KevinJHa
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Posts posted by KevinJHa
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Hi All,
It's been a while since I've been on here, but an approaching summer of unfunded insecurity has brought me to seek advice. I am a Sociology graduate student at Northeastern (Boston, MA), and was just denied the three summer positions I applied to for the summer. I do not have funding but also need to pay rent. Does anyone have any ideas or experiences on what they did in the summer?
Thanks!
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I've never heard of them revoking offers before either, that won't happen.
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On 4/20/2018 at 11:32 AM, lorenzen said:
Kevin,
Thank you for your reply to my topic. It has definitely clarified for me what I need to do to start the discussion. But may I ask you another question? How can I conclude such a conversation with the department head? I fear that she will say " well, are you waffling on our program? You must decide by next week if you want to attend or leave."
Oh dear, I lack social tact. This would come easily to another person, but I have to consider these things carefully lest I muddle everything up.
Sorry for the late reply. I guarantee she will NOT say that. You're just looking out for your own livelihood and there's nothing wrong with that.
Just try to make clear you love their department and itd be perfect, but what can they expect you to do if you couldn't afford to come?
In concluding the conversation, all you have to do is thank them (sincerely) for the information they've provided etc then tell them you need some time to deliberate. Then email them an hour or so late, thank them for the meeting and tell them you'll be in contact shortly. Try not to be too stressed about this, im sure 80% of phd applicants are doing this!
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23 hours ago, lorenzen said:
I feel so tacky and sneaky even making this post. Let me explain!!!
My alma mater and dream grad program in my state admitted me to their Master's in Sociology program, but did not offer funding. They said that if I applied in my last year of the program, I would likely get an assistantship.
Another school I applied to offered me a very generous offer of assistantship and tuition funding, and yet another school offered me an assistantship and in-state tuition.
I already made it clear to the Department head of the program I covet that I would greatly appreciate funding if any offers were declined. Now I have these letters offering me funding in different states. What would it look like if I met with her and told her about these other offers, and implied that if I received funding from my first choice school (her program), it would make my decision of where to go much easier?
Try not to feel sneaky in thinking about leveraging offers, its a very common thing. If im understanding you correctly, you want to make it clear to your dream grad program that you are valued and being offered funding elsewhere in hopes that they will offer you funding.
I don't think you should be implicit about it, I think you should be very clear. You are clearly valued and wanted as a graduate student or else you wouldn't have received offers elsewhere, just because its your dream school dont let them undercut your worth. The program I was accepted to, clearly stated that if I received any offers that were higher than theirs, they'd do their best to match it. These departments know you probably received attractive offers from places, and clearly stating that you already have BUT also making it clear that you would deny all these and go to your dream program if they could provide some more funding is something they expect from you.
These people also know that graduate school is hard to survive without funding (its your livelihood), so they won't take it any other way than you're trying to secure the best possible graduate experience as you can. Just be clear, direct, and assertive about it! Good luck!
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Hm, the only thing I could think of right now is getting yourself some professional society memberships in your area of interest. Ex. ASA, SWS, ESS, etc
As far as software, I don't think you really NEED anything, but it depends on what you want to learn/do. But these licenses are generally very expensive. I'm also curious to know what people think in terms of books.
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14 hours ago, Leviathan said:
Hello, I am wondering if there is much added value in obtaining a certificate when doing a Master's program if my eventual goal is to pursue a PhD?
I have been admitted to a 2-year MA program with a RA full tuition fellowship that has a research track thesis to prep for a PhD program. My sub-field is IR.
Thank you,
Right after my undergraduate, I decided to do a two semester graduate certificate program in research methods. I can definitely attest to the value of getting a post UG cert, it helped me secure a research analyst position shortly after and made me much more competitive for ph.d studies (i got accepted with full funding). During certificate studies, I met a research adviser who wrote me a great LoR and offered me a book review co-authorship. But then again you will have your MA already, so in your case a cert might be superfluous.
In my case, I was targeting Ph.D programs all along and this was something i pursued in my gap year to make me more competitive.
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36 minutes ago, pinoysoc said:
Although I came with 1 acceptance out of 7 schools, I realize what make your choice easier are department visits AND gut feeling. I was devastated I didn't get into Penn State this year and entertained the idea of trying again next year for it, but I went with my gut feeling with UAB and visited. I realized that the department (UAB) was small enough for individualized attention. The faculty also had connections ALL OVER the school that includes the School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, School of Public Health, etc. that the opportunities to do my research was infinite. This was something the Penn State couldn't offer had I gotten in. Yes, they're more prestigious, but my visit made me realize that UAB offered a better environment in terms of learning and having access to opportunities that Penn State didn't have. Penn State is quant-heavy. UAB is quant-heavy, but balances it out by making qual-methods a mandatory course so you have training in both. They also told me that we can do our dissertations in any med sociology topic and support the scope of what we want to cover, but also offers the option to guide you if the topic becomes too narrow. Penn State flat out told me that my research is narrow.. (but hey... their lost on studying minority health disparities). They also told me that they're concerned about how I'll survive their quant-heavy program. In short, the department visit re-affirmed my decision with UAB and forego reapplying.
