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I didn’t have any LORs from sociology faculty. The closest I got was one from linguistics, and two from engineering faculty. I think what matters most is your ability to do graduate level research, which is transferable from discipline to discipline. My writing sample also wasn’t sociology. I used a linguistics writing sample, and a lit review I did in engineering when I could fit both. I think it worked for me because my undergrad was biomedical engineering and linguistics, and I planned to take a sociolinguistics approach to studying medical things. Is there a connection you could make between your previous degrees and why you want a PhD in sociology? I ran into the same thing you’re facing, which is that there’s not exactly a lot of opportunity to get research experience in the field from outside it. I think what gave me the best chance for admission was making a personal connection with faculty before I applied. Then, you’ve got someone pulling for you despite your unconventional background. It also depends on the program. Some are probably stricter about only admitting people with “proper” backgrounds. Meanwhile, my cohort has a lot of people with humanities and STEM degrees, and my program has more than one JD. Best of luck!

Oh thanks! I’m glad you were able to make it this year, with such a competitive cycle. I feel like I’m lucky I got in right before everything got weird. Congrats! I’m not sure how long it normally takes people, but I can tell you that Google says it will take me 30-40 minutes to get to UCLA by bus from where I am. I’ve been told that university apartments north is a scam for single grad students (you’re paying to be close and have it furnished). I’ve heard good things about university apartments south, though. They don’t include furniture and can be harder to get, I think. My department offered me priority position in the housing lottery as a first-year student, though, which can help.

The family housing is located about 5 miles south of campus on either side of the 405 freeway. Anyone with family (dependents, spouses, partners) can apply for it. It’s actually easier to get than the single student housing, which often has a longer waitlist. I really like it, and it’s a really good price for the area. You can get one bedroom, two bedroom, and three bedroom units, depending on family size. The units are updated and maintenance is pretty good. It’s a gated community, and each apartment comes with one space either in a single car garage or a parking garage structure. There’s been some problems with package stealing, but that’s standard for LA, unfortunately Let me know if you have any other questions! I know I had a hard time finding answers when I was planning to move here.

I and many of my those in my program live in the Palms/Culver City/Mar Vista areas. Some of us live in university housing that’s here, and others are just renting other apartments in the area. Although I have a car, many people I know don’t and just use public transport or the UCLA housing shuttle (or others with cars). Although it’s hard in your first year, splitting with another person makes it much more affordable. You can end up spending 900-1100 for a two bedroom apartment. $1300 for a studio is lower than you’ll get for single student housing through UCLA, but I think it’s doable. Can’t help you with the timing question, unfortunately. I started in the middle of COVID and am in the family student housing. If you go into the student housing lottery, you can get an offer at anytime. For what it’s worth, undergrads are interested in housing closer to campus (Westwood), so there’s probably less of a seasonal rush for leases further away.

Prestige can only help, but that alone won’t get you in anywhere. I went to a Midwestern tech school you’ve never heard of and have a BS in engineering. What’s much more important is demonstrated research ability—especially publications, although I didn’t even have that. I applied in the year after I graduated, so my work experience wasn’t much when I applied. There’s no one formula to what makes a good applicant. I’m 100% convinced I got in where I did because of the connection I made with faculty.

This is an analysis of which programs have the most top academic placements, as of three years ago. You can see that there is an advantage to going to an Ivy League or similar, if your program isn’t in the top-10 and you want to be a professor at a top program. That said, this analysis was of professors at top programs, not all R1 schools. lkaitlyn’s suggestion is the best: look at the recent placements of schools you’re comparing.

I would say research is the one and only thing that’s a tried-and-true way to increase your chances. Everything else just varies too much from candidate to candidate. People come from all different backgrounds, and it becomes about the whole package—does this person fit the program? Would they do well here?—rather than ticking the right achievement boxes. Having research experience is really the thing that can set you apart, because that’s what grad school is about. Having a publication and presentations would put you beyond many other candidates (I had none). I doubt admissions committees will be looking at your transcripts to make sure you took one specific class or something. If they had for me, I wouldn’t have gotten in, because I never took a single sociology class. Your classes can still matter, though, because you want to take what speaks to you and helps build your interests. That will be important for articulating why you want to go to a given school. I had volunteering experience, writing and entrepreneurial experience, and experience working in nonprofits and teaching. I doubt any of these things really caught anyone’s eye, but they proved that I was motivated and a hard worker. So taken together, they painted a good picture. I would suggest not doing something because you’re “supposed to.” Make sure you do things you’re passionate about, because that comes through in your application. Then, of course, there’s the generic advice to get good grades and a good GRE score.

I applied to US PhD programs having never taken a sociology course, although I only had a bachelor’s. There are others in my program with non-sociology master’s, too. Especially since there’s continuity in your interests, I think you could be a good candidate. The key will be crafting your statement of purpose to show that.

It's always reasonable to ask, but it took over a month for me to get my funding package after I was notified of acceptance (last year). I think they were waiting to hear back about fellowships I was eligible for. You're not going to get off on the wrong foot with anyone by asking politely, though. And congrats!

In my cohort, there are 6 people with master's degrees and 11 people without. 6 of the people with bachelor's came straight after undergrad, and the rest worked for a bit (or awhile). That's a decently even split between coming from MA/work/undergrad. I think admissions committees hold different people to different standards. It's not whether you can compete with master's students, but whether you can compete with other undergrads. The person who did the best with the resources they had isn't necessarily the person with the best resources. The professors don't rank everyone according to their achievements and let the top ones in--they ask themselves who would be a good fit for their institution. I applied in the fall following my undergrad graduation, which is kinda a gray area. I included myself in the "straight from undergrad" numbers, because that's what it felt like. I had no grad experience or significant work experience when I applied.

UCLA usually accepts about 40 applicants, so it’s only a small fraction of them that post here. Competition is fierce for international students, but it’s not impossible. Best of luck

That significant drop in verbal for your first score seems not worth the slight increase in AW. When I applied I remember hearing that your writing samples are more important than AW, so focusing on those could be a better idea. However, I honestly don’t know how much top programs weight GRE vs writing sample.

University of California Santa Barbara has announced the same ? https://www.soc.ucsb.edu/news-events/item/fall-2021-grad-admissions-deferred

Oh, that's a really good point. Thanks for the tip! My partner starting remote would be a dream.

Congratulations! Welcome to the club My partner is coming with as well. I'm hoping the economic situation won't make finding a job there impossible.