Application hurdles

[awesomewow]

Hello,

I'm hoping to apply to PhD programs this fall but am concerned about some aspects of my application. For background, I graduated undergrad in 2014 with a 3.5 gpa (I was a soc major). I have several concerns about applying, but my main concern is that since I haven't kept in touch with any of my Sociology professors in undergrad, I'll have a difficult time finding relevant people to write me letters of recommendation. For the past year, I've been working as a research assistant at a federal contracting agency, but the bulk of my work has been on mental health and substance abuse research. I could potentially ask a researcher at work to write me a letter, but I don't work extremely closely with any of them and they're all psychologists / meta-analysts rather than Sociologists. Also, this past Spring, I took a grad level course in Sociology as a non-degree seeking student at UMD and I am wondering if it would be weird to ask that professor for a letter since I was only his student for a semester, and we didn't really have a personal relationship (I only saw him in class) and we only really had one substantial paper so I'm not sure he can say he knows my work. I am planning to reach out to some of my undergrad professors and am hoping one will remember me and write me a letter, but as for the rest I'm completely unsure who and how to ask. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated!

Also, I took the GRE two years ago and got a 168 verbal 154 quantitative - I should retake to improve the latter, yes?

As you can tell, I'll likely have some holes in my application. What sort of schools / programs can I reasonably hope to be admitted to? Should I apply to MA programs just in case? Are any subfields particularly forgiving of low quant scores?

Thanks so much if you read this!! I really don't know where to turn as no one I'm close with irl has gone through this.

Edited August 10, 2016 by awesomewow

[rising_star]

2014 was only two years ago. Assuming you took multiple classes with someone and/or those classes had fewer than 30 students, there will be at least a couple of professors who remember you. 

And yes, you want a higher quantitative score than that if at all possible. Without knowing what your research interests are, no one here can help you decide where to apply. Fit plays a key role in grad admissions so you'll want to make sure you look into the faculty at each program you're considering and make sure there are at least two people who could (and would be willing to) supervise your research. This is especially important for PhD programs.

[sociology767]

If your having trouble finding people to vouch for you, then I would probably retake the GRE.  I don't think the GRE typically matters much until that's all your campaigning on. As always, the bulk of your packet will rely on your essays.