['Am I competitive? ' thread (Sociology)]

@method I was in exactly the same boat as you are in last year in terms of applying to soc depts and b-schools, so let me try and help.

• Just because you've highlighted your work experience and are currently writing your SOP, let me just stress: don't focus on your work experience in your application. People are only interested in why you want to do research, what kind of research, how that fits into the department, and why you're going to succeed. So unless your work experience informs the first of those points, I would not advise to spend much time on it.
• Especially for B-schools (even the sociological ones), it doesn't matter that you haven't taken any soc classes. If you look at their current grad students you'll see that plenty have no soc background. You will, however, need to make clear why you want to do sociological research, especially at the soc departments. This might be a little difficult for people with interdisciplinary interests. But as long as you can refer to people at the department doing similar research, you should be fine.
• There's nothing you can do about not having published anything. That being said, your profile, which generally looks very strong otherwise, would benefit from some academic research experience. Not sure if there are any feasible ways to check that box before application due dates.
• Not having taken any math classes is definitely not going to hurt at soc departments, and even most b-schools don't care too much as long as you're applying to the OB/management concentration.
• There's nothing you can do about your age either. I've only heard anecdotal complains about this and officially it shouldn't be a factor, but who knows. If you can't change it, don't worry about it.

 

A few more things to be aware of regarding the schools you are looking at:

• Have a look at Yale SOM (very sociological) and Duke soc (strong faculty in econ soc and organizations). Maybe someone will fit your interests there.
• Booth's OM program hasn't been taking in students for the last two years. Burt stopped working on it, and it might take some time for the younger faculty to pick up the slack.
• Wharton, albeit a great school obviously, kind of sticks out of your list as it is the only schools that is decidedly not very sociological. Whether or not that matters is up to you, just be aware that they are doing much more general management research, whereas you'll find plenty of people publishing in soc journals at the other programs.

['Am I competitive? ' thread (Sociology)]

@egr37 Honestly, there don't seem to be any notable weaknesses in your profile. Seeing as you're at UW, you should try and get LORs from some of the more well-known professors, which should really help make your case. I don't know too much about your subfield, so there's nothing much else I could say. Higher quant scores can never hurt, but if you're not planning on doing heavy quant work, you should be fine as is.

 

EDIT: regarding your writing sample, just submit whatever you believe is your best piece of work and, potentially, showcases some of your research skills.

[Advice on becoming a professor in the social sciences?]

Additionally, get research experience. See if you can RA for a professor you know, make sure to write a senior thesis if you're in the US. All of this has the advantage of looking good  on your CV, helping you write better applications, and will also help you figure out if you actually want to go down the academic path. It's really hard to judge whether academia is something you actually want to commit to long term, without having spend an extended amount of time doing research.

Otherwise it depends on the type of research you envision yourself doing. If you want to do quantitative research, start taking methods and math(!) classes. This would significantly raise your ceiling and show that you're serious about your training.

[Are my activities during a 3-year gap decent?]

Quick thoughts:

• Are you applying to the US? If so, you're not expected to come with a fully fleshed out research project to begin with. You're obviously expected to have some ideas or interests, but people are generally expected to revise their plans or develop new ones as they learn about theory and research the first couple of years. From what I've heard, AdComms can even see it as a negative if you come with a very detailed proposal as they fear that there might only be very few potential advisors for such specific project ideas. Don't box yourself in too much by spending half a year refining your project.
• Regarding your work experience. This isn't like an undergrad application. Nobody will care what you did during your gap year unless it directly relates to your research (abilities). They AdComm will not (/should not) judge you for having done other work in between. However, it is up to you to convince them that you have the motivation and ability to make it through a PhD (plus fitting research interests). While your jobs aren't necessarily a downside, it does not sound like they would particularly help in convincing any AdComms either. So your work experience is not going to break your application. It will depend on all the other things.

['Am I competitive? ' thread (Sociology)]

Look @Andromeda3921,

I think generally your profile looks quite good, but I would agree with @high_hopes that upping your quant score would definitely help. This probably applies to schools outside of the US as well, partly because some are trying to model themselves after US PhDs and partly because other applicants simply will have higher scores. I also think people might be suspicious of a low quant score in combination with a operations research degree (at least those schools that value the GRE quite highly).

