deckard

Hardly. You sound like you've a good foundation to get into the top schools. Aim high for your universities, and have around 2 backups in case. I suggest you focus on really crafting your statement of purpose. It might make or break your chances. There's a great book I used which really helped... I think the author's name is Donald Asher or something similar. Lemme check and get back to you.

On GREs, both my verbal and quant were between 700-750. This meant a 90 plus percentile ranking for verbal and a 80 plus percentile ranking for quant. I only got a 5 (70 plus percentile) for writing. I took my GREs four years ago and didn't bother to retake it for the latest rounds of admission, partly because I had no time, but also because I wanted to test my hypothesis that GREs only matter insofar as they aren't so bad that your application immediately gets thrown into the 'out' box. What's more important are your SOP, writing sample and references. Having got into my top choices so far, I can happily report that the hypothesis is probably right.

Actually My Asian point was in response to Radquish's earlier post about ivy league grad cohorts being dominated by Whites. Nevertheless, while I understand your point about the lack of a level playing field, I would appreciate it if you did not project your imaginings as to what types of people get into good grad schools: i.e the wealthy or the lucky poor, onto me. I can assure you that the reality is very different. Self-fulfilling prophecies might be at play here.

If you didn't get into UChicago's PhD program but got into MAPSS, I recommend the latter. Costs aside, it's a very good way of immersing yourself into UChicago's intense academic culture, build important contacts among the faculty, and figure out whether you can survive both the elements (bitter cold, sweltering heat) and the perils of 21st Century urban life (Hyde Park). You will definitely come out of it a stronger person, and have a higher chance of getting into a good PhD program the following year. Of course a lot of what you get out of it depends on how much you put in. Choose courses wisely, choose your thesis adviser wisely, and even though you can't choose your preceptor at the beginning, you should quickly find out if he/she is an idiot and make an early petition for a switch, if possible.

I don't know about that. About 4 people admitted in one of the schools I got into, including myself, are from Asia. That's nearly 40% of the admitted cohort. Plus the whole point of 5-yr fellowships is to enable those who can't afford it (like myself) to obtain a PhD without getting into crippling debt or suffering too much opportunity cost. I do think cultural and social capital matter when it comes to the workforce, but i think there are some measures in place to limit its influence in getting into grad school (completing it, however, might be another matter)

Columbia never officially replied to me as well. The fault lies with the University GSD, I think, and not the Sociology dept.

This isn't a stupid move, but like the posters above I had a very positive response from the then-head of graduate studies, who basically told me that he hardly ever replies to emails and that I was one of the few whose projects was interesting to him. He told me to send him my SOP and other materials when applying. Fast forward application time, I did as he asked. No reply. And I got rejected by the dept. Oh well.

I lived in Hyde Park for a year and it never gave me the safe vibe. Southwards of the Midway (ironically where the new grad housing apts are), things get really dodgy and a grad student was fatally shot during a botched mugging when I was there. Things are not that much better on the northside of the midway where the campus is. Reason being that UChicago students are easy pickings for would-be muggers. You get email alerts all the time of robberies and such just a few blocks away (one time these 2 goons attempted to rob the Booth School reception counter at 3pm, thankfully without a gun). That said, some precaution goes a long way. I was never mugged. But I always planned my route, wait timings and had contingency plans.

Any news from Rutgers? I haven't heard from them yet and wondering if I missed the boat....

When writing I always address my emails with 'Professor' so-and-so. So far none of my profs have told me to stop being so formal, haha. Anyway, I also think it is good to maintain some professional distance, which does not mean one can't be passionate about sociology with the prof as well.

First off, a Masters would help. Personally, I think it's a better option than doing a Bachelors of Sociology because it's a shorter route, it shows an academic progression on your CV that you can leverage on for your career if the PhD route doesn't work out, and you are likely to get into a good masters program at a US university where you can get to know some Sociology professors who could write letters of recommendation for you. I came from UChicago's Masters of Arts in Social Sciences (MAPSS) program, and the good thing about it is that it is interdisciplinary. So you can create a curriculum and write on a thesis topic that combines your strength - psychology - with a sociological perspective. This thesis can then be used as a writing sample. The bad thing about a Masters is that it's costly. So as far as possible, try to find a scholarship. I know MAPSS offers subsidies ranging from 1/3rd of the cost (common) to the whole tuition (rare). Also, since it's a one-year course, sometimes you get unlucky and the prof you want to work with doesn't teach a course or priority is given to grad students. From my own experience in Chicago, however, most professors are willing to let you in their classes so long as you show commitment to the work required. Secondly, you should frame a research question in your area of interest (immigration?). This is more difficult than it sounds. Since you've time, read up the sociological literature on the subject. You can do this by finding syllabi from the websites of professors (or just email them for one); by reading the occasional Annual Review of Sociology article on the topic (basically an up-to-date lit review); and searching in Google Scholar and your university library. Thirdly, you should try to make your social psych lab experience on prejudice relevant to your interest in immigration. If you can add a fresh perspective on an old problem, that contributes significantly to your statement of purpose. Finally, I guess it's no harm to take the GRE again to improve the writing score. However, I didn't do that great myself for the GRE (I got a 5.0 for writing, and low-700s for quant and verbal), but I didn't retake them - preferring instead to focus on my statement of purpose and writing sample. The strategy worked and I managed to get into my top programs. Basically, what I'm trying to say is to take the path that strikes a good balance between moving towards a sociology PhD and a qualification that can still add value to a career in psychology if it doesn't work out. Most importantly, don't break the bank doing so and don't take too much time. Time is your most valuable commodity here, actually.

Hi, I will be a Sociology grad student this Fall 2010, and part of my research interest involves looking at how social networks could give rise to cognitive bias. I don't have a firm background in social psychology or cognition, and would probably have to sit in classes in the Psychology dept to "learn the ropes". In the long run, I hope to be able to work together with the researchers and faculty in both Sociology and Psychology departments. As with all disciplines, I imagine there are intra and inter-disciplinary camps and factions. I'm interested in Harvard and Princeton's psychology department in particular. Is it possible to characterise Harvard and Princeton's psychology program in a sentence? Where do they stand in the subfields of social psychology and cognition respectively, relative to other universities that have a reputation in these fields? What are the most interesting findings in social psychology and cognition in either university (e.g. Princeton's face evaluation work in their Social Cognition and Social Neuroscience lab)? Does the faculty in Harvard and Princeton have very specific orientations (e.g. Johnson-Laird's mental models) that might possibly define the program's approach, or are they more eclectic? Would the faculty in either university be amenable to a sociologist learning from them, using their data with permission, and perhaps even working with them (or with their grad students)? Any comments at all would be appreciated. Thanks!

Yes. I received my acceptance email before the mass mail was sent. So it was slightly bizarre to read the latter when it popped up in my inbox.

Thanks everyone for the congratulations, it's nice to feel the love It's been a long journey for me (although admittedly, the real journey has only just begun). I started applications in 2006 after several years working. Got a slew of rejections, but the chance to get my MA in the US on a fully funded scholarship. That proved to be well-worth the time and effort spent, not career-wise in terms of job opportunities or wages, but in shaping my research interests and also getting to know professors whom I respect and can have a conversation with. Throw in another year's work at a research institute where I had opportunities to write at least one scholarly article, and my application in 2009 was much stronger than the one three years ago. You discover a lot about yourself during the application process. I seriously believe the whole process forces you to think more than once whether it's all worth the opportunity cost (which can be huge). Anyway, here's my congratulations to you folks who did get in this time and I hope we keep in touch when we're officially "graduate students"!

March 9-10