MashaMashaMasha

No one can tell you what your chances are. What is your focus? What are your research interests? A well-developed and thoughtful Statement of Purpose can go a long way. However, many schools have a minimum GPA requirement. I don't know what scale your GPA is on, but if it is on a 4-point scale, it is weak. Can you explain it? Is the GPA in your major higher? Did you take extraordinarily challenging courses? In my opinion, you need to retake the GRE. Tailor every one of your applications to the department you're applying to - don't just send out a blanket application. Research the school and department first, make sure it's a good fit, then make an argument for why they should take you.

I am also nervous/excited/have impostor syndrome and have been dealing with it by doing the following: - Physical activity - good way to meet people outside the program *and* get a little zen going. - Organization - remember that there are two kinds of successful PhD students - those that are exceptionally brilliant and those that are exceptionally hard working. If you aren't blessed with the former, become the latter through organization, time management, and hard work! Beyond that, try to find time to explore your city, or at least your campus. Find good cheap places to eat, find scenic walk routes near your department for when you need a breather. Every new thing comes with some kind of learning curve. Eventually you will find your rhythm!

I have learned through extremely sensitive bosses in the past, that it takes only a swallowing of pride and an admittance of confusion to remedy an unpleasant exchange. You'd be amazed how saying "I'm sorry" really diffuses a situation. I wonder if going into her office, and starting out with "I got your email. I'm sorry, I think I may have gotten confused, and I didn't mean to step on your toes. It won't happen again. Here is why I was confused - I thought [insert scenario here]. Could you help me figure this out?" This is seriously the most magical when I feel like I haven't done anything wrong, and I am just so angry at the injustice of it all - then just genuinely apologizing (not in a sarcastic voice!) can make the other person open up/help you/get over their hurt feelings. Hope this + all the other good advice in this thread helps. Update if you figure out something that works!

I know! I feel like whatever I do I can't keep myself busy enough to stop thinking about the first day!

I agree with many of the posts on this thread, and could share similar anecdotes about being the first in my family to earn a degree, let alone a PhD. My experience is that when I am going through a time of struggling/in debt, even stories about other people with money enough to do fantastic things is *obnoxious*. Take the other posters contributions to heart, embrace the fact that people from all backgrounds can be interesting (or downright terrible, whichever) and focus on the work you have ahead of you, not the financial priorities and decisions of other students.

I agree with the above - I have spent the last few years as a Researcher & Policy Analyst for a major labor union. Quantitative, quantitative and writing skills are all important in my job, and used daily. Here's a bunch of ASA research on careers that Sociology majors go into (whether with a BA, MA, or PhD): http://asanet.org/employment/factsoncareers.cfm

Registration begins tomorrow, yes? Has anyone else mapped out their schedule? Looked up old syllabi and reading lists? Been generally neurotic?

I think its all about the apps. You can use iAnnotate to highlight and add notes to PDFs, and good reader is supposed to be a good app for that as well. Evernote is supposedly a godsend, and the Mendeley app is supposed to be great, too. I plan on using mine to grade/read on my hour-long bus commute. I've also used it for things like home/garden design (Penultimate lets you draw over photos), language learning (you can get like 30 channels of streaming Russian tv for $5/year), and getting myself un-lost on the way to meetings in unfamiliar neighborhoods/cities. Also, if you're an insomniac like me, you can keep it on your nightstand and just check horrific news at 3am when you can't sleep. Much less cumbersome than a laptop that way

Not academically! I am interested in contemporary opposition movements in Russia and the former Soviet Union. Intersecting interests: Political Soc, Demography (Migration, particularly).

I would say that if you want to follow the AoM guide and like the style, but don't want to go too dressed up, you can easily take the Creative Casual wardrobe list - omit some of the things you know you wouldn't wear and focus on tailored, well-fitting jeans with button-up shirts. Wear a belt. Wear nice shoes/boots and keep them polished. Buy fewer things and invest in quality craftsmanship, and they will last longer and age better. For women, the advice is always to buy pieces as part of an outfit, not just based on the article of clothing itself, and I think that applies here, too. If you can't envision it in ensemble with other clothes, you won't wear it!

Montlake *is* very affluent, and I'd be surprised if you could find a house for rent, let alone at a reasonable price. If you do come across one though, it's conveniently located, pretty and very pedestrian/bike friendly. The Montlake bridge has big wide bike/pedestrian only sections on either side.

I decided (for now at least) not to get a 2nd Masters (in a choose-your-own-joint-program-adventure of an M.A. in Russian area studies and a PhD in Sociology) because I thought the added time and coursework requirements would be overwhelming. Instead I'm focusing on incorporating my regional interest into my work as a PhD student. When it comes to those joint programs, look at what they actually entail, and compare that to how deep your interests are. At the end of the day, plenty of PhDs, MBAs and joint-degree holders are unemployed. Your success in job searches (which is the part where "looking good" comes in handy) will come from the work you put into networking, publishing, and teaching, and not from how many degrees you hold. If you are trying to figure out whether specific programs are right for you, go visit them, talk to faculty there, talk to faculty at your UG institution, read what folks are publishing from the department. Hope that helps, best of luck!

I love finding redditors on TGC

Present! (also a woman, although I assume what the OP meant was "many of you guys")

This depends on your program, and they should have some inkling of this either on their website, or the catalog. If those things fail, call your department and ask. My first quarter, there is a minimum of 10 credits and a maximum of 18, and I think most people are taking somewhere between 12 and 15. So, very much resembling a semester system.