MashaMashaMasha

Congrats! I already live in Seattle, and my neighborhood is West Seattle, which is a great area, but about an hour commute to campus by bus. I recommend looking at Fremont, Wallingford, Green lake, Ravenna... Seattle is a city of neighborhoods, so each neighborhood has it's own personality. Feel free to PM me if you are looking for something specific and don't want to post publicly.

I don't think there's anything wrong or annoying about contacting your advisor with a brief email saying that you are/have accepted the offer of admission, and are excited to work with her in the fall. To start a dialogue, you could reference some of her recent work (theres a lot on this forum about contacting faculty before applying, consult those threads for ideas on your email.) I would use this reference as an "I admire what you've done" piece rather than a "I want to keep doing that" piece, since faculty interests can change. At this point, you may not get much of a dialogue from her, if she is like most faculty during the summer!

I'm not sold on the transition from macro to micro, then back to macro. I don't think you need to apologize for the micro courses you took, and that's what it sounds like when I read your 2nd and 3rd paragraph. I will echo others in asking for solid and specific research questions. Show them that you can think analytically about a real issue. Actually, I think the strongest part is the intro. I want to hear more about the relationship between microeconomic perspectives on development and international trade. As it stands, this point gets buried.

Personal preference, I would not use the word "dream". I am of the straightforward school, and think that you should be very careful and remind yourself of that cranky adcom member that fuzzylogician wrote about. In my first draft of my SoP, I actually had a pertinent story that connected to why I'm interested in my field. I ended up trashing it because it didn't show why I wanted to spend another 7 years getting a PhD in my field. Good luck!

I think the most important thing is to be crystal clear in what you want to DO. Why do you want a PhD? What about your interests sets you apart from the pack, and how would you approach the problem? Show them that you can think sociologically, that you understand your own strengths, and the strengths of the department. This might work better with 2-3 subfields, or you might find a way to link 3-4, although, if you only have two pages, that might be pretty difficult. When you come up with a draft, ask professors you have a relationship with to hack it apart. My SoP went through something like 20 revisions after getting feedback from a handful of profs and a few friendly TAs. Good luck!

I agree with Sigaba here. You want your acceptance to be based on the committee finding potential in you, not because of circumstances in your life. I know the waiting process can make us crazy, but you'll feel a lot better if you don't do anything desperate. If you really want to portray that this school is your #1 choice and if given the opportunity, you would be 100% attending, you can do that through a phone call to the admin in charge of this process, checking on your status and casually mentioning that X university is your first choice. This isn't usually advisable, but if you feel like you just can't sit on your hands anymore, then this is the way you make contact - keep it brief, though, and only make this phone call once! Otherwise, I will echo the idea to be patient. Many folks on this board, myself included, have applied multiple times because the first time around didn't work out. If that's the case for you, it doesn't mean the end of your academic life.

The short answer is no. I think you run the risk of coming off as unprofessional, even if it's not your intention. When asked why you want to attend, list off all the fabulous program-related reasons. These reasons should align with your criteria for making a decision: fit, faculty research interests, strength of the department, etc. Even if the intent was to show that if accepted, you'd be 100% attending this school, there are clearly other reasons why that's the case, since it's your top choice. I'd highlight those and then *maybe* if the current grad students invite prospectives to a pub night, then you can mention that, coincidentally, your SO goes here as well.

It's not waterproof - the zippers and seams aren't reinforced to make it waterproof. But the material is water resistant and so far it has held up just fine. I wouldn't ride my bike to school (12 miles one way) in the rain or anything, but for regular transit commuting, it's just fine. Super important here in Seattle

Hi there! So, I have totally decided on UW. This is my second round of applications, and interestingly enough, I had a comprehensively different approach and criteria for this time around. I am the first to admit that my first cycle criteria was based much more on ranking than fit, which was a detriment to my applications, for sure. So here's a rundown of my impression of the department from discussions with faculty, the recruitment weekend and my own research. 1. Rankings are based on their own particular set of criteria, much of which is reputation, which as you can imagine leads to a weird cycle of reputation feeding ranking feeding reputation. 2. That said, UW is a top 20 school. The actual number doesn't matter, as long as it is in the Top something. 3. Sociology has a lot of subfields. UW seems to be strong in demography, sex/gender, and health, based on sort of overall faculty interests. 4. The department is really interdisciplinary and internationally-focused, which were two really important factors for me. 5. Faculty are warm and inviting. 6. Students don't compete for funding, and are collegial and collaborative. 7. My research interests are represented, in various forms, by several faculty members at different stages in their careers. 8. Personal reasons for staying in Seattle are big for me right now, so that was a factor. 9. Demography and Social Problems are edited in the department, so there are opportunities to serve on an editorial board. 10. The Harry Potter library, the cherry trees, views of the mountains, the Sound, boathouses, and the inexpensive and delicious pho. HTH - what are you hoping to study? Reaching out to faculty who are also interested in your subfield/region/methods could help you get a better understanding of what the department offers (and how responsive the faculty are to students).

I haven't read work by ALL of the faculty in the department, and think that would certainly be over-doing it. But I have read a few articles or books by my 3-4 POIs. I've found it helpful in connecting with them, and following citations can lead you down a helpful and interesting rabbit hole...

Good for you! Remember that they picked you because you show potential, not because you're already an expert. Don't feel like you won't be able to handle it because you're not already doing something as rigorous and challenging. Re: Michigan - she's my home state and I've lived in every major city for at least a year, and it is a really fantastic place. On top of the natural beauty, folks are genuinely friendly. You'll make friends quickly! Feel free to PM me for specifics on any area.

Super competitive, though. Still sucks keep your head up though, plenty of other fish in the sea!

Congrats!!

I will have to agree with xdarthveganx on this one. If you aren't sure that you want to get a PhD, you should not pursue it right now. My strong recommendation is to take some time off after you graduate. Work, travel, be a real person. If after a few years of that (I took five years), you still have that fire in yer belly for some set of social issues, then come back and hunker down and apply.

Absolutely - I will echo PrincetonOrBust on the form letter. Take that and run with it.

Right? Guys, how am I supposed to focus with all this vacation talk? Back to my spreadsheet calculating how much money I need to save up before I can actually quit my job

I just bought this Filson backpack. Rugged and good-looking and made in America.

Officially decided on the University of Washington.

Oh, the suspense! What's the word, quantitative?

Sure - demography (migration) and political sociology with a focus on Russia and Eastern Europe. I've been plotting out which electives I want to take and there are quite a few in the JSIS! What kind of research are you hoping to do?

Congrats!! Are you in the Jackson school, then? The library is called Suzzallo, and you only have to do a google image search to see what I mean!

Couldn't agree more than this. True in life as well as academe. In undergrad, an admin I was friendly with gave me the lowdown on the entire department, which professors were grumpy, who I should talk to and how about my ug research, et cetera. Admin staff have also been helpful in the application process this year, as they seem to be the only ones who know how the TA assignments are distributed and what first year TAs should expect!

Did your acceptance offer say that funding information would be sent to you? If not, they might not be expecting to fund you. You will need to call your department and ask. Don't just wait to get your bill! Funding should be an upfront discussion, and something that is a major factor in your decision to go or not go to any one program.

I strongly recommend not going without multiple years of funding. Apply again next year. The job market is awful, you do not want to incur more debt by taking out student loans for your PhD.

It's pretty weak, but decent around the university and surrounding neighborhood. If you go to http://tripplanner.kingcounty.gov/ you can find routes that service the U as well as whatever neighborhood you're in.