THS

Heads up that a lot of programs will be taking on big cohorts (this is good for getting your foot in the door, bad if you want personalized attention from the department).
That said, Washington State University will be taking in a large cohort- if you are interested in quantitative methods, environmental sociology, sociology of gender and work, or experimental methods it might be a good program to look into. The program has also moved away from academic only prep and is really starting to focus on applied/sociology for industry preparation for graduates. Don't go there if you want to study qualitative methods (only 2 profs do this, very little support) or racial/ethnic sociology (the support/knowledge base just isn't there). Also don't apply if you aren't ok living 2 hours from a Target. Otherwise, beautiful hiking/fishing/outdoors activities, low cost of living, and great beer for when you aren't buried in work. Good luck on your apps and hopefully this post is helpful to some of you! 

Good question. In general, Professors prefer working with grad students. In the US grad students are viewed as more mature, dedicated to research, and committed to the discipline. Also, in most funded programs, funded students are not, technically, allowed to work anywhere except within the department. This is typically a condition of the assistantship and dedicates the student solely to studying and the assistantship. Generally, undergrad hires aren't help to the same standard and are, then, more free to say no or take on other projects.  
Additionally, developing graduate students in TA roles leads to them being able to become an Instructor of Record (IOR). This allows departments to offer more classes to the undergrads at a lower cost than hiring a full professor line. In the US, depending on the accreditation agency, student IORs typically must be at least a second year grad student (> 18 credit hours earned)  to be an instructor.
Could departments focus on undergrad labor? Certainly. But its unlikely given the propensity to have grad students teach their own courses later in the program.

Almost every program in the country had some people reevaluate why they were there AND had students MA out or finish their PhD. AND many also didn't take cohorts last year. This has resulted in a labor shortage in a lot of departments that rely on graduate students to TA, RA, and teach. I know in my department because phd candidates are being forced to TA this spring when they have been teaching or RAing due entirely to this labor shortage. 

Hey everyone!
I applied to PhD programs last cycle and was part of the brutal back to back rejections most of us seemed to get. In the course of one day, I was rejected by 6 programs almost back to back in February! And rejected from the rest of programs later that week (with the exception of 1 wait list - which turned into a rejection in April!). I turned to applying to MS programs and was accepted into each program I applied to. I accepted a spot in a funded masters program.
I don't like my geographic location (like absolutely loathe it) and I know I want a PhD, so I've reapplied to a much narrower group of departments this cycle. We'll see how it goes. 
Similar to what @THS mentioned, other departments on my campus are searching far and wide for people to TA courses (mine is medium sized and the MS students cover most TA needs). Though, I'm not sure about departments taking more students. This is a logical conclusion, though! 
Since most grad students are already working, some departments are turning to grad students in related disciplines and even hiring advanced undergrads to TA. Most of this issue stems from HUGE freshman intro courses which typically require TA support. (And graduate students are exploited laborers due to justifiable low wages - but that's a topic for another thread!)

Almost every program in the country had some people reevaluate why they were there AND had students MA out or finish their PhD. AND many also didn't take cohorts last year. This has resulted in a labor shortage in a lot of departments that rely on graduate students to TA, RA, and teach. I know in my department because phd candidates are being forced to TA this spring when they have been teaching or RAing due entirely to this labor shortage. 

Look into nonprofit work. With your training in social science you'll be a good fit and have skills that many are looking for. They won't pay well but they have flexible schedules and are fulfilling to work with (depending on the route you go-- most of the nonprofits I've worked with deal with food security and domestic violence). 

Heads up that a lot of programs will be taking on big cohorts (this is good for getting your foot in the door, bad if you want personalized attention from the department).
That said, Washington State University will be taking in a large cohort- if you are interested in quantitative methods, environmental sociology, sociology of gender and work, or experimental methods it might be a good program to look into. The program has also moved away from academic only prep and is really starting to focus on applied/sociology for industry preparation for graduates. Don't go there if you want to study qualitative methods (only 2 profs do this, very little support) or racial/ethnic sociology (the support/knowledge base just isn't there). Also don't apply if you aren't ok living 2 hours from a Target. Otherwise, beautiful hiking/fishing/outdoors activities, low cost of living, and great beer for when you aren't buried in work. Good luck on your apps and hopefully this post is helpful to some of you! 