High GREs will be especially helpful if your GPA isn't that great (don't know your UG GPA and have no idea what do with your grad GPA scale, so take this as general advice rather than me saying your GPA looks good/bad).

One more thing you should spend time on in your SOP is making clear that you want to do sociological research (and not development studies/IR as your CV might suggest). If you talk about urban sociology, this should become clear without you having to spell it out, but just keep in mind that AdComms need to see why you want to go to a Soc department.

 

Also, there are a lot of schools on your long list. Have you gone through all of these yet to figure out where your research interests might fit? Some departments (e.g. Duke) are very quantitative and your research sounds somewhat more qual-focused to me.

[Applying for F-1 visa in a country I'm not a citizen of]

Just to add to the pot: I've just applied for my third F-1 Visa. Once in my home country, twice in other countries (one EU, one non-EU). Nothing changed. Always the exact same process and nobody commented on it (other than maybe asking what I was doing in the country at the moment).

['Am I competitive? ' thread (Sociology)]

@jriveracal I have a couple of thoughts, but let me be blunt first of all: You either need to significantly up your GRE scores or adjust the schools you're looking at. This is not to say that there isn't an outside chance that you might get lucky and have someone sitting on an Adcomm that really likes your research interest, but it is much more likely that you'll quickly be put in the pile of people that does not get a second look. One bad score (either quant or qual) can be overlooked if the candidate is looking to do research relying on the other side of methods, two, most likely, will not be overlooked, especially at the level of schools you listed above. So my number one advice would be to really get going on that GRE prep. On the plus side, it is not even July yet, you'll have about 5 months to work on them.

 

A couple other thoughts/questions:

1. How did you come up with your list of schools? It kind of looks like you just picked the top 12 (and Brown). I'm asking because research fit is incredibly important. If there aren't at least 2-3 people at each school that you'd see yourself working with, you're a) going to have a much harder time making a convincing case as to why you should be admitted and b) much less likely to succeed and enjoy yourself during the program. Plus, as noted above, most of these are going to expect top notch GRE scores.
2. What kind of methods do you plan on using/have you been trained in? As hinted towards above, that might put your GRE scores in perspective and further might help you figure out which schools to apply to.
3. Regarding you having worked since 17. I personally would advise you against writing about personal stories unless these directly inform your abilities or research interests. You want to convince them that you are interested in research, have your own ideas, able to make it through their (rigorous) program, and that you are a good fit for their department. If your personal experiences are part of that, fine, but make sure your skills and potential come across.
4. What was your UG GPA? (or is that supposed to refer to your UG instead of graduate)
5. Coming from Berkeley and a stellar GPA should definitely help. So should your extensive research experience. 
6. I wouldn't worry too much about not having any publications. Most people don't. And unless there's something you can do about it over the next few months, it doesn't help to worry about it anyways.

Look, aside from you're GRE scores, you're overall profile seems very competitive. Good grades at a well-known institution. A lot of research experience. Presumably strong LORs. If you can get your GRE score to match that profile you should get into a good school. If you can up your GRE scores a little bit, so that the rest of your profile might make up for them, you should be able to get into a decent school (but then I'd start removing schools like Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, or Michigan from that list as these tend to report the highest avg GREs).

 

[GPA/GRE Scores - Can I still apply?]

First of all: Congratulations on taking the GRE and performing better than in practices. That is a win and every win along this journey should be celebrated.

So here goes: Of course you can still apply, but you might want to adjust the types of schools you're looking at should you apply this round. I don't know to what extent AdComms will go into the nitty gritty of your transcript (probably only if you're a fringe candidate). Bad GREs or GPAs can typically be made up for by other qualities, but these are usually either the other of the two scores or research experience. You are telling us that you have a well written SOP, but it is probably the content explaining your interest in, and experience with, research that matters much more than the sophistication of your writing. The same goes for your LORs: These are supposed to speak about your research abilities. From what you've written on here, I can't tell why you want to go to grad school or why you would be good at it (I obviously haven't read your SOP either). To be perfectly honest: With mediocre grades and scores and little research experience, you are probably facing an uphill battle. Of course that does not mean that it is impossible to get into a (good) school (as a lot of anecdotal evidence on this board proves), but your odds might not be great. 

