MBDT

You'll want to apply to Duke. Their workshop on race is pretty unique within the world of sociology.

Check to see if your institution reports fellowship funds to the IRS. If they don't... there's no record of it. At my current institution, none of the graduate students I know report this information on their taxes. Of course, do so at your own risk. :-)

First, look for an ethnography workshop. Some schools make their workshops quite prominent, so they should be easy to find. (eg: Princeton, here: https://sociology.princeton.edu/research-clusters). Find out how often it meets, what faculty are involved, and how many students typically participate. This will give you a sense of how active the ethnography community is within that department. Second, look for well-published ethnographers within the department. Their research interests don't have to necessarily align with yours. Ethnography is a methodology, not a substantive research interest (unless you want to become a methodologist), so your goal in working with an ethnographer will be to develop those concrete skills -- many of those are transferrable across a wide range of sites. Third, look for faculty who do have substantive interests in your area. This will provide you with someone who can guide you theoretically, even if they are not an ethnographer by training. Remember -- you don't want to choose a program for that one person you want to work with. If possible, try to pick schools that have at least 4-5 people whose interests relate to yours (note that I said "relate," not "align" -- they don't have to be perfect matches!) All of the top programs are generalist departments, and they all have folks who do quantitative and qualitative work. Even though Northwestern may have a reputation for qualitative work, that is not to say that you would not also receive stellar training at institutions with a reputation for quantitative work. It's about the individual faculty you find at these places, not the reputation of the overall department. I really, really wanted to attend UCLA for grad school, but after spending hours reading their faculty's CVs (and by hours, I mean probably 20+), I just couldn't find anyone, so I was forced to take them off my list. Give Northwestern another shot, but don't feel they're your only option for qualitative work!

Michigan used to have a dual Soc + Women's Studies PhD program. I don't think the official dual degree is still offered, but there are some great sociologists at Michigan who do work on gender and sexuality. I would highly recommend checking out the Sociology department.

I hope your interests are relevant to sociology. They're pretty similar to mine, and I'll be starting a PhD in the field in a few months. ;-)

I'm not sure there are hard rules about this. The University of Michigan, for instance, is of course a public university, but operates in most senses as a private institution.

I've been told to choose a department over an individual faculty member. You never know how long that professor will teach in the department... if she leaves in the middle of your graduate career, will you have other folks in the department to support you?

Are you considering any of the schools you aren't visiting? I'm in a similar boat -- I don't think I have the time to visit more than 2 or 3 schools.

I had zero contact with faculty members of interest before applying.

I absolutely agree with this. I applied to 14 programs at 13 schools -- which is obviously a huge time and energy commitment. Given my current commitments (I'm a full-time master's student and work two part-time jobs), I was only able to apply to this many programs because I made sure to start the process super early (and because, given my socioeconomic background, I qualified for a lot of fee waivers). I wrote my first essay drafts last March, and spent a few hours each week revising them until I submitted them in December/January, nearly a year later. I don't necessarily think everyone should apply to 10+ programs, but at least 7 or 8 seems reasonable. Like others have said, the admissions process is hugely arbitrary, and adding more options to your list can only be helpful.

Beautiful.

No word on fellowships or anything.

Not yet. The e-mail I received from Alice Justice guaranteed funding, and mentioned a few figures about potential funding. I have not received any concrete information about funding. I e-mailed her this afternoon to ask when I might expect detailed information.

I just asked this question. I was told that Soc and Public Policy are both trying to get their e-mails sent by the end of the day.

Yeah, Mary Waters seems incredible. I named Bruce Western, Mario Small, Robert Sampson and William Julius Wilson in my SOP.

Nope. I sent them an (unsolicited) e-mail a few weeks ago with my fall grades and an updated CV. They e-mailed me back with a super nice (leading) e-mail. But that's all I interacted with them.

Thank you! And nope -- no interview. I was very surprised.

Thank you!! I got a phone call from Mary Waters (Department Chair) this evening.

I was admitted also. Feel free to PM!

Thank you!!

I'm happy to chat if you have any questions! I lived in Davis as an undergrad from 2006-2010.

Thank you for the information! I was just accepted to UChicago. $23000 annual stipend plus $3000 for summers. I'm coming from Detroit, so $800 definitely sounds a bit steep -- but hopefully manageable given the stipend? Does $26000/year sound roughly sufficient to live in Hyde Park? (Sidenote: I've lived with roommates my entire adult life, and would ideally have a studio or 1B as a PhD student...)

Thanks for calling! I walk by the department every day -- let me know if I need to go chat with them in person. ;-)

My GRE scores show up as "Received" on Columbia.

Thanks! I'm going to PM you.