letstalkshop

It's difficult to say whether they'd give you a pass, but it certainly sounds like you won't do badly on the quant GRE anyway. It's basically the same math as the SAT. You just have to make sure you remember all that old stuff. You'll be fine.

Stop fretting about the GRE and go take it. If you do badly the first time you don't have to send your scores, and it will demystify the test for you and help you figure out what to prepare for. And yes, your application might be better off if you were from a more highly ranked institution, but this is probably not a disqualifier, provided that you have good research experience. I had just under a 3.6 in undergrad and got into good programs. It's really hard to say whether or not you'll get into Emory without knowing more about your research experience and without knowing your GRE scores, but I think your undergrad professors would probably just tell you if they thought applying was a waste of your time.

I majored in econ in undergrad (well, technically an interdisciplinary major in econ and poli sci), and now I'm entering a sociology PhD program. I realized fairly late in undergrad that I was interested in sociology, and skipped straight to some upper level sociology courses that interested me. Don't feel the need to take introductory courses in order to understand the basics. If you really want to see what's taught in these introductory courses, buy a used sociology textbook online and read it (this, honestly, won't take long since they're so basic). If you really want to know what sociologists DO, read some journal articles by sociologists on topics that interest you. If you're interested in understanding power structures in the context of economics and economic activity, it certainly sounds like sociology could be a better field for you, provided that you know you actually want to go into academia. An MS in stats could probably help you get into a strong sociology program, and if you think you can get funding for a masters, go for it. But if you can't get funding, it's up to you to decide whether or not this is worth it. Depending on your background, you might be able to get into a strong sociology PhD program without a prior masters, and then you can get paid to take stats classes. Having majored in something other than sociology will not be held against you.

NYU's deadline is noon EST.

Accepted NYU's offer today.

You can choose to send scores from one day of testing but you can't pick a quant score and a verbal score from different testing days. I think even if you think your verbal score could go down slightly it's worth taking it again to raise the quant, especially if you think that score does not reflect your ability.

The submission form on the results board asks for your undergraduate GPA. If you want to share your MA GPA, you can write it in in the "Notes" section. Whether or not MA classes are closer to the type of work you'd be doing for your PhD, for the most part high grad school grades are not a reflection of your ability to do grad-level work well. The departments that I have experience with acknowledge this.

Excellent verbal score. If you're going for top programs I would definitely suggest taking it again to try to improve your quantitative score.

Can I respectfully request that people stop using their MA GPA on the results board? Everybody knows that grad school grades aren't real. I'd much rather know your GPA from undergrad. Don't really care that you have a 3.9999 MA GPA.

rlb your photo. Is that the "post office" clerk from Broad City? I love it. And congrats.

Unless all of the applicants are equally strong, whether or not some applicants got accepted without going to the event is irrelevant.

Sure, he's under a microscope as a sociologist who has mainstream fame. But the Sudhir hating gets old pretty fast. Especially at Columbia. I don't even have a stake in defending him...I just think it's tired.

He wouldn't be the only one to do some sketchy ethnography or misuse school funds. Not that these things are okay, but I do think the degree of hatred towards him is curious. I think his mainstream success plays a part.

It's very trendy to hate Venkatesh. I don't have any personal experience with him but know advisees of his who've had great experiences.

He only teaches one or two grad classes a year, and I think there's typically a waitlist, but if I remember correctly most of the people on the waitlist end up getting into the class. If you'll be enrolled as a masters student, know that you'll only be able to take 3 electives total.

Do you mean if you're already enrolled? Not hard..

There's a thread on socjobrumors about this (although I recommend avoiding that place at all costs...it's a poisonous cesspool of bitterness and jealousy, with a ton of tearing down of successful people in the discipline). I've heard Duke and NYU are both "on the rise" (though already strong programs).

I didn't do my MA in the UK, but I did the one year MA in sociology at Columbia and graduated last May. I didn't feel like I'd get very strong letters if I applied during my MA so I waited until this year, and now I have what I think are strong letters and a solid thesis as a writing sample. I've been working this year and found the 9-5 was much more conducive to writing PhD applications than my MA schedule would have been.

They are probably just fatigued. I wouldn't take it personally.

Yes, people who applied directly to the MA find out later. I don't know how many people they admit total but my cohort was 22 people.

They just sent out another round of rejections (I was one of them). Check your status online I guess, in case you didn't get an email for some reason?

I'd concur that casual is fine and noserings are also fine.

Yes. It's an expensive way to look good. I think professors at other schools do know it's a money making scheme, which is why the degree itself is not sufficient to really strengthen your application.

Yeah, just to clarify, I don't think an MA in sociology from a brand name institution necessarily helps with your application to PhD programs. As I mentioned in a PM to you, if you don't stand out in this type of program, it could actually hurt you. I think it really only helps insofar as it helps you get letters from and research experience with well known profs (which, unfortunately, is huge).

Also--I'm not saying that the MA program is definitely worth taking on a ton of debt. Just adding my own experience into the conversation. I'm also happy to answer anyone's questions about the program.