SocGirl2013

I think it's something you get the hang of with practice. I have been writing since my early teens - I spent all my free time writing it was my "hobby" as a kid. Now, spewing out 10, 20, 30 pages comes to me naturally. I almost always struggle more with content than languge. In college I had a hard time not writing over the world limit. The more you write, the more you have the ability to do so. And I can't stress this enough, don't avoid it, the only way to get used to writing is to write, every chance you get! Often getting started is the hardest part, once you do it should be much more fluid as you get more into the subject matter.

ETS PowerPrep 1: 152Q 160V PowerPrep 2: 152Q 159V Manhattan (did 2 tests) 152Q 163V 152Q 164V Princeton Review 160Q 159V Magoosh Predictor 149-154Q 154-161V Actual GRE: 149Q 159V My two cents: PR Math is very misleading, don't even bother. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY thought I'd get a 152Q at least based on pretty much all my other tests lol but the actual test was harder than every test material. Magoosh "hard" questions, which I felt would be harder than the actual test, were actually the closest to the real thing. I wish Manhattan was right about my verbal lol. ETS verbal, and even PR verbal is SPOT ON.

It is very worrysome that you would marry someone you by your own admission weren't compatible with just to be married. It's a lifetime commitment and the whole point of it kind of is making it with someone who you fit with (a lot like grad school applications lol). You probably won't be happy in a marraige with someone who isn't right for you, so at that point I ask you this: you want marriage so bad because you think you'll be happy being married, but doesn't the whole idea fly out the window if your marriage isn't a happy one? Also, I am sooooo curious at this point: if it is not your partner (his qualities, compatibility etc) that matters to you as much as the institution of marriage itself, what is it about that institution, about marraige, that you want so bad (kids can be had without a marriage)?

I am really poor and as an int'll student, not eligible for app fee expemtion so the cost of applying to 8 schools (plus GRE test + sending scores) has been daunting. Which is why I thought - since in most cases only thing I needed to physically mail in was official transcripts - I should just get a 50 cent stamp and go old school. But this DEFINITELY freaked me out because there was no way for me to have tracked it had things not worked out. So for future applicants I definitely suggest FedEx if they can afford it!

I just heard back from the department finally and they said they just haven't had a chance to update it online, but it was good idea to check in. Thanks for the replies guys!

So I have been calling the school endlessly cause according to my online status check they never recieved my official transcripts (which are required). Deadline was Dec 1 and I mailed the stuff a week prior (I am in NY, the school's in NJ). Now I am having lots of trouble getting in touch with someone there and panicking. Assuming they really didn't recieve my transcript, am I doomed?

I second Sigaba in that I think you're better off sending it ASAP. Many have already contacted them from this cycle, some of whom they may already have a preference for/ built relationships with. I suggest that you go ahead and email them!

Part of it is I have seen/heard of cases where people I knew did and their careers slowed down for a while and it took them a lot more years to move up the ladder/get tenured than it would have otherwise. The other part is I am not conifdent in my own ability to manage another human being while just starting out my teaching career. Maybe I will feel differently when the time does come, I am only 23 I know not of how things might shape up, but I don't want to have babies until I know I can be an excellent, unselfish parent. Maybe when I am ans Asst. Professor I will be that person, maybe not. But in any case it's nice to hear that institutions are willing to make the process easier, if that turns out to be the right time indeed.

I respect your wishes and the desire to be a wife/mother, but I am sorry to say your singling out of "women" as a group whose motives you don't understand when different from yours rubs me in the wrong way. Why should women worry about "finding a mate" any more than men should? Nobody will ever criticise the choices you make for yourself for they are YOUR choices and YOUR life, but the sexist overtones of some of your generalized sentiments are bothersome to me and many others.

I eventually want marriage and family and all that jazz but like I honestly don't know when this can/will happen because I want to be an academic first, and like pears and aberrant pointed out, the timeline of fitting a family (and giving whatever life I may bring to this planet 100% of everything) into a PhD trajectory seems extremely difficult. If I - *knock on wood* get into a PhD program next cycle, that's 5 years when I have to give all my attention to my research, at the very least. I'll be 29 by then and have been poor for the majority of my life (yay student life lol). I can't imagine stopping/slowing down at that point to have a family because I'll finally have the opportunity to work as a Professor and make a decent living doing what I love. If I am lucky enough to get a tenure track position I'll have to work my a$$ off the first 4-6 years as an Assist. Prof. and can't imagine taking maternity leaves at the start of my career lol. Behold I am 35 and may no longer even be able to have babies. This is all assuming my current boyfriend of 6 months and I make it through the five potentially long-distance years of Grad School (knock on wood lol), cause I HIGHLY doubt I would have the time or the will to do this in grad school afresh with someone new, while having to worry about 20 papers that need to be written on any given day. The path we have chosen leaves very little room for these things, even though I would want those things, I want to be a successful academic more. But who knows, things change, life happens maybe I'll feel differently in a few years, who cares? Point is we are young now, we have dreams and we can reach for them, whatever they might be. Carpe Diem!

Aww, thanks for sharing that!

Well this turned out well haha. Edit I accidentally upvoted my post. >.<

Hahaha EXACTLY. Ray of hope. Also, double the disappointment if we don't get in anywhere lmao. sigh.

