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Maleficent999

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  1. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to asq in Let's Talk Health Insurance   
    I'm on SHIP at a UC right now, and haven't experienced any problems or major inconveniences yet!
  2. Upvote
    Maleficent999 got a reaction from SocGirl2013 in Poll for advanced students & faculty: What were the most difficult aspects of graduate school?   
    Thank you for the insight and very thorough answer! I think as long as I can remember to be grateful that I'm doing what I want to do and getting paid for it, even when its hard, I will be fine for the most part. Personally, I'm going to try scheduling in some relaxation time. If I have it on my to-do list (I'm a big list person) then I'll feel good about checking it off while still getting to relax.
     
    To-Do:
    Study for such and such
    Write such and such paper
    Watch 1 episode of House of Cards...(x3 because who can watch just one episode?!)
  3. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to vaiseys in Poll for advanced students & faculty: What were the most difficult aspects of graduate school?   
    1. Honestly, I really had a hard time relaxing until after tenure. I'm not joking. Even now, it's often hard to switch off. That said, I tried to develop habits that let me separate my professional and personal life. I almost never worked at home during grad school, for example. I tried to leave work at work. But that also means being willing to be on campus at least 40 hours a week (more like 50-55 if TAing or teaching) and remaining really focused during that time (e.g., no [OK, very little] random browsing of the interwebs).
     
    2. In my somewhat limited experience, students who leave PhD programs tend to do it very early or too late. Some people realize quickly that this isn't for them and they get out. Good for them! Better to know sooner. Often they though academic soc was something it really isn't (e.g., saving the world). The ones who leave late seem to just struggle to get projects together. They are often very smart and well read but they just can't pull a coherent project together for some reason. (The ability to consume knowledge and produce knowledge are hardly perfectly correlated.) So they often end up slowly gravitating toward other things and eventually end up with other jobs. 
     
    3. Maintain reasonable anxiety. Don't worry about publishing in year 1. Just really soak in your classes. For your MA paper, take on something tractable so you can get the feeling of success under your belt before moving on to a more ambitious project. You're learning the research process so keep it simple. There will be time to change direction later if you want. And finally, try to be happy! Remember that you're getting paid to do something way more interesting than most people!
  4. Upvote
    Maleficent999 got a reaction from SocGirl2013 in Fall 2014 Sociology Interviews and/or Acceptances   
    YOU GO GIRL!
  5. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to SocGirl2013 in Fall 2014 Sociology Interviews and/or Acceptances   
    I claim the Stony Brook acceptance with full funding. SO stoked.
  6. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to faculty in Poll for advanced students & faculty: What were the most difficult aspects of graduate school?   
    You hit on one of the main things that I missed as a junior faculty member - relatively unfettered access to colleagues (faculty and other students) who I felt that I could safely (and easily) ask for help with things, without worrying if it somehow came off as weakness. There comes a time when you have to break off, at least in large part, from your advisor and establish yourself. My social networks were rich in other ways in grad school. Moving to a new place where I basically knew no one was hard (although it helps you focus on work). But the nearly singular focus on work is a luxury of graduate school. There is way more to do as a faculty member. I taught as a graduate student, but I taught one class a semester and/or summer. Teaching loads vary, but very few students will end up in a job where they teach that little. I was involved in service as a grad student, but not the amount I was as a faculty member. At a liberal arts college, this is mentoring undergrads in addition to serving on department and university committees and attending frequent social functions for the school. At a research school, you're mentoring grad students, serving on exam/theses/dissertation committees, and on the department and university committees. You're more likely asked to do external service as well, reviewing manuscripts and joining section committees. Of course your pay goes up, but the expectation that you start living like a grown-up makes expenses increase dramatically as well - housing, retirement, insurance, clothing budgets, taxes, etc. For me, student loans kicked in, too. I am further from home than I was as a grad student, so spend more money traveling in the summer or for holidays to see my parents and siblings (even with much less frequent visits). Some things you might have had in graduate school don't magically disappear: feelings of insecurity/impostorism, time management issues, work-life balance, coming up with (and funding/executing) research projects, etc. The pre-tenure years are tough, as you feel constantly evaluated and unsure of what the future holds. That might be a bit like grad school, but it's different.
     
