warwick

I don't mind at all! Basically, 4 factors guided my decision. In order: 1.) Location 2.) Prestige of program 3.) Fit 4.) Everything else I rank it in this order because for me personally, location is most important. Fit and prestige have a little more wiggle room (I will explain what I mean later), but location is most important because location is permanent. You can't pickup your university and move it. If you don't like the location because say, it's too hot or cold for you, or it's too rural or urban for you, or the cost of living is too high for you, the chances of you flourishing there are slim. As sociologits, we know how important environment is on individuals, whether it is influencing behavior, mental health, physical health, etc. If you're going to be living in this place for 4-5+ years, you need to make sure you're happy there. If you're miserable living in the area, it will just suck all of your motivation out of completing your PhD. For prestige, you have a bit more wiggle room because sometimes universities rise and fall in the ranks. Rank is usually static, but going to a lower-ranked university doesn't necessarily preclude you from success in the market, as there are things you can do to increase your chances for hire (like publishing). There are candidates from R1 universities who for whatever reason can't land a job post-doc, and then there are post-doc candidates who land jobs after graduating from lower-ranked universities. There is more variability here. That being said, if you are considering different schools and all other things are equal, always go to a higher-ranked school that can offer you more opportunities than a lower-ranked school can. High ranked schools usually have more funds or resources for you to pay for things like attending conferences, getting scholarships, getting research grants, etc. Plus name-dropping definitely helps, and people will be more impressed if you come out of a top program vs a no-name school (not to diminish any schools reputation). It's unfortunate, but thats just how "the game" works. Rank definitely matters, but less so than location in my opinion. Fit is less important to me because your research interests will naturally change or be refined as you progress with your PhD. So for example, if you go into a program 100% committed to studying victimization, in 2 years you might discover that gender and violence is actually more interesting to you. After talking with your peers and professors, you will naturally become more refined in this field as you become exposed to new ideas, and you might discover new things in the field that you didn't know existed. From my experience during visiting weekend, many of the current graduate students talked about how their research interests evolved while they were there. This is antithetical to what many people say when choosing a school. I read people on this website say to "choose a school that has faculty that fits well with your research interests". While this is good advice, a lot of times, you're not going to study exactly what you planned on studying going into the program. So fit matters in a general sense, like you get along with faculty and their research is in the ballpark of what you want to study, but just remember that both you and your advisor's interests will evolve as you do research together. That's basically it. If you have any other questions you can PM me if you want. I'm happy to help. Good luck with your decisions, no matter what school you pick I'm sure you will succeed!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to post that I'm attending UAlbany's PhD program starting this fall. Albany was my top choice for awhile, and after attending the visiting weekend I knew my decision was made. Good luck to everyone else who is contemplating decisions and nervously waiting replies. Just remember in the long run nothing is ever worth worrying about because we are all in the same situation. Everything happens for a reason! ?

You can PM me if you want specific information. I got accepted with full funding to a top 3 PhD CJ program and it was my first time applying. My grades are nothing special. I have lots of work experience as a security guard and recently as a mental health case manager, but that's not what got me in. My point is, getting into a PhD program is much more than grades or work experience. Your statement of purpose is the MOST important thing, followed closely by your letters of recommendation. If you don't know how to articulate WHAT you want to study, and how it is original AND important to the overall understanding of your field, you won't get it anywhere. If your professors cannot say anything positive about your academic rigor or insight into a specific research topic, you won't get in. The purpose of a PhD is to conduct groundbreaking research, and if you cannot convince the admissions committee of your ability to do this, then you are never getting in. BTW I don't mean to be facetious or blunt, but I am just trying to help you out. I'm sorry if you're frustrated. Keep revising your research interests and rewriting your statement of purpose. Ask previous professors to critique your writing too. Last but not least, make sure you go into it with a positive attitude. It will only help you if you remain positive.

You're all too nice! ?

Thank you so much!!! It means a lot. I'm still in shock and feel like I am dreaming hahaha.

Hey everyone! I was accepted to SUNY Albany yesterday. Got an email from the Dean saying I should be getting a formal letter in the mail soon with parameters for funding. I am honestly stupefied; my first round of applying and I get into my first choice program!!! I can answer any questions if anyone is interested. Goodluck everyone else!!!

Hello all! I am applying to PhD programs that center around crime and deviance, policing attitudes, drug policy and legalization, and criminal justice reform. I've already applied to Penn State, Brown, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boston College, and I will apply to University of Arizona, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, University of California Riverside, and Washington State University. I am also applying to a couple Criminology programs including SUNY Albany, Northeastern University, and Arizona State University. My GPA and GRE scores are solid at best, but I have 6+ years of relevant work experience and 3 excellent letters of recommendation. I have a strongly written writing sample and a clear statement of purpose with my research goals outlined. This is my first, and hopefully last application cycle. My first choices are Penn State for Sociology and SUNY Albany for Criminology. I'm excited to see how it goes and I hope everyone else on here has a good application cycle. Cheers!

In case people were wondering, my profile is: GPA: 3.45 GRE: V-154 Q-152 AWA-5.0 I will have 3 strong LOR and a kickass SOP and Writing sample. I also have 6/7 years of relevant work experience.

Thanks everyone, I don't know if there are any under 20 ranked programs that I should look at for a safety school. I have a couple 1-10 programs that I am applying to but I'm worried I don't have enough safety schools.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Any more would be even better, but I'm pretty sure I got them all.

