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littlegirlvik

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About littlegirlvik

  • Birthday 01/21/1986

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  • Gender
    Female
  • Location
    Michigan
  • Program
    UAlbany Criminal Justice

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  1. For me, there are a number of reasons. First, I like the interdisciplinary nature of it; we're a field and a group of people who are held together not by a methodology and mixed topics, but a substantive topic. We draw on political science, sociology, gender studies, race studies, psychology, economics, public policy, and even more "liberal" classes like English to understand a huge array of topics. Next, I like the possible policy implications: as a person born into huge amounts of privileged, it means a lot to me that my studies can have real world impacts. I also really like the collective aspect of it: everything we look at are socially defined behaviors, and we analyze them through socially defined lenses and groups. It's incredible to me that, with no real overt pressure, society shaped itself into these rules, these laws. I also still get very angry; the fact that I read papers or hear people say things that are untrue and horrible stigmatizing for people and, even after all this time of studying, it sitll riles me up is important to me---it's how I know what I'm doing is important, and matters. Finally, I've had a number of personal experiences that have brought me here. I worked in parole, I worked in loss prevention, and I worked at a residential facility for at risk youth. I realized that, as much as I want to make a difference in this field and as much as I want to be a part of it, I absolutely cannot work in it because I don't have the strength or the heart for it. Anyway, I ohpe this helps. Good luck with your decision, and if you have any other questions, let me know: I'm more than happy to help where I can!
  2. The library is a little small on the downtown campus, but we do have a larger one uptown. Plus, if you need a book from up there, they'll bring it over to the downtown library. I absolutely love the school, as you said earlier. I get along incredibly well with all of the other grad students---very friendly, supportive, and helpful atmosphere---and the faculty have been amazing. I've been working very closely with more than one of them. Of course, as I said earlier: I'm biased. Albany was my dream school by my third year of undergrad. We are losing a couple of faculty, which is never fun. We are actively hiring right now, though---I think we have four positions? Not all of them are from outgoing faculty; we were given more money by the university to make another position---and students do have a vote in hiring decisions, so it'll be a pretty interesting time to be a student there. And I guess some might say we're in competition with Maryland. I've never gotten that feeling. Maryland is a wonderful program as well, some of our faculty work with theirs, some of our faculty have worked there in the past, some of our students have gone there. Day to day, there's really not much thought that way. From what I understand, we have two very different cultures and ideologies on education, which is good, and as it should be. From what I know of Maryland, I don't think I would've (personally) been a good fit for them, and Albany works. I'm sure there are others who fall into the other category. I sincerely don't think there's any amount of true ill-will between the departments; mostly a good-natured rivalry. Or at least, that's my impression of it. The conferences presentations will be great; the publications will also be really good (and they will work in your favor, regardless; however, if they're awesome journals, they'll REALLY work in your favor). Over all, it sounds like you have a pretty good package to offer. I've heard in the past that as long as you break 1000 on the GRE, they'll work with you (I've heard this as a rule for most grad schools, not even CJ specifically), but I've never been on an admissions committee, so I can't help too much on that. How do your letters of recommendation look? Your statement? Those are also really important. Good luck with the season---I hope you get in everywhere you're looking to. (Also, sorry it takes me so long to get back sometimes: I have this website set up to send me emails whenever anyone replies in the Criminology/Criminal Justice folder, but for some reason, it only sends about half of the posts through)
  3. I was wait listed at UMaryland, but ultimately rejected. I did, however, get into UAlbany, which is where I currently go. My stats: GPA: 3.4 overall; both majors: 3.8 GRE: 1250 I had 3 pretty good letters of recommendation; lots of research experience. I was directly out of undergrad, no publications, but a pretty solid writing sample. My SOP, the way I structured it, probably really appealed to the admissions committee, which makes sense now that I know the admissions committee personally. My biggest pieces of advice: 1) tailor your SOP towards research. They're interested in making researchers more so than teachers. 2) Emphasize all and any research experience that you can; it means a LOT. 3) What you want to study within CJ means a lot less than showing that you can think critically about what you want to study, and why you want to study it (originally, I wanted to do international systems. I'm currently looking at gender in a number of projects). If you have any other questions, I'm more than happy to answer them with my own experiences, to the best of my ability. However, like I said, my caveat is that I did NOT end up getting into Maryland. To be honest, though, most of my applications were tailored towards Albany. It was my top choice school from the time I was 20 years old, and I never felt I was going to be a great fit at Maryland. Regardless, I can try and help as best I can. Good luck!