    Those are just what come to mind. I feel a tinge of PTSD typing it all out as it's long behind me now. I would not change my job for the world. I absolutely love what I do, but transitioning into faculty life (and I hope you're all so lucky) makes most of us (albeit not all) long for the grad school days.
     
    Edited to add: As far as what students can do to better prepared... I do think that I was better off than most having taught, worked, been active service-wise, etc. in grad school. People who are singularly focused ("This semester I'll teach a class. Next semester I'll work on that paper. I don't have time to serve on a stupid committee.") fared much worse than I did. I also had a couple of papers and projects in the works and under review when I finished. Many of my peers had even more. That helps lessen the pre-tenure crunch. Be mindful of the loans that you take out as a student, as they'll have to be paid back at some point. Ask a lot of people (fellow students, faculty members, alumni) about their strategies for work-life balance, time management, and productivity. There's no one-size-fits-all approach, so it's helpful to get ideas from a lot of people and determine what works best for you. Make connections with scholars outside of your department, people who you can draw on and socialize with that help expand your professional network and are there to read drafts, bounce ideas off of, etc. - and maybe even working in the department that you'll one day work in. Those are just a few ideas...
  7. Upvote
    Maleficent999 got a reaction from astroyogi in The Quarter System   
    I haven't experienced the quarter system as a grad student (I will beginning in the Fall), but I did experience both the quarter and semester system as an undergrad. I transferred from a community college that operated under the semester system to a degree-granting institution that used quarters. It took a little adjusting at first, but I ended up liking it better. Things move much faster on the quarter system, which I liked because I'm a fast learner and under the semester system I got really bored with how slowly we got through the material. I had to make sure to pay attention all of the time instead of zoning out once I understood the material, but I don't like being somewhere if I'm not engaged so I prefer this. I've heard some professors say they don't like the quarter system because they don't get to teach everything about a topic that they would like, but personally I found that I learned a lot better with quarters, likely because I was more engaged (out of necessity). I have no idea what we did for 20+ weeks in one class with semesters now! 10-12 weeks is just the right amount of time to submerse myself in a topic in order to understand it and not get bored. If you (or a student) are struggling with the material, it certainly give you less time to realize it. With semesters, there was a lot more time to redeem yourself if you messed up a test or something but once I realized there wasn't that option with quarters, it definitely motivated me to pay attention more closely and utilize office hours. Overall, I think it is more efficient. I got to take a larger array of classes than I would have on the semester system and as someone that really enjoys learning, I appreciated this.
     
    So to sum up: Quarters mean you have to teach the material more quickly and be selective with what you include in your lessons. Some students may struggle with the pace, but I think if you emphasize not waiting until there is an issue to ask for help and encourage them to utilize office hours, it should be fine.
  8. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to threading_the_neidl in Competition among PhD students   
    That shouldn't be so bad, actually. By presenting your work thus far to the faculty and your respective mentors, the similarity in projects will be noticed and there's no way someone can bluff through their competitor being well ahead of them without looking desperate. You've totally got this! Kill 'em with data!
  9. Upvote
    Maleficent999 got a reaction from gingin6789 in Fall 2014 Sociology Interviews and/or Acceptances   
    I knew it would work out for you! Hooray! Congratulations again.
  10. Upvote
    Maleficent999 got a reaction from SocGirl2013 in Questions to Ask During Your Visits   
    I have a few pages of notes in my notebook with questions I want to remember to ask at my recruitment day. I'm at work so I can't whip it out and type them out right this second but I'll try to remember to add them later tonight. Hopefully they can help out some people.
     
