[FALL 2016 Applicants!]

11 minutes ago, SocIsCool said:

I agree with @Pennywise and would add that no matter how casual/informal the conversation may seem, treat all discussions with POIs as if they are formal interviews. Any correspondence (chats, emails, and so on) with a POI may be reported or forwarded to an admissions committee. But I think if you're sincere (like Pennywise said), if you're simply yourself, and if you don't let your nerves get to you too much, you'll be just fine.

Is an interview (skype or whatever) a pre-requisite for everybody at this program, or only for some applicants? If you don't get a skype request does it mean you're out?

[Question on GRE scores]

The formula for admissions is typically along the lines of:

[A Baker's Dozen Application Questions]

I'd say 3 or 4 of these apply directly to me. I'm not so much nervous as want to temper my expectations.

That said, if anybody wants to give me their 2cents on my SoP I'm happy to share privately, because that piece is the one that is giving me the most agita :)

[A Baker's Dozen Application Questions]

I just submitted my Fall'16 Soc. PhD apps and I feel ok about them. But I have some questions which I never got good answers to. Even though it's a bit too late now, perhaps these issues will help people in the future if they can be specifically addressed. Not all of these issues concern me individually but some do and I have seen some asked by others which were not really answered very well...

1. How bad is a 3.2-3.4 undergrad GPA IF (a) it was 10+ years ago (b) it was in an unrelated major (engineering, biology, etc.) (c) if you also have a masters degree with a 3.90-4.00?

2. How bad is it if you submit more than 1 writing sample? (say one is an academic paper and the other is a thesis or theoretical paper)

3. How bad is it if you submit 4 LORs and not 3 (if they ask for 3 but allow up to 6 recommenders, for example)

4. How important or not is professional work experience in something social science-related (or finance related for econ-soc)?

5. How bad is it to be an older applicant (35+ years old)

6. How bad is it if you none of your recommenders are sociologists? What if one or more is non-academic due to time out of school?

7. If you have multiple GRE scores should you only send the best aggregated score? Or select one with the highest verbal (or quant)?

8. How bad is it if you go over the word/page limit for SoP or writing sample?

9. Is it detrimental if you contact the grad school admissions office by phone or email to check up on things/ask questions/ask questions about online application/check on status of documents such as transcripts or GRE scores? Do they even pass those contacts along to the adcom?

10. Do your references on your CV make any difference (for the ones who are not also recommenders)

11. Does the CV even get looked at, and if so does it play much into decisions?

12. If you have a specific research agenda should you highlight that in SoP or keep it more general/high level?

13. Do (rigorous) professional designations play any role in consideration - such as CPA, ASA (actuarial), CFA or FRM?

[GRE scores dilemma]

Ok, I took the GRE 2 years ago when I applied for my masters and got

V: 164, Q: 159, A: 5.5

I am now applying to PhD programs (top 10 sociology) and I re-took the GRE and got

V: 165, Q: 160, A: 5.0

So I improved by one point in both verbal and quant, but my analytical writing score is weaker by 0.5

Which one should I send? - Is the 1-pt improvement in V&Q more weighty than the decline in Analytical? Should I send both?