Do I have a chance?

[sm2112]

Hello all!  I have been browsing these forums for quite some time and am starting to go stir crazy from this application season.. 

 

I'll first introduce myself.  I come from a rather unique situation, as I first entered college to study music technology.  The first semester of my sophomore year I took an intro to sociology class for my social science requirement and absolutely loved it.  My professor was awesome, and I really liked the material (especially sociology of gender).  After taking that class, I added a minor in sociology and proceeded to take more soc classes.  Towards the end of completing my second soc class (with that same professor) she invited me to her office one day to suggest that I study sociology at the graduate level.  I was really skeptical at first, but she gave me several materials to read, and I started to catch on to the idea.  Long story short, towards the end of the 2nd semester of my junior year I ended up adding sociology as a double major.  I then applied to 5 graduate schools, and I'm really starting to think I'm going to get rejected from all of them...

 

Here are my stats:

 

GPA: 4.0/4.0 from a small liberal arts university in Sociology and Music Technology with a double concentration in recording and production and audio for the creative arts (I primarily do film scoring)

 

GRE: This is what I would consider my biggest weakness on my application.  I took it twice; the first time I got 151Q 155V 4.5AW, but I retook it again and got 157Q 153V 5.0AW.  For easier reference, my total on the old scale the second time I took it was 1230.  I sent both sets of scores to show the improvement I made over 2 out of 3 of the sections.  Long story short, I studied really hard and do not have the money or time to retake it now.  I was never good at standardized tests...

 

LOR:  These should all be really good.  One of them is from the sociology professor (who is now my advisor) who recommended I study at the graduate level, another is from a philosophy professor I had for Ethics that sent me a long email over the summer suggesting that I add a major in Philosophy, and the last one is from my advisor in music technology who I've had for several classes.

 

SOP:  This should be good as well,  Writing is one of my strong points, and I got it checked several times to make sure it sounded okay.  It is about a page and a half single spaced (except for the apps that required a shorter length)

 

Writing Sample:  For 4 out of 5 of the schools, I sent them the research paper I did for my directed study (more info below).  For another school, I sent a thesis paper I did over women in the clergy. 

 

Research Interests:  My primary interest is social inequality/stratification, especially intersectionality.  I'm also interested in feminist theory, gender/sexuality, culture, and have a growing interest for quantitative methods after taking stats. 

 

Research Experience:  My school has pretty much no student research in the social sciences, but I did a directed study last semester with my sociology advisor.  It was a qualitative content analysis over 3 films with intersectionality themes and how their film scores convey societal messages of inequality and evoke emotion in the audience.  We are going to try to submit it for publication and possibly present it at a conference.

 

Other Experience;  I'm not sure how relevant this is, but I completed an internship last semester at Northeast Indiana Public Radio, which is part of the NPR network.  I also have been volunteering at the YWCA over the past year, working as an admissions ambassador every semester, and of course, participating in university ensembles because I'm also a music tech major.  My other work experience is all restaurant related, so it isn't really relevant. 

 

Schools I'm applying to:  Notre Dame, Washington State, University of Akron, Loyola University Chicago, and Indiana University.  If I fail at all of these, I'm considering applying to the MA program at Northern Illinois University and possibly others if there is any funding.

 

I'm sorry for the length, I just needed to get this off of my chest.  I guess my biggest question is, do I have a snowball's chance?  I know it's a little late to be asking, but I'm really insecure and am starting to have doubts about this whole process.  It doesn't help that my official transcripts were sent to 3 of the schools on December 19th and none of them are receiving them..  I've been frantically contacting the grad schools and have already shipped one overnight to Akron.  Any help is much appreciated, and good luck with your applications!

 

 

 

 

[mybattleship]

I think you're a strong candidate for any of those schools assuming that your reseach interests meld well with the respective departments. Your GRE scores aren't bad by any means. I'm pretty sure you're above the fiftieth percentile across the board which is more than enough for the schools you're applying to. Assuming you've done your research on how to write a good SOP and spent a lot of time seeking departments that will help develop your academic interests, you should be fine. I wouldn't worry.

[alphacat]

Word. I wouldn't worry either. Seems like you know what you are doing! Good luck!!

[sm2112]

I now look at this thread I posted and laugh.  I only made it into Akron and Washington State (but I was waitlisted at Notre Dame for a while..), but I'm really excited because I'm moving out west and going to Washington State in the fall!  Thanks for the encouragement!

[Darth.Vegan]

I now look at this thread I posted and laugh.  I only made it into Akron and Washington State (but I was waitlisted at Notre Dame for a while..), but I'm really excited because I'm moving out west and going to Washington State in the fall!  Thanks for the encouragement!

 

Washington State has a great program, congrats!