meowth

I haven't heard anything back from grad schools for a full month now. I'm so glad I got that acceptance in January or I'd be really dying right now. No news in February at all, unless someone sends something this evening...
 
Some rejections for closure at this point might be nice though. Didn't think I'd be waiting long enough to make a "Probably not accepted" category in my signature.
 
They'll probably all be coming in at once. That'll be a sad day.

I see an acceptance to University of Chicago for Sociology Masters... do they mean MAPSS? Didn't think that Chicago did terminal sociology masters.

I have a D+ too, but from sophomore year, but by the end my overall GPA ended up at 3.6 and I still got summa cum laude.
 
When I first started doing my graduate school applications I wanted to mention how I started out in another major and just didn't do too hot, but it just sounded like too much of an excuse and like my later major was a "backup" (which it kind of was but) which I didn't want to do because I really, really love my major(s) way more than that one I was in when I got the D+. Other than that, I don't really want to mention mental health things either even if they were maybe a contributing factor.
 
So... I just didn't mention it at all! It was in a class totally unrelated to my majors and what I'm going to grad school for. Everyone makes mistakes, and I did well enough otherwise that I don't see the point in dwelling. Especially since it was only in sophomore year (and in your case, freshman year I think shows even more it was just an oops.) I think it also helps that I've already graduated though, so I was able to show that I did consistently well the rest of the time in school to make up for it.
 
The only time I've had to list now is on one app that asks for all my mathematics and stats classes. I think it has me list them assuming whatever I add is an extra thing, a good thing, but instead now I have that D+ staring me in the face when and I'm just thinking "I really don't ever need that advanced of math for program anyway and it should be good I got that far at all."
 
If they ask about it in a follow-up anything, sure, I'll explain. Otherwise, I mean, it's no secret but I'd rather focus on my strengths and on my education that's actually relevant.
 
(But if your D+ is in a psychology or history class I guess I'd suggest explaining it!)
 
(Also, I haven't actually gotten in anywhere yet, so who knows.)

Even though you have not officially accepted the first school's offer, if you have already 100% made up your mind to go to a certain school, then I think it is not ethical to attend visit weekends/interviews under the false impression that you are still considering attending these other schools. I am assuming that you have already 100% made up your mind otherwise why would you tell the first school unofficially/via phone your decision (unless that was just a mistake in the heat of the moment). If you are not 100% sure about the first school, it's perfectly fine to visit all the other schools first and then make a decision. 
 
However, if you are 100% sure about the first school, then I can't think of a good reason why you would want to visit all these other schools anyways. I think it would be pretty selfish to do this only so you can talk to other professors and try to impress them / show off how good you are. A lot of people--students, staff, faculty--put a lot of time and effort into arranging these visits so that they are informative and fun for the visitors. You would be a waste of their efforts, or even worse, you'd be taking advantage of these efforts in order to try to network/talk to these professors! If you want to network, attend a conference, that is what they are for. Prospective visits are for providing information about the school to the applicants/prospective students! 
 
If you need more reasons to not go on a visit when you have no intention of attending the school:
1. They take a lot of your time.
2. You may be denying someone else who is actually interested in the school a chance to visit (even if you sign the official letters by March 15, it may be too late for a waitlisted person to even visit).
3. You will have to keep up false pretenses the entire time.
4. It could burn a lot more bridges than it's worth if people find out. 
 
Again, what I said above only applies if you are 100% sure about the first school and you have absolutely no intention at all of attending the school you are visiting. If you are still not sure, then it's fine to visit to help inform your final decision. 

I got accepted to University of Florida today, funding for four years. This is my alma mater and the one the program that invited me to visit earlier this month (and which is did go visit). However, someone that also visited those days got a rejection last week, so I guess it's true they hadn't 100% decided yet. (I think that's unfortunate... we got along well, and the program implied that we were all fairly likely to get in. Oh well.)
 
At the time this was due (Dec 1) I also sent in an application to the Women's Studies MA program, but that wasn't due until January 15 and now today they emailed me saying I'm missing some documents. I'm unsure if I should finish the application, or withdraw it? I heard that this program actually does offer some funding, but it would be silly to turn down a PhD program for a terminal MA (there is no Women's Studies doctoral program here), right? ...Actually, I think I answered my own question. I should probably just withdraw it and give other people a chance.
 
Besides, all the professors I'm interested in are affiliated with both sociology AND women's studies, so sociology should be fine. (As much as a love our Women's Studies department... I can get a grad certificate in women's studies and/or take elective classes in women's studies.)
 
Anyway, I'm excited I got in somewhere! It might not be high-ranked program or anything, but I'll still be happy even if this ends up being my only acceptance.