  4. I honestly don't have an answer to this for, as I'm just going into my second semester of grad school. One place I go to for advice / to read what other grad students and previous grad students think of an issue is on a community based blogging site called Livejournal (www.livejournal.com) called grad students. Link here: http://community.livejournal.com/gradstudents/profile You can make a journal really simply, explain that you have a question and made the journal specifically for the question (otherwise, people may accuse you of trolling), and get some advice there. My biggest question for you is why you're looking to leave. I'm not sure if you can easily move from one program to another at this point, as exams are different everywhere. My school, for example, does a comprehensive exam, which is actually supposed to be the first 50 pages or so of your dissertation, and a publishable article. We don't do "exams" in the more traditional way anymore. Would it help to get outside professors on your committee? Are you looking for different perspectives? Having a difficult time with your adviser? For me, I would look at the reasons you're looking to switch programs, and really examine what the motivations are at this point. Good luck! -Vicky
  5. I only applied to criminal justice / criminology programs, and I do consider myself a "criminologist," so take all of this with a grain of salt: I'm sure it's biased. The program I ended up in has a pretty strong emphasis on methodology/research etc., and a lot of our grads end up working in the government. I will say that criminologists have a harder time, from what I understand, getting into sociology programs than sociologists do in getting into crim programs (especially interdisciplinary ones). There's a sort of on going debate that sociologists "look down on" criminologists, and criminologists think sociologists view them as a sub field. I haven't had too much of an issue with this, personally (I'm at a very interdisciplinary program), but it is an issue to consider (and it is probably really overstated in the times I've heard of others talking about it). I've heard other people who study crime and went into sociology departments complain that they're "all alone," and much of the work they do is de-valued (we had a crim. sociologist apply to our program this year, and this was her main reason for wanting to make the transition to criminology). May I ask what you majored in in undergrad? Have you taken a criminology course as well as a sociology crime and deviance course? As I"m sure you're seeing, there really is a lot of overlap between the two areas. For me, as a criminal justice researcher who has limited experience in sociology, one of the biggest advantages to the crim program is the amount of attention paid to SYSTEMS. I'm more interested in gender and the way the CJ system (police, courts, etc) respond to gendered violence. For me, a systems view was really important, and I really wanted to integrate social psychology, sociology, political science, organizational theories, and criminal justice, and for me, criminal justice was a good fit. Anyway, this is getting long. The overall answer is that in my program, at least, a good number of students do end up the government, and do very well. We have alumni running the sociology department at Harvard, teaching at other top rate criminal justice program, and in top positions in the NIJ and CDC. There are two people on the market right now who are looking to go into the FBI and DEA. Our program has a strong focus on stats, and is considered a very quantitative program. We have multiple classes we take on research design and statistics, and students are very involved, very early, in research with professors. I hope this helps, and if you have any other questions, just let me know. Good luck!
  6. In my experience, numbers really are just one aspect of your overall application. Personal statements, writing samples, what you want to study, experiences in research (or ideas for research) all play important parts in the application acceptance game. Where are you trying to apply to? What do you want to study? I don't know if you do livejournal at all, but in addition to this website, a group called applyingtograd has been incredibly useful for me over the past couple of years. Anyhow, I'd say you have a pretty good chance at getting into a PhD program. You have a masters (which counts a lot; I went directly out of undergrad, and was competing against people with masters, PhDs, JDs, etc, and it would've made applying a lot less scary had I had a masters), and good GPAs. You also have some really great experience (my only suggestion is to really spin these in an academic way; how did they influence you as a researcher? What did you learn, or what did you question, while you were there?) that I think will make you a very unique candidate. As for the GREs/SATs, I never took the SATs, so I can't help with a comparison. The GREs really are just about studying. Get a couple of books, and take as many practice tests as you can. That's what helped me the most. Also, watch the year of the book you get because I hear the GREs are undergoing some MASSIVE revisions right now (rumor has it that the analogy section is being taken out, more reading comprehension is going in, and the math section is going to get a calculator, which is sort of a good-and-bad thing because it means you don't have to do stupid long division problems by hand, but also means it'll probably be more difficult math concepts). because of that, it'll be really tough for anyone right now to say how the GRE's will be. When I took them, though, I will say that they ended up being more straightforward than the books/testing material made them seem. Anyway, I hope some of this helped, and good luck with the application process! It was seriously one of the *worst* experiences of my life, but it has been so, so worth all the stress (I'm getting ready to start my program in two weeks!). Let us know if you need anything else (everyone I've met on the board has been fantastic), whether it's advice, help, or just a shoulder to cry on when your persaonl statement refuses to work with you.
