MaxWeberHasAPosse

Yale is also a major comparative-historical department and social theory. What makes you say those negative things about Alexander? He is a very kind and pleasant and thoughtful person. If he has a "cult-like following" then perhaps he is a wonderful advisor. Also, his protege, Isaac Reed, is perhaps the most important, agenda setting social theorist right now. I think it is funny when people talk like they are experts and gossip. A continuation of all the nonsense on this forum.

Sometimes I wonder where people get their information. I'm in a top 30 program and I've never heard of a GRE waiver. And, in my department at least, all applications get read seriously regardless of GRE score.

ummm... going to need a lot more information than that. If it's a PhD program in the United States that is in the top 75 then you are likely to receive full funding for a certain amount of years. If it is an MA then it really depends.

Well, you're a sociologist, you should know that there is what people/organizations say they do, and what they actually do. Go look up "UCLA sociology" in the Results Search and look at the dates for admits over the past few years. Always the first few weeks of January.

Actually, UCLA sends acceptances during the first week or so in January. Last year the first acceptances went out on January 8th. The bulk of offers come in the last week of January and all throughout February.

keeping things clean, preventing the spread of germs, etc.

Probably has something to do with sterilization.

you can try to focus it on stats or qualitative methods and then go work for industry.

I gotta say, if you want to study crim then you have to be open to gender/racial inequality. It's like saying you're interested in math but don't want to learn to utilize algebra. If you want to study the sociology of knowledge then you will have to be open to Marx and other critical thinkers. I suppose, what I am really saying is, you don't seem to have a good attitude.

great score.

Your experience looks good. I don't really think your institution now is that big of a deal, but you probably want at least one letter from a sociologist or someone in the social sciences (thus Crim would count). I think that you should probably take the GRE in September just in case you need to take it again. I think the GRE matters, you want the score to be enough so that it is *not* a factor. As for emailing potential advisors, the programs I got into were the ones where I didn't email anyone, on the other hand, it works for some people. There is an arbitrariness to the whole process that plays a role, thus there is a lot that is out of your hands. Some of the programs you picked don't really do much with the stuff that you are interested in. This matters *a lot*; fit matters so much. I highly recommend you look into programs with a really strong emphasis in your substantive areas. Going to a top tier program is not overrated, but you should know that, for example, nobody from Harvard got a job this year, they were beat out by people in less prestigious programs. Extrapolate what you will from that info. I don't think foreign language skills are a big deal unless you intend to study something that is not in English. You should be competitive. Just make sure to have a strong writing sample (probably one of your pubs) and a very focused SOP.

Loïc Waquant at Berkeley. Not from a critical theory standpoint, however. UCSB is good for this.

Why don't you take graduate classes as an undergrad? I did, in sociology, and in a other related fields, and it really helped me.

I think you should be fine. At my past undergrad institution (a top-30 public flagship university) there was a guy who was a JD in the PhD program. He never took any sociology classes but his research interests were deeply complimented by his training in law. You can write in your SOP about why the sociological perspective is the way you want to answer your research question and then talk briefly about the tools you already have to develop them further and what you will need in the future. Your GRE score is great, but it was 5 years ago, you might have to take it again (they expire after 5 years).

Sounds like something in game theory

I think that sometimes the departments will cover part or all of the cost of tuition. I'm not sure if the MA is funded in the same way as a PhD (where we get a salary). For the most part, the MA is to strengthen one's application so that they can be more competitive for a PhD. I've heard (via this forum) that the University of Chicago MA in the social sciences has found a great deal of success in placing students in top 30 programs.

You should look at UCSD's Science and Technology Studies program. It's amazing, one of the best in the world. Many of the students never studied sociology in their undergrads. Rather, they are interested in studying the science as a practice, and its implication(s) on society (and other cool stuff like the philosophy of science and the sociology of knowledge). Many of the students studied physics, biology, or engineering. I highly recommend you look into it.

149 Q and 155 V 4.0 W

Thinking about my experience on this forum, I'd say there is no one rule or thing that can alleviate your fears. Everyone has different circumstances. I got into a top 20 with terrible GRE scores. I'm just not sure what to tell people anymore. As letstalkshop wrote, take the damn GRE, and take it again if you have to. You might not get a score that will dazzle the adcoms, but you want a score that alleviates any fears about the stats requirement (but I have to say, my math score was low, and I got in, do with that information what you want). It's an arbitrary clusterfuck in my opinion.

CU Boulder is a top qualitative/ethnographic program.

I'm waiting on another program. Tomorrow is the deadline, do I need to accept my offer by a certain time (say before the end of business hours or by midnight)? Thanks

I think letstalkshop is making the point that the survey is meant to convey useful information to other prospectives. Therefore, the information being reported should be what the adcomms use to make decisions, which in most cases is undergrad work.

I got into two prestigious programs, one of them in the top 5, with an abysmal GRE score: 155 V and 149 Q. I did have letters from famous professors, a publication, and an awesome thesis project. Your verbal is great, your quant is on the lower side. I think it depends on what you want to do. It will only help you to get a higher score. You have a lot of time, take it again.

I'm not sure about the dual degree, but, UC Santa Barbara is widely known as the best program for gender and sex studies. Berkeley is excellent too because there is some interdisciplinary work being done between rhetoric, soc, and comp. lit (they have Butler). Also, CU Boulder does a certificate in Women's Studies that can be attached to the PhD. At most programs you can study Feminist Epistemology and other approaches; these can augment your degree.

Great score