hawk

if your GRE score is low enough, it can and will be used in the process of weeding out applications.

Right, I guess I never posted here... I'm applying next season but am familiar with the processes. I'm an undergrad at the moment studying political science, philosophy, and history (majors) and english literature (minor). I'm newly interested in sociology as a field of study but have always really been interested in the subsections -- social stratification, historical and comparative sociology, primarily, and political sociology, the three of which I believe inform one another (necessarily) and cannot be separated. The approach I take is interdisciplinary (obviously) and informed by my background. I'll probably be geography restricted when I apply because I am seeking to study somewhere warm and near the east coast of the united states. i have some publications (mostly in progress) on literature, rhetoric, medievalism... some talks given at conferences (talks on religion and literature which are probably more sociological in nature than either religious or literary). My primary interests at present are regarding power and oppression which is probably stratification by definition, and I am doing a study on this with a social psychologist which we hope to publish at the end of the year and perhaps speak at the APA conference this summer. i'm not sure if any of this helps with sociology, but I like it so there it is. No GRE scores yet, GPA hovering around 3.7 and should finish around 3.75 (poor performances in a few courses early on but will finish the last 2 years with nothing below an A-). I'll probably throw some political theory applications in the mix as well.

Are you geography restricted? Your chances look pretty good to me (at least if i were on an adcom I'd find you pretty interesting) but you should have applied to more programs, in my opinion. I mean, nothing is a 'guaranteed in' so there is a chance you wont get into any of the ones you applied to, even having english as a second language and performing so well on the GREs, coming from an engineering background with stellar GPA's in undergrad and grad school -- none of that guarantees you admission though all of it helps and you are going to be an extremely competitive candidate. All I'm saying is I would have applied to more programs to increase chances of being admitted to some.

GRE scores do one thing: keep your application from getting thrown in the trash. For more statistically aware adcoms, a higher GRE score might get special attention because they want to have a higher average GRE score and outliers at the higher end help that. Everyone (adcoms included) knows that the GRE is only marginally useful and doesn't adequately predict future performance, so the best they can do with it is make a minimum cutoff based on applicants in a given year of which ones not to bother looking at because the performance wasn't good enough. The best indicator of future performance is always going to be past performance, so that is what adcoms will be interested in far and above beyond the GRE and it is in your interest to convey your past performance in the most positive light possible. The things that will give you the best 'edge up' will be research, writing abilities (which will be conveyed in SOP and writing sample), and your academic history (course diversity, academic performance, interests, etc). Letters of recommendation are also extremely important. I know this is said so often but for some reason people keep falling back on the GRE's as the end-all be-all of admissions and it just isn't the case. GRE and GPA keep your applications out of the trash. If that's strong enough to survive the first cut, the rest of your application needs to be strong.

Well if your SOP is bad and you refuse to write a better one, and your university isnt that good, I dont know what to think of your chances... You seem to think the university is a big factor (probably not true) and that your financial situation has played a huge role in shaping your life yet despite that you have still dedicated yourself to learning about political science and understanding 'this stuff'. If you dont want to 'whine' about that (by which I mean turn it into a nice story for the adcoms to understand how much hard work has gone into overcoming financial difficulty to get you where you are today), I don't know why you're still posting on here...

Well the C's are a reflection on only your course, university, professor, specific circumstances, etc. The Quant score is a reflection on your performance and abilities relative to the rest of the nation (or at least those who take the GRE). Thus, a low grade would be more easily offset by a high GRE Quant than vice versa, and neither one nor the other nor both being high would guarantee you admission because the application is looked at as a whole and all factors are compared to all other applicants in the pool for any given year. To answer the OP's question, I would think statistics would be helpful if you think you can do well AND you have time for it. If you are not going to get a B+ or higher (minimum), you are just going to hurt yourself and you would be spending your time more efficiently by studying for the GRE Quant and performing in the mid 700's on that which would definitely be more attractive to an adcom than a B or lower in an undergrad stats course. I would think a 700 and an A would set you up pretty nicely, but remember that statistics is not all-important and that there are many other factors when considering a polisci applicant.

I'm pretty sure adcoms are less shallow than you are making them out to be

Well that was a really helpful reply actually -- one of the reasons I was led to sociology despite a complete lack of background in the field was the interdisciplinary nature of my studies and research thus far, which seems to be a strength of sociology (not that it bridges gaps in actual fields ie bringing people together from political science and philosophy, but that it seems to ignore metaphorical or abstract 'lines in the sand' I have noticed drawn in other departments or fields of study). For instance, I am interested in things like: Literature (and my focus here changes from time to time but I have published articles on certain authors and works), Medieval history, Religion, Political Theory, and how all of these things impact and interact with society. I have spoken at conferences combining one, two, three, or four of my interests and speaking to how they play on society, and my interest in political science (and thus application there) is only a new interest but again will play into my broader conceptual framework regarding society and power etc. It seems like sociology would be the best place to combine all of these ideas, but my concern is that sociology is not taken seriously and therefore programs are not rigorous and it would be difficult to place in a faculty position afterward. Which pushes me more in a political science direction, if you take my meaning, because many of my interests could be studied in political science, though perhaps with a different angle, if you take my meaning. Does that make some sense? I think this might shed some light on the concerns of many potential sociologists in my shoes; but if not, not.

you might speculate that with a lack of jobs available on the market, more students are turning to grad schools but as to whether that increases competitiveness at the top I would probably say no, since those who performed so well in school to generate such high GRE/GPA data in their applications would probably already (mostly) be applying to grad schools, even in a good job market, which means less qualified applicants are probably applying now, which probably doesn't impact the top schools at all.

Which is more respected, which field of study is more broad (you can do more things within that field), leaves you more options (and examples), etc! Discuss!

So I just started looking at sociology programs, I am interested in a few others (Political Science, for instance) -- if something else comes to mind when you look at this feel free to let me know. I am interested to know what schools I should be looking at and what relative chances you think I might have here: Majors: Political Science, Philosophy, History GPA: 3.75 GRE: Not taken but will be over 700/700/no idea on writing I have publications forthcoming in Rhetoric and in Literature (2 separate), I've spoken at conferences in various things, edit a political journal and the newspaper which I also write for. Also 2 summers working at a large media conglomerate and 1 summer doing research on a research stipend (this upcoming one). The University I attend is a large research university, letters of recommendation will be absolutely stellar from extremely prestigious faculty but none of them will be in sociology. I think this might hurt me a bit. What I am interested in: Power and its interaction with society, oppression (educational power and oppression, governmental power and oppression), globalization, and genealogies of these things (so that would be comparative and historical?). Programs I am currently looking at are: Duke, UNC, Princeton and Harvard (but its a bit too cold at these ones) I fear that my complete lack of any sociology courses at all might be seen as a negative but I really just don't have any time with the other majors. However, it seems like sociology is the only program which allows me to study what I am interested in... do let me know, and thanks