    And thanks FertMigMort, I was hoping you were still around these forums! SocGirl is right, your thread was SO very helpful and I think this one will be as well! I'm going to add your suggestions to my list.
  11. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to threading_the_neidl in Competition among PhD students   
    Use this as motivation to finish your work fast and well. Don't rush things so much that your methods fall apart, but you already have a 6 month head start + probably a lot more a grounding in the literature since it seems obvious this person is poaching from your ideas, not independently thinking things up. Don't say a word to them about your work anymore, but get your stuff done and published.
  12. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to gingin6789 in Fall 2014 Sociology Interviews and/or Acceptances   
    University of Delaware director of graduate studies called me ... they haven't made any final concrete decision but he said "I can't tell you enough how impressed we are with your application."  So they're having me out there, all expenses paid, for a weekend (along with a handful of other applicants) to meet people and discuss life at UDel, etc ... so an unofficial acceptance?!
     
    EITHER WAY I AM FREAKING OUT WITH HAPPINESS!!!!  Please excuse the caps lock!! Stats are in my signature!!
  13. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to SocGirl2013 in Questions to Ask During Your Visits   
    FertMigMort, your reputation preceeds you. I am sure your AmA is half the reason half of us might be going to grad school next year. Thank you for that and for this because seriously, I have a Visit Day on March 5 and I am sitting here thinking everyone will ask really smart questions and I'll stare dumbly at everyone and say "I like food" (my research has a lot to do with food).
     
    So everyone who has been through this before, or is on the other side, more advice will be super helpful.
  14. Upvote
    Maleficent999 got a reaction from gingin6789 in What were you doing when you got accepted?   
    The night before I got my first acceptance I had a huge panic attack because one of my top choice schools had sent out some acceptances and I didn't receive one. That night I dreamt I woke up the next morning and checked my email to find I had been admitted. This actually woke me up because it seemed so real. I checked my email and I DID have an acceptance waiting for me, only it was from a different school entirely! I was still pleased because the school is in my top 3.
  15. Upvote
    Maleficent999 got a reaction from Space_Girl in What were you doing when you got accepted?   
    The night before I got my first acceptance I had a huge panic attack because one of my top choice schools had sent out some acceptances and I didn't receive one. That night I dreamt I woke up the next morning and checked my email to find I had been admitted. This actually woke me up because it seemed so real. I checked my email and I DID have an acceptance waiting for me, only it was from a different school entirely! I was still pleased because the school is in my top 3.
  16. Downvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to Fiz in How do grad students dress?   
    Yoga Pants mad da ass look amazing!!
    No complaints about da yoga pant wearers!!!
  17. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to SocGirl2013 in CUNY 2014   
    Thank you RandomDood. *Proceeds to diligently reiterate interest in the program*
  18. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to Curiouslyoptimistic in Applying for Fall 2014 Sociology?   
    What a slow week!  Hoping to hear from Yale soon.
  19. Upvote
    Maleficent999 got a reaction from socialequity in Fall 2014 Sociology Interviews and/or Acceptances   
    Can I just say how both terrifying and awesome it is to have a DGS around these forums?! This type of open communication should be the norm, in my humble opinion.
  20. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to vaiseys in Fall 2014 Sociology Interviews and/or Acceptances   
    Re Duke: check your spam folder first of all. A couple of our admits missed the message because it went to spam. If there's no message there, you are either not accepted or you gave us the wrong email address (it's happened!). As of now, I've either sent an email to or talked on the phone with every person who's been admitted. I don't know if all the waitlist folks have been notified though because the grad school does the notifying and they don't tell us.
     
    I know that this is a nerve-wracking time for many of you. I still vividly remember early 2002 and the stress I endured as I waited to hear back from programs. Even after I got into places I really liked, rejection still hurt. I really do sympathize. Good luck out there!
  21. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to SocGirl2013 in Applying for Fall 2014 Sociology?   
    Hahaha, no I am just exhausted of waiting so picked up the phone and called everywhere after I decided I don't care what the results are as much I care about knowing so that I can start planning the rest of my life lol. 
  22. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to Marcone in Fall 2014 Sociology Interviews and/or Acceptances   
    Really really appreciate you posting this. Was getting close to emailing myself. Thank you!
  23. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to AsdfEfnasdf in I got into grad school and so can you. Or, how to instrumentalize this process and love your iron cage.   
    This is a bit long and admittedly, I went a little crazy. However, I'd like to share the steps I took this cycle and the advice I received from graduate students and professors.
     
