soc13

Northwestern is the one that comes to mind as potentially missing from your list.

Hey @kbui, I know you posted this forever ago, but I happened upon it. I'd like to say that I ONE HUNDRED PERCENT HEAR YOU and think some of the other posters here went a little overboard with their "well I'm doing more" or "it's not that hard" reactions. Sure, you *can* do it all. Sure, some people are juggling more, some less. And shoot, to think, you might even have other things going on in your life that you didn't list in your pretty light-hearted and complementary post that are also influencing your process. Anyway, best of luck to you. Hoping you found a community of people elsewhere on here or in the real world who are supporting your process! And congratulations on the job!

Welcome! I have absolutely nothing useful to contribute to you other than saying that you and your interests sound very interesting and I wish you the best of luck!

Oh god, at least you have until Thursday! I'm sure he just wants to see how you vibe in terms of discussions and reflections on his work. And make sure that you aren't too lazy to at least do what he asks and get an idea of the pieces Good luck! I once had a job interview for a social science research job where they asked me to code some qualitative data on the spot (talk about being caught off guard!).

Anyone else going especially crazy waiting this weekend because they're stuck inside due to THEBLIZZARD2016? I live in the DC area, although I'm originally from New England, so while this doesn't phase me, it has been pure hilarity watching the DC region prepare. That said, it isn't a common occurrence around here and it is quite a major storm, so I'm glad everyone was preparing and staying off the streets! That said, it means I am trapped inside, with only TV to binge watch or work to do (and that's overrated, as it's likely I'll be working from home Monday), and of course, results to obsessively mull over, including someone posting that they got a call from their POI on Friday offering acceptance to a school I'm very interested in! Of course my phone has been silent NOTE: This falls under all three categories as I am most definitely whining, wine-ing, and waiting! Thanks for letting me complain!

I see a UCSB admit - congrats! Whoever it is, care to share your POI? (Feel free to PM if you'd prefer.) Anyone else apply there?

Oh, DUH! Thanks @KLPLANTER. I'm quite familiar with the study, it's one of those they drill in your head, especially in public health and discussions of research with "vulnerable populations" and legacies of distrust. I didn't know he came out of WashU but that makes perfect sense then. I noticed all the hiring they've been doing but that makes it much more clear why it was gone.

Just in case you didn't know and you talk/email to folks at UW... annoying semantics, but WashU generally refers to Washington University in St. Louis, not University of Washington! People can be kinda weird about that kind of stuff. side note: I hadn't realized before searching for programs that WUSTL didn't even have a soc undergrad department for awhile and are only recently resurrecting it.

Look for a place around Fairmount or Girard. If you tend to be on the nervous side, tend more toward Fairmount, it's all hip and restaurants and gentrified. Also I don't know what route you're planning to take to the Schuylkill, but if you really wanted to live super close to TU's campus (farther north) you could always run a half mile or mile or down Broad to cut across in a "safer" area (Girard, etc.) and hit Kelly Dr. Philly isn't nearly as scary as some people make it out to be, the vast majority of it is racially coded language.

Shoot me a message if you want more info after you've received offers and are weighing or have decided. I lived there for 2 years and have many friends still there so I have a bit of insight.

I'm not sure where the other places you're applying are, but compared to other major east coast cities (Boston, NY, DC), Philly is the cheapest. Particularly if you're willing to have roommates. It's also an amazing city! Drexel is nothing great to look at, but it's a great location if you like urban living and minutes from everything. I know nothing helpful about your specific program, though, sorry!

Sigh. I think most of us had accepted this but hoped it wasn't true Based on my discussions with faculty at programs I was applying to, it was important to the committee (and these weren't top 10, more 10-30). I can only presume it's worse in the top 10.

Any of y'all applying to programs that require PDFs of official transcripts to be attached (not mailed)? I am, and not all my institutions offer these. One that does explicitly states that they won't work for application uploads. When I scan official transcript copies, the security features mark them all VOID or PHOTOCOPIED. Maybe that's perfectly fine and what they expect, but has anyone asked about this? I was going to call/email the coordinators Monday to ask, but figured I'd see if any of y'all had already done so out of curiosity.

Thanks to both of you. Iemons, I think you are right and I'll spend a bit more time on my writing sample versus trying to cram. I am qualitative - mixed methods at best - but definitely not heading in with a quant methods focus in any stretch of the imagination.

