
Planted
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Everything posted by Planted
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Hey, congrats! That’s super helpful, thanks for chiming in. Guess that’s it for me... Can’t wait to go through all of this again in a year. ? Good luck everyone!!!
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WHOA I am both shocked and thankful that I did not know about this site earlier... thank you for sharing! I was surprised to see such early results submitted. Hope you're right and that good news is on the way for both of us!
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Has anyone got insight into the timing of Boston College's decisions this year? I saw a couple submissions on the results page and I know this is the week that admissions have gone out in past years but who knows... It still feels a little bit too early for me to bug their admin person so I thought I'd ask here instead to self-soothe, lol!
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(Is there any) reason to do a stand alone MA program in Sociology?
Planted replied to julesevar's topic in Sociology Forum
I'm really glad you asked this question! We have a little bit in common - I'm also mid-30s with a master's in another field (policy), and I work at a nonprofit. I'm looking to shift to sociology and hope to land in a research-focused role in a research center or agency. It looks like I won't get accepted to a PhD program this cycle, so I am now considering doing a terminal MA program, but only because I still want to do a PhD and I think a master's will give me the best shot at boosting my profile (and only if I can get some funding!). The roles I want don't always require a PhD, but I still want to pursue one because I want the most rigorous research training possible and a part of me thinks I might be interested in staying in academia, so I don't want to close that door just yet. Personally, I don't have the background to get a research job right now, so the only path I see for gaining the research experience that will make me a competitive PhD applicant is doing an MA. It sounds like with a little skills training you could be competitive for the types of jobs you want, though. If it were me, I would do some standalone courses or a certificate to build the necessary stats skills and stay in the workforce. And if you decided to complete the MA, you'd already have some courses toward the degree. You might be able to transfer some credits from your master's, too. I guess that's basically the advice @cec2021 gave you up thread but I wanted to echo it! -
Congrats on the UC Irvine interview, that’s sounds like a great exchange! And thanks for sharing. It is a little early for BC yet but in the past it seems that Northeastern sent invites for their pre-admission events the week of MLK Day, so I thought there might be some movement last week. I hope we both get good news this week!
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Has anyone heard from Boston College or Northeastern yet? Thanks!
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Scroll to the top of this page and click on "Results" or -> https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/
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Hey everyone! This is my first PhD app cycle, and I limited myself to programs in my current geographic area because my spouse is tied here for work. Initially that was a healthy list of 5-6 programs, but so many decided not to take cohorts next year that I ended up only submitting 2 apps. Luckily they are programs I am genuinely interested in, but still! My chances are so slim, y'all. I think I'm a fairly strong applicant in a typical year, but not sure I sold myself well enough to compete in this cycle. ??♀️ Good luck to everyone and cheers to getting any applications submitted at all in the midst of, ya know, everything.
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Negotiating Offers, Stipends, Etc
Planted replied to SleeplessInSomewhere's topic in Sociology Forum
Congrats on your first admit!! I am not a current student but want to share what I've heard from the programs I researched this cycle. Summer funding definitely seems to be less common, and external fellowships or internships are valued because they don't cost the school anything and they bring some additional prestige to the program. Assistantships may be an option over the summer, even in other departments if there are faculty working on relevant projects/teaching relevant classes. I do think a lot of this is program-specific and something to ask faculty and current students about. If summer funding isn't guaranteed, what is the track record of students getting external funding? What kind of support is there for students to identify opportunities and put together applications? Have you looked at http://www.phdstipends.com/results? There might be entries from the programs you applied to, or you can at least see the range of stipends reported to get a sense of what's reasonable. Stipends for programs in a very high cost of living coastal city that I know of range from ~$22-26K for 9 months but vary in availability of summer funding. The "service" expectation of students during the program varies widely, too. As far as negotiating, the advice I've seen is to 1) be honest (don't inflate offers, etc.), 2) be prepared for "no," and 3) craft an ask that is along the lines of, "[This program] is my top choice, and I was also offered admission to my [other program] with $X funding. Would [top choice program] be able to match that?" But... I have no idea if this is good advice, I hope someone with experience will weigh in! -
Just received an email from Brandeis stating admission to sociology PhD is paused for 2021. I don’t see anything posted on the website yet and I tried to post a screenshot of the email but it was too big. Could try DMing it if someone is interested. Eleven days before the application deadline. I thought we’d be out of the woods by now.
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Brown also announced no 2021 PhD admits https://www.brown.edu/academics/sociology/programs/phd
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Thanks @sturdyelm for the reply, it is helping me articulate what I'm looking for and why Northeastern seems like the best fit. I will message you!
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That is very helpful, thanks so much for sharing. Good luck with your decision!
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Hey @sturdyelm and @brittanyandrea - I'm planning to apply to MPP/MPA programs next year in the same geographic area as you both, and Northeastern is the top of my list currently. (I'm leaning toward MURP over MPP there.) Would you share why you decided against it? It would be helpful to get a perspective from someone not already biased in favor!