    F14 was my first cycle. I got one rejection this year. I applied to top ten programs.
     
    My background: I have a sociology degree from an elite institution. I worked for a bit before applying. I scored well in both sections of the GRE. I have a little research experience, but I have not published anything, nor have I ever stepped into a classroom.
     
     
    LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
    I was told several times that letters of recommendation have very little value. Yes, having an outstanding one from a BFD sociologist (Lamont calls you "one of my best students…") is huge. A connection to someone in the department is obviously significant as well (social relationships matter, Granovetter 1973 etc). However, for the most part, professors send generic letters -- by virtue of the fact that most good students are pretty similar and professors always have a number of other thing to do. Furthermore, given that sociology is an incredibly fractured discipline, it is hard to have a single rubric to evaluate undergraduate performance. Red flags are the real problem. If LoRs convey immaturity or other similar issues, that can quickly kill an otherwise golden application.
     
     
    GRE
    The GRE is important for two reasons. One, it is an initial screening mechanism at most schools (unfortunate, but necessary).
     
    The second way GRE scores are used is for merit funding that is dispersed by the graduate school or the social sciences division. How does one decide whether a economics grad student or a sociology grad student should get funding (besides the obvious morally correct answer)? GRE scores are one "objective" way to do so. My understanding is that GRE scores can thus be very important at institutions where funding is not controlled at the departmental level. Funding necessarily has consequences for admissions, and thus a good GRE score becomes a necessary condition.
     
    This is what worked for me: This nova math book and then the 5 LB manhattan prep book. One must then also get access to sample digital tests so one can master the pacing and the feel of digital testing. I spent about 3 months preparing and did so nearly every weekday. Berkeley has on their website the average admitted student's GRE scores. One can easily get those if one sets aside the time to do so. Do not forget the writing section either. Every bit counts. I also had to teach myself the reading comprehension section. Apparently actually having a decent daily academic reading habit doesn't help much here.
     
     
    STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
    Universally decreed as the most important part of the application. One must cover three things: first, past intellectual trajectory. Two, a hypothetical research project that demonstrates knowledge of the field. Three, one must identify with whom one will work with. Ok, good, we have all heard this before: fit matters and so on.
     
    Now, one may sit down and think, "Ok, I will write about my undergraduate thesis" or "I will describe my passion for subject X."
     
    Well, hold on for one second.
     
    If you reflect for a moment, perhaps you will conclude that you are not up to date on the most recent literature. You probably have "unknown unknowns". Regardless of how great your work is, perhaps it's not where the discipline is now. Furthermore, do you likely know what a really interesting project would be? For example, does sociology need yet another ethnography of an urban community? How about another survey finding that networks matter for health outcomes? Is there yet another way that we can demonstrate that economic actions are situated socially? I am not saying these topics are unimportant -- far from it -- but that if one really wants to stick out as an applicant, one must get strategic and try to move beyond some of the "tried and true".
     
    I first did the usual POI selection by research interest. However, I also picked POIs by their career trajectory. One should identify, I think, a recently tenured professor in her early 40s. This is ideal because:
     
    1. They are not going to get swamped with other requests to work with them.
    2. Coattail riding can happen. If one wishes to work with someone who is already well established and close to retiring, they may not lead one anywhere. Plus, older professors are likely more epistemological or methodologically inflexible.
    3. This is a little macabre, but worth keeping in mind: they will probably not die or retire soon. One's dissertation adviser is important for a long time, a quasi-marriage. You may need a LoR in 15 years.
    4. Younger professors will usually have contributed to just one or two bodies of work which one can master in order to write a well-tailored statement. In addition, they are probably more flexible when it comes to your own work, so if you decide you want to be an interpretivist postmodernist while previously you were a b-school positivist, you may get away with it.
     
    After I identified my POIs, I read nearly every article that they had published (getting access to JSTOR/academic article search from your UG institution is really essential), and used google scholar to track who was citing them and then read those papers. I had google alerts for a few of my POIs (hoping to catch if they posted working papers). I identified maybe three or four POIs per school.
     
