MarcusXavier

Sorry to bring up an old topic, but I would love to hear from people who are currently in programs and also what GRE scores they had--especially if they applied to a Top 20 school. I got my scores today for my Analytical and it was troubling. 4.5, which is in the 63rd percentile. My Verbal was a 710 and my Quant was a 760, so I'm not worried about those. But everywhere I look it seems most departments settle around a 5.3 average for the Analytical. What sucks even more is that unlike if I had found out my Verbal or Quant scores sucked (three weeks ago when I took the exam), now I can't go back and reschedule a new exam since its so close to the deadlines. Anyway, if people on here could give up their schools and where they got in/rejected in the last round it would be very much appreciated.

Guys, So I'll probably be applying this year and I'm really interested in the Sociology of Science and also in the Sociology of Knowledge (I'm using this in the sense of studies of things like Information, Art, and Culture). It appears that some other people here share my interests in the Sociology of Science. It would be great if people could post some info about sociology departments or specific researchers who are doing a lot of interesting work on the Sociology of Science. I'll start: History and Sociology of Science at Upenn: http://hss.sas.upenn.edu/mt-static/ Dept. of Science and technology at Cornell http://www.sts.cornell.edu/ STS at Wisconsin http://www.sts.wisc.edu/ All these places seem to be focused on Science specifically. It would be great to find a sociology department that had a strong sociology of science background as well as other programs in knowledge and culture. I would appreciate any help in cultivating info. Please add whatever you can.

Bumping this thread because I'm planning on e-mailing a professors in different departments fairly soon. I went to the website listen, but I felt I could learn more about what people on here have actually written. Anybody want to post a sample letter they've written or specific questions they've used to convey their interest?

Why? I just checked the GRE website and they state that scores are sent out 10-15 days after the test is taken. Why wouldn't late October or early november not be okay?

Hey guys, What would you say is the latest time I can take the GRE and still have the scores sent to the school in time? I've noticed the earliest application dates are December 1st.

Guys, Thanks for all your responses. Looking around at various sites I'm still a bit thrown. Some places are asking for 15 page papers, others (like Harvard) say the sample is optional, and other places are kind of nebulous about what exactly they want. I have one research paper I did for a research methods class that is mostly based on simple SPSS based GSS analysis and not that great in terms of the theory or conclusions . All the other papers are short papers that were mostly papers related to interpreting readings in class.

Hey guys, New on the board. I am thinking about applying to grad schools this year and started doing research on different departments. I think I should be fine regarding grades and LORs, but the thing that worries me a bit is the writing sample. Is there anything in particular admissions people are looking for in terms of length or content. I didn't do a thesis as an undergrad and although I was a sociology major, I only took the minimum number of classes needed since I also carried a biochemistry degree. So I only have about 4-5 papers that are of decent quality and they are by in large qualitative and most aren't more than 10-12 pages long. Did people here touch up what they wrote or did you guys write entirely new papers before sending them off as a sample? I noticed some department sites don't even mention sending in a writing sample. Any input you guys could give me would be really appreciated.