Hey everyone, So, I've posted about this before, but I'm finally hitting my stride of finishing up applications and feeling that panic of 'damn, I feel like my package is pretty solid, except for that GRE score.' I know this is something a lot of other people experience, too. So far, I've gotten great responses from professors I'm interested in working with at nearly every place I'm applying, but I just can't shake the feeling that I might not get admitted because of quantitative ability. There have been a couple that inquired about GRE scores, but most didn't. However, I know it's real, real, late in the game to be freaking about this. At this point, with 12/1 and 12/15 deadlines, there's not a huge window to take the exam and get scores to places (assuming the score even went up if I could miraculously become a better mathematician and test-taker in a week). Should I try anyway? I'm applying to a range of schools, 1-2 top 10, mostly in the 10-35 range. I'm only applying to programs that have professors that are an extremely good fit with my research interests. I've got an MPH, 3 years professional research experience (1 nonprofit, 2 at a firm), 3.8 GPA. But... 151Q (45%). [verbal and AW are fine; 164/94% and 5.0/93%]. Thoughts?

It's usually an all at once (give or take a few days) thing (or all acceptances at once, all rejections at once). Depends largely on the university and its respective deadline, but ranges from end of January - early March for the most part, I think. Like Gingin said, easiest way is to check the results board for when last year's went out for the specific university/department.

too funny! We are indeed. I would love for them to, but... It'd be a stretch. I mostly have done qualitative work, evaluation design, etc with them. I did take graduate-level biostatistics and epidemiology, which may help. I do basic statistical work in my current position, so if I go with a LOR from there she can speak to it, but I've gotten conflicting advice on using academics v professional world, even if you work in a related field. Good luck!!!

Major(s): MPH focused on community health & prevention (grad). Sociology (undergrad). GPA: 3.8 in both graduate program and undergrad. Interests: Race and ethnicity, inequality/stratification, education, health GRE: 164V and a really terrible 151Q (and it's not going up, so I'm just going to deal with that blow). Applying: Pretty good distribution; a couple in the top 15 and mostly in the top 30. 6 total. Based on research fit. I've been out of my master's program for 2 years. I work for a research firm, mostly on federal contracts, in the DC area. My work is mainly evaluation studies, although there's some research studies. Clients include NSF, FDA, Dept of Ed, etc. My work doesn't align closely with my research interests, but the skills I have gained do. I primarily participate in the design and implementation of studies - including designing guides and surveys, conducting interviews and focus groups, analyzing qualitative data, writing reports, etc. I'm absolutely a qualitative researcher at heart, and intend to stay on that path. I also work in research for some nonprofits on the side more related to my research interests in education. My main concern is my quantitative GRE score. I'm worried it's going to knock me out of the running for consideration. Other than that, I'm struggling to decide who my LOR's should come from - I have 3 public health grad school profs who would write very strong ones, 2 soc undergrad profs, and a VP of my 2000+ employee company. Just can't get a clear answer on what's most compelling for admissions committees.

Thank you, @Jujubea. I do plan to continue to study and hopefully raise it. I am going to seek some advice on my letters. I have one very strong one from my mentor (very strong researcher in health disparities, gets tons of R01s, constantly publishes, but isn't in soc), and will probably have one from a Vice President at my company (PhD with 40 years in research/eval field, 4000 person company), but I am stuck on my third. I can get one from my former sociology department head, who has a great reputation in her small area of sociology (Catholic religious women/nuns - totally unrelated to what I want to do) and doesn't have a fancy position any more; another former soc professor; or from another former public health professor with a sociology background or other background who has a higher profile. All love me and would be willing to write glowing recommendations based on my research for them, but it's a matter of their credentials I guess?

Thanks so much for your feedback, @MaxWeberHasAPosse. I really appreciate it. I don't have any of the awesome things you listed, but I'm hoping to have fairly strong LOR (albeit, likely not from SOC faculty - I wonder if this is an issue). I will definitely retake the GRE, I'm just not sure how much higher it will go. I'm interested in Duke, Berkeley, Hopkins, Maryland, Yale, and a few other schools, so I have my work cut out for me!