  7. So, ladies and gents of the up and coming Criminal Justice elite, do you have to move to get to your program for this fall? Do you have a lot of preparations to make? Are you feeling COMPLETELY and totally overwhelmed? How are you doing it? I've talked to a couple members of my incoming cohort, who are helping me with housing and such, and who I'm hoping to meet and hang out with incredibly soon. But so far, that's all I've got, and I'm TOTALLY overwhelmed! I'm moving from Flint, Michigan to Albany, NY and feel completely unprepared and can't figure out how to find an apartment I can afford/get it furnished/move my things/see the apartment and all that good stuff. I hope everyone else is fairing better!
  8. Congrats, Brian and SBA! When do you guys start? Are you moving from where you are now? This whole thing is completely overwhelming sometimes, I feel...
  9. littlegirlvik

    Albany, NY

    I know this thread has been a bit dead lately, but I was accepted into SUNY: UAlbany's Criminal Justice PhD program for this fall (YAY!), and I'm trying to get my Life in Order. I'll be living on a stipend through the school, so I definitely need to be cost conscious. I'm going to try to go out to Albany in early July to check out apartments and the like, but I'm not sure I'll be able to financially swing it. Thus, I might be going in blind for my rooming situation. From what I understand, I'll be MOSTLY at the downtown campus, and only at the main campus if/when I teach undergrad courses, so it's my understanding (and could be TOTALLY wrong) that I want to live on Western/Washington area. I'm not TOO picky on noise (I'm from MSU in East Lansing, so you kind of get used to LOTS of bar/partying/construction sounds at all time, and learn to sleep through it), but would like to be walking distance to the downtown campus. I WILL have a car, but would prefer to use it as little as possible to save on gas. I also have cats, and as such, am REALLY hoping to find someplace pet friendly (which might be getting a little TOO detailed :-)). I keep looking on craigslist for apartments, and rent.com, but feel like I'm not really finding much. Does anyone have any suggestions on places to live in the area, or a strategy to go about finding an apartment without seeing it first? Or is it mostly guess-and-check? Thanks!
  10. If it helps, many of the programs I was admitted into funded ALL of their PhD students with TA/Assistanceships. The school I chose waives tuition, and guarantees a stipend for three years, and offers opportunities to get funding beyond that. Do you mind if I ask where you're looking at? It really depends on the program. I know UAlbany, Rutgers, John Jay, and Indiana are all 5 year programs (1 year "masters" program in many of them, followed by 2 years coursework, 1 year dissertation preparation and exams, and 1 year writing), but I think I remember hearing that MSU was typically four (I could totally be crazy and remembering wrong, though). I'm sure you can cut your time down, though, by taking courses over the summer. Good luck!
  11. As with all programs, it depends on a lot of different things. Your statement of purpose, your fit with the school, your fit with what the professors are studying, GRE scores, GPA, undergrad institutions, letters of rec... lots of things. However, I say definitely go for it. You don't have ANY shot if you don't apply. I know that when I applied to my schools, I honestly didn't think I was going to get in anywhere. I ended up in my top choice program, which was totally NOT expected (I didn't think I had the qualifications in any way, shape, or form) so anything can happen. Good luck to you; if you have any other questions, I know I'm here and I'm sure all of us other CJ-types would be more than happy to help out.
  12. Hey everyone, Sorry I've been MIA since... erm... forever. Life's been crazy: finished up a criminology course, working, working on an article with a professor from MSU, etc. etc. Anyhow, I was wondering where everyone decided to go? If I remember right, catrin decided on CUNY: John Jay, but this is the only person I've heard from! So where are the up-and-coming great minds of criminal justice going for the fall of 2010? I'll be going to University at Albany, which I'm totally stoked about. (Also, any of my other cohort fellows here? I heard we have an ALL FEMALE cohort, which is crazy!)