Although this does not sound great, I don't think it should be reason to despair. From what it sounds like to me you might want to consider getting some more research experience before you apply (even if that means waiting another year). That should increase your chances and further help you figure out why (and if) you want to go into academic research. You need something to pop out of your application, and having figured out that you want to do research during on of your undergrad classes does not cut it for most of the AdComms.

[transitioning into sociology]

Research experience and GRE scores. For now, research experience. Doing some RA work besides your thesis and class projects will be a strong signal for adcomms and further help you figure out if you really want to go into academia. It could also show you areas of research you might be interested in. Decent grades during your master's shouldn't hurt either. Especially if your undergrad GPA wasn't all that great. 

[Fall 2018 Acceptances/Interviews/Rejections Thread]

10 minutes ago, ThePastelCalico said:

I had a super long response typed out, and then my wifi cut out when trying to post it and now my entire message is gone. I honestly don't have the spoons to retype the whole thing, but it was pretty much that "we have to focus on the prestige of a degree because it is a real factor that can determine our chances of employment after graduation; moreover, I haven't decided anything yet, and I know NCSU is a good program. I'm just worried about their overall placement of graduates, but these are questions that will get addressed when I attend their open house in March. During the application process and during my thesis research, I seem to have more clearly discovered exactly what my interests are concerning the interactions between industry, the environment and the law, so I owe it to myself to consider how those interests may or may not be supported by any programs I get into this cycle." 

Sounds very fair! Seems like you know which things to think about. I hope NCSU turns out to be a great program for you or that one of the the other apps works out.

[Fall 2018 Acceptances/Interviews/Rejections Thread]

1 hour ago, abenz said:

Hi @European Lumpi, I think its important to support people’s choices even if we wouldn’t necessarily make them. The application process is a long process and people may change their minds for any reason. UWM is one of the highest ranked programs for sociology and this decision can have life long ramifications. I wouldn’t fault anyone for wanting to reapply for a higher ranked program if they thought it would be better for them in the long run (which is not to say that NCSU is a bad choice at all, just that UWM opens a lot of doors in the future!).

Oh sorry. That was not meant to sound judgy at all. I definitely agree with your statement (with the qualification that one has to be careful not to get too focused on one specific program, as the chances to get into a specific program are just that much smaller than into getting into one out of the few one has applied to). It was more meant to be helpful, in that it sounds like an incredibly difficult decision to me to give up an offer to apply again next year. So that might be something that could be avoided in round 2. I'm just trying to say that safety schools aren't worth it if one does not want to go there anyway. I obviously do not know whether that was the case here, or whether minds have been changed. And either way is fine, but I wanted to make it visible that it's easy to fall into the trap of just applying to an extra school to get in somewhere. Might be something for future applicants reading this to be aware of

And with the first part I was just trying to say that NC State might not look as good after being rejected from Wisconsin, but after taking some time and having a closer look at it again, it might turn out to be a great program for any specific applicant. Again, not necessarily the issue here, but maybe.

[Fall 2018 Acceptances/Interviews/Rejections Thread]

8 hours ago, ThePastelCalico said:

Anyone who got into Wisconsin willing to share their personal statement? I’ve started considering applying again next year, and I’d like to get a head start on apps if possible lol

Sorry if I missed this earlier, but why aren't you happy with your NC State acceptance? There must have been a reason you applied there. It might not be a bad idea to take some time for yourself at some point to really consider whether you don't want to take their offer. Taking some time away from this forum, where people talk about the Harvards, Stanfords, and Wisconsins of this world, might also help put NC State in perspective.

Should you decide to apply again next year though, try and figure out which schools you would actually attend before you apply. There's no reason to apply to places if you would not attend them anyways.

[Deciding between programs]

I found this somewhere else. Might be good to keep in mind to reach out to advanced grad students. (Feel free to disregard the disgruntled, crude language if you wish)

 

"REMINDER to all prospective students to seek out advanced graduate students and recent grads of the department for their perspective on the quality of training they have received.

These people are not necessarily going to be easy to find. They're busy doing research, preparing for the job market, or working towards tenure. They don't usually even show their faces at visit days. But they're absolutely going to be giving much more candid advice about your likely outcome should you choose to attend their alma mater.

