JohnBom

I visited most of the departments I am applying to and I am quite certain that business casual will be most appropriate. I think a suit would give off an air of livelessness in a sociology department. You certainly don't want to be wearing a suit if the person interviewing you has a t-shirt on. That said, I don't think it's ever appropriate to be dressed down compared to the professor. I would say really nice business casual is the safest bet. I had another only marginally question for you - Do sociology departments typically interview? I was looking at different websites and it seems to me like only one out of the nine that I applied to might. It's a totally different game for professional schools. I think a suit is your only option there.

I am blowing off the applications in favor of dating. That's my new hobby. I spent the past three months completely obsessed with the apps and then I met someone I care about. I am ending up turning in the documents I worked so long on the day of the deadline. But I am not stressed. Mostly, I am just happy. (I will follow up in march and let you know if it was a good strategy.)

There is a watermark on all my scanned transcripts. I think the schools that ask for uploads must be aware of it. It's just going to stay there. I think that's one of those little things I am not going to worry about.

I was not able to get in when I was using mozzila. Using explorer (even though I dislike it) worked better.

I would describe the work you did for the professor, but I would not refer to a specific publication. I am in acknowledgements on an article written by a friend because I made her company while she was working on the piece. She put me down to acknowledge my emotional support. There are many ways you can make it into that section..

I wanted to say terribly instead of terrible. Sorry.

I got a question on standard deviation.

Have you thought about OSU? And I don't think Vanderbilt is terrible quantitative when it comes to medical sociology.

I am not feeling terribly confident because my writing sample is not the strongest. I simply didn't have enough time to re-work it and I am submitting a half-baked version of my thesis. My SOP should be fine, even though it is nothing spectacular. I am feeling most confident in my LOR's and scores. I also think I already a chunk of research experiences for an undergraduate. Here are my predictions. Applied: 9 Immediate Admit: 0 Waitlist: 2 Eventual Admit: 1 As somebody has said earlier, better be pessimistic than disappointed in the end. Good luck to everyone.

I was also frustrated with the total lack of them out there. Of course, it is not hard to find hundreds of mediocre ones. But it seems like the really go writers keep the sops to themselves.

Yep, they just sent me an email. That means one more app for me! Email: Thank you for your interest in Emory University’s Laney Graduate School. We’re happy to announce that applicants who submit their applications on or before December 15, 2009, will receive fee waivers. After December 15, the application fee will be $50. If you are applying to the Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences or to Chemistry, please see program websites for program-specific instructions about the application fees to those programs. Rosemary Hynes Assistant Dean and Chief of Staff James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies 209 Administration Building Emory University Atlanta GA 30322 404-727-2660 (p) 404-727-4990 (f)

I would first decide whether you want to do sociology or history. You might be surprised to hear that many sociology programs require pretty high math score. I think that history people care quite a bit less about the quant. If you want to do sociology, I would advise you try to raise both.

I introduce my research topic and then I say that my interests in this field have been particularly influenced by professor so and so, whom I also had the opportunity to meet at a conference.

Hi All, UCLA Sociology is one of my dream programs. I considered not applying after I was told by a professor from the department that there will be nearly no funding available this year. Then I decided to disregard his advice and just try my luck, knowing that it is probably not going to work out. Now I am beginning to think that it may not be the best environment to pursue graduate studies because of the recent tuition hike and student demonstrations. Are there any other prospective grads who are put off by the situation?

Do you mean a research interest or are you talking about a complete disertation paper? I don't quite understand your question.

They are in the test.

I would be very surprised if there was any "last minute stigma", but it's probably a good way to ensure that all your materials are in. I don't anticipate turning anything until the day before the deadline, I am running late..

I had a similar problem a couple of years ago. I was applying for a summer program and the school wouldn't give me my transcripts because I owed them $200. I didn't even have that at the time and they agreed that I set up a payment plan and pay it in installments. I was glad to do that because, unlike you, I knew I owed that money. Nonetheless, I felt like I was being held hostage by the institution.

Hey, I don't know much about UCSF. I would also really like to find out how competitive it is. I am applying to other med soc programs at bigger schools right now. UCSF's deadline is a month after everyone else, and if I don't have any offers at that point, I will probably turn in my application there as well. I could not imagine it being terribly cut throat, since medical sociology is all they do, and although I know it is an excellent department, they are not housed by a big name school and that alone should reduce the amount of competition.

Could you disclose what department are you talking about, Pip? I see you are applying to Sociology, just as I am, and I would rather avoid contacting that department..

I've had especially positive responses from emails in which I name-dropped a little. Something like - "so and so suggested I contact you because my research interests well align with yours.."

I used that book and did just fine.. But I know that Kaplan is generally recommended for the math section.

I am debating the same thing. I have a paper being under review for a national conference, but I won't know if it was accepted until December 31st. That is a month after all my other deadlines. I think I am going to mention it anyway. I can't imagine how it could hurt me. I think inserting a phrase about into my SOP would be much too awkward, and I am already struggling to keep it under the word limit.

Depends. Does the committee usually do interviews?

Does it need to have any kind of address? I was just going to title it "Statement of Purpose."