Pennywise

Hi, I don't want to start that rumor, sorry. I have no idea whether they do, but I'm just wondering if they do, because if so then I can start the process of accepting their rejection.

I have a friend who was able to add $10K to her stipend plus a sweet apartment in NYC by basically putting two top programs in a bidding war. She's a great person and a very good candidate for a bunch of reasons (including being Af-Am, totally acing the GREs, and having awards and a high profile in her previous profession). I think she will be extremely marketable when she goes up for jobs and would be surprised if she doesn't get 1) a top university press for her first book and 2) competing offers at top 10 programs. So, to get to a 40K stipend and sweet apartment in the East Village, that's the kind of candidate one might have to be. Not sociology, but an interdisciplinary field, btw. I have heard of other people who tried it and got nothing, but also didn't suffer any negative consequences.

If you or anybody has a chance, I'm really curious to hear about Yale. I wonder if they have already done interviews with people they are considering, for example. In past years folks got acceptance letters from mid to late February, so maybe it's premature, but I'm worried. I personally haven't heard a peep...

The only thing I would add to the above is to clarify that was IS out of reach for 99% of graduates of lower-ranked programs is a TT job at a top-10 research institution, at least right after grad school. The exceptions prove the rule, such as the guy who writes about pigeons who went to Drexel and CUNY, then right after his post-doc at Harvard landed a TT job at NYU -- he was able to network in NYC and get published in tippy top soc journals, which overcame his "disadvantage." Plus CUNY, while not top ranked, is #28 (NYU #16), and perhaps more importantly part of a consortium with top ranked schools, so I am guessing he might have gotten to know some relevant faculty at NYU (though I don't know that for sure). And the Harvard post-doc certainly seems to have burnished his pedigree. But the reason we know his story (it has been shared to me, at least, a couple times) is that it is so unusual, since in general, that rarely happens for CUNY/Drexel grads. Though as someone who is almost definitely not going to land at a top 20 program I would really like to be wrong, so if you think I am then please correct me (I will even graciously accept anecdotal evidence lol).

Congrats to the NYU acceptances. I haven't heard a peep from NYU and when I log in, at the top it just says "This Application has been submitted." I am interpreting that as a rejection. I know they only accept 2% (8 out of 400), but it still sucks. Oh well...

Congrats on Brandeis. It's an interesting program if you are committed to qual research.

Congrats on Irvine, looks like a very cool program!

Congrats again on getting into such a top-ranked program! You must be thrilled.

Congrats on the Penn phone interview! It's a great (though quirky) program. Out of curiosity, when was your phone interview? Good luck!

Thanks for the tip! I guess I was hoping to add one extra school where my scores might be weighted a little more, because at least one program told me they're basically irrelevant. Perhaps there aren't programs like that, though...

Yeah, the main thing is that for-profit schools are almost always considered by experts to be worse than nonprofit schools (not inherently, but as they exist now). I feel really bad for the folks duped by those predatory diploma mills, because their marketing materials make them seem legit. I've noticed that it's hard to trace their record of failure because when they start to encounter problems they often just close up shop and start a new "university" nearby. This is a pretty good article about why they tend to be scams that lead to bad outcomes for their students: http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/11/16/for-profit-universities-are-not-inherently-bad-just-empirically-bad/mTMDbC0xUXSYWAdeBD3rwO/story.html Actually, a pretty good crim Master's thesis might be about the fraudulent criminal practices of these schools and how they evade regulation or accountability. I think the OP would do better in a (nonprofit) community college, trying to work his way up to Masters classes at UT. If that worked out, then and only then consider a (nonprofit) PhD. That's my 2 cents. Sorry for being a bit harsh over the holidays, Grad School Fool. I hope that our perspective is of some use to you. And either way, good luck!

Hi, so I got a 170/170 Verbal and 161/170 Quant, without studying. I realize it's a little obnoxious to flaunt these scores (and that my Quant isn't anything special), but I'm wondering if anybody knows of programs that really want to boost their GRE averages. Most of the advice I'm seeing suggests that there are GRE minimum cut-offs, but that otherwise the GRE scores are not a major factor in admissions. This was confirmed by a dean at a medium-ranked school, but I wonder if better ranked schools might weigh GRE scores more heavily. Or perhaps state schools? My background: 3.55 undergrad GPA at a top 10 college, but with a major in the humanities, and then a Masters in the humanities at another good school, with a 4.0. I have a few publications in peer-reviewed criminology journals, but kind of weak LORs. I'm interested in doing some crim stuff in sociology. I'm a weird candidate in many ways because I'm basically new to sociology, so I was hoping to apply to a couple programs where my GRE scores might outweigh my other weaknesses. Thanks for any tips!

You would be *much* better off going to any program at UT or even your local community college, rather than South "University." South is a for-profit diploma mill and is recognized as such by PhD programs. You will not and should not get into a mainstream PhD program with a degree like that. Sorry.

I am not very familiar with this subfield, so I can't give you any advice about STS in particular, but out of curiosity, what are your plans after the PhD? Stay in academia in the US? Or...? Fascinating subject, though, and I wish you the best with it!

Oh yeah, sociology is, ironically, pretty elitist and old fashioned in some ways. There are many articles about the sociology caste system, wherein you can't get a top 10 placement unless you went to a tippity top ranked program with a killer advisor, etc. Having said that, it really depends on what your goals are. Many people go to non-top-20 programs, and most of them lead happy lives in academia and out of academia. I think the idea is that teaching at the top 20 institutions is effectively off limits for this caste of students, except for a small number of phenomenal exceptions. But who wants to be in one of those snobby departments, anyhow?

Congratulations!

Got into the New School, which I didn't think was a perfect fit research-wise, but it is NYC...

Congrats on UI, Shanbeth! At this point I think I have narrowed my choices down to Cincinnati and American, which seems like a weird choice but makes sense for my research interests.

lol

Hm, that actually makes it sound less risky than it sounded at first. If he's your dream mentor and could be instrumental in helping you land a great first job, maybe it would make sense? I have been going in circles obsessing over my own decision since February, though, so don't listen to me.

I still haven't heard a peep from Columbia or Cornell...

If he left the department, is it likely/possible he would take you with him? If so, that might make the decision even more complicated (sorry lol). If it's really stressing you out, is there some polite way you could directly ask him if he's 100% committed to staying in that department for the next five years? Or something to that effect. If he gives you a wishy washy answer, that might be quite telling.

Oh, well that clears that up, cheers!

Btw I also called Cornell and they said they were making final decisions early this week. I assume this is referring to their wait list since others have already been accepted. So any day now on that one. . .

I haven't heard from Columbia, either. I called them and the person who answered the departmental phone number said they mailed notices (via snail mail) last week, so I should receive it this week. That seems oddly anachronistic (and expensive/time consuming for rejection letters), especially considering that others have posted that they have heard from Columbia online. Who knows -- this whole process is inscrutable to me.