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Sociology MA/PhD Program - Quant Background


AgumonIsAPokemon

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Hi 

I am an international student majoring in Sociology. Currently a senior and will be graduating next march. 

So I am planning on moving to graduate school to study Sociology. I have been applying to several UK schools and will be applying for North American schools (USA and Canada) in the next two months.

I am indeed worried my application but my biggest concern at the moment might be my quant background. I did somewhat pretty well GPA wise in undergrad (Overall: around 3.85 Sociology:3.9-ish). However, the problem is, I have not taken any statistics nor quantitative courses. I did cover quantitative material in "Approaches to Sociological Research" and "Principles of Sociology" (basically introductory courses) but that is about it. I have not taken any courses which focuses on statistics nor quantitative methods. 

Looking through graduate schools, most of the program descriptions have something like, "Applicants are also expected to have acquired basic research and statistical skills" (U of Toronto). I am aware that, most likely, I will be required to take an undergraduate statistics course if I do get admitted. But would my inexperience in statistics hurt my admission chances? How much are they expecting?  

FYI these are the schools I will be applying for: NYU (PhD: top choice), Harvard (PhD), Yale (PhD), Toronto (MA), McGill (MA). Yes, these are difficult programs to get into. But I did receive an offer from a Masters sociology program in the UK; hence, I am testing my luck here. 

Thanks!

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Hi!

I'm currently in the Soc PhD program at U of T. I don't think not having any specifically quant courses from undergrad should discourage you, nor do I really think that you'll necessarily be made to take some undergrad stats (we mandate an MA stats and a PhD stats, if you go on to the PhD program, so you get ample training at the grad level). We have taken exceptional applicants from other undergrad disciplines, provided that they displayed strong sociological thinking in their statement/letters/sample etc;.

But there are a few caveats:

-The MA is funded and international student tuition is a lot more than domestic, so the spots are highly competitive. I don't think another applicant would necessarily 'edge you out' if they had an undergrad stats and you didn't, but it would be that much more important that you display competence and relevant skills in your other supporting material.

-If you haven't done any stats in undergrad, you might have a bad time in the MA stats course, if you get in. The methods training in the department is rigorous. This would be a problem for later, but if you do get in, you might want to think about how you can offset this.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

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Thank you for the reply surefire! I really appreciate it. 

I guess if I do get admitted (not only to U of T but in general), I should go through the basics and fundamentals in statistics. Fortunately, I am going to graduate next march (thats how the Japanese system works); hence, I will have about 4-5 months to study till enrollment in September. Your advice gave me a holistic idea on how I should approach my problem (short and long run). Thank you!

By the way, would you mind if I PM to ask you about the specifics of the program? 

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  • 3 weeks later...

No problem!

Sorry for the delayed response, I was stuck in a marking frenzy for a few weeks there!

Glad that some of that is helpful. Feel free to send me a PM if you'd like! I'm more of a qual versus quant sociologist, and I'm a domestic student rather than international, but I'll advise to the best of my abilities!

Best of luck!

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