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Awarded. E/VG E/E E/E for Social Sciences (International-based projects) First year graduate student, no publications, but heavy emphasis on BI. Please feel free to message me if you have any questions about applying for the social sciences. Reading past proposals really helped me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Full-funding at both schools, although UMich is slightly more. I also have external funding attached to both programs. My biggest concern has been about rankings versus placement. Indiana is ranked lower, but has been placing students very well in solid academic positions. My research interests are: China, gender, and mixed-methods. Thank you!

I have declined my Northwestern offer. I spoke with a few professors and the fit just wasn't there. I still love the program though (and their funding package:) Thank you for all of your help! Interestingly, I still haven't turned down Indiana yet. They've been placing very well lately and I'm wondering about that?

It's difficult because I know that Northwestern is recruiting me to do Comparative Historical. One of my confusions over Michigan has been that students have such different funding packages. Does that create jealousy among students? Some have so many extra fellowships that they don't do any teaching. Does that impact how well they do on the job market if they spend all of their time researching?

Thank you for posting this. My undergrad sociology advisor told me this almost word for word last year. How do you feel about speciality areas? I've been talking to a few China specialists who keep warning me about "pidgeon-holing" myself. Do you think that specializing in a specific geographic area helps or hurts you on the job market?

Out of curiousity--why shouldn't I discount Indiana? I hear great things about the program, but I still don't know much about it. Indiana has told me that their job placement is better than Michigan, but I'm still a little confused about that.

Okay, so I'm feeling really naive about making a decision. I'm currently living overseas and could not attend any visit days. I am very fortunate to have these offers, but have no idea which school I should pick. I have been researching in China on a Fulbright fellowship for the past 8 months doing qualitative research. However, I am not interested in continuing qualitative, international research. I am hoping for a program that will train me in quantitative methods and also be supportive of my interest in continuing to focus on China. Both schools are fantastic. I do not really understand all of the job placement data. Is there a huge difference between a T-5 school and a T-10? I was also accepted to Indiana University, but I'm not sure if I should consider it at this point. I've heard such positive things about the program, but I'm not sure if it would be wise to turn down a T-10 school for Indiana. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I did my undergrad at a small liberal arts college (ranked 30-50) in the Midwest. It is not a prestigious school, and is in a rural location 1 hour from the nearest city. When our small sociology department had an opening for a tenture-track position, they received more than 200 applications. Anyway, the department was absolutely giddy--they had their pick of candidates from T-20 schools for the first time. They hired a Wisconsin graduate for the tenure-track position and even picked up a Berkeley graduate for a visiting position. My academic advisor had warned me that more people than ever were trying to get into sociology graduate school due to the economic recession at that time. Even though the OP says sharp words, I am not surprised. All of my advisors told me the exact same thing. I am not saying I agree. I am just noting what I've heard. It's nothing new at this point.

I am currently on a Fulbright in China. There have been some people who have talked about early termination. The general consensus is that once you make it past the 6th month mark of your grant, your supervisor might be willing to negotiate a letting you leave earlier. However, there would be monetary consequences for us. They would deduct our stipends based on how many days earlier we wanted to leave. PM me if you want to chat

Anyone seriously considering accepting the University of Michigan? I will be unable to attend visit days, and am very interested in your thoughts on this program. Thank you!

So health insurance is fairly important. I have heard bad and good things about different schools' health insurance plans. I'm wondering: which schools do you think have the best health insurance plans? Which schools do you think have the worst?

I really appreciate this comment. I have met some amazing graduate students who have offered wonderful advice over these forums. I'm a first generation college student and often feel naive about the admissions process. People have been truly helpful and kind. I spoke with a current Fulbrighter (PHD student at a top school) about sociology grad admissions and she constantly reminded me that admissions are sometimes illogical. Don't worry and move on. She's at a different program than she'd intended, and four years later is doing ground-breaking research in China.

Accepted to Northwestern. I'm super excited In everywhere I applied so now have to start thinking about decisions and such. I cannot visit since I'm in China, but I'm hoping that professors will be willing to skype.

