blogstarphd

UC Santa Barbara.

Good choice.

Hello all, I was accepted with a $19,000 scholarship and $1500 for relocation money. I will be declining the offer. Good luck.

Congratulations!

-bangs gavel- Agreed.

-bangs gavel- Agreed.

I received an email saying that admissions decisions will be released within the next 5 business days.

Very quickly, I think you're in a good position to resume your studies in another program. Your interests changed, which is natural, and in no way should that stop your from being accepted into another program. Also, Graduate admissions aren't that petty... Do not return to your current program, and apply again in the next cycle. If, perhaps, you're interviewed and asked why you left your program, explain it to them in a succinct, gentle manner. If you really feel that it's going to raise a red flag to the admissions committe, follow La Di Da's advice, which, in my opinion, is both objective and sound.

No. They will still admit you.

This is sound advice. Future posters please follow this advice.

What types of professionalization workshops do you offer, like grant writing? What about a sixth or seventh year of funding? Do you offer advance training in qualitative or quantitative methods? Do you offer money for traveling to conferences? Is there a class structured in the curriculum for you to produce a publishable paper? How often do faculty publish with students? Is summer funding available? How often are students externally funded? Is there any money given for relocation?

You may have to petition to be considered for admission into those programs because your GPA is below the set minimum. Your writing score doesn't matter much for sociology programs, in my experience. You should have your letter writers address your GPA issue in their recommendations. If a school doesn't explicitly suggest giving reason got a low GPA, then don't bother mentioning it. On your CV, put your major GPA beneath your degree information in bold font.

I've read about MAPSS here on other boards. These are some of the themes I've spotted. 1. MAPSS, like many Masters programs, will likely place you into a top 20 PhD program. 2. It's hard to build relationships with faculty at the program because it flies by so quickly. Some people on the board did MAPSS and reapplied the year after graduating from MAPSS because their relationship wasn't strong enough to get a recommendation. 3. It is expensive. Apply for outside scholarships if you can to alleviate the amount of debt you're going to incur doing the program. 4. I **hear** they have workshops for building a strong PhD application. Ask the DGS if this is true.

Any speculations on who will move up or down?

Rice made their decisions this morning. I was accepted. For future posters, the stipend is $27,500. The department is energetic and friendly. It's collaborative and supports a mixed methods approach. Good luck to everyone waiting to get off the waitlist or another acceptance letter.