Ericnm

I know this has been discussed at length on many threads, but what is the point of the grad school rankings? I checked the PhD program for the school where I live now and felt optimistic looking through the professors and different areas of research they specialize in. They seemed to have at least a few professors who had lots of published research and interesting material. My heart sank when I searched their ranking and found them to be tied for #102 with a few other schools, higher only than those schools that had no ranking at all. This seems inauspicious. Getting a PhD where I’m living now would be ideal for many reasons due to my life circumstances and personality, but if it’s a last place rank, would it just be a terrible decision?

Thank you everyone for your input. I have a lot to think about.

Hello everyone. I'm writing this post in hopes that I can get a better idea of what to expect out of sociology PhD vs. Masters program and which, if either, might be a good fit for me. A little background on me: I hold a BA in English and a clinical Master of Social Works. After graduating with my MSW, I went to work in a state-funded detox center for 1 year. The work was extremely difficult, emotionally draining, and paid very little. The experience put the final nail in the coffin of my social work career, though I'd been having doubts about it prior to this job, and I decided to leave social work when I got an entry-level position in a corporate environment. I have now been working my corporate job for about a year, and while I appreciate the stability it has offered me and the chance to experience another work setting, I have realized it is also not an environment I necessarily find much fulfillment or interest in. I enjoyed many of my social work classes (much more than I did the English classes I took in undergrad), especially the ones dealing with theory and macro-issues. Hell, research methods was one of my favorite courses I ever took. Thinking about what the next steps for me might be, I believe that getting a masters and/or PhD in sociology may be a good move, with the eventual goal of becoming a professor (a long shot, I know). I have also considered a PhD in social work to become a professor, but I do not have any desire to return to being a practicing social worker, and many universities require at least two years of hands on experience to teach SW classes. I have plenty of experience writing research papers for various classes, but nothing approaching a social science thesis, nor do I have any publications to my name. Given this, I think it might be prudent for me to pursue a master's in sociology before attempting to apply to any kind of PhD programs. Given my background and goals, does anyone have any input on what they think might be most helpful for me to look into? Is it pointless to consider a Masters in sociology without research experience? Will I be more likely to get funding if I go through the masters program? My undergrad GPA was something like 3.6 and graduate was 3.98. My GRE scores were: Verbal 163; Quant 155; Writing 5.5.