    I then crafted statements directly tied to the literature that my POIs are engaging -- not just what their views are, but their interlocutors as well. I did not just want to be a close fit; I wanted to be a glove. Furthermore, the research projects I described were closely tied to existing work. My research proposal was thus very feasible and grounded in the relevant literature. My real intention was to signal that I knew exactly what was expected of me by the time I was ABD. Only about 50% of social science grad students (even at very good schools) actually complete their PhD in the US. Many people can be great students, but the personal ethic required to finish a dissertation is very demanding. Signaling competence and fit is thus the most critical "functions" of the SOP. Nota bene that whatever you propose in your SOP is probably not going to be your dissertation (and if it is, that might be a little disappointing given US PhD's focus on several years of coursework.)
     
    Of course, a literature review is not a statement of purpose. Regurgitation is for high school. I am simply suggesting that one should be very well-read and relevant. If one undertakes this route, one will also avoid trendy "buzzwords" topics (e.g. "A big data ethnography of the the neo-neoliberalization of online discourses: the case of shirtless Zizek Tumblr gifs in the age of Bitcoin" or whatever).
     
    Here are some other tips I received (most of which I think are very obvious to gradcafe members):
     
    1. One should probably eschew "activist research" or present one's self as some kind of 21st century soixante-huitard. Sociology dissertations do not end capitalism, sorry to say. Several professors bemoaned statements which contained long personal narratives about working in foreign countries or rough neighborhoods. Admirable certainly, but not necessarily relevant to the task that sociologists do (publish rigorous work). Furthermore, it is incredibly insulting and condescending to say anything like "I did TFA and now I care about poor people of color. Plus, I have seen The Wire." Though apparently every year, there are a few people who write this. Then again, Burawoy/Public Sociology movement also exists. Best not to wade in as a prospective graduate student I think.
     
    2. The related iffy statement of purpose is the "personal problem" one. Several professors brought this up as an issue as well. First, just because one has come from a similar background as one's intended subjects does not necessarily make one a good researcher. For instance, I doubt that my ability to read Durkheim or run regressions connecting social facts to mental illness has been dramatically improved by the few bouts of depression that I have had. Second, by highlighting personal problems, one can raise questions of competency. A few professors did mention that they occasionally like hearing a few details about an applicant though. A brief personal anecdote as an introduction might work well, but I avoided the personal all together.
     
    3. Avoid C. Wright Mills or other "pop sociologists". Mills was barely involved with the discipline (he didn't even mentor grad students). Merton and Bell dominated the actual enterprise of sociology at Columbia at this time. Speaking of Columbia, no-notebooks-tons-of-verbatim-quotes Venkatesh has been criticized by a few bright guys, most notably Bobo on issues other than his methods. Gladwell and David Brooks are probably just bad calls all around. Avoid citations like this and focus on "serious" work -- the bread-and-butter of sociology.
     
    4. Do not have a grand theory of society. As noted above, one enters school to be trained. One probably know very little (or has an inflated sense of what one does know). Be a little bit humble. One professor explained to me that the SoPs he truly hated are persons who engage in grand theorizing or academic posturing. "They are so young, how can they think they have it all figured out? Who are they trying to fool? You know I've been at this 23 years and would never write that." In another instance, a graduate student described a statement of purpose that used a number of sports analogies / inspirational poster quotes as theories of all aspects of social life, from gender to the causes of macro state conflict (think Vince Lombardi in lieu of Weber). I do not think it really worked for the audience. Likewise, "I was hiking the Appalachian Trial and as the sun was rising over the mountain, it dawned on me; we are all social creatures," is probably not a good opening line.
     
    5. I was told that at some places, teaching experience doesn't matter all that much. Sentences like "I know I would really enjoy teaching" may not be a good idea. One is entering a program to be trained as a researcher, primarily. Though I do understand that expectations on this probably vary greatly from department to department, particularly if significant teaching duties are core piece of grad student service. This is yet another piece that should be tailored I suppose.
     
