Any incoming GMU Sociology MA of PhD Students?

[Roll Right]

Hey folks,

 

I'm a third year sociology PhD at George Mason University. I'm wondering if there are any incoming students who use this discussion forum. If so, lets talk. I can answer questions you might have and give you some insights about the program.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Roll_Right

[Coal]

Hi, I was recently accepted to the MA program/dual PhD program. Thanks for being so willing to accept questions, that's very kind of you!

 I am really interested in attending GMU but I was not offered funding for the first year- I was however offered funding for years following as a PhD student. I'm a single parent and do not believe that I can afford to take on so much debt for the first year (around 21K) so I'm not sure what I'm doing at the moment. Any advice? (I'm told I'm next in line for funding if someone else declines).

[Roll Right]

Hey Coal,

You're right, it is expensive living in the suburbs of DC. I've been here three years, and I usually have to take out student loans to supplement the stipend I receive for my GRA. I had to do the same thing in NC, however, where the living is cheaper, so you may be in that situation anywhere you go.

At this point I'm curious if you've had any other acceptances with funding. If you're a single parent, living in DC on a graduate student will be very hard to do on graduate student wages. You can chose to work outside of the university, as many of my colleagues do, but the jobs around here are in the service industry, or in the corporate research world. A job in either will slow down your progression in the program, but getting a PhD is certainly not a race. If you have strong quantitative skills I might be able to connect you with some people who could point you toward work if toy choose to join the program.

Also, I think I see a picture of Marx as your avatar, but my phone isn't great so I'm not sure. If it is, I should mention that a large number of students in the program are Marxist sociologists working in globalization studies. I work pretty regularly with one of them, he is a good friend of mine and we've got a forthcoming paper in Critical Sociology on immigration that resulted from some of our collaborations. Also, Nancy Hanrahan is here, a great professor and critical theorist. She is very committed to student development and has been a huge influence on my own work in Marxist/Critical sociology of religion, so you might email her and introduce yourself if you are interested in the work of Marx and the Frankfurt school in particular.

What else....we have a graduate student group known as the Public Sociology Association, which is developing its identity slowly. We throw a national research conference each year and are planning to work on organizing graduate students into a labor group, at least in the DC are. Wales Katz Fishman from Howard has pledged her support, so hopefully that picks up steam.

So, in summary, yes it is hard to make ends meet in the DC suburbs, and that won't change any time soon. I came to this program without funding for the first year and had to rough it until I found a GRA with my quantitative skills. That was not a fun year. But the program is growing and there are a lot of opportunities for students here. The faculty is generally great, aside from a few professors who couldn't be more disconnected from the student body in general. Its a good place to be, you just have to struggle a bit financially.

[Roll Right]

Anyone else thinking of coming to GMU sociology?

[stellar481]

Hi Roll Right!

I'm an anthropology student coming to visit GMU in a couple weeks. I've had trouble getting in touch with any students in the department, to the point where I'm hoping there's no us v. them mentality regarding anthropology and sociology. But I'd love to know more about life at GMU, and maybe get a studnet's perspective on the department. Any help would be appreciated!

[Roll_Right]

Hi Roll Right!

I'm an anthropology student coming to visit GMU in a couple weeks. I've had trouble getting in touch with any students in the department, to the point where I'm hoping there's no us v. them mentality regarding anthropology and sociology. But I'd love to know more about life at GMU, and maybe get a studnet's perspective on the department. Any help would be appreciated!

Hi Stellar481

Apparently my old account was deleted because I haven't logged on in a while.

So, I am now a doctoral candidate of sociology at GMU. Woohoo! Its been a little more than 4 years at this point.

So, the first thing I can say about the Sociology and Anthropology department at GMU: I have literally no interaction with anthropology students. This is not because I do not want to interact with them. I simply am never presented with an opportunity to interact. So, while the department is a "joint" department, the anthropology folks hardly talk with the sociology folks, and the sociology folks hardly talk with the anthropology folks. Its unfortunate, but not something that should dissuade you from coming to this program. I'm sure you could make friends with sociology students very easily.

I can't speak from the perspective of an anthropology student. I can talk about my experiences as a sociology student, though. First and foremost, I will say that the location is expensive. Fairfax County is one of the most expensive counties in the US. I've accrued debt and had to work a lot on paid research that does not relate to my degree. I've gained a lot of research experience with non-profits in doing that.

The faculty here are great. I've been supported by numerous professors, coauthored two research articles with one professor, and worked closely with another in establishing the Institute for Immigration Research at GMU. So, there were a lot of opportunities for me here, and I was able to take advantage of them. I'm sure that you could find similar opportunities.

I see that you are interested in bio-archaeology. I am not sure if we have strong faculty in that area. Nevertheless, I know that we have strong archaeologists among our faculty. I am great friends with one of these faculty members. We've worked on numerous geographic and statistical projects together. Moreover, he has an active project in Nicaragua - there is a site he returns to every summer, with a team of students and professionals. 

I think we also have a forensic archaeologist among our faculty. I don't know what he specializes in, but I know it involves identifying the cause of death for ancient human remains.

 

Let me know if you have any more questions.

RR

 

[Yiwan_Soc_2016]

 

Anyone else thinking of coming to GMU sociology?

Hi Roll Right!

I'm thinking about applying to GMU Phd this year. I would like to know what is the commonly used approach for research among the students and faculties. 

I heard GMU has expertise in applied evaluation research and inequality. I have background in economics and I currently getting my applied quantitative research master at NYU. However, I don't have many background in sociological theory and my verbal is low (153), I wonder if I can be a good in this program. Any comment would be helpful, thank you!

[Roll_Right]

Hey there - sorry for a late response. GMU Sociology is very applied/public, with a heavy focus on inequality and globalization. We also have many faculty who specialize in quantitative sociology (and just hired a new faculty member with quantitative expertise).

Having said that, you need to have strong writing skills to succeed in this program. All of your classes will require lengthy papers that discuss prominent social problems (such as economic inequality), and almost all of the faculty members expect you to be well versed in the political-economic conditions associated with the social problems that you're interested in. As such, you need to have some understanding of historical sociology and critical sociology. You can develop that understanding while you study here, but make sure you focus on that. If you decide to come here, it doesn't hurt to spend some time reading Marx and Weber before you arrive (if you haven't already).

Here there are many opportunities to work on research projects that directly speak to public issues and public policy. I currently work as a quantitative researcher with the Institute for Immigration Research (IIR), which is run by Dr. James C. Witte in the sociology department. He's a well-know survey methodologist and quantitative sociology. The IIR constantly produces statistical research for various public groups who are interested in the ways in which immigrants are related to economic development in the United States. There are a number of other projects that department members are carrying out that speak to public issues and possible ways to address them...