| Information
for Prospective Students
Application
Deadlines ~ Required Application Materials
~ Criteria ~ Diversity
~ Financial Aid ~ Transfer
Credits ~ Sub-field course requirements
~Funding for Fieldwork ~ Placement
The information below addresses some of the
most frequently asked questions about the Program. Please consult
Program Information which contains
a fuller description of the doctoral program and the courses of
study.
We accept applications only
for courses of study beginning in a Fall Semester. The Anthropology
Program does not accept students for the Spring Semester. Those
who wish to be considered for financial aid must have a completed
application with all supporting materials, including test scores
and recommendations, in the Office of Admissions at the CUNY Graduate
Center by January 8, 2008. The final deadline for all other applications
for admission for the 2008/2009 academic year is April 1, 2008.
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Each applicant is required
to provide the following materials:
- The
Graduate Center's application form, can be completed online
or downloaded
from the Office of Admissions (212-817-7470), and an application
fee of $125. Members of the Admissions Committee will be keenly
interested in your "Statement of Purpose," which should be no
more than two pages in length. This short essay should convey
a clear sense of your academic background and preparation for
doctoral study, as well as your intellectual direction and plans.
NYCEP applicants should follow the special instructions on the
NYCEP tracking form.
- Two letters
of recommendation from persons familiar with your academic work
and your capacity to do doctoral study in Anthropology.
- Official
transcripts from each college or university you have attended.
- Official
scores from the GRE General Test. Consult the Educational Testing
Service [609-771-7670; www.gre.org]
for more information.
- Test
of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) if necessary:
International students must present authoritative
evidence of sufficient competence in the English language
to pursue a regular course of doctoral study at the City University.
It is required that students who have not studied and earned
a degree in an English-speaking country take the Test of English
as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), administered internationally
by the Educational Testing Service, and request ETS to report
examination results directly to the Office of Admissions,
CUNY Graduate Center-College Code 2113, 365 Fifth Avenue,
New York NY 10016. Inquiries concerning this exam should be
made directly to Test of English as a Foreign Language, Box
6151, Princeton NJ 08540, USA, or most American embassies
and consulates in cities outside the United States. For additional
information call 1-800-GO-TOEFL or on the Web at http://www.toefl.org
or http://www.ets.org.
- For the
cultural anthropology sub-field, a writing sample is required.
Submit
a writing sample, for example a research paper, reflecting your
scholarly and critical abilities.
None of these requirements can be waived.
Optional Application
Materials
- For sub-fields other than cultural anthropology,
a writing sample is optional. You may submit a writing sample,
for example a research paper, reflecting your scholarly and
critical abilities.
All required documents should be sent directly
to the Office of Admissions at the CUNY Graduate Center. When
all required items have been received, your file will be ready
for review by the Anthropology Program's Admissions Committee.
The Program cannot keep track of specific materials for individual
applicants, so it is your responsibility to ensure that your materials
reach the Office of Admissions before the deadline
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Admission
to the PhD Program in Anthropology is very competitive. The Admissions
Committee for each of the four sub-fields meets from mid-February
until mid-May to review completed applications. Four essential factors
are considered: a solid academic record and relevant professional
and research experience; excellent references; strong test scores;
and an articulate personal statement. No single item is considered
in isolation.
You will be notified by the Office of Admissions as soon as
the Committee reaches a decision about whether or not to admit
you. Because of the number of applications requiring careful consideration,
some are placed temporarily on hold and reviewed at subsequent
meetings. If you have not heard from us, please contact the Office
of Admissions to make sure that your application is complete before
you contact the Anthropology Program.
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The PhD Program is committed
to encouraging diversity among its students, and we strongly encourage
applications from minorities. Our student cohorts over the years
reflect a wide diversity of ethnicities and nationalities. The percentage
of students of African and Hispanic/Latin descent remains well above
the national average.
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Because CUNY is a public institution, the Anthropology Program is
able to offer only limited financial aid, and awards are made to
a small number of students. Those wishing to be considered for financial
aid must apply by the January 8th deadline. The Graduate Center
offers a number of special multiple-year awards to students with
exceptional promise or specialized skills. These include the Robert
E. Gilleece Fellowships and the Minority Access/Graduate Networking
(MAGNET) Fellowships (Financial
Aid). Special committees comprised of faculty, students, and
administrators make these very competitive awards on behalf of the
Graduate Center as a whole. A small number of entering students
obtain fellowships from sources outside of CUNY such as the National
Science Foundation, the
Ford Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological
Research (developing countries fellowships), and The
Andrew W. Mellon Fellowships in Humanistic Studies. See Student
News: Grants, Fellowships, and Prizes for news on grants awarded
to current students. Information on financial aid and special awards
may be obtained from the Office
of Financial Aid and the admissions
packet.
