timhorton

A lot of Canadian schools specify you should have a soc undergrad (I also did my undergrad in Canada) but in actuality they're very flexible. I'd think you'd have no problem getting in to a program in Canada, as for the US there are fewer terminal MA degrees in soc. Although I'm no longer interested in getting my MA in soc I was previously and have done a lot of research into the schools in both the US and Canada so feel free to PM me if you want any advice.

So I have decided I want to apply to an MPP or MPA program but I have to admit that I'm confused on where to apply. I want to work at a place like the urban institute, or another think tank but I'm not sure what schools can lead me to that path. Currently I'm working with AmeriCorps VISTA and living in the Midwest, so I'm looking at a number of school in my area and schools that give large tuition cuts to AmeriCorps alums, so places like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Brandeis, and Duke. My big question is... will it be incredibly difficult to land a job at a place like Urban (or a job in DC) if I do not go to school in the mid-Atlantic area?

Long story short I've been having some serious doubts about if I want to complete a PhD in sociology. One, because it's a huge time commitment and two, I'm not going to a top institution so I'm worried about job placement (sidenote: if anybody knows about CUNY's soc program, specifcally immigration I have some questions for you). So I've been looking at soc MA programs, particularly 'applied' programs, such as the one at UMASS-Boston. (Link below) https://www.umb.edu/academics/cla/sociology/graduate_programs/ma Does anybody know about job prospects for an applied MA program. Would it hurt that Umass isn't ranked as high as other institutions in the region, when it comes to looking for jobs? Umass has a survey research certificate which seems pretty applicable to the real world? Any advice or experience with degrees of this type would be greatly appreciated.

@Swaggyst I would say so. If the programs you apply to come with some sort of funding there is a good chance that there will be a TA requirement. In my opinion the teaching experience would show that you definitely have the ability to be a good TA (and possible future prof). Basically it will show the adcomm that although you are applying straight from undergrad, you have exhibited an important aspect of working at a university which is teaching (sometimes people forget that grad student life is not 100% research). At the end of the day your teaching experience can only help your application. Also on a random note, good luck in your application to the ICPSR. I took a few courses at the ISR's summer institute in survey research and found it extremely beneficial, even if it was maybe a little too fast-paced at times.

I would second what PoliticalOrder said. My university had few research positions for undergrads and this is something that made me nervous for future grad school applications or even just post-university job prospects. I actually got an unpaid RA position doing some basic survey design and data collection my senior year and then used that information to write my thesis. I found that most professors were extremely supportive of that decision because not only was it helping to ease the work load of someone in the department, but it also gave me the ability to write a thesis with data that no one else had used before. This could be a way to go about getting research experience. Personally I don't think that the absence of an RA position will automatically exclude you from a top PhD program, I think your teaching experience could bolster your application quite a bit.

Is anyone out there currently attending or thinking of attending Rice University for the PhD program in sociology? I've looked over the website, professor profiles, current student profiles, some papers...but the program is still so new it's hard to find a lot on it. Does anybody know if rice is more quant or qual heavy (the website says they train students in mixed methods). Also does anyone know if RA positions are readily available through any of the affiliated research institutes at Rice (like the HERC)? In the future, I want to work in research outside of academia and the website says Rice emphasizes new approaches to public sociology, so I feel like this program could possibly tick a lot of my boxes but it would be extremely helpful if someone could point me in any direction to get more information.

I was told Ohio State has a growing population studies concentration, but that was just word of mouth so I could be mistaken. Do you mind if I ask what Sociology/Demography program you're going into?

Thank you for the response! That all seems like very good advice, I was wondering if I should keep it hush that I may not want an academic job, my undergraduate professors seemed to be split on mentioning non-academic possibilities to students. I do know just from browsing around, Ohio State explicitly states on their website that many of their alumni have gotten jobs in think-tanks, and the CDC. Not sure about the time to degree, but I'll definitely follow your advice and email some people to ask around.

Ok so I just graduated from my undergrad and I'm thinking of what grad programs to apply to for sociology. Reading the posts on here terrifies me about tenure track job openings in sociology. As such I'm thinking about getting a PhD and going for a job outside of academia. I've heard people say that Penn State and Ohio State have good sociology/demography programs with skills easily translatable outside of academia. Does anyone have advice on what programs I should look at if I want I work at a think-tank, business, or government organization as a sociologist? Do I need a PhD to do evaluation or research at a place like the CDC or a company like Facebook? Should I be looking at different degree programs for those things?

Hi so I'm a new poster, just finished my undergraduate degree in sociology. I'm looking for advice on what programs to apply to, specifically in regards to sociology programs with a focus on immigration/migration. Some background on me is I had a decent GPA (3.5), I haven't taken the GRE yet, I did my undergrad in Canada so I'm looking at schools both in Canada and the U.S., I don't have any faculty members in mind yet, still have to research that over the summer. But the schools I'm looking at now are (in no particular order)... UC-Irvine (and maybe Davis) University of Toronto University of British Columbia UM-Ann Arbor UMinnestoa-Twin Cities Penn State UPenn and Princeton (big reach schools) If anybody has experience/advice on applying to these programs, or knowledge of the immigration sociology faculty members let me know please. Or if anybody has advice on other schools I should look at (especially schools that may not be as well known but maybe are safer bets on getting in) let me know please. Also just general advice on things I should highlight in a grad school application would be greatly appreciated.