  13. I'm currently taking a masters level criminology course in order to spruce up before going back to grad school (I've been out of school for a little over a year). Anyway, I have a paper that I'm writing on human trafficking for sexual exploitation, and I'm writing about it from a strain point of view. What I hope to show is that the source countries, because of macro-level strain, have a greater amount of normlessness and lawlessness and social dislocation due to the rapid changes they tried (and unsuccessfully) undertook to modernized and globalize. Anyway, I have all of the sources I need for the human trafficking aspect, I think---I'm debating if I want to do a little bit on all four of the "waves" of women, or focus on the most recent trend of women from the former Soviet Bloc---but I need help with some strain theory source. Obviously, I have Merton and Messner/Rosenfeld, and I'm trying to get my hands on a copy of Agnew's strain theory book. Anyway, are there any other foundational strain theory texts I'm missing? Does anyone know of any studies that were done that found ways to quantify strain empirically? I understand the theory pretty well, and I know my ARGUMENT, but I just want to make sure I'm staying within the realm of accurate strain theory. Anyway, I know its not grad school stuff, but I figured other CJ nerds might be able to help me out :-).
  14. congrats juror! That's awesome---I thin I saw on the results that you applied for the forensic program? I looked into that a little bit at John Jay before I applied, and was really impressed with it: it seemed like a great program! (Though I have to admit, I looked at it in one of those "Man, CSI is so cool!" type of ways, because I've never actually taken a Forensics class---one of my biggest regrets from undergrad).
  15. So what are you guys considering when it comes to school choices/choosing where to go? I've applied to UMD, UAlbany, CUNY, IUB, MSU, and Rutgers. So far, I've been accepted to IUB's PhD program with funding offers to come, I wasn't accepted into MSU's PhD program (my own alma matter!), but they did accept me into their MS program and I had a professor tell me I had a really great shot for funding, I'm wait-listed with UAlbany, I've interviewed with CUNY (which HOPEFULLY went well) so I sort of consider myself "wait-listed" with them too, and I haven't heard one way or another from UMD or Rutgers. What this all means is that, currently, the only two choices I have "in the bag" are MSU's MS program and IUB. Both of which are good choices, I think. Honestly, I don't think I'd be disappointed going to ANY of the programs I've chosen. I researched all of them pretty extensively, and liked certain aspects about all of them. I guess my question is, though, how are you guys deciding? When I first started applying to programs, all of my professors REALLY pushed the idea of rank on me. We all know UMD and UAlbany are schools that top that out; MSU, Rutgers, and CUNY are all in pretty good places. IUB is #22, though, which concerns me, but also confuses me. I've looked into their program, and they have plenty of SUNY/other big name school professors, they have Ivy league grads for an interdisciplinary education, and have a LOT of research going on (especially international, which is what I want to focus on). Does anyone know why they're ranked so low? Like I said, I was really impressed with everything I saw in my research with them, and the ranking is really unsettling because it doesn't seem to jive with the school I looked at. Anyway, I've thought like this: I applied to some of the top schools directly out of undergrad with a 3.4 overall a Q560/V620/AW5.5, 4 research projects where I was only periphery, and no publications. I know I had awesome letters of rec from really well known professors, I felt really happy with my personal statement, and my writing sample was also pretty strong. I had some work experience that may have helped, and I really tried to emphasize my diversity by talking about my English degree as well. But if I were to go to MSU, get my MS degree with funding, I'd have a lot of opportunities. I know the entire faculty there and would get research experience. I'd probably be offered a TA/RA position with a professor I know. I have a paper I'm working on publishing which, hopefully, 2 years form now WILL be a publication. After I have an MS, I'd probably be a really strong applicant for places like UAlbany, the #2 school, since where I am now (which is considerably lower than where I would be then) already waitlisted with them. So what do you guys think? Does it make more sense to go directly into a PhD program that's not as well regarded and try for a job in academia? Or would it make more sense to go, get my MS from a pretty well known school, reapply, and hope for the best from the "top" schools again? Granted, I don't ACTUALLY know what'll happen with UMD, UAlbany, CUNY, and Rutgers (though I am holding out little hope for UMD and UAlbany; I haven't heard one way or another from UMD and I know they've already done acceptances, so I'm guessing I'm "waitlisted" there, too, and I highly doubt anyone'll turn down offers from UMD or UAlbany), but assuming the worst and all (since that's what I'm good at) and none of my other schools pan out---what would you guys do? (PS: Sorry this is so long. My thoughts are incredibly muddled)
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