katiegud

If you are really into statistics you want to include that, because you want a supervisor that can help you in that area. I only applied in the UK, where they want you to be really specific, but even there most of the profs said my project would be changing. They just wanted to know that I could put together a feasible idea. In your case, I like the second sentence you suggested better. It is specific, but you might mention other theories that you could use, or other topics that could stem from that if you wanted a broader range.

I am obsessively checking my emails as well. My letters are all finally in, so now I have nothing to do but wait. I've had one offer, but I won't find out about funding until March, so I can't even accept it yet! It's relaxing to be done, but stressful to not know if I'm moving next year or not.

Mine took about 2 months and letters of recommendation are still getting sent. It will probably be 3 months total by the time everything is in.

Thanks for the advice. I called them and everyone was really nice about letting me resubmit it, so hopefully it won't hurt my applications that I had to do that.

It's electronic.

UGH! When I copied my research proposal from google docs to word, it decided that Czech names should not have vowels. Since they are Czech, which I do not speak, I did not notice the misspellings. This proposal has already been sent to 3 universities. A prof that knows the author personally pointed out the error to me this morning. Do you think all the other places will notice?

I am applying to 6 universities. I have submitted 3 applications, but still need a personal statement for the other 3 and have lost all motivation to do them. I'm obsessively checking my status at the 3 I've sent in, even though it isn't likely to be updated yet. Thought maybe if I publicly said something about it I would be motivated to finish. Anyone else in the same boat?

Well, I am hoping to be one of those students, so I'll chime in. I got my MPA hoping that I could find work in the field I wanted (policy analysis) without having to do a PhD. After graduating and finding a job, I realized that researching what the state government requests is not necessarily what I want to be doing. My personal interest is in crime, but I have worked on taxes and economic development for the past year and a half. Without a PhD, I can only move up so far in most research organizations, or I could take a position in government administration (which now that I am involved with it, I do not want to do). With a PhD, I have a wider range of opportunities. Now I'm applying to PhD programs in public policy/social policy. That's just what happened to me, but I imagine that a lot of people that focused on analysis or research in their terminal masters programs probably came to the same conclusions.

Hi, I guess I'm joining this thread. I'm applying for a PhD in sociology/social policy, interest in organized crime and drug policies in Europe. At this point I'm focusing on UK schools. The biggest issue is going to be funding I think. I have found some potential supervisors at different universities and another that is considering it, which gives me hope that I'll get in somewhere. They require a research proposal and I'm a bit hung up on that. I'm trying to switch fields and I feel like I'm starting from scratch on the research front. Two masters degrees (education and public administration), but nothing in sociology. One of the profs said it didn't matter and I'm hoping he's right! Anyone else applying outside of the US?

I am a US student applying to programs in the UK. I know you are supposed to contact potential supervisors ahead of time, so I have been emailing. Some schools have said yes, we have people that will supervise that project, go ahead and apply. Some have said they are not interested in the subject. Some have not replied at all. Do I only apply to the schools that said yes? At Cambridge, for example, the only prof that looked like she matched my research interests said she wasn't interested, but not to let that stop me from applying because someone might be interested. That makes me feel like I should apply regardless, but I also don't want to spend a fortune applying to a bunch of schools that are not a good fit. Should I bother with the ones that didn't reply? Or should I try to find a different prof at the ones that said they weren't interested? I don't want to screw up my chances with an etiquette mistake, so some advice from UK students would be great! Thanks!

Thank you! He definitely looks Mafia oriented (I'm more into drug trafficking), but that is closer than most of the professors I've seen. I appreciate the help!

It is a non-US thing, I'm mostly applying in the UK. The proposal is supposed to be 1,000-2,000 words (depends on school). I have been corresponding with a professor from one of the schools, so I asked him if he thought it would hurt my application to have an unrelated background. He seemed to think it would be fine (social policy program, so most people don't have a directly linked degree). I'm not sure all schools will feel that way though. Having the recommenders address it is a good idea. I'm sure one of them would be willing to work it into a letter for me. That might allow me to submit a normal application without a lot of extras. Thanks!

The SOP thing is the problem. The schools I'm applying to (only have 2 so far with potential supervisors) do not ask for an SOP. They want a research proposal, but that seems like it should be focused on the project I want to do, not how I got to that point. Do you think I could work it in somehow? The biggest connection between everything I've done is that it tends to be policy related. Aside from some biological work early on, most of what I've looked at has been about public policy or social policy, and those are the departments that I plan to apply.

