AmityDuPeuple

The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks is a very interesting book and a very quick read! I am teaching it in my course, Feminist Perspectives on Health and Inequality, this summer. I highly recommend reading it if you get the opportunity.

Interesting. I guess, because I am between programs and am an avid reader, I am looking forward to reading on my own schedule and reading materials that have piqued my interests. I will be moving too, but I already have a house lined up in South Bend, my family lives an hour and a half away so they will be able to help me with getting my stuff there and unpacking, and I have little obligations or responsibilities other than teaching an online course that will fill my time. It will be really nice to read for pleasure, but also get something out of it. I really enjoy the "high", for lack of a better term, that I get when I am reading theory and thinking about all of the various ways to critique it, build off of it, etc. This could be more of a hypothetical question. If you had the time/desire to read over the summer (or any time for that matter), what books would you consider picking up (other than fiction)?

I am beginning to put together a summer reading list that is probably overly ambitious and it got me thinking that there should be a thread for summer reading for social scientists. I would really like to see what books other people have on their to-read lists, no matter the disciplinary background. [My background includes sociology, anthropology, WGS (women's, gender, and sexuality studies, and French.] I'd also be interested in hearing whether and how everyone annotates what they read. Are you revisiting theory you read (or skimmed) during the semester? Are you focusing on classics in your discipline or working your way through some more contemporary works? Are you branching out from the literature in your discipline? Do you do this in an effort to keep it all straight and help with finding the right resources when you are writing? Or is it more for retention of information? Habit? Let's talk about what we read, why we read it, and how we organize our thoughts about it.

What is everyone reading this summer? Would anyone be interested (or know of an already existing) Soc summer reading thread?

Thanks!! I don't expect that I will need much luck now that I'm in, just diligence, fortitude, and intellect, but not necessarily in that order. (Maybe I am a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to ideas of luck. I just don't believe in it. Haha!) My dad likes to say that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. So I will work hard to prepare and put myself in positions where opportunity is sure to come my way.

I just accepted Notre Dame's offer!!! I still haven't heard from from Toronto or Yale yet. My advisor told me not to assume they are rejections, so I'm trying not to. But the more I went over it in my head, the more I am convinced that Notre Dame is going to be the best place for me in so many different ways. Maybe I jumped the gun a bit, but I know I won't regret it. Now to celebrate!

Why such a time pressure? April 15th is generally the universal deadline. I would be wary of going anywhere that does not give you enough time to make a fully informed decision. It would seem to me that it wouldn't bode well for the department/university environment being supportive and conducive to you doing your best as a grad student.

I completely agree. It is definitely more complicated than we would hope. And while it doesn't boil down to merit in every instance, in some it just might. I am a first generation, low-income student (among other underrepresented populations). If I go by some of the afore mentioned arguments, I wouldn't be pursuing my MA and about to pursue a PhD. The ironic thing is I have been told by some that the only reason I am pursuing advanced degrees is because I am a charity case that helps programs meet diversity requirements/goals. I am unable and unwilling to believe that I am only here to boost diversity. So while merit may not be everything, it has to count for something.

Thanks. I know that institutional/program acceptance rates vary, and I imagine that overall acceptance rates vary depending on the amount of people who apply and the available positions. I was just curious as to the overall percentage (across every discipline and university) of individuals who apply and get accepted in any given year. I am sure this number would be incredibly difficult to figure out, there are so many variables. (At least it seems that way for my non-quant mind. I am sure ND's statistics bootcamp and the entire year of stats I will be required to take will have me thinking differently in no time. At least I hope so. I really want/need to use mixed methods for my dissertation.) I think, at least for some of us, this is our second round because we chose to do an MA first. The link didn't work for me

A friend and I were talking about the application process and the existential crises it can catalyze. She said she was having a similar discussion last year with another grad student in our program (who has since left to earn their PhD at another institution) and that a statistic was thrown out that about 5% of those who apply actually get into a PhD program. This seems very off to me. Some of the top programs have an acceptance rate between 3% and 10% (in Soc), but some of those applicants would be accepted into other programs too. Also, the tier 2 and tier 3 schools probably have higher acceptance rates. Does anyone know where I could find overall, not program specific statistics (i.e. not statistics from one specific school's soc PhD program) on the percentage of applicants who get accepted? I would be interested in seeing all disciplines or just sociology.

You might want to check and see if you need to decline via a portal. I know I needed to decline offers last round and some were online while others had a form that needed to be filled out and sent in. I would suggest that you construct each email individually. Thank them for their offer and kindly let them know you have decided to go elsewhere. If it is a program that offers post-doc positions, maybe you could mention that you hope to continue a positive relationship with the program and indicate that you may apply to the post-doc position in the future. I think individualizing the email and keeping future possibilities open is professional and would be good strategizing on your part.

I was going to apply to Wisc, but was told by a few different professors that they have a reputation for a fairly high grad student attrition rate. I didn't hear anything about Penn though. You might want to email the departments and see if you can figure that out for both. I think it is a good way to get at whether grad students truly feel supported in the program.

I still haven't heard from Yale or Toronto, but UCSD was nice enough to reject me twice! Haha! For those of you who are thinking about reapplying next year, if you'd like, I would be willing to look over statements of intent and writing samples over the summer. (I am writing my thesis right now! Eeek!) I have been a writing tutor for over 4 years and love helping with statements of intent. Obviously, I can't guarantee success, but I can help you strengthen what you have. For those of you who are thinking about not applying again, I offer the same as above and encourage you to never give up on your dream. I know how vulnerable this process makes us and how much we want to give up sometimes. We can't. Each of us brings something to the table that others don't. Students need that. Sociology needs that. Academia needs that! Maybe we can be the generation of scholars that works to change the face of academia, making it less competitive, more equitable, more diverse, and more applicable to and accepted by the broader public.

