socnerd

First of all, congrats to Rogue for getting in, I wish I had some idea of when I was going to hear my fate! Also, I just wanted to say I think its so interesting the contrast between graduate and undergraduate in terms of the emphasis on funding.. I didn't know this before I started talking to other people but apparently funding is a big deal in graduate studies. Personally I never expected any and it won't bother me if I don't get any as long as I get accepted somewhere! I guess I am just not in the competitive pool for funding, I never really thought about it in terms of limiting my ability to go somewhere. I don't care if I have to take out loans for the rest of my life, I just want to be in school in the fall! Good luck to everyone!

There's pretty little vacillation on my part, mostly I'm convinced I won't get in anywhere (which is why I've applied to 14 places) but sometimes I think maybe they'll take pity on me. Unlike other people here I have nothing to fall back on and will probably end up working as a despondent Wal-Mart greeter if I get rejected everywhere.. I can't imagine leaving a stable, well-paying job to pursue an unstable career. I understand that its something you love and you want to fulfill a higher purpose, and I love my discipline as well, but all I want in life is to be able to support myself and I may never get that chance.. So maybe think twice about the practicality of it all and let some of us who really need it get a chance (said in good humor of course)

Haha I get this all the time! I hate when people ask what I'm studying and I say "sociology" and they say "Oh so you want to be a social worker?"...... I'm like "No, I'd rather die than do that, thats not what sociology is.." Don't worry about it, people don't need to understand, we're probably all making more money than they ever will anyway

Hi fellow soc people! I've been lurking around for a while but I have a question that I was hoping I could get some honest answers to. I know most programs don't list their average GPA/GRE on purpose and they're pretty vague in saying that the "cutoff" for applying is usually a 3.0. My question is, even though they say its a 3.0, do they even bother looking at apps that have lower than a 3.5? What about lower than a 1300 GRE? I've heard many things stating that for obvious reasons they can't look at all the applications they get and usually a secretary ends up screening the apps before the committee even sees them and most people with lower than a 3.5 get thrown out automatically. Obviously this would vary by program as well, and I'm not applying anywhere in the top 20 or anything, but I only have a 3.1 and am concerned that I've just wasted a ton of money on something that isn't going to happen. Am I being too harsh or is this actually what happens? Any insight would be greatly appreciated, thanks! P.S. I've applied to 14 places so far to try to avoid across-the-board rejections, but am still concerned... oh the waiting!