myrrh

I received the admission email earlier tonight, it's several days later than west. So if there are some notifications made next week or so, I would not be surprised. Just be patient and hopeful, guys.

I'm kind of wondering where is the OP from, and how "Americanized" the society there is. I'm from a country where most of the professors in good institutions have an American PHD, and the way they recognize the reputation of American sociology programs is just similar to the USNews ranking. So, since I'm planning to do build my life-long career in academia (and perhaps someday going back to the country I'm from), the sociology ranking matters more than the "big names" to me. And yes, the subfield ranking is even more important. Of course, there are many other factors which can determine someone's career. The most important one could be doing good work. Also, I believe people will take who your boss is and what are you working on into consideration when you are looking for a job.

Congrats everyone in!

7. I would suggest people's have a look on other departments related to their own ones. check out is there any other intellectual resources. For example, if you are going to a sociology program, go to anthropology department's site and find is there someone whose works relate to yours. I believe this could also be applicable to some engineering and sci programs. For example, perhaps you will find a math professor whose studies could help you.

I think it's quite difficulty for the schools to say who is really promising, thus the selectivity should not be blamed on. We are just entering the graduate programs, and I guess most of us don't really have ideas about how different is it to be a successful grad student (or even a researcher) from just being a good student. I've seen some student very very good at college education but just fair outputs during grad study: they have shining GPA, they learned all the stuffs well in undergrad program and they can find out a safe direction for their graduate studies. However, sometimes (if we don't say always) the graduate studies were also determined by the methodological sense, the creativity and the problem solving abilities. All these stuffs are very hard to be shown clearly enough in a short SoP, a term paper writing sample or any GPA or CV. As selecting the "right" student is not as easy as you think, I would suggest your taking easy about your classmate's admission. Perhaps he has a very promising research direction in his SoP (even though he could made it just because he's lucky), or perhaps he has a good fit to some interests of the department. Plus, since you guys are in classmates right now, I can just assume that in the eyes of adcomm, the difference between you two is comparatively minor, given that the whole applicants could be from very very very different educational backgrounds.

I think it's no hurt so far. Anyway, you just said that your are happy to "be admitted", rather than any word about your decision. However, as I always wanna play it safe, I would not leave and space for wrong impression if I were you. I do write to the schools to say thanks, but I also always added something such as "although my decision has not been made yet, the admission is really exciting". If I wanted to let them know the importance of funding for me (although I really doubt that they don't know it), I would just say "as funding is a very important concern of mine, please let me know immediately once the funding decision is available." Hope this helps.

I applied to over ten sociology programs, and so far got 5 admits. all of them were direct admits via email without any interview nor prior contact with dept. I had a phone interview, but afterwards that school rejected me.

I think you don't have to worry too much. BTW, my own anxiety mode goes in this way: 1. no result reported: well, everything is just about to start, nothing to feel anxious about. 2. some acceptance reported but no rejection: sh*t, i think i'm losing the chance! 3. then the rejections show up, but i heard nothing: thank God that i would probably be on the wait list. all in all, before getting a rejection, we could be hopeful anyway. see the forum titled "The April 15th is this week" on the main menu, you can find out some people who were informed even after 4/15!

Congrats! fellowship from UW Madison sounds really awesome!And OMG, Michigan!

Congrats! And thanks for the information. (Although I'm not applying to NYU actually). And focused, good point, you are right!

I used to think Stanford's 8/240 was crazy enough......well, as it turns out, Stanford is not too crazy. Anyway, good luck you guys!

Rockridge is awesome. I used to stay there for a period of time!