I don't remember the exact scores (I took them in 2014 and just didn't have the opportunity to take them again before this round of applications). My advisor said my writing and qualitative scores were not super competitive, but competitive enough for some schools. I am pretty sure they were somewhere between the 85th and 90th percentile, but my math score was atrocious (I could list a number of excuses as to why, but that isn't useful). I think they were somewhere around the 20th percentile, no lower, but probably not much higher than that. I am hoping my transcripts will negate the test score (received As in the math classes I took).

I was having the same problem posting my latest rejection from UCSD. Stats are in my signature below. I am getting pretty nervous/anxious about the lack of an acceptance at this point, though I can't say I'm surprised; my GRE scores (particularly quant) are not what I would like them to be, and the combination of my research interests and what I envision writing for my dissertation might be a bit esoteric. I'm holding out hope that ND will accept me. I think they are a great fit for me personally and academically, I just hope I was able to effectively communicate why I would be a good fit for them during the visit last Friday.

I haven't heard anything from them at all.

Yes. This is the case for ND. I still don't think they would offer too many extra spots, as it is hard to tell who is serious about coming to the school and who isn't. As much as the application process is a game of skill and chance on our side, it is on theirs too. If they offer to 10 students but only have available funding for 5 and 8 end up accepting offers, they are put in a tough position. I would imagine sending out offers for the number of spaces they have and then filling in from there would make more sense, but I don't really know. They also probably have much more data and can better predict from year to year how many will accept and matriculate, so that probably factors in to the amount of offers they make.

I don't think it is ethical to ask you to make a decision before you have all of your offers. I have never been asked to make a decision early, but had a friend who was pressured by a university to make an early decision and multiple professors told her to decline outright because of this demand. It can be tough though if you don't have any other offers or you are waiting for offers that you would accept over the ones you have. At the very least, I would send them a polite email indicating that you are unable to make a decision that early, as you don't have all offers in and you want to make the most informed decision possible. Ask for more time, indicating that you should hear from all programs by mid-March, and will notify them as soon as you can. If they seem short, impatient, or indicate in any way that they are unwilling to wait or that it will impact your funding, I would think that would be a good indicator that they might not be the best fit.

I think it depends on the program and how much funding they have. Speaking with the profs at ND yesterday they expect to be able to accept 10 students from those that visited, but only offer spots to 10 at first even though they don't expect 100% matriculation. Programs don't want to admit more than they can actually fund. That being said, it is my understanding that everyone in attendance at the visit day is on the short list (not necessarily the waitlist), and I noticed earlier in the month someone claimed a waitlist at ND. I don't really know how that factors in; I figured that those who aren't offered first round acceptances will be waitlisted, but this might not be the case. All of this is to say, there are probably different institutional logics at play when deciding on the strategy programs use for acceptances and waitlists.

Which U of T? Toronto? If so, I have applied, but haven't heard anything yet. It looks like they tend to notify via post in late February/early March.

How common is it to be waitlisted and not be told? I haven't heard from two schools that I thought had sent out their acceptances and rejections already. I know U Washington does it in waves, but I thought Yale had sent their acceptances AND rejections out. I am fully expecting flat out rejections from both, but would be thrilled if my assumption is off base at any level. (I feel like my statement of intent and writing sample could have been stronger with UW and with Yale. And I have always felt like Yale might be a little out of my reach--no actual evidence to support this, just a feeling.) To those of you out there attending the ND visit tonight and tomorrow, I'll see you soon, safe travels, and good luck (even though we don't need it because it is not an interview)!

I wouldn't assume anything about rejections or funding until you get a letter/email from the program. The incoming cohorts vary depending on the size of the program, number of graduating PhDs, the funding available, the availability of faculty to work with interested students, etc. There really is no way to speculate about how many people they will be accepting. Also, the amount of people they accept is usually always greater than the amount that actually matriculate; not everyone accepted will take the offer. The general rule of thumb is that you will hear back from all programs by mid to late March and you must have your decisions made and reply to the programs by April 15th, the golden date.

No. I wouldn't, especially if she hasn't emailed you back. It is likely that they are busy trying to filter through all of the applications and multiple emails may just come across as impatient and reflect negatively on you as an applicant and future colleague. If you don't hear anything from anyone by mid-March, I would email the contact person on the website.

I didn't apply to UConn. I think each program does their acceptances and rejections in different ways. I know some have done it in waves, others do it all at once, and still others will release acceptances before rejections or vice versa. My experience has been a bit all over the place. I definitely have received rejections (both this round and when I applied for my MA program), but I have been fortunate enough to get acceptances (no official acceptance yet for this round), invites to visit (usually a very good sign even if is is offered without a formal acceptance), and have been waitlisted. As hard as it is playing the waiting game, it is probably best that you find some way to distract yourself and have as much patience as possible. Don't believe anything or assume anything until you get it in writing from the program. If you want to get in touch with someone who posted an acceptance you can ask if anyone will claim it on the acceptance/interview/rejection thread and see if they would be willing to divulge details. Best of luck!

You can check out the results page. It looks like there have been a few acceptances. http://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=UConn%2C+Sociology Also, the Acceptances/Interviews/Rejection thread is a bit more active than this one. You might be able to figure out who it was that got accepted and talk to them (or maybe an insider) about what might be going on. (Ignore the preview. Apparently I am technologically inept this morning.)