I second the gut feeling thing.
Professionally, I think CUNY has a lot more to offer me but I really don't get a good feeling from the department and the general atmosphere. On the flip side Northeastern, a much less renowned soci department, gives me such a good gut feeling and I feel I'd be happy there.
PS @pinoysoc im really glad you found a department that suits you
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Just called Boston University and was told I was rejected. I don't know why they haven't physically released decisions but if you're still waiting, give them a call.
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I'm currently waitlisted for CUNY (my top choice), decision dates are so soon ahhh!
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6 minutes ago, eastcoastkid said:
I was frustrated and decided to call out of curiosity. I'm probably going to withdraw my application. Good luck!
Yeah I definitely understand that frustration. Thank you!
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4 minutes ago, eastcoastkid said:
I called them last week and was told I'm on the waitlist.
Oh congratulations! Did you receive any notice or did you just call them out of curiosity?
If they already have a waitlist I'm assuming they've sized up a cohort already.
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Is anyone else waiting for Boston University?
I'm not sure if its typical of them to take this long to make decisions but it seems so late, and I have to start making my final decisions. I've heard from all of my schools except them.
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4 minutes ago, speechfan222 said:
This looks very interesting! Should I go ahead and download the app?
Yes!! download it and PM me your number, ill add you
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Has anyone heard anything from Boston University yet?
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11 hours ago, ThePastelCalico said:
Accepted off Oregon's waitlist this evening. So happy.
Damn congratulations!!! Always nice hearing a waitlist success story
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Same here -- waitlisted at CUNY and its been a long wait. I have offers I could accept right now but alas I cannot =/
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1 hour ago, coffeentv said:
Thank you for the advice, Kevin! I'm very frustrated because I couldn't put my research interests first and just applied to schools around NYC. I think I have decent research experience. I'll try to get my master's thesis or a class paper published. I wonder if I can get a job in research sometimes soon... I get extremely nervous talking to people, especially professors. How do you network?
I wouldn't turn down any acceptance if it comes with funding that's enough to cover all the expenses.
I totally get that and unfortunately this isn't something people tell you, but I was fortunate enough to have a great mentor. Before I applied I made a habit of networking, every faculty I've read about or my research interests aligned with I would send an email telling them how much I appreciated their work and would love to just meet with them. Half would say yes others wouldn't respond. If I could secure a meeting I would just go and meet, talk about how their work influenced me and what my research is and ask for advice. (People love giving advice, and im example A lol).
Anyway this was how I found one professor who was willing to give me a research assistantship at CUNY for a few months and offered to write me a letter of recc. One professor that I met with at Princeton said he'd keep an eye out for my application. I was rejected but my point is that there can be so many opportunities that present themselves to you by sending one simple email haha.
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25 minutes ago, coffeentv said:
How's everyone doing?
I got waitlisted at UConn, UPenn, Temple. Got no funding from Albany and the New School, and got rejected from CUNY after the interview.
I have already declined the Columbia MA offer.
Albany told me most likely I'd get off the waitlist for funding, but it's only 16k. I called to decline the offer, but they stopped me form doing so.
My GRE is 320 and my GPA is around 3.6-3.7 in both undergrad and grad.
My partner is willing to move to a city off the New Haven line if I get off the waitlist at UConn.
Should I retake GRE and try again next year? I would like to get into Columbia or NYU or CUNY with funding because I can't relocate. Is it impossible?
Hey!! So there are a few pros and cons to taking another year in my opinion. I think if you took a year to bolster your application, you'd have a good chance at getting into the schools you wanted; however, you'd have the use to year wisely. I'd imagine this would involve more research experience, maybe try and get a publication rather than trying to improve your GRE. Maybe network and meet with some prospective faculty as well. If you're able to do this I think it would pay off exponentially. I don't think its impossible.
On the flip side, you would be turning down acceptances which can be a hard thing to do but if you have the time and energy to dedicate to another year why not! I'd say trust your intuition on this one. Best of luck <3
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those of you not in the group, yall are missing out on some good convo and some cool GIFs
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BUMP!! I'm going to make the group today, send me your numbers!
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If you're interested in the GroupMe, please download the app and message me your phone number! I'll start the group in a few days
Unfunded Summer (How Do I Survive)
in Sociology Forum
Posted
Hello Hello Hello
It's been a while since I've been on here, but an approaching summer of unfunded insecurity has brought me to seek advice. I am a Sociology graduate student at Northeastern (Boston, MA), and was just denied the three summer positions I applied to for the summer. I do not have funding but also need to pay rent. Does anyone have any ideas or experiences on what they did in the summer?
Thanks!