Heads up that a lot of programs will be taking on big cohorts (this is good for getting your foot in the door, bad if you want personalized attention from the department).
That said, Washington State University will be taking in a large cohort- if you are interested in quantitative methods, environmental sociology, sociology of gender and work, or experimental methods it might be a good program to look into. The program has also moved away from academic only prep and is really starting to focus on applied/sociology for industry preparation for graduates. Don't go there if you want to study qualitative methods (only 2 profs do this, very little support) or racial/ethnic sociology (the support/knowledge base just isn't there). Also don't apply if you aren't ok living 2 hours from a Target. Otherwise, beautiful hiking/fishing/outdoors activities, low cost of living, and great beer for when you aren't buried in work. Good luck on your apps and hopefully this post is helpful to some of you! 

I think you just haven't found your business yet. Don't feel bad, you're just open to looking and that's great!

As someone who has pushed through the PhD with a lack of motivation, i think if you don't want to be a professor or have a job that requires a PhD, it's not worth it. Do what's best for you, which i think you already know what you're leaning towards. Don't get a PhD just to get a PhD. 

Of course the American Dream is over. Instead, you have people (like posters above) who want to believe that meritocracy/their work and what they've been able to accomplish is that "dream" while the rewards for the work have objectively diminished over the last 50 years. There's nothing wrong with reframing it as "my American Dream" but realize that when you do this you are 1) managing your personal self image (normal psychological response) and 2) managing your perceived and projected social class (moral capital management- how worthy others view you and how you want to be viewed). Just look at studies of downward mobility amongst the millennial generation or recent reports on inequality in this country...those tell the quantitative story of the death of the American Dream (and the job market we'll all experience after grad school is just another symptom of that). 

Of course the American Dream is over. Instead, you have people (like posters above) who want to believe that meritocracy/their work and what they've been able to accomplish is that "dream" while the rewards for the work have objectively diminished over the last 50 years. There's nothing wrong with reframing it as "my American Dream" but realize that when you do this you are 1) managing your personal self image (normal psychological response) and 2) managing your perceived and projected social class (moral capital management- how worthy others view you and how you want to be viewed). Just look at studies of downward mobility amongst the millennial generation or recent reports on inequality in this country...those tell the quantitative story of the death of the American Dream (and the job market we'll all experience after grad school is just another symptom of that). 

Of course the American Dream is over. Instead, you have people (like posters above) who want to believe that meritocracy/their work and what they've been able to accomplish is that "dream" while the rewards for the work have objectively diminished over the last 50 years. There's nothing wrong with reframing it as "my American Dream" but realize that when you do this you are 1) managing your personal self image (normal psychological response) and 2) managing your perceived and projected social class (moral capital management- how worthy others view you and how you want to be viewed). Just look at studies of downward mobility amongst the millennial generation or recent reports on inequality in this country...those tell the quantitative story of the death of the American Dream (and the job market we'll all experience after grad school is just another symptom of that). 

It sounds like you are not currently enrolled somewhere as a full-time student, but it's unclear. Broadly speaking, research experience is far more important than what courses you take. If you are enrolled somewhere, I would say it's best to take some form of research methods. Courses that provide some hard skills are the most helpful, and also often give you the opportunity to do some primary research. If you are not enrolled somewhere, I would say it is not worth it to spend money and time on courses.