Hello everyone, I'm considering applying to PhD programs in Education at the following schools: - Harvard - Columbia - Berkeley - Johns Hopkins - NYU - UCLA - Ohio State University My academic background is not in education, but in sociology and public health. However, I've worked in the education research field. I am, however, concerned about this and my GRE scores hurting me in the application process. Current scores: 164 V (93%) 151 Q (44%) (I know, awful!) 5.0 AW (93%) In terms of background, I have a BA in sociology with a 3.8 GPA from a small liberal arts college in New England (no big name), and a Masters in Public Health from Drexel University with a 3.8 GPA (concentration in community health and prevention). After undergrad, I worked for a year as a Research Assistant at an education nonprofit that does work related to using history to teach students about ethical decisionmaking and global engagement. While in grad school, I was part of an NIH-funded training program to develop health disparities researchers, which provided me the opportunity to work on two research projects, one of which resulted in a second authorship publication. I also worked with Big Brother Big Sister of America during this time period as a RA, as well as a Teaching Assistant/Course Facilitator for a first-year graduate student course. By the time I apply, I'll have also worked for two years as a Research Analyst for a social sciences firm that works on research and evaluation studies for a variety of clients, mainly government agencies (NSF, Dept of Ed, FDA, DC public schools, etc.), nonprofits, and state and local governments. My primary responsibilities are assisting in the design of research and evaluation studies, conducting focus groups and interviews, analyzing qualitative data, conducting literature reviews, writing reports, and disseminating results to clients and communities. In terms of future research interests, I'm primarily interested in race and its intersection with education and health disparities. I'm interested in exploring issues of school discipline disparities (why Black and Brown students are expelled and suspended more frequently than white students, and what social, emotional, academic, and health impacts this has on them), as well as the ways in which white parents teach children about colorblindness. I'm not sure about the likelihood of acceptance given my GRE scores and lack of publications. I also want to go to a program that offers strong funding and research opportunities. Thoughts on feasibility of acceptance given my GRE scores and other stats/info? Any thoughts on programs I should look into? Any other feedback?

Hi everyone, I'm sure you get posts like this all the time, but I'd love some folks' perspectives on my stats. I struggle mightily with the quant section of the GRE. No way around it. I'm planning to retake it, but I'd hazard a guess that my scores won't raise substantially past the 50% range. Current scores: 164 V (93%) 151 Q (44%) (I know, awful!) 5.0 AW (93%) In terms of background, I have a BA in sociology with a 3.8 GPA from a small liberal arts college in New England (no big name), and a Masters in Public Health from Drexel University with a 3.8 GPA (concentration in community health and prevention). After undergrad, I worked for a year as a Research Assistant at an education nonprofit. While in grad school, I was part of an NIH-funded training program to develop health disparities researchers, which provided me the opportunity to work on two research projects, one of which resulted in a second authorship publication. I also worked with Big Brother Big Sister of America during this time period as a RA, as well as a Teaching Assistant/Course Facilitator for a first-year graduate student course. By the time I apply, I'll have also worked for two years as a Research Analyst for a social sciences firm that works on research and evaluation studies for a variety of clients, mainly government agencies (NSF, Dept of Ed, FDA, CDC, etc.), nonprofits, and state and local governments. My primary responsibilities are assisting in the design of research and evaluation studies, conducting focus groups and interviews, analyzing qualitative data, conducting literature reviews, writing reports, and disseminating results to clients and communities. In terms of future research interests, I'm primarily interested in race and its intersection with education and health disparities. I'm interested in exploring issues of school discipline disparities (why Black and Brown students are expelled and suspended more frequently than white students, and what social, emotional, academic, and health impacts this has on them), as well as the ways in which white parents teach children about colorblindness. I had my eye on some top programs, but I'm not sure about the likelihood of acceptance given my GRE scores and lack of publications. Thoughts on feasibility of acceptance given my GRE scores and other stats/info? Any thoughts on programs I should look into? Any other feedback? Man, I would greatly appreciate it. I don't know if others of you are in the same boat, but it's somewhat like I'm in a silo where most people say 'you'll totally get in!' but have no idea what the process, qualifications desired, or anything else involved with PhD programs entails. Thank you!!!

I realize a great deal of the forum chatter is about full-time doctoral programs (especially PhDs), but having gone into debt over my master's (MPH) and currently in a comfortable research position at a good company, I'm inclined not to go the whole full-time student route again. It seems like GWU has a solid program that is research-focused (despite being an EdD) in Education Policy that is part-time/nights and weekends. Does anyone know anything about this program or have any experience with it? I'm more concerned about financial support prospects - generally those that are designed for 'working folks' do not offer the same type of financial support as PhD programs. If anyone has been looking at this program or has any experience with it, I'd love to hear from you! Thanks y'all... and good luck!