It's been a year (and a day) since this came out....but I think we could all use it.
 
Good luck you guys!
 

Beautiful hashtag, glad to have something else to look at on twitter now (I already follow lolmythesis). I think I'm going to have to retweet "sick of being a barista."
 
Yesterday I met a professor from the sociology department and she was like, "I've seen you somewhere... do you work at ____?" "Yes, did I make you coffee?" "Yes, it was good! And the other day you made me a smoothie!"
 
I mean, at least she didn't know me for BAD coffee.
 
But those inspiring quote images in the hashtag... It's amusing that they think "truthful statement of purpose" means a "statement full of purpose and full of truth" or something like that? Not quite right.

In all fairness, the applicants seeking out Grad Cafe and posting their stats are more likely to have better stats than those who don't seek out the forum or post their stats:)

I keep feeling like I'm done already but I still have two applications due the 15th, one on Feb 1st, and on the 15th.
 
It's like, "Ah, isn't three enough...?" Except of course I won't find out about any of them until probably all the rest are due.

...when your POI leaves you 2 hours to prepare for a Skype interview, you realise that you'll have to do it in your dorm room, and spend this time removing the pink glitter cowboy hat and the left over halloween decoration from the walls, instead of preparing for the interview. I noticed the full drying rack with my underwear was in the picture 5 minutes before the interview was scheduled and shoved it into the bathroom.

half.com (the ebay for books)

A library..? I hear they're free and can get pretty much anything.

^ Most sociology programs don't do interviews. Visitation weekends are usually held over late February-late March. This sounds like an informal type invitation that's usually extended out to local students. In any case, try to have fun. Which other programs are you applying to?

i'd encourage you to keep quiet about your applications in different disciplines, should you get an interview/visitation invite to any of those programs. most adcomms are particularly wary of students who apply to a bunch of different fields. not saying there's anything wrong with that, but you might want to keep it to yourself to boost your chances of getting in.

^^^^Does this program do formal interviews as part of their recruitment drive? If so, I'd suggest you learn as much about the department/program as you possibly can before you go to this event. Maybe read some of the faculty's recent publications and look up their graduate students for info on the type of research going on there.
 
If they do interviews, you will most likely be asked "why sociology? why this department/school? why do you think you'd be a good fit? what do you want to do after you graduate?" type questions. Do your homework, basically. If you have some research experience or a masters thesis, expect to be asked a few basic questions about what type of research you do and why you're interested in what you're interested in.
 
Expect to be wined and dined, and try to be chatty and social. Be polite and respectful of people's time and interest in you as an applicant. Don't be loud or obnoxious. Don't get into any theoretical/philosophical debates with anyone, even those you disagree with. Don't be a jerk.
 
Most importantly, have fun!
 
Now, if the program doesn't do interviews, and you know you're basically accepted and attending a "visitation weekend" type thing, then you can go ahead and ignore most of what I said above. Still though, be nice and try to learn as much about the department as you possibly can. The idea is to make the right decision for your future!
 
Good luck.

Hi @meowth! It sounds a lot like the recruitment event I went to in October at NCSU. We had a full two day agenda where we listened to faculty panels, graduate student panels, were able to ask questions, and we toured the building where we would be researching if we're accepted. Definitely email any faculty who you're interested in working with and try to schedule a couple of minutes to introduce yourself and ask about their current projects.  Good luck!!
 

You're a first semester freshman. You have plenty of time to get your GPA up, change your mind twenty times, and get everything in order for an application. Besides which, a 3.5 isn't going to keep you out of grad school if it's balanced with other good things (research experience, clear research goals, letters of recommendation, etc.). The GPA is just one, imperfect measure, and grad schools do not expect you to be perfect. Some grad schools will even make exceptions for sub-3.0 GPAs (in highly competitive Ph.D. programs) IF the candidate has other things going for them.
 
Take it from this former Res Assistant, Tour Guide, and Teacher Assistant (i.e. a lot of experience with freshmen): do as well as you can in school, of course, but do not reduce yourself to numbers. Establish solid relationships with the faculty, take advantage of every opportunity you can, and remember to take a few social breaks for yourself. My first semester was also my lowest - there's a lot of adjustment and learning. 

I agree that when trying to correct behaviour, an intimidating response without teaching the offender what they did wrong is not helpful. In the ideal world, if a student has offended me (e.g. the way your roommate offender her advisor), I would be able to stand up for myself, let the student know what they did wrong, and also do it in a way that prevents them from offending others in the future. But I should not be obligated to follow through all these steps in my student's best interests--even as an advisor, I have the right to work in an environment free from offensive behaviour, and it would be my prerogative to simply let the offender know they have offended me and then distance myself from this person. Helping them understand and adjust for the future should be something I'd do if I felt comfortable, not something that I have to do.
 