The overwhelming majority of people from all sociology PhD programs do not get TT jobs. The job market is abysmal. You need to go into it knowing that. This means having a back-up plan to academia. The chance of getting a TT job is much higher at the T20. If you care deeply about getting a TT job, you shouldn't go to a program much lower ranked than 20. (There are some schools below 20 that place quite well, e.g. Arizona.) Do people outside the T20ish get TT jobs? Sure. Is it likely? No. And it's already unlikely enough at the top ranked schools in the country. If you want TT, also get rid of the idea that it will be at a T20 or T40. Getting a TT job anywhere is difficult, so you need to be ready, if you want TT, to move somewhere super remote at a low ranked school.
In terms of what people do, that depends. I know people planning on working jobs in data analysis (this actually pays crazy well depending on where you are). I actually love teaching, so I could always wind up teaching at a high school somewhere or maybe working at a nonprofit focused on issues related to my research. It really depends on your interests.

There are entire threads dedicated to what you will be evaluated based on/what matters...and now I have the ability to actually share it. This is not my normal profile, I don't want to be identified/get in trouble for sharing. I hope it helps some of you to understand this year's results and helps those preparing for future years. This is for a program that does consider the GRE (although, they are in talks to not include this in the future so I am unsure which parts of the rubric change or if the point totals just decrease). 
This is just for one university (and is not finalized, it is being reworked):
 

Component & Max Points
Points values
Research
 Max = 4
 
3:  Outstanding; includes publications, presentations, awards, etc. 
2:  Good; includes UG research experience or work related research experience
1:  Limited
0:  No research experience
+1 extra for McNair Scholar, Honors thesis, etc.
Letters of Recommendation
 Max = 3
 
3:  very strong letters
2:  moderately strong letters
1:  average letters
-1:  below average / red flag in letters
Sociological/social science knowledge / experience
 Max = 2
 
2:  sociology major; substantial experience
1:  other social science major; substantial social science coursework
0: no social science coursework
UGPA
 Max = 3
 
3:  3.7 to 4.0
2:  3.2 to 3.69
1:  3.0 to 3.19
0:  < 3.0
Personal statement
 Max = 5
 
4:  strong fit in Sociology + Faculty
3:  good fit in Sociology + Faculty
2:  good fit in Sociology OR Faculty
1: unclear fit in Sociology + Faculty
0: poor fit in Sociology + Faculty 
+1 extra for hardship, disadvantage
Writing Sample
Max = 3
 
3: Strong; Excellent framing/flow/writing
2: 
1: Adequate
0: Weak; Poor framing/flow/writing
GRE Quantitative Reasoning
 Max = 2
 
2:  above 70th percentile
1:  > 30th and < 70th
0:  less than 30th
GRE Analytical Writing
 Max = 2
 
2:  above 70th percentile
1:  > 40th to < 70th
0:  less than 40th
GRE Verbal Reasoning
 Max = 1
 
1:  Above/equal to the 40th percentile
0:  below 40th percentile
Total Score:
20–25: 1st tier
15–19: 2nd tier
0–14: 3rd tier / do not admit
 
 

WSU looks good. Thanks for responding. 

CUNY is good on quali studies... but I'm not so sure about historical studies. Many of CUNY's researches evolve around NYC itself (studies on urban and immigration are the two subjects immediately pop up).  
I'd have to second @THS on this, you may have better luck in the anthropology department.   
Oh and also check out UChicago, quali has kind of been their tradition 
good luck!

If you end up applying to programs next year, at WSU, Kmec has been known to chair committees for students doing historical/document analysis type research (or, at least, I know of one student who recently graduated). Otherwise I seriously suggest you consider a PhD in Anthropology. They share a lot of theory with Sociology, but you'll find far more emphasis on history, context, and culture-- and huge emphasis and excellent training in qualitative methods (multiple courses likely offered and field schools to practice before its your thesis or dissertation on the line). I have grad degrees in both/know the differences well. Hope this helps! 

If you end up applying to programs next year, at WSU, Kmec has been known to chair committees for students doing historical/document analysis type research (or, at least, I know of one student who recently graduated). Otherwise I seriously suggest you consider a PhD in Anthropology. They share a lot of theory with Sociology, but you'll find far more emphasis on history, context, and culture-- and huge emphasis and excellent training in qualitative methods (multiple courses likely offered and field schools to practice before its your thesis or dissertation on the line). I have grad degrees in both/know the differences well. Hope this helps! 

