<p>These are my postgrad interests. I graduated last year from UW-Madison with a B.A. in journalism and anthropology. GPA: 3.38. Not stellar, I know, but I did tend toward more challenging courses.</p>
<p>At this point, I’ve been researching which schools would be the best fit at the Ph.D level – particularly those with strong behavioral primate labs, strong physical anthro faculties and well-funded behavioral econ researchers. </p>
<p>Ideally, I’d like to…
design/execute decision experiments
using comparative species
as an anthro student
contributing the the behavioral econ lit
using statistical data to back up challenges of genetic distance</p>
<p>Another priority is positive name recognition from the lay audience. I like the idea of moving forward to a better-regarded school. Duke, among others, seems to stand out.</p>
<p>Two questions.
For those inclined to suggest, what do you think are the best schools for this pursuit?
Secondly, as I’m motivated to shoot for the best program/funding options, what should I work on now to improve my standing?</p>
<p>As background, I’m worried because I don’t have much hard science under my belt outside of evolutionary bio courses (if you can call that hard). Secondly, I only have taken the econ basics (micro/macro). Thirdly, my math/stats were completely neglected as an undergrad. I’m prepared to start fixing any of these if necessary.</p>
<p>I’m inclined to pursue a relevant M.A. if that will help my chances. Econ depts, however, won’t like my math background and anthro/primatology programs generally don’t offer M.A.s. So where do I start?</p>
<p>You seem like someone who kinda fell into this last minute considering you seem ill-prepared for doctoral studies (honest assessment; can be wrong).</p>
<p>You’re going to have a long road ahead of you if you want to pursue a doctorate in this field. Doctoral programs are difficult enough to get into even for applicants with adequate preparation (depth of coursework, relevant research, etc.), and you’re fighting from the ground up.</p>
<p>I’m assuming you’re not coming in with any research experience since you didn’t mention it. If this is the case, I’d get some under my belt either through some Masters program or by working in an academic lab for 3-5 years or so. I’m going to assume that the programs you are looking for are few and far between compared to umbrella biology, anthropology, or economics programs, making competition a little squeezed and also deemphasizing your notion for going into a school with good lay recognition (I don’t even know why this is a concern to you; if you’re going towards a Ph.D. for prestige, you’re already in the wrong career path).</p>
<p>Your GPA is very low for a Ph.D. in general, and if you aren’t a hard science/engineering student, it’s even more prominent. A Masters may alleviate some focus on your UGGPA, but only if you can get a near 4.0 taking doctoral level courses and not just dumbed-down Masters level ones.</p>
<p>Besides that general advice, I know nothing of this field of research and can’t really contribute much more.</p>
<p>As an undergraduate, did you work at all at Wisconsin’s Primate Center? If not, see if you can get an interim research position there to gain valuable experience. You might also want to consider applying there since they have one of the premier centers in the US. Look also at Emory–they have the Yerkes Center, although I don’t know if they are connected with anthropology. Certainly Franz de Waal and others done a lot of cultural and behavior work with chimpanzees there. You might also want to look at UC/Davis and Duke.</p>
<p>The problem with studying primatology as a branch of anthropology is finding a university that has the facilities to house non-human primates in a way that allows them to interact more or less naturally AND being a competitive enough applicant to gain one of the few available spots. The cost, legalities, and space needed can be tremendous, especially if you are talking about studying apes, which are highly regulated and are being phased out from most, if not all, research facilities. You might need to find a program that has extensive connections for fieldwork. </p>
<p>If you don’t have any research experience with primatology, I suggest that you get it before you apply, both to make you a more competitive applicant and to see if you really like it. Learning from books about non-human primates is completely different from working with them.</p>
<p>Edited to add: Oops. I missed that you had already mentioned Duke.</p>
<p>Because economics requires an extensive background in math and because you said that you have a weak background in math, you might have to take a couple of years to get it. Search this forum for economics to see what the minimum course requirements are. You’ll need to get top grades in those math courses to be competitive.</p>
<p>I’d recommend that you take at least 2 or 3 years off to gain research experience and make up course deficiencies instead of the MA route. If you obtain a research position at an academic institution, there should be a tuition assistance benefit that can be used at your university and potentially others in the area. I would also suggest you look at all of the national primate centers. There are 8 in the US and each is affiliated with a university. I am not sure if (or to what extent) behavioral studies are being done at each of these centers, however you should be easily find this information by browsing the center’s websites.</p>
<p>California Nation Primate Research Center - UC Davis
New England Primate Research Center - Harvard
Southwest National Primate Research Center - Texas Biomedical Research Institute
Tulane National Primate Research Center - Tulane
Washington National Primate Research Center - U of Washington
Oregon National Primate Research Center - Oregon Health & Science U
Wisconsin National Primate Research Center - U of Wisconsin - Madison
Yerkes National Primate Research Center - Emory</p>
<p>Other primate centers:
Wake Forest University Primate Center
Caribbean Primate Research Center</p>
<p>Also, I would disagree with Oyama about your GPA being very low for a PhD applicant. As long as you can meet the minimum GPA requirements (usually a 3.0, if there is one), you will still have a fair shot at admission. This is all contingent on the rest of your application being superior (ie solid letters of recommendation, good/great GRE scores, extensive high quality research, evidence of maturity, defined research interests, ect…). So do not be discouraged :-)</p>