After passing the First Exam and earning 45 credits, students
may apply for a Writing Across the Curriculum Fellowship. After
the first year, a number of students receive Graduate Teaching
Fellowships (Student News: Grants,
Fellowships, and Prizes). For many students, adjunct teaching
positions at one of the CUNY undergraduate colleges are an important
source of support. Rather than serving as a Teaching Assistant,
a common practice at many universities, adjunct lecturers at CUNY
colleges design and teach their own classes. This teaching experience
often plays an important role in our students' subsequent success
on the academic job market.
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Students have opportunities for early fieldwork experience through
faculty directed practicums, summer field schools and field trips.
The Program encourages students to make a preliminary reconnaissance
trip to a potential fieldsite. Normally the Program holds an annual
competition for summer research funds. With close faculty guidance
students write proposals for their dissertation fieldwork and submit
them to external funding agencies. Students in the Program receive
outside funding for their research at an exceptionally high rate.
Funding agencies have included: the National Science Foundation,
Wenner-Gren Foundation, Fulbright-Hays, Social Science Research
Council, L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, IREX, International Fund for
Animal Welfare, The Open Society Institute, CARE Archaeology Foundation,
Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, Ford Foundation
- US Community Forestry Research, Foreign Languages and Areas Studies
(FLAS), American Museum of Natural History, Kellogg Foundation,
Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women, the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council (Canada), and the Smithsonian Institution.
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Many factors determine success in academic and non-academic job
placement. The Program's four-field requirement together with exceptional
opportunities for fieldwork and teaching experience, provide CUNY
anthropology graduates with credentials not commonly available from
other doctoral programs. As noted above, most students acquire significant
undergraduate teaching experience at the various colleges of the
CUNY system and other colleges in the area while completing their
degrees. Many students establish a track record of writing successful
proposals and winning external funding for their research (Student
News: Grants, Fellowships, and Prizes). The Program expects
students to participate in professional meetings, and many organize
sessions and present papers (Student
News: Publications, Conferences, and Other Recent Activities).
It is not uncommon for our students to publish a paper while they
are writing their dissertations. The Program's placement record
varies from one year to the next and from graduate to graduate.
We are proud of our placement record and of the achievements of
many of our alumni(Student News: Recent
Graduates, New Jobs). It is a source of pride that three alumni
(one cultural, one physical, and one linguistic) have gone on to
win distinguished MacArthur "genius" awards. CUNY anthropology counts
more MacArthur winners among its alumni than any other anthropology
department save the University of Chicago.
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After a student has successfully completed the First Exam, it is
possible to request the evaluation of transfer credits. Taking into
account the advice of the student's sub-field coordinator, and the
student's academic record in the doctoral program, the Executive
Officer (chair) evaluates the courses the student would like to
transfer. Normally this occurs after the student has passed the
First Examination. Official Graduate Center policy allows for the
transfer of a maximum of 30 credits. Students are sometimes confused
when they read this and expect to receive more transfer credits
than are approved. To obtain a doctoral degree from CUNY a student
must complete a total of 60 credits, of which a minimum of 30 must
be earned at CUNY. Thus, our policy allows for transfer of up to
a maximum of 30 credits. In practice this is extremely rare.
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Students
are required to take one course in each of three sub-fields other
than their own. This requirement is may be waived depending on a
student's earlier course work. A request for a course waiver may
be considered if the student has taken either one graduate level
course or two undergraduate level courses in a sub-field. Taking
into account the advice of the sub-field coordinator for the sub-field
course in question, the Executive Officer (chair) evaluates the
course(s) a student wishes to have considered to obtain a waiver.
Information about financial aid, housing, degree requirements
and general course offerings may be found in the Prospective
Student section of the Graduate School website. The Anthropology
Program's Website contains schedules of recent and current course
offerings and course descriptions, faculty members, and program
events. The student news section is the
place to look for information on our students' record of participation
in conferences, publications, winning grants, and landing jobs.
The faculty section contains a list
of faculty and information on their research interest and publications.
The faculty news section provides current
information on their activities, publications, invited lectures,
awards, and so forth.
Questions may be addressed to Anthropology student Kareem Rabie
(krabie@gc.cuny.edu).
You may also contact:
Dr. Thomas McGovern - Archaelogy sub-field coordinator (nabo@voicenet.com)
Dr. Donald Robotham - Chair, Cultural Admissions Committee (drobotham@gc.cuny.edu)
Dr. Edward Bendix - Linguistics sub-field coordinator (EBendix@gc.cuny.edu)
Dr. Eric Delson - Physical sub-field coordinator (delson@amnh.org)
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last modified 09.07.07
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