
ilikemoney
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Everything posted by ilikemoney
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UTAustin vs UMCP vs UCLA vs cmu
ilikemoney replied to hopelesslyconfused's topic in Decisions, Decisions
I'd go to UMD. Great CS program, close to DC, and it's free. Just my take... -
Full Funding (GW) v No Funding (Georgetown)
ilikemoney replied to sypher2k3's topic in Decisions, Decisions
GWU. Use that 45k to pay for a taxi to Gtown to network with the people there. Or just walk the 10 minutes from campus to campus. The programs are both good and EXPENSIVE. But one, for you, is free. Run with it. -
Chances of Getting In to Any Sociology Programs PhD
ilikemoney replied to Coffe-ology's topic in Sociology Forum
My take is this: You are applying to too many schools. I counted 17. Here's why I think this: your stats are not going to carry your application. The GPA is on the low side and the GRE is average. The stats are not suicidal, but they're not going to catch the adcom's attention. Even with perfect stats, you will not get admitted to a lot of those programs without a good research fit. Perhaps with brilliant letters and perfect stats, you might find your way in at some of the bigger, mid-ranked programs. But with average stats, you need to really make up for it with an honest-to-john glove-like fit into their program. This means you really need to spend a lot of time figuring out what those programs are all about. Remember, most programs only admit 5-10% of their applicants, many of whom are rock-star students with great grades, research experiences, and high test scores. You need to make yourself stand out, especially when you don't have the numbers on your side. I can't imagine ever being able to come to grips with the feel of 17 programs and really being able to tailor an application to the focus of each. I think a better approach would be to start researching those schools, and find out where you really fit. Start making some contacts and feeling out the programs. Start a personal statement and begin tailoring it for the programs. If you can find the time to really tailor your application to 17 schools, then go for it; the more you apply to the better your chances IF the application is serious. If it's just the same app sent to all those schools, you're probably just wasting 75 bucks a shot to get bad news. Just my take... good luck. -
I'm with you. I was admitted at my top choice, indeed my dream choice. They have been terrific and I have accepted their offer. But I do feel a sense of deflation. I have three more hard months of work at my job, then a month or so off while I prepare for the hard work to come. I think this is what Heidegger was talking about with all his blah-blah about 'existential guilt' -- it's feeling bad about missed possibilities and destroying all those selves which could be you. So you are always guilty.
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Good luck to those on the waitlist. Hopefully this will help you gauge your chances, though I'm afraid the news won't be very good. They are shooting for four to five spots. My understanding is that they sent out eight to nine bona fide acceptance letters. The wait list -- I assume -- will be after that, in the case that of those offered, they get fewer students than 4 acceptnaces. I know I will be attending... so if others are willing to tell their status, you might get a better idea about your chances. I hope this helps and good luck. It's going to be a small cohort, smaller than the already small cohorts of prior years.
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Relax everyone. I'll be honest, at this point, I'm not nervous--just excited to start. My job feels like purgatory, and though I'm having fun with it, I'm ready for the change. (My job--teaching--also makes me perpetually nervous, so I think that probably overshadows a lot...) I'll probably get nervous later, but I've met a lot of faculty and students and they're all down to earth. I've been looking forward to doctoral study for a while, and it getting closer only makes me more excited. I'm sure I'll be less enthused when the reading list overwhelms me and I have to write papers. But for now -- not worried. Lucky me, I guess?
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I said one of the richest -- not the richest. But some of those homes in Roland Park, being located in the city, are of extremely high value -- more so than a lot of the places in MoCo (due to location). That's all besides the point, however. The point was: Is Hopkins safe? I have to ask -- did you attend Hopkins? Have you spent any time in Baltimore? Or is this just from limited experience? When I think of a shitty college town, I think of College Park. I lived in College Park, and it is a total shit hole compared to Charles Village. JHU isn't like UNC or Madison (the former of which I have spent a good amount of time, the latter of which I grew up in and have family). Those are cities that revolve around the university. If you're looking for that in JHU or Charles Village, you certainly won't get it. It's not a college town. But if you are looking for a university in a city with a thriving cultural scene, good places to eat and drink, a rich culture, all with a cost of living that can't be beat -- then Baltimore is great. Come visit and see for yourself. Sorry to sound like an evangelist for the city. But I don't want someone to turn down a terrific school and neighborhood because of one person's vague comments about how it's "definitely one of the worst."