Visiting prospective students are going to spend 95% of their time with young students in their starry-eyed first few years of bull**it course work who literally have no idea what it actually takes to get a job and succeed in academia. Don't listen to any students until they've gone through a round on the job market and have an actual sense as to whether the department has actually done an acceptable job professionalizing them.

I WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME THIS."

[Fall 2018 Acceptances/Interviews/Rejections Thread]

24 minutes ago, devouee40 said:

Thank you! I'm nervous about their funding situation and wonder if it will be limiting or if it won't have much of an impact at all in the long run. But I am grateful for the acceptance.

 

In theory, Wisconsin is my first choice. It would probably make the most sense for my career in the long run.  In practice, not so much. I am already settled in South Bend and ND would not require uprooting myself and my family. It would allow me to balance my goals with my family's a bit more. Also ND is not lacking in resources and the funding situation at Madison makes me nervous. But honestly, I am not well versed in the PhD thing. I'm a first generation college student, almost 10 years removed from college so, I don't have much support in navigating this process.  I have heard a few people say that you go to the best program you get into and Madison is certainly that.

Funding and family are obviously reasons that should seriously be considered and so are reputation and academic fit. You might want to try and talk to multiple people throughout the decision-making process. While this forum is a place to start, I'd advise you to talk to your letter writers or other academics that you might be able to ask for help. People are generally very supportive and like to share career advice. And your letter writers will be able to judge the situation more clearly and might provide more insight into the effects of limited funding and reputation. Weighing academic fit versus reputation is another difficult issue, for which people have very different approaches...

[Fall 2018 Acceptances/Interviews/Rejections Thread]

8 minutes ago, X.G said:

Don't give up just yet! Rutgers sent out their acceptance on Sunday morning, so there can be unexpected good news coming up during the weekend

 

6 minutes ago, HydrangeaJ said:

I agree! I got my UC Irvine interview on a Saturday night. 

 

Haha they have the professors working weekends for this? Or were those just emails from your POIs informally letting you know?

[Fall 2018 Acceptances/Interviews/Rejections Thread]

9 minutes ago, devouee40 said:

Hi All!

I'm new to the forums, but have admittedly been lurking. Awesome to see how supportive this group is. I have one acceptance so far, UW-Madison, but still waiting to hear from Notre Dame and Johns Hopkins. I've seen nothing but silence from JHU, but I've seen several interviews and an acceptance for ND which is making me anxious. I have slept a grand total of 6 hours in the past 3 days with the anxiety. I hope we all get some news in the next 3 hours. That would be a nice gifts before the weekend hits.

Stay positive!

 

Surprised to hear you're still this anxious. Wouldn't Wisconsin be your first choice? It's the most reputable school of the three you mentioned (by far probably). I was only able to return to this forum after I received my first offer, since the constant reminders of my applications were driving me nuts. Now I'm much more relaxed though.

[Fall 2018 Acceptances/Interviews/Rejections Thread]

3 hours ago, KevinJHa said:

Fridays are so bittersweet now. Yeah its the end of the week but now I know if I don't hear anything today I have to wait the whole weekend for any application news. 

Yeah I feel you. I got my first rejection at like 6PM on a Friday night, so now I automatically connect late night Friday news with rejections that they just want to send out before the weekend haha

[Fall 2018 Applicants]

On 1/6/2018 at 3:21 PM, pinoysoc said:

Don't worry about it! My scores are super bad for Ph.D. programs, but they were from undergrad. I'm just worried about scores expiring. 

How's everyone holding up!?!?!?

Meh, I've had better days! Luckily, my master's is about to start back up, which should provide some much needed distraction from constantly thinking about admissions. Who knows, I might even be able to stop frantically checking this page to see if anything has happened haha

[Fall 2018 Acceptances/Interviews/Rejections Thread]

2 hours ago, RoxieB said:

I received a letter of acceptance via email from University of Nebraska - Lincoln this morning, pending funding. I will fly in to visit in February. Y'all, I was so scared I would not get in anywhere I have been scream-crying happy for an hour. 

Damn that's early! Congratulations @RoxieB. 

