JohnBom

There is the committee on social thought at the university of chicago.

Unfortunately, sociologists are much more focused on the pedigree of their prospective junior faculty than I ever thought before joining my department. I am currently at a prestigious department. We are going through the annual hiring process. I was very disappointed to hear from our grad director that they would not interview anyone from what they did not consider to be one of the top ten departments. We received five hundred job applications for two positions. Name and prestige matter very much. You may be an excellent scholar, but your likelihood of getting a tenure-track job drops significantly, if your degree (and recommendation letters) don't come from a well-known department.

There is a new fun ranking out there.. http://www.allourideas.org/socrankings

This doesn't surprise me very much. Sociology is considered to be an easy major in a lot of colleges. That leads to many people applying to grad schools without knowing very much about the discipline, and taking the process seriously. Also, sociology attracts more first-generation college students and students of color than other disciplines. These groups have typically lower gre averages than other applicants. A better comparison would look at what are average gre scores needed for getting accepted into a phd program. In those, I believe, sociology would do quite well because, unlike in the humanities for example, the expected score is high in both quant and qual sections.

Your Quant is on the low side for any of these programs. Your stats overall are about average for an applicant. Here is info from UCLA website whose department is in the same general ballpark as those you are looking at: What is the average GPA? 3.66 for all applicants; 3.8 for admitted students. What are the average GRE scores? Verbal (2009): 557 for all reviewed; 679 for admitted. Quantitative (2009): 657 for all reviewed: 730 for admitted. That is not to discourage you. Your letters and SOP are the parts of your app that get you in.

You can forward it to me.

You don't need to fill any paperwork. It's automatic. It applies also during winter break.

Finally got my rejection in the mail! I am happily moving into the decision making phase!

Magnificent mile

Bouncy video

unpredictable weather

I am struggling with that right now. I have a paper due in the morning, ten more pages to go, no good ideas and I am falling asleep! Ugh.

No.

I just put down a deposit for an apartment that I will be using when I am living in Chicago this summer. That means I am completely broke and won't be able to put down another deposit until about July. Does it mean I won't be able to find housing in Ann Arbor? I am looking for a 1bedroom.

Good to hear that you had a nice experience at Chapel Hill. I am sure the weather was a big factor:) I am not keeping my hopes up. I am a bit annoyed with their lack of communication. I would like to commit to a program and put this whole thing behind me. It does not feel right to accept an offer before I've received all of my responses. If we are indeed on a waitlist, although we have no chance of being accepted, perhaps we should not be ignored by the department.

I have heard nothing from UNC yet. Anybody in the same position? I emailed them today asking what's up.

Who is thinking about accepting the offer? Ann Arbor is not my favorite town, but I had some very encouraging conversations with the faculty there. I am leaning towards taking it..

What sub-field did you apply to? When I spoke with coordinator she explained to me that both sms and you sub-field need to agree on admitting you. Maybe some departments take longer than others. I applied to sociology.

I saw some rejections up on the result board. Anyone still waiting? It's the last school I haven't heard from yet. Just want to have this behind me, whatever it is, and start making decisions.

Mine just says COMPLETE YES. I don't think it means anything because the coordinator of the program that I applied to told me that they haven't made up their mind yet. (But I just saw some rejections on the results board, which makes me confused.)

I am waiting on sociomedical sciences at Columbia too. When I spoke with the coordinator she said that the decisions will be coming by March 1st.

Thanks for all that valuable advice. I am leaning slightly towards Madison now. One thing that's on my mind that nobody has discussed is food. I love eating out and cooking. I've been living in a much less attractive midwestern town for past five years and this hobby of mine has certainly suffered. Which one do you think offers greater options when it comes to feeding yourself?

Let me add more information to my post - I don't have a car and I can't buy one.

Hey all, I am looking for some opinion from folks who spent some time at both places. I got fully funded acceptances from both. I am pretty much thrilled with the academic caliber and the research match at both. I think it is a good idea to investigate living quality at each in order to help me decide. Obviously, I plan to visit, but I doubt that I will get a fair sense of what it is like living there after three days. If you could choose, where would you go? Thanks for your wise insights.

Nobody is celebrating these days:( Must be because everyone got so used to their success