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Roland Park, north of campus, is certainly one of the richest areas in Maryland. And yes, the private schools are in that neighborhood. If you so chose, you could live in that area and you can rest assured that you'll be as safe as anywhere: it's basically a suburb, even if takes the name Baltimore. There's a reason in The Wire one of the characters says "This ain't Roland Park". You would be fine at 2AM in certain parts. Other places you would not. This is true of any city. You just need to know the area, and it's not hard to figure out. No one denies crime is high in parts of Baltimore, but it is almost all connected to the drug trade. So unless you're wandering West Baltimore looking for a fix, you're probably going to be okay. I've lived here for a while now, right in Charles Village, right next to Hopkins. I have not known a single person who has had any real problems. My point is that if safety is a reason at all for you to turn down JHU, you are really taking some bad advice. Come on guys -- you are all PhD applicants. Don't believe this N of 1 fallacy stuff. ("I heard someone got killed with a samurai sword." -- Hey, at least the good guys won!) North central Baltimore, where Hopkins Homewood is, is a place I'd raise my kids without reservation.
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The famous tv show about Baltimore, the drug trade, and so forth. Hopkins is far from that. It borders one of the wealthiest places in all Maryland. I really wouldn't worry.
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I live in the neighborhood of JHU (Charles village) and have for 3 years. It's safe and those who make a big fuss are full of it. You're not going to be experiencing the wire at Hopkins.
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I would tell her everything you just told us. I'm sure she'll be positive.
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My judgment: your stats are fine, and I don't think it's necessary you re-take it. Your GRE Q score is terrific. 780 is much higher than the avg sociologist and certainly shows some mathematical ability, which you'll need. It's the 89% percentile according to the last year, which means only 10% do better -- and most of those people are in the sciences. It's compettive enough. 620 V, as you probably know, is also 89% so you're in the same position. 5.5 is 92%, but only 1% of students get 6s. So a 5.5 is just about perfect. Sure, you might be able to bring the verbal score up, but I honestly doubt it'd really be necessary. GREs are not going to be the deciding factor in your app, and they're high enough to not get thrown out at those schools, I should think. I wouldn't retake it. Would you really want to be at a school whose faculty would be willing to not take you JUST because you got a couple more questions wrong on a standardized test that has nothing to do with your field? Your GPAs are good, particularly in a science background. I agree with the poster who said you might want to get the recommendations updated. Why not just let the professors who wrote them know what you've done with research since you took their class? If they're agreeable, it won't take them long to update. (It really doesn't. I'm a high school teacher: I wrote 21 letters of recommendation this fall, many of which change from school to school. It doesn't take that long.) Statement of purpose and writing sample are important. Make sure they're good -- but enough has been said about that already. In other words, I think with you are plenty competitive as is, and if you put together a strong application -- go for it!! You have a chance at all those schools. That's no guarantee, but there are no guarantees in graduate admissions, as you probably realize at this point.
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You're right -- an email isn't going to hurt you, as long as it's not cloying. And it certainly is a way to find out if you have a chance. (I didnt' apply to two programs that I knew I had very little chance due to earlier faculty contact.) So I would say it's advisable to make some contact if you're not sure if you fit the department. On the other hand, where I will end up -- it was so utterly clear from their research that I would fit there. My email contact went as far as to say "Do you take people with a non-sociology background?" to the secretary. And I got an enthusiastic admission and a warm reception from the faculty later. I guess my point is, an email conversation is not a 100% necessity, but can be very useful in helping you save money applying places that won't take you because of your interests, not your qualifications. But don't slit your wrists because you haven't been buttering up the faculty through email. Regarding having a non sociology background: this is one thing an email can sort out for you. Someone noted that "sociology departments really want to admit sociologists." This isn't always true. They do want to admit people who want to become sociologists. But if your background is history or polisci or education, and you have some experience in the social sciences, and you're committed to what you want to study, this is not going to hurt you. Many departments don't necessarily want sociologists to show up, they want them to leave as sociologists.
