rising_star

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Updated transcript for your enrollment but not before then.

A degree in social studies education won't help you teach social studies at the college level. To teach at a community college, you'll need at least 18 hours of graduate credit in a specific discipline (history, geography, political science, psychology, sociology, etc.). Most social studies programs require a mix of courses, which won't get you to the 18 hours you need. Something to consider if that's your goal. Also, the pay for adjuncting sucks so getting a MA to teach college is a crap plan unless you like not having benefits and making $2K for each course you teach with no teaching assistants. My advice? Stop trying to make plans about a degree that will get you a career that you only may what you want. Pursue what you love. Graduate school is a pain and if you aren't passionate about what you're doing, it'll show in your work and you'll be miserable.

Jan 1 isn't too long to wait. Most universities are closed for a while in December and faculty don't generally start reviewing applications until after their spring semester (or winter quarter) starts.

Honestly, it's not something I ever did. They'll contact you with additional information about funding, etc. Just as long as you reply before the deadline, you're fine. You might want to have additional conversations with the profs you want to work with in the coming months (and maybe arrange a visit if you haven't already) to make sure it's a good fit for you.

If you want to teach social studies, why not just take the courses and tests you'll need to get certified? It'd be less work than getting a M.Ed. Another consideration is that you're unlikely to find funding for a M.Ed. Finally, I'd say it's not to your advantage to get an unrelated degree, particularly if you already know what you ultimately want to do. Why not apply to MA programs in English and use that as a stepping-stone to a PhD program?

A low quantitative score on the GRE hurts your total score, which could hurt in graduate school-wide fellowship competitions.

You just love creating new projects for yourself, don't you, bgk?

I'm pretty sure I never said that they are traditional disciplines.

I think this is a really good idea.

What's the point of applying if you haven't done the research on the programs and their faculty first? I would say research people NOW. You might realize that you aren't a good match which could save you $50-100 on the application. P.S. In general, it's considered a bad idea to get your BA and PhD at the same school, unless you get a MA in between elsewhere (and even then it's questionable).

My own department (at a public university) is planning to only admit students they can fully fund. Given that I'm in a large cohort and they want to continue funding all current students (not to mention some are delaying graduation b/c there are no jobs out there), the number of slots for incoming students will be small. Private universities are seeing their endowments shrink. Who knows what that will mean?

There was a question about Af-Am studies last year: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13060. Something there may help? Is there a particular reason why you want African-American studies rather than American studies, cultural studies, ethnic studies, or a traditional discipline?

glasscandie, you can check out the "City Guide" section for more info on cost of living in various cities and some COL calculators.

I was about 6 months old when my mom started her PhD. She applied to one program, took the GRE, applied to one fellowship. She got in, got the fellowship, and got started working. Her advisor (male) has children (including one about my age) and knew that she was working on her PhD while having 3 kids at home. My dad was the main breadwinner at the time. Sometimes we had to go to campus with her after school for meetings (we'd play on the grass outside the building or pick dates off the ground nearby, etc). That said, time management is key. My mom would put us to bed at 9pm, having already read a bedtime story, and then go downstairs and work on classwork, her dissertation, etc. It took her 8 years from start to finish (several intervening family factors). Actually, some of the people she started with timed out after being ABD for too long so don't think it's the family that will keep you from finishing. Hope this helps! You can PM me for more if you want.

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You'll need to make a strong case in your SOP that sociology is right for you, especially since you've only ever take one sociology course.

mjl52, your undergrad GPA is nothing to worry about. You might want to check out the thread in the Applications section on the GRE writing. If you got a prize for your senior thesis and submit a writing sample, people aren't going to be worried about your ability to write and do research. Good luck on your applications!

Definitely don't refer to professors by their first names in your SOP. You don't know them so it's not yet appropriate.

I wouldn't worry too much about it since the MPH is a professional degree moreso than a research degree. Because of this, it's less important that you share key research interests with faculty.

I would use a standard font (12 pt Arial or Times New Roman) and margins (1" all around). Do 1.5 spacing if you have to.

There are definitely programs out there offering funding in Classics and History at the M.A. level. Usually you work as a teaching assistant (either teaching intro greek/latin, grading papers for a large history course, etc.) but opportunities exist. Look into state universities (like UGA, UVA, UF, UT, etc.).

sgee, all they really have to do is change the to line, the inside address, and the name of the school throughout the letter. It's not that hard.

You make look unfocused applying to two departments at the same university (Harvard). I think a mix of non-Ivy schools would be good, esp if you want to get teaching experience.

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