redhillgirl

same here. Feeling so insecure now...i hope im gonna at least hear from one on Monday. And hopefully an acceptance! That wud make the subsequent waiting so so so much easier.

Congrats!!! wow weekend notifications make me even more nervous!!! *ben and jerrying*

Actually i didnt eventually apply to Cornell. Im interested in com-his sociology and critical theories my best fits are Wisconsin, NW, Yale and NYU Yay! What r ur interests? I think washington shd start informing some of the admits this week or next.....

Thanks n you're right! I never use these abbr. in formal communications tho Been monitoring the results board like crazy...anyone else applying to the schs listed below? Lets wait it out tgr...

I am thinking maybe we will hear frm WashU today or tmr? Not my best fit but I desperately need some news im already travelling but cant seem to shake off the worries

My quant score is pretty mediocre: 155. But my verbal is 166. argh I'm starting to get really worried

Thanks @sociologyapp2016! Yes I thought more or less so. Wondering what the GRE/GPA cut-off are for top5/top10/top 20 programs tho?

My POI read my SOP and thot it was "very strong" and said it means that I'll definitely go thru the crucial 1st cut and to the pile of apps that are taken seriously. I'm just wondering after that 1st cut, how many % of apps are left?

In hindsight I should really spread out a little bit more...I'm only applying to eight of the top 20 programs and I always get the weird feeling that sth is off with my application and i'll be rejected by them all but then may be not cos i'm international and a lower-ranked program really is a waste of time arghhhhh pls end this torture soon

This is getting real! I guess we'll start hearing results in 2 weeks or so? Good luck everyone.

Thx for the Reply! Actually my GPA is high in China, because the way of calculating the GPA is different here. The highest in my class is just 3.80. Yep, what I am confident of is that people can see how my SOP, Writing Sample and Reference Letter are connected with each other. All of my reference letter are from cultural studies by a broad definition. My writing sample is considered by my referee as "publishable", a bit surprising to me. Working hard to improve my writing and finally submit it to one journal. Will the professors in the committee read the writing sample thoroughly? The story could be rather interesting! Well there certainly are black sheeps in the herd. I'm from Hong Kong but when I did my masters in UK I met quite a number of mainland Chinese friends. My friends of cos were not cheaters (in fact, many of them failed quite miserably in the 1st term cos they were not familiar with the whole US/Europe academic system), but quite many in the Chinese students circle paid to have their essays written for them while they boarded luxury cruises during holidays. Sadly no one felt more unfortunate for this phenomenon than the honest Chinese students, which make up at least the better half of the group (and "Chinese students" by broader definition, including myself). Whatever they do they are looked at and evaluated with the highest degree of suspicion. The thing is, I dont think a student who pays to have the application done for him/her can survive for more than a single term in grad school, esp in top programs. So argh I really hate those people giving us bad names and making us go thru the extra scrutiny during applications. sorry for the random rants....

Hi @hazenyc, I dunno about other programs, but this program specifically states that they dun do interviews. It's just that I shot an email to my POI and he wants to chat (still cant believe it, he's a huge figure in my field). Hope he's not reading this. Thanks Soclscool & Pennywise! Any idea on what questions to expect from him? Should I send him my SOP (I briefly introduced my interest but he hasnt read my SOP yet)? I'm like super nervous now and trying to read everything he's written...

Hey I dunno if I need to open a new thread for this: but I'm skyping with my POI at my top choice grad school next week, what should I expect?

yeah, hopefully waiting is the worst part - not the rejections.

Thanks @iemons & @gingin6789! Solid advice indeed. I completed my writing sample the minute before I submitted the applications so I guess I can only hope for the best.

Thanks for your reply, that is my concern as well. I did mention it in my SOP but only in passing. I'm also getting all the conflicting advice on whether or not I should explain my undergrad GPA situation, some say no given it's too long ago, some say I should still write sth about it. Any thots? I used the WES GPA converter and my master GPA should be around 3.7+. Not sure if it's enough to overcome my abysmal undergrad GPA (2.5).

Hi, I'm a fall 2016 applicant as well! I'm hoping I get into Wisc-Madison - my no.1 dream school! I'm an international applicant tho and it looks like my chances are limited for it. Would anyone evaluate my profile? Undergrad: 2 undergrad degrees, 1 from top Asia institution (in political science) and 1 LLB. Horrible GPA for 1st degree (no legitimate reason, just having too much fun, but it was almost a decade ago). 2:1 for LLB Master: High merit from a top 5 UK university. LLM (but legal sociology) GRE: 166 V 155 Q 5 AW/ IELTS: 8.5 Publication: no academic publication but I published two books. Rich media experience (columns, TV show host, news commentator etc), and many many many public talks at Universities etc. Extensive international journalistic experience. Work exp: Researcher in a public organization, 3 yrs + a few others I am sure my SOP is kick-ass. LORs should be fine as well. Writing sample is a bit tricky as I am still doing last-minute polish here.... My interest is in critical theory & com-hist sociology. I think I should fit into "niche" places. What do you guys think my chances are? I am applying to Wisc-Madison, Northwestern, Brown, Washington...and a few others.