By the way, just be to really clear, your roommate was not offensive because she failed to call someone with a PhD as "Dr." It's not simply the fact that some professors insist on a title instead of a first name basis and that your roommate was just lacking respect/deference . If I didn't make it clear in my above post and the linked article, your roommate was making a sexist remark. So while I agree that in the ideal case, the person offended would be able to educate the offender and prevent future offenses, I don't think it's fair to say that the anyone should have to endure sexism/racism and other discrimination in order to educate the offender.

These little pedagogical moments.
 
Unless you're teaching at a private school, you're dealing with open enrollment policies. This means that the kind of writing education your students get are hit and miss. Most of them don't know email etiquette. They don't know how to write in a professional manner. They don't know that what they've written is never read in the same tone of voice in which they wrote it. They flat don't know.
 
At the beginning of the course, I talk about professional aspirations, advocating for yourself (and how to do it), impressions they can make, and why they should care about those impressions.My university has an email account for all students, and some of them have their mail forwarded to their personal accounts, and then respond from there. I've had emails from puerile and pubescent email addresses. I've had whiny emails. Entitled emails. Texts from people who never identify themselves and get snotty about it. Students who think they can discuss their paper via text message. Students who can't spell my name (in all fairness, Daniele isn't normal). And so on.
 
Preemptive. I teach lower division courses, so I expect this kind of self-entitled ignorance. I give them permission to text me, but also make it clear that they should never, ever text someone in their professional and college lives without prior permission. Texting is just too casual right now. I tell them that texting on professional concerns, without prior permission to do so, has the implied message: I don't respect you. I discuss email etiquette, and why they should care (you're not going to get a letter of recommendation for your dream job when you email your profs from superprinces69@xxx.com, or show up late all the time in your PJs. It tell them that I am Ms., not Dr., because I am a PhD student. I tell them that they should always err on the side of flattery when emailing someone in the university, if they don't know the titles, because demotions are insulting. Example, if you tell someone you're a student, would you like it if they ask you when you're graduating from high school? Then we talk about familiarity and how to compose an email. And what kind of rights they have as to response time. None. At all. Deal with it. Then we talk about tone and writing, and what kind of tone is appropriate for an academic setting, and how tone is different in various disciplines.
 
I don't do this for classes that don't have many freshmen in them, actually.

1) Both of my parents have their high school diplomas. Neither of them went to college. They both came to America in their early 20s to start a family and a business. My older brother attend a community college for about a year or two before I graduated high school. He ended up stopping for a few years and is just now going back to school. I am the first in my family to graduate with a Bachelor's degree.
 
2) Most of my family members didn't really understand the stress that I faced while I was in college. They did not understand why I was studying if I never had homework. I wasn't allowed to move out for my undergraduate degree, so I spent a lot of time at home studying...and  as the oldest female in my family, I was expected to help around the house A LOT. It sucked being home most of the time because I could never get any work done. 
 
3) I feel like I've accomplished quite a few things. I did not think I would see myself in academia or research. But somehow I found myself drawn to the area. My family expected me to graduate, get a decent job, and begin my life after 4 years of college. Though I think now they see that I have done a lot in terms of research and that, with enough effort and motivation, I can really make a difference somehow. 
 
 
4) The need to know more, passion, and really awesome professors and mentors.  Also, the need to prove a lot of people wrong. A lot of people (mostly my mom's sisters and nieces/nephews) think I'm an idiot and that I won't achieve much. I've slowly worked my way to make them scared/eat their words. There's no better motivation than hearing people say that you should not even go to college. They used to tell me that I should get some secretary/receptionist job. 
 

I'll start!
1) I'm the first in my family to obtain a college degree and to seek graduate-level education.
 
2) My (single) mother attended only a semester of college in her home country and was generally unable to provide me with any guidance while I was applying to college in high school. Don't get me wrong--she was very supportive, but I honestly had no idea what I was doing. I only applied to one school, and I got in, so I went there. BIG MISTAKE. It was a terrible experience. I ended up spending the first three years of my undergraduate studies trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Luckily, I "found myself" in year three, and transferred to a new school for year four. I worked hard to become a competitive PhD applicant--something I decided I wanted to pursue during my fourth and fifth years of school--but I am still very doubtful of myself. Again, I feel somewhat lost during the graduate application process, and this time I have no parental support; my mother has NO IDEA what graduate studies are or what anthropology/archaeology is or why I'm applying to schools all over the country or how big of a deal this is.
 
