song95

I will claim another acceptance from Penn State (sociology and demography) !! 
Since I am an international student, the procedure might be longer. I did interview on 1.12 and 1.13. And I got an e-mail yesterday from DGS saying that my official offer was on the way and she told me in advance because she didn't want me to feel worried. Also received another very nice letter from a current phd student providing help.
I am so thrilled at this time. And expecting more to come!

I am sorry for my earlier post. Something went wrong when I tried to edit.
Acceptances you had: University of Washington-Seattle (5 years of full funding package with 1 year of fellowship), Brown University (5 years of full funding package with 2 years of fellowship), Oxford University (2 years of MPhil with fellowship + 2 years of DPhil with fellowship conditional upon successful MPhil), University of Toronto (PhD waitlisted)
Research Area: Immigration, Demography, Political Sociology, Education, Quantitative Methods
Final Choice: Brown University
Reason: Oxford and Brown offered me better financial support compared to UW-Seattle. In the end, I thought getting a more systematic PhD education in the US would be better for me. I also thought I would have better chances of getting an academic position with a US PhD degree. 
 

They are both great schools and my advice is this.
Your ability to find a teaching position when you are out (at any school at all) will depend on the quality of work you do in the program you attend.  You'll be able to do better work if you go to school/live in a place you enjoy, where you can be happy.  You are about to make a 5ish year descision to live somewhere, since you have choices I'd make it about that.  Both are highly ranked/fantastic programs and both afford you an excellent step up when you finish your degree.  I'll add that money is important to consider too, so don't discount the award/stipend amount in your consideration (my MA only paid $980 a month and I didn't have time to get another job on top of teaching and school so I struggled for 2 years).  At either university it will be about what you can do with the opportunity, the placement rating doesn't guarantee anything (which it sounds like you are highly motivated/have a plan and are going to do fantastic so the small difference between the two shouldn't make a difference).  
Also...I always find it helpful to talk it out with friends/family/your partner.  This is a huge choice and I am sure many people will have different takes than I do.  
Best of luck and congrats!!!  

Texas A&M and Penn State at this time, these are two schools that I will not go for sure!
 

Do someone know how to write an e-mail to decline several offers?
Are there any rules?

You might want to check and see if you need to decline via a portal. I know I needed to decline offers last round and some were online while others had a form that needed to be filled out and sent in. 

I would suggest that you construct each email individually. Thank them for their offer and kindly let them know you have decided to go elsewhere. If it is a program that offers post-doc positions, maybe you could mention that you hope to continue a positive relationship with the program and indicate that you may apply to the post-doc position in the future. I think individualizing the email and keeping future possibilities open is professional and would be good strategizing on your part. 

Do someone know how to write an e-mail to decline several offers?
Are there any rules?

Just got rejected from Harvard, it's my last out of the three that I applied to (I know everyone calls me crazy for this, but I'm used to applying to only the one that I really like and feel I have the right for) and won't try for a doctorate again for the next few years. Surprisingly it's not as crushing as the Berkeley rejection for some reason.
I just want to thank you all for being in the same boat, sharing your superior knowledge of applications, interviews etc. and just stressing out and congratulating each other vocally on this forum board for me to read to relate to. No one I know applied to a Sociology phd and I don't come from a very academic hometown, either. You guys - along with friends from my masters who are now scattered all over the world - were the only people who gave me peace and companionship throughout this specifically stressful journey. 
Just wanted to put that out there because I was definitely a lurker and not a poster most of the time. Peace.

This question is also bothering me! I am struggling with whether to read introductory textbooks of theory, or to read those classics directly. I have tried to read the original texts of classics many times in the past few years, when doing my master's in sociology. None of those attempts worked, as I always found it very difficult to understand those original texts, especially Weber. However, I always feel an urgency to read them before this September. If we cannot manage to do it now, it is very likely that we will have a hard time in the first year, suffering from hundreds of pages of readings per week. Another issue is that from time to time I heard that 'it would be impossible to understand those classics without some knowledge of earlier authors such as Adam Smith, John Locke, etc'.
The strategy I am going to adopt is: start from a textbook (https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Classical+Sociological+Theory), then try to read some original texts, as much as I can. Meanwhile, always bear in mind that never aim to FULLY understand the whole text. Just try to get the main idea so that you get some fun and also become better prepared to pass the upcoming first year theory courses.
A Coursera course on classical sociological theory:
https://www.coursera.org/learn/classical-sociological-theory/home/welcome
Not sure if it is a high-quality course.

I can claim an NYU acceptance! Very excited. The portal still says "Under Review."

Thanks! Wish you the best result too!

I am going to claim another acceptance from TAMU(funding details to come).
This is my safe choice, yet also very happy to get admitted into.

I am going to claim another acceptance from TAMU(funding details to come).
This is my safe choice, yet also very happy to get admitted into.

I am going to claim another acceptance from TAMU(funding details to come).
This is my safe choice, yet also very happy to get admitted into.

I am going to claim another acceptance from TAMU(funding details to come).
This is my safe choice, yet also very happy to get admitted into.

Brown admitted! With 5-year funding and first year fellowship!!
Anyone more familiar with Brown Sociology style? I heard that it's a small one.
 
BTW: Somebody know why I couldn't add my result into the result page? I am using IMAC and safari, I have also tried chrome. The verification code just doesn't show!

Brown admitted! With 5-year funding and first year fellowship!!
Anyone more familiar with Brown Sociology style? I heard that it's a small one.
 
BTW: Somebody know why I couldn't add my result into the result page? I am using IMAC and safari, I have also tried chrome. The verification code just doesn't show!

Congrats to the Duke and Brown admits!

Rejected from Wisconsin and Duke! 

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!!
I have just received my official acceptance letter from  UNC-Chapel Hill sociology department on 1/26. So thrilled! 
Expecting more to come. Good Luck to everyone! 

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!!
I have just received my official acceptance letter from  UNC-Chapel Hill sociology department on 1/26. So thrilled! 
Expecting more to come. Good Luck to everyone!