lkaitlyn

Maybe the forms will wake up by then! Not that far away. Ahhhh! Sorry. Lots of nervous energy. I have an app that still isn't due and so results in two weeks seem outlandish, even though it's true for many programs.

Only interview I've heard about was for Gender Studies. I don't think anywhere I applied for sociology does interviews since I didn't do Chicago. When are people expecting to hear things?

I was waiting for someone to create this. Gradcafe has seemed so dead this year. You're not alone! ❤️

Hi everyone! I figured someone should start this thread eventually. Hope everyone is doing well/relaxing as application deadlines pass!

I live in NYC for school. Finding an apartment for under $1000 is going to be hard (maybe just not possible) in NYC. You might be able to find a room in a shared apartment for close to $1000, but even that will be challenging, especially because you have to add in splitting utilities most places. (If the school you go to for your MA has graduate housing, I highly recommend trying that because it's likely cheaper.) Check out different apartment websites and you'll see what I mean — it's ridiculously expensive. Given the cost of living in NYC and the surrounding area (check out New Jersey), only working 25-30 hours a week will also pose a challenge. The only way around is public transit, which is $5.50 round trip per day assuming you are not commuting from New Jersey. For whatever reason food costs more in NYC, too, as does everything else. I don't really have suggestions but I highly recommend budgeting closer to $1,500 or $2,000 a month for rent/utilities in a shared apartment just to make sure you're covered, $500-$600 for food/other spending, and $200 for transit. So this is $2,700-$3,000 or so a month, to be safe, and it probably will be somewhat unpleasant. This will mean looking for full-time jobs, and/or taking out student loans (ick). Alternatively, you could apply to Ph.D. programs that provide funding and if you don't like it, drop out after the M.A. Some people do that. EDIT: For what it's worth, I think the expense of New York outweighs the hype. There are funded Sociology M.A. programs elsewhere and you could maybe have your own apartment. NYC is stressful by itself, and adding finances to it makes it even worse. It's up to you, but for me, I don't find it worth it, and I actively avoided applying to grad schools in NYC as a result.

I sent my transcripts to Stanford over a month ago and it also shows incomplete. The program assistant said it can take up to a month for them to log paper transcripts as received. So you're not alone!

My apps were already due so no. I actually sent about a month in advance to make sure they would arrive by the deadline.

Option 2. Graduating "by age 19" doesn't matter to grad schools, and honestly isn't a good thing for anybody socially/academically. My mom used to be an admissions officer at one of the top schools in the country (if one believes U.S. news rankings, which I don't); they'd actually avoid admitting people who tried to rush through high school because those students almost always ended up imploding because they didn't take advantage of the social and academic opportunities around them. (Plus, they ended up being weaker students in the end when it came to doing in-depth projects like senior theses that require time to do well.) I don't know if grad schools are the same, but it's worth thinking about.

For Parchment, you can order an electronic copy of your transcript and it will be emailed to you within the day. Then you just upload that file. At least, that's how it works at my school.

I will say at this point in the process, though, it might be better to focus on what you can control instead of what you can't. It's probably too late to retake the GRE this cycle, but you still have time to write an awesome SOP.

I'm applying so I have no experience to speak with authority, so take this with a grain of salt, but from everything I've heard about Chicago in particular, that quant score might hurt. I personally think the GRE is useless, but as long as it's around, a quant-loving school like Chicago (I think their average quant score for admission last year was 167 or something like that?) might have problems with a 149. But again, I'm just an applicant myself, so I'm not saying you shouldn't apply — maybe just consider retaking if you have the money or time, or don't get too attached to any of the schools on your list with a particular focus on quantitative methods. I'm rooting for you, though! ❤️

Some schools have honor codes that mandate you report something like this if you know about it, or you're considered complicit. Everyone who helped her should've known better. I get you're worried about people you care about, but you also need to look out for yourself. Again, knowing about this and not reporting it is seen as academic dishonesty at some schools. You're playing with fire by doing nothing. You need to report this.

Also, lots of MA programs have deadlines in the spring — you might be able to take the GRE again and apply this cycle for MA programs if you want to.

I'm applying so I have no actual experience to offer, hence the brevity of my reply, but my first gut reaction is the GRE absolutely needs to be as high as possible given your GPA. (I personally think the GRE is a biased piece of crud that has nothing to do with intelligence, but since Soc programs still use it for applications, it unfortunately matters — especially when you have a 2.2.) It's not the most important part of the app, but it's the only thing I can judge given the information you provided — I have no idea what your writing sample, LORs, etc. will be like. Good luck!

I can't answer most of your questions because I'm just applying myself, but I think it's worth trying to get your school to change that F to a W if you can. It might take some arm twisting, but honestly, the jump from a 3.7 to a 3.9 sounds worth some phone calls and strongly-worded emails to me.

Hi! I'm applying to Soc programs too, and I found the Sociology thread on these forms super helpful. People have asked a lot of great questions over the years. I recommend going through there, because a lot of people in that form also have insight about the exact programs you're applying to. Good luck!

So glad you passed! Well deserved.

Hang in there. We're all rooting for you. ❤️

I'd contact the department head and director of the grad school, personally, to let them know what's going on re: the deadline. No harm in CC'ing General Counsel (the university's legal department) either. If they're breaking their own policies and that causes you to lose your scholarship, that makes them liable. Probably better to contact them now instead of after the deadline. I know that sounds aggressive, but advocating for yourself is really important, and it's better to be prepared by contacting people earlier than having to do it later, IMO. Wishing you luck.

Several schools have M.A. program scholarships for former Peace Corps volunteers (and I think Peace Corps has some funding opportunities too?), so at least for M.A.s, it's definitely a thing!

Good luck! Please let us know how it goes.

Something tells me that MAPSS's 2017 Sociology WashU in St. Louis PhD placement wasn't correct. Just a guess. ?

UChicago MAPSS is known for getting a lot of people into PhD programs, if that's the goal. It's expensive (like most MAs) but they often offer scholarships for some amount off tuition. I think it's only one year, which also helps. Not sociology, but I know Wisconsin has a Gender Studies MA that might have some decent funding.

I have similar interests, though adding in the law/criminology. I've found, as CozyD mentioned, that there are several Gender Studies/Feminist Studies PhD programs out there that might be better suited to these interests than many Sociology PhD programs (particularly if you have a qualitative focus). The ones that are well-known and have good funding include (but are not limited to) Emory, Stony Brook, U of Minnesota, Arizona State, UCSB, U of Arizona, Indiana, UCLA, UW (very different than their quant-focused Soc department), and Rutgers. There are tons more, actually, so you might want to use "gender studies" or "feminist studies" as search terms in the results page to get ideas. I'd look there first; there are few sociology departments I've found that are qualitative and have a large gender focus (though I suppose looking at Berkeley wouldn't hurt, Columbia has many students working on gender stuff that I know personally, and UT Austin has a "gender" specialization option when you apply even though it mixes qualitative/quant methods). Also, Wisconsin has a funded M.A. in Gender Studies that could be a great back-up, and I believe San Jose State offers some funding to M.A. students as well! I hope this helps — I'm applying next cycle so this is just what I've researched myself as an applicant.

Some people on the site include summer funding and some don't. Some people have optional teaching on top of full fellowships. Some people are including health insurance or some tuition remission costs. Also make sure to check out the years, because funding varies based on year as well. Can't speak to any specific school, but that might account for some different numbers. (Of course, some people could just be making stuff up, but if I were going to troll people online one day, I'd probably pick a different website. )