smokeypup

This is deductive.

Honestly, you will have an extremely hard time on the market with an interdisciplinary degree. Only interdisciplinary prorgrams will hire you, and there are far fewer of those than soc programs. Sociologists only hire sociologists (with rare exceptions), whereas interdisciplinary programs regularly hire sociologists. It may seem like a wonderful intellectual opportunity now. But the job market is rough, and it will be very hard to get a job with an interdisciplinary degree. How many (and what %) of graduates in the interdisciplinary program have gotten academic jobs in the last 5 years? And what kinds of jobs? I think a top 5 soc program with relatively good fit is going to give you far more opportunities than the interdisciplinary program.

If you want a good book on stata, which seems to be the norm in top departments, I would recommend this book: http://www.stata.com/bookstore/regression-models-categorical-dependent-variables/ It gives you the logic of the models and the stata commands for categorical models, post estimation and presentation of data.

If you want to do research, it is important to think about the methods training you will get at each program.

Just send a quick email to the secretary. I did this for waitlisted schools as soon as I had made a decision, or I knew for sure I wouldn't be going there.

I went to undergrad there, my financé was a grad student there, and I have a few friends who almost did the soc program there. In the communication department, my financé's contract was not honored and he was forced to find a job in another department his 5th year (although he was guaranteed 5 years of funding). I do not know if soc has or will do the same. For fall 2009, a friend was accepted but they were only offering 75% tuition remission with no guarantees of RA or TAships. But, some admitted folks were offered full funding. I would say wait for your funding package. The good thing about ucsd is that they need lots of TAs for writing programs, which grad students in the social sciences and humanities frequently do. So that is something.

When I was accepted 2 years ago, there was a 1-2 week gap between the first acceptance and the last. They usually have a faculty member call the acceptees, so it is likely when they make this call is up to the faculty member. Don't fret! I got my call about 6 days after the first one was reported.

I am a 2nd year PhD student in the social sciences and am currently planning a wedding for august. So far, so good. Just start the planning now, and do as much as you can during summers/spring breaks, etc. It is definitely possible and not too stressful. As far a stigma, I was a little weird about it at first, but there are a lot of married men/women and families in my department, and many of them more on track in terms of completion time than their single counterparts. You'll be fine.

I think the main reason is that hard sciences generally have more money. So they can pay to fly people out. Also, generally those programs have graduate students working directly under faculty in a lab or something. Soc doesn't have this. But mainly, I think it is money.

UC Berkeley soc department a few years didn't hide the other CC's who had been rejected. The DGS emailed everyone blaming the department secretary--shit always rolls down hill.

I just checked my application status after reading this and a weird thing happen. The date they "received" my grad transcript has mysteriously changed. When I submitted my app, it said they received them on oct 28. Now it says they received them on dec 14. Has this happened to anyone else? THink it will make me ineligible?

Most top soc departments in the US do not really have "theory" students. Perhaps looking in europe would be wise. Additionally, you could check political science programs who have a strong theory department--they will likely have faculty who do lots of social theory.

If you can, I would definitely go to a good soc program. Criminology and criminal justice programs will always hire sociologists, but sociology programs will rarely hire criminology-trained phds--pure bias. There are a ton of crim jobs available right now, and 99% of them are in soc departments.

Ah, ok. I read that line as "my" publications or presentations.

I have another question. There are some contradictions in the 10 point font stipulation across different NSF documents. The program solicitation states that references can be in 10 pt font. However, the "prepare application" user guide says that "Only publications and presentation citations may be a smaller font, no less than 10 pt. Times New Roman." Does this include references???

I am a current grad at IU. I didn't go to the actual race, but I can tell you the undergrads drink all week. Classes are empty beginning on wednesday and the bars are full the entire week. It is weird. Lots of bikinis and slippin 'n' slides on frat house lawns--and it was raining almost the entire weekend.

Congrats on a big stipend! I'd say 25k is enough. There is grad housing that is very reasonable, but it is hard to get into. Also, your money would go a lot further if you would be willing to live a little farther away from campus, or be willing to share a place. My fiance was a grad student there on a 18k stipend and did fine--he shared a house with some friends. San Diego is beautiful and I appreciate it so much more now that I'm in school in bloomington, IN. I loved UCSD.

I didn't go to sdsu, I went to ucsd, but I did live nearer to sdsu, so I will give my input. SDSU is a pretty big party school for undergrads, so if you have a car, I would recommend living a bit farer away. College area is the neighborhood near the school. I would recommended Normal Heights, Kensington, University Heights, Northpark or southpark. They are all older SD neighborhoods that will be quieter than college area. Rent is cheaper, the neighborhoods are all walkable (nearby bars, coffeeshops and food) and are cool. I personally lived in Southpark and Northpark and loved them both. I no longer live in SD and I really miss my neighborhood. Let me know if you have any more questions.

OP: Funding is a huge deal. Do NOT go somewhere that doesn't promise 4-5 years funding + benefits (especially top programs). Also, do not make decisions until you visit. Seriously, it matters so much what the ethos of the department is. I think I would have made the wrong decision last year had I not visited (I am currently at IU). UNC has a distinct "feel" and very strong priorities (I visited last year). Go visit if you can. It is certainly not for everyone and wasn't for me. Also, UNC has GREAT placement. If you look at UW lists of people "on the market," you will notice some have been there for several years. When you visit each school, talk to current grads about the department. They know a lot and will tell you the good and bad. Ask about how competitive students are with each other (some people love this, I hate it), and if there are major rifts between faculty, etc.

Don't feel bad. They had to cut 4-6 spots from the incoming cohort this year--budget cuts.

Hey. I am a current grad student at IU and had an interview last year. For those freaking out about not getting an interview invite, don't worry, they don't interview everyone on their short list. Only the ones who either didn't major in soc, or they have some questions about whether you are committed to a PhD or your interests (maybe the prof you listed is soon to retire). They mainly want to know that you know what soc is and is not, and that you are in it for the PhD (not just trying something out). It is very casual and the DGS is very cool. Just be honest. PS: IU is great!

Ok, my program recommendations: for social psych: stanford and indiana. Indiana also has a few medical soc and life course people that would fit with death and dying and youth stuff. Qualitative methods: northwestern. Most schools in the top 25 or 50 rankings will fully fund all graduate students (except madison). Go to their websites. Most will say if they fund or not. Also, just browse faculty pages and see what people do. Email them, tell them what you want to do and ask them if it sounds like a good fit.

Check out indiana as well. They have lots of people doing medical sociology and they are extremely strong quantitatively.

I am a current grad in politics/religion without a background in soc. Generally sociology programs are not quite as competitive as poli sci, but still extremely competitive for the top 10 schools. I don't know anywhere that has someone who does religion and turkey, but check out berkeley, princeton, UNC-chapel hill, Indiana, Notre Dame and Texas-austin. Religion isn't a huge subfield, but make sure your program as one person who does that, and then maybe someone who does something with the middle-east. You could stretch it to make it sound like it would be a perfect fit.

Hi, I am a current grad who was pretty successful with applications last year. I think you have all of the right parts, but perhaps in the wrong order. I would recommend starting with your research agenda, and then talk about yourself, your undergrad and grad studies in the context of your research agenda. What about yourself/ your studies led you to this research agenda. How has pasting schooling prepared you for this research? WHy is this school a great place for you to do this research (and with which professors).