RUNNING LIST (A-Z) (new additions: WSU, Arizona, BU)
Boston University: https://www.bu.edu/sociology/graduate-programs/admissions/
Brown University: https://www.brown.edu/academics/sociology/programs/phd
Columbia University: https://sociology.columbia.edu/content/admissions-0
Northwestern: https://sociology.northwestern.edu/graduate/admissions/
Penn: https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/graduate-program
Princeton: https://sociology.princeton.edu/graduate-program
University of Arizona: https://sociology.arizona.edu/graduate/apply
University of California - Berkeley: https://sociology.berkeley.edu/prospective-students
University of California - Santa Barbara: https://www.soc.ucsb.edu/news-events/item/fall-2021-grad-admissions-deferred
UMass - Amherst: https://www.umass.edu/sociology/graduate/admissions
University of Missouri: https://sociology.missouri.edu/grad/graduate-program
Washington State University: https://soc.wsu.edu/graduate-program/prospective-graduate-students/applying-for-admission/

Hey! So Ivy League vs. not actually isn't really a thing for PhDs — some of the greatest programs in the country are at non-Ivy schools. PhD admissions are really about research experience, what you write in your application, and research fit with faculty, not as much about grades, so if those who share your research interests happen to be at highly ranked schools, you'd do better applying there than you'd do applying to less selective schools with no research fit.
This year, unfortunately a lot of programs have suspended admissions. Normally I'd suggested UW Gender Studies to you, actually, given your interests, but I believe it has halted applications this year (as has UC Santa Barbara, which also might be good for your interests). That said, many programs are taking applications, and if for some reason things don't work out this year, apply next cycle as well. Many people apply several cycles before they find the right fit.
Given your interests and coming from a gender studies background myself (though focused more on law and incarceration within that subfield), I'd be looking at the following this cycle: University of Michigan (also look at their American Culture PhD), Rutgers, Emory, UCLA, U of Arizona (announcing if taking apps mid-October; also check out Gender Studies), University of Southern California, UC Santa Cruz, UBC Vancouver, and U of Chicago (quant-heavy, but has some amazing trans studies scholars right now).
Beyond that, try looking at where people who have written articles you've found useful for your research currently teach. I found my programs by reverse-engineering like that. Your goal is to find programs where at least 3 faculty members share your research interests broadly, so going backwards by starting with faculty will save you time. Just make sure you check that the programs you apply to offer full funding to PhD students and have reasonable placement. You don't want to go somewhere that won't give you a shot at getting a job.

Added this to the running list in the FYI form (along with Berkeley and stuff). I'm so sorry for all applying this cycle.

