ZombieBirdhouse

Thank you for the input everyone! I really do appreciate it. I'll get started on my SOP's while I do edits and try to submit my earlier work for a conference or pub and just try to hammer out whatever I can by the end of March, then get started on the GRE, etc. Thank you!

So, I'm getting started on budgeting my time before I apply in the fall for the 2018 application season. I have a capstone project that I feel with heavy editing could be a potential publication, however I wrote the material at the end of 2015, so there would be a large time investment in trying to get the research paper up to publication standards. My cumulative GPA is only a 2.7 because of some mistakes that I made when I was younger, I estimate that my departmental GPA is anywhere from 3.5-3.7. Is it worth it to invest several months in trying to get published before submitting my applications or should I focus on my SOP's and personal statements. I already plan on dedicating six months to the GRE. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I just graduated from undergraduate so I may not know quite as much as someone who has gone through the whole thing but I feel like I can weigh in a bit. Getting your MA and going back to school is a perfectly legitimate life course, there's nothing wrong with getting a terminal MA and a lot of students do exactly that so there's no harm in doing either or insofar as a happy, successful life course. What I can say objectively is that if you're having doubts about being a professional academic or doubts about graduate life it may be more prudent to get your MA separately because it leaves a lot more room for exploration which it seems like you want to do. The main downside is time and that some PhD programs only accept students directly out of undergraduate, so you might find yourself limited from larger schools, but your work experience might make up for that in the remaining schools. I hope this helps!

I'll preface by pointing out that I'm new to GradCafe (Although I've been lurking for a while), so apologies for breaking any forum rules. I recently graduated with a B.S. in sociology from a small state school in the Midwest. Long story short, my overall GPA is 2.9, I haven't calculated the GPA for my last 60 hours yet, although I can say that since changing my major to sociology I had only received two C's, as well as receiving an A in all core courses (Theory, methods, stats, etc). I have yet to take the GRE, I am told that I am a strong writer. I've conducted research in the field although I have yet to be published. The impasse that I find myself in is my interest in cultural studies and semiotics. I'm having trouble finding programs that cater to my research interests without being reach schools that my GPA makes prohibitive such as U. Penn. Should I write off these reach schools entirely? If so, are there any resources to help me track down smaller schools that cater to the sociology of popular culture? Any help is appreciated.