Also: @Ryanrichmond. Holy shit those are a lot of applications you have in your signature haha

[Fall 2018 Applicants]

1 hour ago, KevinJHa said:

I think its best to go in with the understanding that the process is pretty arbitrary, and there are lots of factors that we could not possibly control! Whatever happens happens, but I have a good feeling about all of yall <3

This cannot be stressed enough. Every insight seems to point to the direction that after making it through the cut-off (whatever makes it through that), the process becomes completely random. At this point, there's nothing we can do other than keeping our fingers crossed. For every candidate with perfect stats, there is one that got in with motivation and experience.

[Fall 2018 Applicants]

Hey @socihk,

Look your profile seems good with a few exceptions, but no one is going to be able to tell you anything specific. And given that you've already applied, it does not really matter anyways  A few thoughts nonetheless:

• Given your test scores Harvard and Princeton would probably be a long shot
• Your relatively weak Verbal, in combination with okay (but not great) Toefl scores might raise some eyebrows. From what I hear, Asian applicants can occasionally suffer from bias during the admissions process and concerns regarding your English abilities could exacerbate that problem.
• Other than that your research experience seems great! Having co-authored two papers should be regarded highly. Depending on the people on the AdComms fit, writing samples, and your experience might be able to make up for mediocre scores. 

Right now, no one knows what to expect and we're all in the same anxious boat. I'm sorry that I'm not able to alleviate your concerns, but the only people able to do that are hopefully looking at our applications as we speak.

Best of luck. 

[Fall 2018 Applicants]

1 hour ago, abenz said:

Quick question for the group (because I'm off work and therefore hugely thinking about grad school AGAIN) - is anyone else an overseas applicant? How do you think this might help/hinder our applications? I'm not too worried because my POIs are really positive ... but also, does it make a difference?

From what I hear, it doesn't change that much. At least not at the better schools. I asked the exact same question one US professor and she put it this way: "Being an international student raises your diversity level from "white male" to "international white male", although that's not much, if anything, it might be a slight bonus". Other than that it's probably a little more difficult to demonstrate the pedigree of your undergraduate education as long as you haven't studied at one of the 5-10 international universities that are well-known and respected in the US.

I read a discussion on a different board in which one person argued that some universities have made bad experiences with international students leaving their programs and that they therefore might be a bit more hesitant to pull the trigger. The overwhelming majority, however, seemed to think that that was bogus.

[Fall 2018 Applicants]

15 hours ago, pinoysoc said:

So, I'm currently taking a break from a work project. And I decided to look up rankings of Soc PhD programs from US News. I just realized that all the schools I applied to are in the Top 40. I know it's not something I should be freaking out about, because what the heck, right? But I feel like the pressure/anxiety just got worse because I picked these schools due to fit of research interests without even caring about school rank. 

Sorry for ranting...again. It's been a long day at work and it's just spilling all over.

Look, from what I hear fit is incredibly important, so even low-ranked programs will end up rejecting you if there's no one in the department who could act as your supervisor. It sounds like you absolutely chose the right schools for your applications. Plus, the variance in test scores, GPAs, etc. of admits at all kinds of programs is crazy! Don't worry about your schools being ranked relatively high

[How important is it to email professors when applying?]

On 12/13/2017 at 12:10 AM, qeta said:

Ah, thank you. I agree with you, but my partner (an academic in the sciences) thought that I should email these profs after app submission.

Well, the credentials speak for your partner then haha. Just think about how to phrase it. As long as you're polite, no one is going to hold anything against you, I reckon.

[How important is it to email professors when applying?]

3 hours ago, lorenzen said:

Thanks so much for your input. Is this how it is in Europe? Or is this drawn from experience in the USA? 

Goes for MA programs in both the US and Europe I'd say. Contacting advisors before PhD programs might be more important in Europe though, seeing as you start working on projects right away and you usually apply to work with a specific supervisor.

1 hour ago, qeta said:

I have a sort of related question. Should I email folks post-app-submission, if I'd previously indirectly worked with them or spoken to them in-person at conferences?

No idea. You can always try. I would be careful with your wording though, just so that it doesn't sound like you're solely trying to raise your profile. It doesn't really make sense to sound like you're trying to find out more about the program after you've handed in your application