I know that the pandemic has really messed things up for a lot of you. Your dream program might have cancelled admissions this year or you are looking at an even more competitive market because there will be fewer programs accepting students. This might mean that you choose to take this year off and wait to apply next year OR that you want improve your skills and increase your chances of success in a program. I am writing this post to suggest skills you can develop on your own, without being in a program, but that will make your life better when you get there if you learn them beforehand.  They will also make you more attractive to programs that expect their students enter with certain kinds of skills/knowledge. 
The first thing you should do is learn to use R. If you don't know where to start a really good textbook is Discovering Stats Using R by Field, Miles, and Field. This text is great because it will give you a refresh on your stats knowledge and will teach you to use a free stats program. The learning curve for it is pretty big, you have to learn to speak its language- but if you can teach yourself how to use this your life will be so much easier later. A lot of people might say that learning R first is a bad idea, but if you learn to use R then using state, SPSS, or SAS later is a breeze. Plus the R community is amazing and there are so many free tutorials out in the world if the book is confusing. 
The second skill you can develop on your own is practice regression models (learning the code to run them, to interpret them, learning what you use various types of models for...). This is super important if you want to be a qualitative person. What? You might be asking. Yes, I am serious. Many programs will expect you to be competent in every method so going in knowing how to do quant work will mean less push back for your qual dreams. There are lots of textbooks you can use, my program uses Regression Models by Example by Chatterjee and Hadi. But anyone can teach themselves to do this as well. Download free data (CPS is pretty easy to work with if you are just starting out) and play. 
The third skill you can develop on your own is the ability to use python. There are lots of online programs that my peers have used to learn this skill (I, honestly, have not). I do know that as you progress in your quant skills that eventually this becomes something you'll want to know how to use. I work with survey data/not crazy huge datasets so I've been able to avoid it, but this might be something to think about. 
A lot of posts on here suggest doing things like learning theory, but from my experience you have no idea what theory will be covered in the program you end up accepted to. You could spend an entire semester learning Talcott Parsons or you could get a general overview or you might just cover Marx/Weber/Durkheim. My point there is I wouldn't bother. I would download as many pdfs of peer reviewed research articles on the area you are interested in writing your thesis on NOW while you still have access to your undergrad institution and to start building a literature review. Make sure to do specific searches of major journals (AJS, ASR...) If you don't have access get your hands on as many "free" sources as possible and make it your goal to read at least a couple books in your interest area. Make sure to save the citation information, the gist of the article, and any quotes you think you might later use (I do this in excel spreadsheets). Even just saving them to a PDF is a good starting place though. This will help you when you finally do get to that point in your career. Your interests might change, but it never hurts to have a solid lit review started. You will be able to pull from that for class papers if you don't use it for your thesis someday. 
I know that not being able to apply is going to be super stressful for many of you and that it will probably mean working a job during this time which is why I gave a list but with varying levels of commitment or time attached to the tasks. I'd suggest doing ANY of these things- but if you don't do anything that is ok too. We are living through a global pandemic and it is ok to not be ok. The thought here is that these are good ways to build on your skills while you figure things out (let's be real knowing how to do statistics or use python are great skills to have on a resume anyways anymore).
I am so sorry this is happening to everyone who is at this point in your grad school journey, I login to this site like idk every 4 or so months so if you DM me I won't answer for a while, but I promise I will eventually reply if you have any questions about what grad school is like or about how to go about any of these suggestions I have made. I did this because after advising a student from my summer class I realized that she is far from the only person thinking "what now" so I hope this helps. 
A side note: obviously polishing your application materials will help too. An extra year to craft the perfect letter of intent might be a blessing for someone who is still wrapping up their BA. 
Also I hope other current grad students share their insights. I am ABD in my program and nearly done so people earlier in the process might remember some things I don't or have insights from their programs or other books to recommend

I'd like to add to, second, and comments on a few points loves2hike made. 
1. Learning R is hard. If you have the opportunity to learn Stata or SPSS first, you should do it. They'll help you understand the process of coding and computerized analysis and are far easier to learn. That said, they're far more expensive than R, which is free. When you do get to R, take your time with it. The best advice I've seen is to only learn a few things at a time. These can be regression, management, visualization, or even just finding the mean of a variable, but there is too much possible for any one person to learn, especially starting out. Learn one thing well and everything else will follow. The key is to know enough for your basic work and then learn how to search for the answer to your questions that will come up. (And don't be afraid to ask the internet for help. Everybody has questions about R.)
2. I agree with practicing regressions, especially if you aren't great at them. That said, you'll have stats classes your first two years that will teach you everything, so this isn't your priority. UCLA IDRE's website (https://stats.idre.ucla.edu/) has a ton of resources on how to run and interpret various models on different software. It's free and a great place to turn when you have questions.
3. Python is up and coming within sociology. If you learn it, great! If not, you won't be missing out on much UNLESS you want to use computational methods.  R and Stata are still the workhorse programs for quant analysis, so it's more important to get good at these first.
4. I wholeheartedly agree with not reading theory outside of a course. It's dry, boring, and complex. Instead, read more exciting sociology that will exercise your sociological imagination and make your life easier. University presses will usually have a huge discount this time of year, and you may even be able to get some books from your library, either university or local. Journal articles are also great places to start, but they can also be pretty dry and typically have a very narrow scope.