    6. Many sets of eyeballs should read over your statement (duh, but apparently grammar and spelling mistakes are common). It should both pass "the grandmother test" (be able to explain it to your grandmother in a minute or so) and ideally a current graduate student should be brutal with you. So, have many friends of different intellectual backgrounds read it over.
     
    7. One piece of advice that I had a hard time following was that one should connect with current graduate students at your target schools and get a feel for the expectations of mentoring. At one extreme, there are departments that wish that one works very closely with one's adviser -- as Tilly once put it, be a little worker bee and add a little honeycomb to an existing hive of the literature. At the other extreme are places that expect graduate students to be very independent and only occasionally meet with their adviser ("benign neglect" was the phrase one professor used to describe places like Harvard and Chicago). Thus, an added dimension would be to not only signal fit in intellectual interests, but work style as well. However, I could not really figure out a good way of expressing this well with just a thousand words.
     
     
    WRITING SAMPLE
    This one you have less control over than the others. I was told that a class paper was ideal. It shows you in action. Apparently, even at very good departments, folks will argue very forcefully over whether an undergraduate paper is good or not. It's hard to imagine, but if you are a contender, perhaps Tienda and Zelizer are up late at night arguing about that barely coherent thing you wrote at 4 AM.
     
    Do not edit this paper. Turn in a copy that has been marked-up by a professor or an original copy that you handed in and make sure that this is somehow indicated. Showing a bit of integrity can matter. One grad student told me a story of an applicant who hit all the right marks and they were deciding between this person and one other applicant with a comparable profile. The other student had clearly not "freshened up" his writing sample and he was chosen for this display of ethics.
     
    I cannot really speak for folks who have publications. Perhaps I am very ignorant, but given that it is unlikely that a paper written by an undergraduate or a masters student is published in a very reputable journal, I am not sure how much of a bragging right one gets. I do suppose it depends on the type of paper as I imagine that a solid quantitative paper is probably much better than an undergraduate theory essay ("But this is not what Marx really means by capitalism!"). That said, if you are the third author because you did the data entry and there is some graduate student who was up late running stata or R all night, how much credit can one really claim? One professor commented that he preferred seeing high quality undergraduate work because it is exclusively the applicant's work and it gives a sense of the type of undergraduate education that the applicant had.
     
    My sample was a class paper with a few glaring grammar mistakes and I reproduced the comments from the professor -- a few strong detailed disagreements, though he did like the paper and gave me a good grade.
     
     
    RECAP
    1. Don't have red flag letters in your letters of recommendation.
    2. 3 months, 2 books and you can get  >160 on the GRE
    3. Approach the SoP like a research paper. Dig in deep. Be strategic (well-read and relevant), original and humble.
    4. Writing sample is important. Be honest with what you turn in.
     
    Rojas' *Grad School Rulz* is really worth picking up. 
     
    Above all else: know exactly why one is getting into graduate school and express that one understands the expectations  of the institution (in other words, signal homo academicus habitus.)
     
    Good luck all!
  24. Upvote
    Maleficent999 got a reaction from SocGirl2013 in Fall 2014 Sociology Interviews and/or Acceptances   
    Sorry, buddy
  25. Upvote
    Maleficent999 reacted to vaiseys in How important is a program's ranking?   
    I've been trying not to post here (don't want to throw off the grad student vibe) but I've got to jump in on this one. There is NO DOUBT that it's better to be the top person at (almost) any school than a middling student at any other school. The amount of heterogeneity within departments is MUCH larger than the amount between departments. The reliance on means and best-case scenarios really obscures that fact.
     
    I could also list many examples of people who got jobs "above" where they got their PhDs (myself included). I don't want to call attention to any of my friends or colleagues but there are lots of examples out there.
     
    Last rant item: don't confuse selection effects with treatment effects. If top departments get their first choice of students at admissions time, it's no wonder they they go on to have the best "placements." We'd expect the same thing even if there was no effect at all of going to the program. An analogy: if two or three NFL teams got the first draft picks every single year, we wouldn't be surprised if they went on to win a lot of games. Don't confuse draft pick priority with coaching ability.
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