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I'll start with a story and then draw conclusions. ** I was invited to an "applicants weekend" at the University of Pennsylvania. This was for an application I put in to study education policy at their graduate school of education. They invited 40 out of over 400 applicants, and it broke down to about 5 people per program track. I quickly realized a few things. First, everyone who was invited had stellar, stellar resumes. Meaning, nearly perfect grades, high GREs, and great work experience. It was a confirmation of what I knew abstractly: extremely talented people with extremely strong records apply to extremely strong schools. Furthermore, they were all articulate and had great personalities. Competition is tough. Of the 40 people invited, I think a little over half were probably offered positions there. I was placed on a wait-list as I assume everyone else invited to the weekend who didn't get accepted. It was clear that few people there were going to get rejected for being unqualified and unsociable. Rather, those who got in fit with the style of the school and faculty, and more importantly, their research interests. I didn't have a perfect fit and that became to me very clear, especially during interviews. Of course, I left the interviews thinking: if only I had said that x, y, and z were my interests, and I'd like to study them with methods a, b, and c. Perhaps that would have done the trick, had they not been able to read the lack of enthusiasm on my face. But in the end, I was honest about my approach and interests and they were not sufficiently receptive to that. So I probably don't belong there and had they accepted me I would have been less likely to thrive. ** In the end, this is what I learned from this experience and the rest of the application process. Rules: 1: A good academic record and good experience is a necessary condition for a successful application, especially at a top school. However, it is not a sufficient condition. 2: Fit with the style and interests of the program is a necessary condition for a successful application, espectially at a top school. However, it is not a sufficient condition. 3: Luck is a necessary condition for a successful application, especially at a top school. However, it is not a sufficient condition. 4. A good academic record + fit + luck is sufficient for a successful application, especially at a top schools. 5: You can't take rejection personally and your succeses is in some ways out of your hands. Advice: 1: To the extent that you can, while still being true to your interests and capacities, tailor your SOP and LORs for the school you are appyling to. Most schools don't interview, so they're going to determine fit based upon what you say about yourself and what others say about you. 2: Don't count yourself out at top schools or fields outside your specialty. If you truly have something to offer the program, you have a chance anywhere, so long as you meet rule 1 above. 3: You can't take rejection personally. Your interests are what they are, and even if you are very competitive on paper, you will probably not be admitted unless you fit well and have some luck with how your interests and talents much up against the accepted applicants. 4: Be very gracious and proud of your acceptances, particularly the funded ones, at top schools. If you were admitted, and the school is willing to pay for you, that means they want you there. This is a necessary condition, I would imagine, for a successful doctoral experience. 5: Apply widely, but appropriately. It's unlikely, even with a 4.0 and a 1600 GRE, that you will get in everywhere you apply. You need to cast the net widely. That said, don't apply to Harvard just because it's Harvard. Apply there because you fit. I made the mistake of applying to top schools I didn't seriously consider just to "see what would happen." What happens is I got rejected, and I could have used that money to buy beer. Other comments: I'm kind of ambivalent about professor contact ahead of time. I didn't do it at all, and I got into my top choice. My top choice was literally less than a half-mile from my house, and I was in the first flight of their admits. They had never met me nor heard from me and they knew I was right next door. In the end, it didn't matter -- I fit well so I got in. It may help your application to talk to the faculty, but it's not in every case necessary. Honestly, it's probably better for finding out if your application stands a chance. In any event, if they want to talk to you, after reading your application, they will get in touch. If it's your style to talk ahead of time, go ahead and do it. I guess I was just kind of a hands-off kinda guy. I figured, if they wanted me, they'd want me. Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.
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From what I've been told, Johns Hopkins gets a bit over 100, and accept 7 or 8 to try to net around 4. So I guess that would mean it's somewhere between 5-8% acceptance rate.
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I logged in and got a rejection notice. I'm decided on where I'm headed -- which is my #1 choice! -- so at this point it's kind of a fun game. Still, who likes being rejected?
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If you log in to your ASF: https://was-4.umd.edu/contact/login?from=https://apra.umd.edu/application You can find your ID by clicking "Verify contact information."
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Yea I did. I think they sent it to everyone, frankly.
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It's nice when bad news is closely followed by the good. Came home to an acceptance letter from Oxford for their DPhil programme!
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Just got a letter from the admissions director at Penn GSE letting me know I was waitlisted. I suppose that's better than a rejection! I applied to the policy program. I left applicant weekend impressed with GSE's hospitality, but unsure whether the program was the best fit. I felt I could do good work there, and felt a particularly good connection with two of the faculty there, but definitely didn't get a sense of full support of my research interests. Thankfully, my top choice came through last week with an offer to a program which couldn't be a better fit, is more convenient for my life, better aligns with the approach I want to take to my research and my field. Plus that have given me a warm welcome indeed. So my feelings aren't too hurt, and hey, maybe an offer will come through in the end. Congratulations to those who made it, good luck to those in my situation.
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I just checked the online app status page: http://www.testudo.umd.edu/apps/gradapp/ My app status was updated to say "Recommended for admission on 02/18". I haven't actually heard from the school yet, so no details about their offer, besides this. I applied to EDPS. You might want to take a look if you're waiting and anxious!
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I got an email offering me admission Wednesday. The email said they're shooting for a class of four people this year, so I'm guessing they'll take a couple more than that, or at least add people to the waitlist. I'm thrilled and will probably attend. I am from Baltimore, so if anyone else got in and plans to attend, let me know. We should meet!
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I have a history and education background, but am just generally issued in social issues and education. I applied to Johns Hopkins Sociology because it was a good fit, and I'll be damned, I got in. I heard Wednesday (2/17). It was the only Sociology program I applied, but most likely will be the school I attend. New field, love my topic, new things to learn. yay!