In at Indiana! I only applied to four schools so I'm very happy to have choices. Their financial offer seems a bit low. Anyone else feeling that? And--there is a lot of information about additional school fees.

Yeah, I'm also wondering about the Indiana admit. The DGS called me in China on Tuesday to interview and said that admission decisions would be sent out by the end of this week! Keep your fingers crossed!

Let the grad school fights begin! No, just kidding. I've been living in China for the past 6 months and doing long-distance with my boyfriend of 5 years. Neither of us are willing to do long distance again when I return to the U.S. this summer. However, the job market has been rough in his field (political consulting/organizing) and he has been boucing from temp job to temp job. We had originally intended to apply to the same schools where he hopes to get his MA. However, my academic advisors strongly advised me to apply this year. My boyfriend, on the other hand, decided that it's too soon to apply to his programs. I only applied to four PHD programs, and was accepted to my top choice. Even though I'm still waiting to hear from other schools, he's already convinced that we're looking at an additional 5+ years apart. I don't want to put off grad school for another year. Any advice?

Hello everyone! I apologize as I have not been able to get internet for awhile. Accepted to the University of Michigan! I am also currently waiting for a Skype interview at Indiana. I am on a Fulbright in China right now and will not be able to go to any visit days. I'm going to really be relying on these forums!

Hi everyone! Greetings from China! Looks like I'm out of the running this year. I retook the GREs and things are not looking good. 1st attempt: 154 Q/164 V 2nd Attempt: 161 Q/158 V. I'm disappointed in the verbal drop, but I barley speak any English where I'm living. Since many schools seem to be unwilling to consider multiple score sets, I'm going to try and stomach another retake after my Fulbright ends. Not looking forward to it at all! Best of luck to everyone

Which university are you from in China? I'm currently a research fellow at ZheDa.

Thank you! On another note: how important are visit days? I am going to be overseas until June, and am wondering about not being able to attend visit days for admitted students?

University of Michigan and Indiana University.

This seems to be a huge topic for myself and my fiancee. I am currently living in China, and he does not want to do additional years apart. For me, it is not so much location, but the cost of living. I grew up in the mid-west, and like the cost of living there much better than the east coast (where I have lived most recently). For example, I have a friend at Indiana University who is paying around $550 a month for a nice apartment (and she even has a dog!). Contrastly, my friends in Boston are paying $1500+ per month in rent. I know that there's variability concerning stipends, but the cost of living in different locations is definitely something to consider.

Hello everyone! Does anybody here have experience taking the GRE in China? I will be in Hangzhou for the next 10 months, and am debating retaking the GRE while I am there. Thank you!

Hello everyone! I understand that you have been asked this a million times, but I am going to kindly ask you to please let me know what you think. I am currently debating about applying this fall: I recently finished my BA in Women's Studies and Sociology at a liberal arts college. My undergraduate GPA was 3.75, with the last 2 years and major GPAs being 3.87+ I completed an Honors Thesis, which I defended to an outside examiner. A chapter from this thesis would be my writing example. I am leaving next week on a Fulbright Research Grant in Sociology to China where I am hoping to gather data for future papers. Here is my problem: the GRE. My scores are Q:154 V:164. I am looking for qualitative programs, but am weary that my quant score will not make the cutoffs at many schools. If I retake, I will need to do it while I am in China. I am not sure how that will work! What do you think? Should I apply this year or wait until I get back, retake the GRE, and apply next fall? Thank you for your advice!

It definitely sounds like sociology would be very good for you. One of my professors in undergrad had a sociology PHD, but focused on criminology as her main area of research expertiese. As a result, the college hired her to help launch its new "Law & Society" concentration. Also, sociology is a very diverse program of study where you find programs that offer certificates or specialized study in the area you're interested in pursuing. If you're interested in political science, I also had a professor who was a political sociologist and taught such classes as "Dictatorships and Democracy." He was a recent graduate of Brown--maybe look there?