Take myself for example. I have an MA in sociology in Taiwan, and so far I have had some admissions including some from really good schools. I think we could consider the pros and cons of MA more thoroughly. As I have been told, an MA holder would be examined with a standard higher than a BA holding applicant, since they have been trained more. Think about this: you have done several years of MA training, which is supposedly similar to what some first or second year PHD student have. If you fail to show that you are as good as they are in some respects, it could be a problem. See, I spent three years doing my MA (it's normal in TW), and I guess some of the forth-year PHD students state-side are attending conference to present papers. If I was just as good as a forth-year undergrad student, I don't think I could be seen as any promising. However, on the other hand, doing MA could build up someone's ability in sociology. When it comes to a non-sociology background student, it could really matter. I'm not saying that the title of "MA in Sociology" matters, what I'm talking about is the training, which would determine your publication, writing sample and SoP. Of course, it would also determine who will write your recommendations. My MA training gave me a really concentrating SoP, an R&R paper which is also my writing sample and recommendations from sociologists. And, I think it's important: I believe the good fits to the institutions shown in my SoP brought me to my dream schools. All in all, I think we shouldn't focus too much on "the MA degree". What matters more is the process of MA training, and what you got from it. If you have an MA but show no difference from an undegrad applicant, the degree could help you only in a very restrained manner; if you have an MA and look like a prepared junior sociologist, it will be cool. If you are going to do MA, just work hard and prepare to show how the MA build up your abilities once you are applying for PHD again. ------ For OP: I am with the guys above. Another bachelor degree would take more time and help less, and an MA would be more ideal. Besides verbal score (yours is a bit under the top20 average), the only you need, I guess, is a strong writing sample, which can definitely be built up in a sociological MA program. BTW, let's talk about the immigration issue. I don't know which schools are you applying to, neither what's your detailed future research plan. As you are from Taiwan (same as me!), I supposed that you're going to work on the Chinese/ Taiwanese migration communities. I'm sure that some UCs are interested in Chinese migration but the UCs.....I think we all know their financial situation very well. When it comes to other schools, I'm not sure is there any general interest in the Chinese/ Taiwanese case. Anyway, good luck! And as we know, now is just the middle of Feb. It's great to have a full back plan, but don't be too discouraged!

1. I've never seen any other program like this; however, you know there are hundreds, if not thousands, of sociology program in the states... 2. To my knowledge, there are always companies and government divisions looking for survey/ modelling guys. So the quantitative sociologists have good chances in the job market. Also, demography (which relies heavily on stats) is something you can find in tons of sociology program, so the academic jobs could not be too restrained.

Firstly, congrats for the OP's acceptance by Princeton! Second, I think the answer to the question could depends. Sometimes international students get notification as soon as domestic ones do. I'm domestic, and I have a friend who is a international applicant. We got the same admission and the same funding package from the same school in the same day. However, to my knowledge, some schools send the international admissions through the international student division (whatever it is called), and in this case, I guess there would be a time lag.

Yes, that's how we always say in Asia. So for the people having nightmares: it's good for you. And, everyone, I think we should think in this way: We are going to do PHD, which would be extremely challenging, and the several months by this fall would be the most comfortable time in the several years to come. Don't spend those time on anxiety. If you are not working, go to do anything you wanna do. Travelling, reading non-academic books or learn something you will never have time to learn in the future (such as cooking, perhaps). Or, according to my experience of MA program, you could also read some academic books not very related to your academic field - who knows when can you touch them next time. For those who are working: we could enjoy our normal life. The daily life of a PHD graduate student would be by no means "normal".

Astronautka, I think it's not very likely that I can go. I'm working as an RA in Taiwan now. And thanks for everyone's congrats messages!

Congrats! I'm admitted by Wisconsin, too, but without funding information available. Anyway, the admission is exciting enough for me!

Background: Graduated from a university in Asian, definitely not the several names (if any) occurring to your minds. U-GPA: 3.60, BA in Economics M-GPA: 4.00, MA in Sociology GRE: 620 (V), 800 (Q), 3.5 (AWA) Research: Participant observation field work for MA thesis, several RAs at the institution I graduated from. Publications: A paper under revision, a conference paper presented in a student panel, a published journal article on a non-English journal. LORs: one from MA Thesis Advisor, one from an MA thesis committee member, and one from a professor in my MA program. All of the recommendation providers are not working in the states, Research Interests: Labour, Work, Economic Sociology. Schools Applied to: 13 schools from top5s to top50s or so.

Hi, I think it's me that you mentioned. I've got admitted by CUNY and I've submitted the result. About the 2/16 event, I would not be able to go for by now I'm not in the states.

Well, I told myself that checking email is good enough....as a result, although I am checking many times a day, there's only one page I should refresh...lol