breaks0

I'm not sure what's considered a low math score. I believe mine was a 150 under this newer system, which is very low, though my other sections were near 100 percentile.

I'm gonna be the cynic, b/c that's what I've been reduced to. Because I've applied 2 years in a row and your fear is what's happened to me. I'm not gonna go into how it's screwed up every area of my life. But be prepared, it's so competitive your fears may be realized you may not get in. That's just the reality. That said, you're on this board and asking early and you're a talented undegrad. It's very common for people in your shoes to fear that and after a stressful year of doing all the bs that goes into the apps, they end up fine. That'll probably be you as long as you work hard and take the good advice offered on this board and other boards on grad cafe. Good luck.

Not true in my experience, it DOES reflect one's ability. Whatev, it probably depends on one's fit in the program and alot of other factors as well.

Why is that again? At least 1 of the places I applied said the opposite, they cared more about my ma and other grad school grades than undergrad ones, otherwise why ask for the transcripts from any grad level coursework? Fine, maybe they are "inflated" and of little use to you, but I wouldn't just dismiss them as "unreal." Plenty of undergrad programs have grade inflation as well (see Harvard for ex). And ultimately, at least if I was on an adcomm, I'd be more interested in someone's numbers if they have previous grad level coursework since it's frankly more likely to be closer to the type of work my dept would expect of them than what they've done at the undergrad level (at least hypothetically speaking). I'm not saying how many adcomms in sociology or other social sciences operate that way, nor that it should necessarily exclude those w/good gpa's who only have bachelor's degrees, but you're argument seems to go too far.

Sorry to hear and thanks Shiva. I can see Toronto's dept is good, but given its size (number of facuty) I'm quite surprised they take so few people. The school has alot more money than York and I would've thus expected them to take more foreigners. I'm not totally sure what happened w/York, I think my "POI" gave me some inaccurate info about my chances in the course of my phone interview, leading me to think I had a better shot than I actually did. As far as the US goes, I don't know, my GRE math score was poor, the ranking percentile anyway, my CV is weak on work experience and I guess at this point b/c I haven't been a fulltime student in a few years and maybe my refs and statements weren't strong and/or focused enough, this kept me out of everywhere. In the US schools, probably my interest in Marxism and rural political economy/development probably didn't help. Since this is the 2nd year in a row this has happened (at least I got 1 unfunded offer a year ago from the US), I'm out of ideas where my life will go from here. My high student debt makes all that worse, so I'm feeling worried about my future and burnt out now. .

I only applied to York in this field and b/c the grad student union has won their recent strike and since I was mistaken about being accepted (my interview was confusing), it appears I won't go there. Or anywhere else in the fall in any field, I'm 0-10 or 0-11 on phd apps this season. For many reasons, my academic future is in the gutter and may be down the drain, it's not looking good at all. Good luck to the rest of you.

Update, b/c the grad student union has won the strike at York and since I was mistaken about my acceptance, it appears I won't be going to York. Or else anywhere in the fall, I'm 0-10 or 0-11 on phd apps this Fall. For many reasons, my academic future is in the gutter and may be down the drain, it's not looking good at all. Good luck to the rest of you.

Agreed w/the others, would you really want your career prospects in the hands of someone like that, let alone would you be happy working w/for him? Hierarchy aside, what he said and the way he did so sounds at best impolite and, frankly, unprofessional. You seem to have fortuitously made the right decision, at least in regards to that school.

I thought I got in and the situation is complicated, but basically I'm still siting on a waitlist, so I was wrong. The interview I had was confusing in that regard. IM me if you wanna know more. Thanks, I appreciate all you've said and you're basically right. Sociology in the US isnt that field, w/a few exceptions, I've learned that the hard way. I've found the right field, sociology in Canada or elsewhere or some areas of human geography (for my interests anyway) but then the cost becomes job market viability upon graduation and funding to get in. There's a mass student strike spreading across Canada atm which has held up my application, which has aggravated the situation. What it comes down to this is this, I can't do my research if I don't get that silly degree. At least then I'd have the makings of the kind of manuscript in the dissertation that I want to write and hopefully publish somewhere eventually, b/c I know what I want to do, even if that means after the phd a non-academic career. And to me finishing my education is a big deal, key life goal. Anyway, now I don't know, such is life. Good luck to everyone who has gotten in somewhere. Thanks, hugs and best of success to you as well!

My life is in the trash heap, I can't do this anymore, rejected by all but 1 school which gave no funding last year, rejected from 10 (including 8 sociology programs) and 3 de facto waitlists this year. I'm in a huge financial hole to the point of needing to go on public assistance now (applications are f-ing expensive!), I think the phd is now unattainable and I dont even know if I can get a professional masters. I'm obviously incompetent and don't know how to do this game, I've read alot of the advice but convincing an adcomm seems a magic trick to me. You can only gutwrench yourself into poverty so many times before it becomes unsustainable to continue. Full of regret and dejection.

What is GIS?

Did you get any offers?

I have another question about Trillium if anyone is stil reading this or knows. So I inquired the other day at York and was instructed, as it also says on the website, that you have to be nominated by the department where you're accepted. So this isn't something you can just apply to you on your own, no? I was informed that the department effectively ranks those it accepts and they inform those within their nominee quota (1 or however many) that they chooses to nominate. I asked my prospective program director and so far no response, and I'm guessing it's probably too late now since there are only a few weekdays left till the deadline. I would have liked to have gone for this b/c it really could make taking my offer possible, wheras w/o it, I'm now leaning against taking it. This is nervewracking.

Can I ask is this open to foreign students or just Canadian ones? And can you apply directly or do you need to be nominated by your department? I don't think Trillium is going to work, maybe I got on it too late... well I'll post that on the other thread I started. Anyway good luck.

Can you name some Darth? And do any of them have enough fin aid to give you a full ride or partial ride even? I almost applied to york phd and chose geog there at last minute, everyone's heard that story by now.