Hi everyone! I'm applying to PhD programs for Fall 2017 in Sociology, with a focus on Criminal Justice/Criminology. Particularly, I am interested in researching drug policy, deviance, marijuana legalization, and policing culture/attitudes. I have looked into some Sociology and Criminology programs. My list Iooks something like this, which is in no particular order of preference. Sociology: Arizona State University Boston University Brown University Northeastern University Penn State SUNY Albany University of California at Irvine University of California at Riverside University of Colorado at Boulder Washington State University Criminology: SUNY Albany Northeastern University Arizona State University Have I left out any universities, or do any of my choices not fit due to my research interests? Any recommendations from top 10 Ivy schools to top 50 safety schools is fine. I don't think I have the profile for Ivy league schools, but I'm sure I can get into some middle programs. Please and thanks everyone!

BUMP: So, I took the GRE today and I got a V:154 and a Q:152 awaiting my essay score. Should I study more and try to get a higher score? (I hate tests, more of an essay person) Are my chances good for getting into a graduate program, or possibly a Ph.D program in Criminology? I know a lot of variables are impacting this (SOP, Letters of recommendation, budgets) but I am curious to hear anyone's thoughts. Thank you!

Just an update: I took another Magoosh practice exam today and I got a Q155 and a V150! I am very happy to see my progress, and it looks like my method of studying is paying off. I am very happy with this, and I will continue to study diligently until I continuously score even higher on the practice exams. If I can score above a 155+ for both sections consistently, I will be very confident going into the exam!

You guys rock, thanks for the help! Yes, I am applying for Fall 2017. I plan on doing research into programs and advisors this summer. I've started looking around, but my main focus right now is getting above that 300 GRE mark. I will research more in-depth when I am done with my GRE. I will re-take it if my scores aren't the best but I am confident I can bump my practice score up 3 points before then. Is my lack of research experience/publications a bad thing? I do want to RA for a year if possible to get that on my resume. At my university, the research positions for my program were few and far between. I figured I can do research/publications/TA during my Masters program in route to a PhD.

Hello everyone, I need some advice/inspiration from you all. I am a longtime lurker as I have been preparing over the year to apply to Grad School, and I have finally decided to post. I need to know what my chances are of getting into Grad school. I know the answer to this is usually "it depends" based on a lot of variables, but I would like to ask you all and see what you say. This website has given me TONS of information that I find imperative to my journey in going to Grad School. I want to apply to a Masters in Criminal Justice, possibly a PhD in Criminal Justice/Criminology. I don't want or expect to get into a top 5 program, I would go anywhere as long as there is funding and the program suits my interests. Basically my resume looks like this: Bachelors of Science degree in Criminal Justice from a mid-table SUNY school GPA: 3.45 Overall, 3.47 Major GRE: I have been studying for 2 months, plan to take it in 2 more months on June 15th. The Magoosh practice exam I took 2 weeks ago was a Q148 and a V149. Research Experience: I have none right now. I plan on getting a job or volunteering as a RA for a year before applying. Relevant Work Experience: I have been a Security Guard for 5 years. I have been a supervisor at a 1,000+ kid baseball summer camp. I was the supervisor of overnight shifts for 3 years. I currently work as a Security Supervisor for my county offices building and Department of Social Services. Monitor CCTV, security checkpoint and "wanding" people who enter. The basic airport TSA security stuff. I also have had various jobs before this. Basically, I have worked my whole life since I was 16, during summers when I was not in school and sometimes during college. Letters of Recommendation: I have VERY strong references. One is a Professor at the school I graduated from. I have helped him setup Sociology conferences/panels at the school when I was President of the Sociology club. I have gone out to dinner with him, met many other professors through, him including another Sociologist from Penn State. Another reference is a former NYPD Police Officer and Detective with +25 years of experience on the force. I have known him through both of my security jobs. I can get other references either work related or university, however these two seem to be the strongest out of them all. Statement of Purpose: I am an excellent paper writer. That was my biggest strength in college. I have no doubt I can write a stellar SOP with time, tinkering, and patience. Extra Curricular: I was president of the Sociology club for 2 years at my University. I organized and participated in volunteer work for the local community, animal shelters, historical sites, raised money to donate to charity, organized student movie nights, organized and spoke at inter-disciplinary conferences with college professors from different departments at my University, as well as organized various other events. I also play in a band, and took bass lessons in college for 3 years. I feel that my GRE and GPA are my biggest weaknesses. I have never been a good test taker, which is why I am studying my butt off for the GRE. I've been putting in 2+ hours for 5/6 days a week, even studying at work. When I take the test June 15th, I will have been studying for 4 months. I am guessing I can get above a 300 combined, but I know I still have a lot of work to get there. My GPA was low because I got low grades in some of my extra-curricular classes, and a few Major-related classes my Sophomore year. I really want to go on to Grad School. I think becoming a professor is an appealing idea to me because I want to help inspire students just like those have done to me. Conducting research is very interesting, and I love to learn about new topics in my field. I would also be happy with my Masters. Every professor who I've talked to has said that I should continue my education regardless. They see that I am a smart person because of my ability to have a conversation with them, and I can pretty much hold my own when talking to them about Criminal Justice/ Sociology topics. I am hardworking and dedicated to get this. I have spend countless hours helping that professor from my letter of recommendation create posters for the conferences, raise money for the guests, book venues, and various other projects. I have worked my way up in my job and have gained the respect of my co-workers. My hard work and passion is why my letters of recommendations are strong. I hope the graduate school admissions sees this and acknowledges my hard work and determination. Do you think I have a shot? Thank you for your advice and support. Have a good night.