3) I felt that I pulled together some semblance of an aspiring academic during the last two years of my undergraduate studies. Research, fieldwork, volunteer work, non-profit job, pulled up my GPA, etc. I hope it's enough!
 
4) A. My husband has been so supportive of me! He is just now seeking a bachelor's degree (late 20s) but has been an excellent dude, all around.
B. My previous professors. Though I graduated last year, I've stayed in contact with a few, and they've been incredibly helpful with my applications.
C. Finally finding something I'm passionate about.

1. My mother was the first woman accepted into a prestigious all male school for engineering back in the day. She was also nearly expelled for refusing to stand up for the pledge of allegiance in high school, and that did in fact cost her the title of valedictorian. She only breifly attended college from what I understand - dropping out to work as a photographer and editor for a sewing magazine before getting married and having kids (including me.) Father was a firefighter and then a police officer - at one point a detective for "violent crimes" and "special victims" (yes that department actually exists.)  My older sister was some named rank in high school - saluditorian? - and was off to college with a full ride but for whatever reason quit. I think she hated organic chemistry - she had wanted to be a forensic anthropologist. She teaches middle school science now. My other sister had a brief stint in design school. I'm the first to get my BA and the only one to ever even apply to graduate school (attended, dropped out, trying for a new program now.)
 
2. Lack of family support, and lack of funding since no one works a terribly well paying job. I went to college on my own, found funding on my own, etc.. there was no teary moment of getting dropped off at campus dorms for the first time and getting care packages. Nope, I commuted from home to Major U nearby and had a job for most of my undergrad (until upper level when the department started paying me to hang around.) No one cared about my grades, no one made sure I got to anything on time, no one ever even asked how I was doing. It was all on my own and many times I was asked if it was worth it or if it would really help my job prospects or career. "You could take that management promotion work offered you and drop out, it might be for the best..."
 
3. I was accepted and funded previously, hoping to do so again.
 
4. Will power.

My parents were both community college drop-outs (so their highest education is high school), so I'm the first to go to college for more than a year, actually graduate with a degree, and now applying to graduate school.
 
Even in high school my parents couldn't really help me with anything beyond basic encouragement because they didn't really know most of stuff I was doing, and they were even more lost trying to understand what I did in college! They're both good in their fields (civil engineering and computer programming respectively) but they've worked up the ladder for a long time (from soil tester and secretary respectively) and that's different than learning the stuff at a university. But, I also think they might've been some of the last of a generation actually able to work their way up without a college degree, and if they ever lost their jobs at their companies, I'm not sure they'd be able to get back into the workforce very easily despite so many years of experience. It's just different. I'm lucky to say I don't think I've struggled very much; it probably helps that I'm white, U.S.-born, my parents were also U.S.-born, etc.
 
I'm doing fine... graduated summa cum laude, found fields that I love, applying to graduate school.
 
Even though my parents didn't got to college, they always expected me to, so that really helped! Yet they also never told me I had to do one thing or another. Like, even if I hadn't gone to college they probably would've been okay (but I was always did well in school so that probably would've surprised them). I've been pretty self-motivated and I liked being given pretty much free reign and very few expectations. They were a little worried that I'm taking a year off post-graduation and working crappy jobs while applying to graduate school, but now that I've been doing fine with that I think they're less worried.
 
I'm still surprised when I hear people talking about their parents going to college, graduate school, sometimes even in the same fields! It's hard to imagine.

GRE scores should be sebt electronically, so theoretically they should get there pretty fast once you actually get your grades on them and pay for them to be sent over. That's what it sounded like when I asked my school if they still had my GRE scores; like, they're all just on the computer somewhere.
 
Which really makes you wonder why it costs $25 to send each one, ugh.

12:00: "Feeling pretty confident... almost worried about getting TOO MANY interviews and then having to choose between interviews that fall on the same day. Why don't all the schools have their interview dates posted yet?? I want to start scheduling flights!"
 
1:00, same day: "Who the hell am I kidding? I'll be lucky if I get ANY interviews. I just re-read the SOP I already submitted to schools and now I want to die. What was I thinking writing that garbage?!?"
 
1:30, same day: "Why haven't my letter writers submitted all their letters yet? Should I send another reminder? Should I stop by my adivsor's house to see if wants me to drop the to-be-mailed letters in the mail? Can I trust anyone??"
 
4:00, same day: "As if it even MATTERS if my letters writers get their letters in on time. I'm not getting in anywhere anyway. I should just tell them not to even bother." 
 
 
...you get the point.