Weysh

Thank you!

So if I did not get any invite, that means I'm out?

wow, thanks for recommending AOIR.

Ok. Thanks for the advice. But, about the circle. It's true in the U.S. For example, if you look at some books which include many articles from different professors from different U, you will find that these professors who put articles in the same book frequently work together, or someone was someone else's student, or ex co-worker...

No, by "circle" I mean research clusters based on personal circle(forgive my choice of vocabulary if i'm using it wrong. I'm not a native English speaker). It's very common, and very important in academia. I've tried looking at some ranking lists, but "Communication School" seem to have very different concentrations. I'm only interested in researches which involves new ICTs and social studies.

Thanks for replying! Yes, I do know how grad school application works, how rankings is just a number. I once applied for Sociology programs 2 years ago. However, as you may or may not noticed, professors do work in "circles". I am reading some professor's work, but it only leads me to the world of his/her academic circle. I still need to know what other possibilities out there. And also, there's no ranking stat for this particular field. Only communication schools ranking. There are simply so many sub-fields in communications. That was why I got lost finding the right program. So I'm not looking for a "good" program that is "good" in ranking. I'm simply looking for those programs which are strong at combining web/internet studies with sociological studies (like the NW MTS program). But thank you for your advice, though.

Hi, I have studied sociology for 6 years and now hold a M.A. degree in Sociology (Concentration: Urban Soc). At the same time I'm also a computer geek (since high school) who actually worked as professional web developer for many years. At the age of 30, I'm looking forward to a serious academic career path which could combine my social science research experience with my knowledge of how web world works. I'm living in Chicago now, that's where I discovered Northwestern Media, Technology and Society program (I went to Evaston for attend Manuel Castells' talk). I've never considered Communication before, so I have little knowledge of this field. And communication has so many different sub-fields. I'm a little bit lost at this time. So I'm asking the good people here, what are the good programs in U.S. to study and focus on Internet and its social impact? Thanks! (P.S. forgot to mention: PhD programs)

Heard nothing from Albany yet...