ThePastelCalico

A quick follow-up question if anyone can answer: would me having functionally taken stats 3 times by the time I graduate help alleviate potential fears about quant stuff in lieu of a low quant GRE score? I've taken the stats class offered by the math & stats department at my college, I've taken social stats for sociology and will be taking political analysis for my polisci degree. I got a A+ in stats, an A in social stats and (according to my polisci advisor who got her MA in sociology from the same insitution I'm at now) should have no problem in political analysis. Anyone have any experience with this?

I've certainly prepared myself for this reality. It's not fun, but something that I know is necessary. I think it's sort of made some of my professors upset that none of my top schools are even in the top 20, but I feel like this way I won't be too upset if I don't get in to Emory as opposed to Michigan or Cornell.

This is literally how I feel about this whole thing. It sucks that there's no streamlined sort of way to evaluate programs and how to apply to those programs. I've been told by professors in my own department everything from "If you don't get into a top 20 program, don't go." to "You apply to a person, not a program." as well as advice that contradicts all of that. I'm just not really sure what to even think anymore. I'm just sort of trudging along right now and hopefully by the time next April rolls around I'll have a few admits. I'm not even sure at this point.

Hi all. I'm new to the forum, so I apologize if my post is out of place. So I'm currently a senior at a university in Texas. I'm a double major in sociology and political science with minors in women's studies and community & urban studies. I'm having that sort of pre-applicaiton anxiety about applying to graduate school for a PhD in sociology. I'm currently working on a senior research project for sociology with a decent overall GPA (3.6 with one more year to get it up; started out as a biology major and nearly failed first year chemistry and stuggled in a few other courses not related to any of my majors or minors). Ultimately, my goal is to get my PhD from Emory. All in all, I guess there are a few main things I'm scared about. 1. I'm terrified of the GRE because I'm not even sure how to go about preparing for it. Also, I get super bad testing anxiety, but I know that applicaiton committees don't care about that. I'm scared that my GRE scores won't be high enough to even get me past the first round of applicaiton reviews. 2. I'm scared my writing sample will just be seen as another rehash of former research. My project has to do with measuring college students of color and their attitude toward the Confederate flag in modern settings and how that relates to racial identity formation. I plan on using my senior project as my writing sample, but I'm scared people will read it and think, "Great, another piece on racial identity." Is there any way to avoid falling into that sort of niche that comes with researching and wiriting about racial identity? 3. I'm really scared that regardless of my GRE scores, writing samples, GPA, SOP, LORs, and everything else that goes with my application that I won't be accepted anywhere simply because of the school I come from. The person directing my senior research project has indicated she thinks I have a great chance of getting into Emory with the completion of my research project, but I really feel like she feels obligated to say that. Plus, I get the feeling that people from the top schools will see the school I come from, think it's some rural school from Texas and instantly discount my applicaiton. If anyone has any way to sort of overcome these feelings or have felt the same way, I'd love to hear about it. It just feels like none of my other friends are experiencing this anxiety so I don't really have anyone to talk to about it. My advisor and senior project director have both been incredibly positive, but again, it somewhat feels like they're obligated to say that.