judyblume

Hello -- I'm not a student in the Sociology department, but I do study the social sciences. The general morale at UCLA is low. The student demonstrations were as peaceful as these things go, but the budget crisis is very real and not expected to get better. Yudof (the president of the entire University of California -- all ten campuses) keeps emphasizing that things like tuition hikes need to happen in order to avoid "brain drain," basically a loss of professorial talent as they escape to schools that won't cut their salaries or research money. I don't think this is a good time to enter the UC at all, especially since PhD programs lock you in for five or six years. I think the mood at Berkeley is better because it's known as the flagship campus. Nobody will let bad things happen there.

Hi, is anyone still here? I have a question about this program, specifically about the importance of relevant work experience and internships during and after undergrad. I'm graduating with a 3.7 GPA, 720/800 GRE from a well known California public school, but I didn't do a single internship during my two years there. I did live abroad for two years after high school (not working in IR). Do you think any of this is meaningful? I just don't know whether I should be applying for IR programs at all with so little work experience. I know I have decent GPA/GRE stats... does that suffice? Any information would help. Thanks.