a low-residency program as a Plan B.

I’ve applied to PhD programs in anthropology at George Washington University, American University and University of Maryland. I’m keeping my fingers crossed on this one!!

I registered to take the GRE in September, since it’s been 5 years since I last took this test. I’ve also started communicating with a few schools about their PhD programs in applied anthropology. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for assistantships and/or fellowships because I can’t really afford to take out more loans…

I am thinking of beginning a PhD program in Public Policy and Administration through Walden University this June. I think a distance learning program may work out better than a traditional program given my current commitments.