The other day my mom called, and mentioned that in one year I will be (hopefully) graduating from Michigan State University. Which led me to my second thought: What I'm doing afterwards.
I know what I want to do: go to grad school. Now all I have to do is find someone in my field with my interests, or at least, similar interests, look at the programs, take the GRE, apply for schools, get recommendation letters, write personal statements, look into funding, and also maintain all of the things that I currently do (school, organizations, anthropology club, work, eating). It sounds like a lot of work, but hey, others have done it, right?
I'm no expert, but here's what I've been looking for thus far. First, I'm trying to find programs with a physical/biological anthropology program, and at least one professor in the field that does research in bioarchaeology. Second, I look at the professor's recent publications to determine what they do research in, where they do research, other physical anthropologists they have worked with, and what connections they have outside of the university (to other universities, research sites, skeletal collections, etc.). Lastly, I look at the department overall: Does the department have a strong physical anthropology program, or is it only one to two specialists? Does the department have labs pertaining to bio-archaeology?
Other things that are high on my list that others may disagree with includes location. A school in Ohio might have a great program, but for me, where I'm living is almost important. I have to put into perspective that I would most likely be living in this place for 6 - 8 years. I also consider funding. 6 - 8 years is a long time, and in addition to having a nice place to live - location-wise - I also need to recognize that I have school loans currently, and being a professor doesn't exactly pay a lot. There are a lot of options for teaching assistant fellowships, scholarships, grad school fellowships, but I make it a point to look into the funding just to see what is available.
When I apply, I plan on applying to both Masters and Ph.D. programs. I'll apply to a couple that I will consider my safeties, a bunch that I would be an equal contender, and then one or two long shots.
So that's where I am with grad school. I'm kind of going in blind, up to my own devices. I talk to other graduate students, my professors, and my advisors, but when it comes to me, I ultimately have to make the decision. It's crazy to think that in a year I'll (hopefully) be moving somewhere else to study graduate-level physical anthropology.
There is the American Anthropological Association's guide to anthropology departments: http://www.aaanet.org/membership/eguide_search.cfmand you can search departments by (research) interests. This is updated yearly so it's a super easy way to find schools, and it lists professors, classes, and a ton of other things about each department.
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