Hello all,
I'm finishing up my BA at a small liberal arts college and am currently worried about my chances of admission into a Ph. D program. I know I want to pursue sociology (as a result of many life experiences, I wish to understand the intricacies of poverty, racism, and Capitalism in the United States). My stats aren't that good at this point, however.
- about a 3.06GPA (3.3 major GPA) -- like a lot of people, I started off very poorly and slowly got it together. I'm a student of color and found myself at a small, predominantly white school and had a tough time adjusting over the first two years of so at school.
- GRE scores (taking it on Saturday) but my averages of practices so far put me at: 157v/ 153q (73%/ 53%).
- One conference presentation
- Two research papers for classes (one of which I presented on at the conference, neither published)
- Experience as an RA for some research on racism
I am pretty certain that my Statement of Purpose will be very focused and my LOR's will be strong. But I know the type of people I'm competing with will be those rockstars with the perfect GPA's and awesome GRE scores. With my stats, is a Ph. D admission feasible? (my TOP top choice is a top 10 that I'm not too hopeful on, many of my other top choices are in the 15-30 range.)
I have asked for advice from others, and some people suggested pursuing a terminal Master's degree. I'm almost certain I would not be able to afford it without some sort of funding, and from what I hear, funded Master's programs are few and far in between. With my specified stats, would the terminal Master's degree be the better choice (in terms of getting me into a funded Ph. D program eventually)?
Thanks for any and all advice.