kris10mb

@EvelynD -- I've been struggling with my fair share of self-pity...Thankfully, I have a good support system in both my personal and professional life that hasn't really let me get too down. I've also found that trying to figure out why certain people get accepted and why others don't is just a painful, unproductive exercise. We weren't in the admission meetings and have no idea why they picked the people they picked. Trying to compare yourself to the accepted folks just brings more frustration, in my experience. But four schools is a pretty small pool of possibilities. Just think, maybe the people you want to study with can't take any more students right now, are leaving, or have already left and the school hasn't updated their website. Maybe research interests are changing at a particular school and while they once studied what you want to research, the department is trying to move away from that area. Also, one of the schools I got rejected from took a cohort of 7-ish people. That is a very small and very competitive group of people fighting for just a handful spots. We could have been rejected/waitlisted for any number of reasons that really have nothing to do with our abilities. I know that there are areas in my application that I can improve upon (such as a better tailored SOP and raising my quant GRE), but I know that I'm qualified to do this and I won't let a couple rejections get in the way of that.

I've been through B and C already (at a surprisingly fast pace) and have moved on to A. And I'm also trying to appreciate the gift of more time before I lose my life to academia again. @eloquentrivka - I would hardly take the small handful of rejections that we've seen (most of the folks I've seen on this forum that are already planning on the next cycle are those of us who only applied to 2-5 programs) as an indication that we aren't cut out for this route. I think, if anything, the drive to get back up and try again next time is an indication that we ARE made for this. Rejections come more often than acceptances for many things in academia - and life in general. Sure, if your GPA is low, your GRE scores aren't great, you don't have strong letters of recommendation, etc. you might want to consider looking at alternate paths...but I'm choosing to have faith in myself and my abilities. And I would encourage others to do the same.

@csot - Thanks for the good vibes. I've resigned myself to taking another year off between my M.A. and Ph.D...it's not ideal, but it is what it is. I'm not a big believer in religion or a higher power but I do think that the universe unfolds as it should. It just wasn't meant to be for me this time around. But I have to believe that there is something bigger and better waiting for me and I just can't see it yet. Next time around I'll try and cast a wider net than just four schools but as I paid for all of the applications/sending of GRE scores myself, I just couldn't afford to apply to more schools this time around on an adjunct salary.

I've been really struggling the past week or so. I got rejected from my top two choices and my best guess is that I've been waitlisted at my "safety" school. It's been rough but I'm trying to stay positive. However, now that I've reached this low, I find that my anxiety level has dropped significantly. I'm actually going a normal amount of time between checking emails and have actually been productive in my work. This seems like a super depressing post, but as I'm learning to deal with the rejections, I'm finding peace. Hope that the rest of you find a calm place within yourselves - hopefully through good news, but if not, then in spite of the bad.

I would suggest trying to get your paper published. If there is one thing that I've learned through this application process, it's that the majority of us applying for Ph.D. programs have good test scores, GPAs, LORs, SOPs, and writing samples. You want to stand out as an applicant and having a paper published or even submitted for publication can help you do that. I am in the process of getting a paper published (currently under R&R) but I definitely put it on my CV. Publishing a paper isn't easy - typically, you get rejected at least once, you go through revisions, etc. so going through the process can help demonstrate to an admissions committee that you are willing to go the extra miles to accomplish something. Everyone at this stage of the game has written a good paper, but not everyone has taken the time to work towards publication. Especially with a low overall GPA, you really need to demonstrate that you are up for the challenge of graduate school.

I can only speak for one of those schools, but I have a friend who received an acceptance from NCSU two weeks ago. I still haven't heard from them, but ETS had a problem sending my full GRE score to them so they just got all my paperwork in last Friday (!!!!). The good-ish news is that they didn't do an interview. My friend just woke up one day and had an acceptance email waiting.

@csot I've definitely had a couple nightmares about this process...which means I wake up in the middle of the night to check my email for the 247th time, only to find an empty inbox.

I'm still waiting to hear from UNC as well...in looking through the results page, they have sent out admission offers a couple days apart in previous years, so I'm trying to hold on to hope.

Saw that someone posted an acceptance from UNC! Congratulations! Anyone want to claim it?

I think I might lose my mind if I don't hear something this week. Everyone I know in real life who applied this round has heard something from at least one school they applied to, but I'm still waiting. It seems like the end of January/early February are popular times for admissions decisions to be sent out, so I'm crossing all of my fingers and toes that we hear something soon. It seems to me like this year is getting off to a late start...

???

One of my favorite sociology jokes: Why does Karl Marx hate Earl Grey tea? Because all proper tea is theft.

This has been my experience 100%. Even my professors keep assuring me that I'll get in, but until I receive an email/call proving them right, I'm filled with doubt. It's nice to have support, but at the same time, I just want to scream "BUT YOU DON'T KNOW THAT FOR SURE!" It doesn't help that the whole process is somewhat arbitrary. I've heard of many people who didn't get in one year, then sent in an almost identical application the next year and get admitted...I just hate feeling like I have no real control over what happens.

Weekends are hard for me because I want to check my email every 5 seconds, but know that it's very unlikely to get any official communication from a school on a non-work day. I was excited that today is Monday, because that meant I might hear back from SOMEWHERE, ANYWHERE -- and then I realized it's MLK day...

Take a look at American University's Justice, Law, and Criminology program. I spoke with their graduate director during ASC and while I'm not sure if they have someone looking at health within the CJS, their program focuses heavily on issues within the CJS. I really liked their program but it isn't a good fit for my particular research interests. As far as a list of sociology PhD programs, this book was really helpful for me: http://asa.enoah.com/Bookstore/Reference-Materials/BKctl/ViewDetails/SKU/ASAOE702G15?_ga=1.163806143.1853031658.1484416231 . Thankfully, my chair had a copy that I borrowed so I didn't have to purchase it, but $50 isn't terrible considering how important this decision is for the future. Good luck!