I would like to study transnational organized crime in the UK (more specific than that, but that's the shortest version). Does anyone know of organized crime specialists there? I have a couple of potential supervisors, but I'd like to apply to more than 2 schools and I'm running out of people to contact. My degree program would probably be in social policy or public policy, but since the focus is crime related I thought there might be somewhere here that has done work on the subject.

I think it depends on what type of job you want specifically. I have several friends that work in D.C. that did not go to school there (graduates from the University of Washington, Western Washington, and University of Nebraska are the ones that come to mind off the top of my head). If you want to work in something that requires local contacts it might matter, but I think most jobs look more at your skill set than your geographical location.

I think most schools specify which they would like. The ones I've looked at say CV (if they require one at all), but they are doctoral programs.

Not all the schools even ask for a CV. It's transcripts, research proposals, degree certificates, and references. Maybe somewhere on the online application it will ask for additional skills?

I have been contemplating a PhD for a long time. I have two masters degrees, excellent grades, and currently work in a research oriented job. However, I have never conducted research in the area that my PhD proposal is in. I've worked in scientific labs, non-profits, and government entities, so I know I have the skills to do research, I'm just starting to freak out that schools will write me off because I've never studied this topic. Or they'll think I look flaky because I have worked in so many different areas (literally molecular biology to tax reform). Is this a valid fear? The schools I'm applying to are primarily in the UK, and not all of them even require a SOP, just a research proposal. Can I plug my research skills in a proposal? Or does that need to be strictly about the project that I'm planning? Any advice is appreciated! Thanks! (The reason for the new topic, btw, is that it is of personal interest. I've always studied whatever a boss or committee wanted me to study in the past - hence the variety - but I want to study something that I am personally interested in for my PhD.)

Hi, I looked into the colleges at Oxford and there are several that support sociology (I'm actually social policy, but they tend to be the same colleges). Can you elaborate on your colleagues thoughts on Nuffield? What made it stand out from the other colleges?

I won a few awards in undergrad, but I graduated in 2003 and have since gotten two masters degrees. I'm not sure if I should include them now or not. They were also in my previous field of study. Any thoughts? Oh, and I did publish my undergrad thesis and will include that under publications, so I do have one more reference to that field.

I have an idea for a PhD topic, I've done some preliminary research, and I have someone willing to supervise it. However, I have never studied this before. On my application, are they going to expect that I have already done a masters thesis on it? Is it normal to research something unrelated to what you've studied in the past? Is that going to kill my chances of admission?

I have in my head the schools I want to apply to (Oxford, Cambridge, Toronto, etc.), but I don't feel like I fit in well with those departments. I have found schools that do exactly what I'm interested in though, and found a potential advisor that said he would be happy to supervise my project at the University of Leeds. Is it better to go to Leeds and do exactly what I want? Or to apply to a prestigious school that doesn't really study what I'm interested in? I feel like if I applied to Cambridge and Leeds and got in at both, I would feel like I "should" go to Cambridge for the ranking. Will it matter that much later on?

My background is all over the place, and I feel like that will hurt my chances in a PhD program. I would like to study Social Policy (or Public Policy and just focus on social). Sociology is another option (in which I could study the same thing, but under a different heading). However, my BS is in Animal Science (published thesis on antimicrobial resistant E. coli); I have an MEd in Science Education (unpublished thesis on the effectiveness of a school's health program in teaching students about HIV/AIDS); and I have an MPA (government emphasis, capstone was in economic development - where I ended up, not really my first choice). Currently I work in program evaluation for a state legislature, so I study whatever I'm being told to study at that point in time. Would it improve my chances to return to my science roots for the policy part? Should I lean towards health policy so it looks more connected? My original plan was to look at a criminology style subject (mandatory sentencing), but I am also very interested in health care and would be happy to study it for a few years (or longer, though I think I could branch out more later on). Should I figure out a health policy dissertation topic and pitch that? Or does it matter at this point since I already work in policy?

I am hoping to apply for a PhD in Public Policy (potentially Social Policy), but I keep seeing how important rankings are to everyone and I'm not sure which list to use. Some schools change rather dramatically from list to list. They are also usually listed as Political Science, which isn't necessarily the same department. I'm looking at schools outside the US, which confuses the lists even more! Does anyone know what the definitive "list" is for Public Policy? I was considering the University of Leeds and McMaster (Canada) due to research interests, but neither program is very highly ranked. How much does that matter? Sorry for all the questions, I'm new to this.