LintonSamuelDawson

Look into Northwestern University, Marquette University, University of Missouri and I hear University of Texas - Austin has a fantastic program as well. Hope this helps. I graduated with a Bachelors in Arts in (Print/Online) Journalism from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

Look into Northwestern University, Marquette University, University of Missouri and I hear University of Texas - Austin has a fantastic program as well. Hope this helps. I graduated with a Bachelors in Arts in (Print/Online) Journalism from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

Thank you for saying that. Here I keep thinking that my financial condition comes off as an excuse, but I didn't willing get a bad GPA. School in a foreign nation with no social safety net was rough emotionally, but the hardest part was trying to fend for myself while keeping a GPA above 2.5 and being full time. I couldn't even go part-time or take a semester off as it would be a violation of student visa conditions and would mean immediate deportation and end of my academic pursuits in the U.S. If it doesn't sound bad already, all on-campus employment is minimum wage or maybe a couple of cents higher if you spend a lifetime there. Every international students is restricted to only working on-campus for 20 hours a week during semester and 40 hours during breaks. I worked every hour of my academic life and had to pay rent, food, health insurance, books, transportation and make part payments on a personal loan (9% APR) taken between sophomore and junior year. One can do the math and figure out that working 20 hours a week won't cut it at all. I barely made rent most months and food was just a means of survival overlooked often. I went thinking about what went wrong and I can't find many reasons. I went to every class, submitted all assignments and didn't fail classes and couldn't drop out. Academia was just about becoming a fun experience as graduation took me out of school. I desperately want to get back to academic pursuits because it gives me a solid purpose in life. I throughly enjoy being with books, reading through research and looking into the various sociopolitical issues concerning society at various levels. Gives me a kind of joy words really cannot express. I'm fine with doing a masters program first and then moving on to a doctoral program if time/financial situation permits. Any suggestion on what schools I could look into? Thanks again.

Thanks for the reply. I am looking to work with think tanks and gain prowess in sociology of politics. Afterwards I want to get back to mass media and use my research, which I would have conducted by then, to disseminate proper peer-reviewed information about a pressing sociopolitical condition. I don't want to overlook my experience in journalism as I do enjoy being in the media, but I firmly believe that most journalists don't have adequate academic backing to make non-speculative claims. I also want to conduct individual research into the socio-economic condition of people living under different political structures; analyzing elite control of policy forming process and how absolute power is maintained over subjects in a comparative political setting. I did a senior project for one of my undergraduate classes which was a narrative inquiry about the public role in remedying the American political institution and thereby increasing political efficacy. It's uses a lot of political sociology sources and draws from prior research conducted on similar lines. I am willing to do a masters program and then pursuing a PhD if time or financial conditions permit. I was not expecting to be directly admitted into a PhD program right away. I am realllllly interested in Madison as I am a Univ. of Wisconsin alumni. Just a burning desire to go back to my institution/state, but if t doesn't work out, I won't be terribly surprised. Any suggestions of what other schools I should look into?

Okay! So I have a unique case here, or so I like to think, and some perspective would be beneficial to my application process and highly appreciated. I am an international student who was admitted to a small private school in the Greater Milwaukee Area, but transferred to University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee where I graduated with a Bachelors in Arts majoring in Print/Online Journalism and a minor in Sociology. In hindsight, I should have majored in sociology instead, but interest in the subject peaked somewhere between sophomore and junior year at UWM, and I didn't know any better before. Although I had planned to work in the field of traditional media, a corporate controlled on the media in the U.S is extremely dissuading. Hence, I plan on pursuing higher education till I acquire that coveted knowledge and a PhD. I intend on pursuing graduate study in political sociology and have a fair understanding of the subject with ideas on prospective lines of future research. Now here is the catch. I graduated with a 2.79 GPA from my undergraduate program. I'm not a bad student, however my classes ranged from higher level political science, history, demographic geography, anthropology to core subjects of journalism and sociology. None of the classes I took had easy content to get convenient A's, but I didn't fail either. Some A's, lots of B's and a few of C's. Nonetheless, I don't regret taking classes that aided the process of education while challenging my intellectual boundaries. During my undergraduate life, economic hardships, lack of any scholarship opportunities, financial inconsistencies with the funding source (my parents) forced me to work at least 20 hours a week with in multiple jobs. At the same time, I also worked as a freelance writer/intern with local media outlets on and off campus, and even managed to clock in volunteering time with environmental and social service groups. As musician, I worked with several local bands, toured regionally and even produced an EP with one of the groups. Needless to say, I was beyond occupied. These are not excuses for the bad GPA, but circumstances and situations that contributed to a lower figure. While researching schools for Fall 2016 entry, I realized that a low GPA can be a major sticking point, but I am taking prep classes and shooting for a high GRE score in hopes to somehow offset the sub 3.0 GPA. Considering my financial circumstances, I have to seek assistantships, teaching positions or plausible scholarships. Getting LOR's, showing work samples and writing a convincing SOP shouldn't be a problem. Some of the schools I have been dwelling upon are listed below. Any suggestions on my candidacy or handy tips would be prime. Thank you in advance. Dream on: UW-Madison UC-Berklee/San Diego/L.A Princeton Maybeeee it'll happen: University of Chicago University of Michigan - Ann Arbor University of Pennsylvania University of Maryland - College Park Hopefully happens: State University of New York - Albany Rutgers University University of Colorado - Colorado Springs/Denver And that's all folks. Just lay it on me. I can handle the truth dammit. I ain't that weak.