I put those this in quotations because sociologist is neither a title nor a career from where I see it, but this list made me happy nonetheless. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324874204578439154095008558.html

I saw the thread one for grades. 8 pages of uplifting material for us all applicants. My plight is the opposite 3.93 uGPA, 308 GRE very low quant (149) and I am hoping for the best! So I was wondering if there are similar success stories for people with lower GRE scores who got into PhD programs (better yet, with funding! )

Are there any? I haven't even sent in my applications yet but in the rare occasion that I get admitted without funding, I'd like to have kept some options open. Has any int'll student applied to any kind of external funding? We are not eligible for most U.S. based, and my own country is pretty much in shambles and has nothing lol.

UGH. guys. I can't anymore. Can it be January/February already? This process has made my life very difficult. I can count on one hand the amount of times a day I think about something other than grad school and my future regarding it. I haven't even sent in applications and yet I keep checking emails as though some miracle will happen and I'll.... Idk what I am even thinking tbh lmao, like I'll get discovered or something bahahaha. It's really weird now that I am writing it down. I just wanna shout out to all of us. This process isn't easy, and I think everyone wins by just going through it. I really really hope each and every one of us gets at least one good placement with good funding. Fingers crossed!

PR is the worst. I blame my abysmal Quant scores on it. Try something else like Manhattan or ETS.

I know very little about how this works to be completely honest, and I barely glanced over a sample or 2 before taking my GRE but somehow managed a 5.0 so I will try to give you some feedback, take it with a grain of salt. First of all, write more. Your set up is ideal for this kind of a robotic grading system - you have your intro/concl/body. Perfect. But I'd say this is still pretty skeletal with lots of room to fill some "meat". I don't know how much of a myth this is, but if you haven't heard this before already, the essays that earn the highest points are the longest too. I wrote a LOT (over 500 words) for mine without breaking anything down at first, but I had practise writing a lot really fast from my creative writing classes. If you struggle with this then you can set it up (as you have now) and go back and fill in! Second, try to go for more specific examples. If you can't think of any (I personally had trouble with this given the stress of the GRE), make up data (no really, I am serious, I did this) that sounds inherently plausible but noone is going to look it up to make sure you were right to the 15th decimal point. Like to enhance this: "For example, when introducing students to a concept like gravity, giving students examples of the effects of gravity like a fruit falling from a tree or throwing an object upward will give students a lucid picture of gravity." You could add something like "Study shows that teaching methods involving visuals and real-life simulations are more effective teaching tools than rote memorization about 70% of the times." They can't challenge this because you haven't mentioned what study and where (it could be based on a sample of 5 students in Arkansas or based on a national survey for all they know), and the numbers are entirely plausible. This gives your argument some solid support. Give every body paragraph a backbone! Third, your conclusion, while good enough when pressed for time (assuming you've written plenty earlier on in the body paragraphs) could be stronger. Another sentence or two that's recapitulating your ideas but also shedding some new light into the issue could be helpful. Maybe even end with a short aphorism if you can cook one up - try to end with a bang! As it is right now I'd give this essay a 3.5-4 (not me personally, but if I was grading from the mindset of an ETS grader) and you can easily bring that up to a 5 considering it is very well written. Hope this helps!

They will email you. But I am impatient so I started checking every day 2 days after my test and voila on day 7 it was posted! I only got an email from them a few days after (2-3) though. So no harm in checking.

^Thank you, that's very encouraging! Also, I got my AWA scores back and does the 5 there (93%) make any positive difference at all (does anyone care about AWA unless they are magnificiently low?) given that I plan on qualitative, historic/comparative research?

Thank you all so much for the valuable and encouraging advice!

From what I understand - and I am only an applicant, just like you! - one of the essential factors determining acceptance is fit. Without a defined research interest, or at the very least, an inclination towards a general subfield - "gender," "deviance," "theory," etc - and some sort of a methedological preference, it will be difficult for AdComms to determine how well you fit into their department. I doubt you'll be held to whatever you propose on your Statement of Purpose, but you should be proposing something, so AdComms can picture you within a certain place in their department. I would suggest narrowing down your interests. What do you like about Sociology? When you took related classes, which ones intrigued you the most, and why? What do you think you'd enjoy finding out more about? These are only some of the many questions you can ask to narrow it down. If the answers are unclear, I would recommend waiting it out until the next application cycle and taking the time to figure out your interests. Maybe apply to some MA programs too, as it might help in shaping your interests better for a PhD?

It does sound kind of frustrating. I would say this: just talk to her. It's never inappropriate to say politely, "Hey are there certain times you want to be left alone? I want to know so that situation X that bothers me slightly does not happen. I understand you're a grad student/super stressed etc, so I don't hold it against you but it would be helpful to know how we can avoid such situations in the future." After this if she continues, she's really not worth your time. There are lots of people who can give you advice.

Hey, I haven't read the whole thread so I apologize if this has already been discussed, but have you tried online dating? If not, it's a great tool that many, many young professionals use (I don't think there is any stigma attached to it in 2013, I know at least 2 wonderfully happy married couples who met this way). Why not start now, and when you get to grad school, you can focus on grad school 100% without having to worry about your social circumstances.