Maleficent999

I'm going to bump up this discussion since it is increasingly pertinent now that deadlines are nearing! Hello! I received my BA in political science and minor in psychology this past June. I am applying to PhD programs in sociology for 2014. I have a 3.73 upper division and overall GPA and graduated with honors. My GRE practice scores have been in the high 150s quant and low 160s verbal but I hope to be in the 90th percentile when I take my test in mid-October. I've been prepping like a madwoman. I don't have any publications under my belt but I was an RA in the culture and health lab at my undergrad institution through which I was second author on a poster presented at a conference and first author on a paper that I was invited to present at an international conference (and did). I've also done several independent research papers including a 60-page senior thesis. All my recommenders have promised me "glowing" or "A-grade" letters of recommendation so I'm not worried about that at all. My interests are the intersections of sexuality/gender, race, and deviance/social control. I'm looking into programs with a specific focus in social justice or deviance/social control. I'm particularly interested in racial/gender/sexuality stratification in deviances and social control. Any ideas what schools I should look into? Currently my list is: UC Davis UCSC UCLA UCB UT, Austin UW, Seattle NIU maybe Northwestern.

I am also applying for the Fall 2014 admissions season in sociology and I'm taking my GRE on the 19th of October!! Good luck! I've had a bit of both good and bad luck finding fit. I've emailed most professors I'm interested in working with. Some responded very well (one practically wrote me a book about projects she is working on) and others have hardly answered my questions or let me know they won't be working with grad students next year. One thing I've noticed is that in sociology (as compared to social psychology, which I'm also familiar with) is that professors don't seem to be AS connected to the admissions decisions. A lot of POIs have emailed me back saying they don't have a hand in the admissions decision but that they would like to work with me should I get admitted by the committee. My background is in sexuality, gender, criminology, and deviance/social control. It's been a bit of a struggle to find people to say the least. I think I'll be applying to about 6-8 schools.