passere

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!

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. 

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 went to IIT for undergrad. e2e4 gives good advice. Many students live in Bridgeport, which is usually pretty affordable and very close. I lived there 3 years. Bronzeville is also an option, but I don't have experience there. Chinatown is very accessible by bus, I worked there during my senior year and it was a super easy commute (less than 10 minutes by bus). South Loop is accessible by train or bus, but more costly. IIT students receive a U-Pass, which gives unlimited rides on public transportation (buses and trains) while classes are in session. Try looking at the IIT Student Community Facebook page, because you can also find other international students looking for roommates.

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. 

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

For future applicant reference, Princeton Sociology announced they will not admit a cohort this coming year. If you're making lists of potential schools to apply to in the fall, make sure you check every so often for updates on this coming year, as some other schools could follow.

There's so much Chicago here! That's very interesting.

Also in Canada;
 

Definitely try to negotiate. Unfortunately, I didn't have a particularly strong position, only having one offer, but it's still worth asking. I was offered an additional guaranteed year of TA support, although they refused to give any extra summer support. When we went to visit days, a GSA representative said that in the past, students have negotiated for guaranteed summer funding, "top ups" during TA years to provide support equal to fellowship years (key for first year TAing, because the pay is low until you get experience), and permission to move fellowship years around. Like lkaitlyn said, the worst that can happen is they say no!

I think it really is highly school dependent. For anyone in future years, I would recommend reaching out to the graduate student association at prospective schools to ask if they know what's usual. For example, I was told that they almost never will increase the dollar amount of fellowships, but they may guarantee summer funding.

Definitely try to negotiate. Unfortunately, I didn't have a particularly strong position, only having one offer, but it's still worth asking. I was offered an additional guaranteed year of TA support, although they refused to give any extra summer support. When we went to visit days, a GSA representative said that in the past, students have negotiated for guaranteed summer funding, "top ups" during TA years to provide support equal to fellowship years (key for first year TAing, because the pay is low until you get experience), and permission to move fellowship years around. Like lkaitlyn said, the worst that can happen is they say no!

As a faculty member, this week has been overwhelming and chaotic for us all. Given how scared and uncertain students (and faculty) have felt this week, having recently learned of the existence of GradCafe it occurred to me that hearing from a faculty member might be helpful to some of you and so I planned to start a post expressing my support. However, upon seeing this thread, I wanted to address the initial poster's concern first and then share my thoughts (albeit - I am just one perspective).
My university, like so many, has moved to online-only instruction until mid-April, at minimum. I teach a graduate cognitive assessment class. Even if it were possible to teach test administration online (which I doubt anyone could do well - I certainly cannot), my students have to share some test kits with each other plus given the interactive nature of cognitive testing, it would be impossible for my students to administer a test battery and not touch objects that the testee also touches. #WAISIVCOVID19Outbreak is not the hashtag I want to follow my students or I, because we have an obligation to, above all else, do no harm. The skills-based aspect of my course will be on hold until we can resume in-person instruction. That means I, and my students, will need to be flexible regarding making up the missed classes, but I am willing to give up part of my summer to make sure my students are prepared in the way they need to be.
Let's hope that we're out of the woods by August! That said, as current students, prospective students, and students who will be entering a program in Fall 2020 - it is not your job to worry about how the COVID-19 crisis will affect your education. I understand may of you will worry, and that's okay - but your professors are and will do everything they can to make sure your education continues as planned.
All that said, I hope everyone is okay. For those of you who had to leave campus abruptly, I am sorry. For those of you who had spring-break plans cancelled, I am sorry. For anyone who is scared - you are not alone. For anyone who is angry about this disruption - you are not alone. I can only imagine how hard it must be to be a student or future student right now. Most (I want to believe all of ) your professors are doing the best they can. I realize that may not feel like enough, but it's the best we can do right now. Please take care of yourselves and if you are feeling anxious about the fall, do reach out to current faculty or POIs. We're here.
 
 

Hey, I've been following this without commenting, but wanted to jump in here. For @lkaitlyn or others thinking about reapplying next year in order to try to get into a better program or one in a more desirable location, I feel you, and have myself even thought about this, though only for a second. Here' why I think it would be a real risk, and ultimately a bad idea. I think you have to consider the quality of the program you got into, and weigh it against the chance of not getting in *anywhere* next year. If you got into a top 30 program, I would 100% jump on it. Sociology and other social sciences and humanities programs have gotten extremely difficult to get into recently. As we can see from some people's admissions results on this thread, programs ranked between, say, 11-30 seem to be almost as hard to get into as those ranked 1-10. I say this because there are plenty of people who were admitted to a given program and then rejected by a bunch of schools ranked *lower* than that program. 
The coming recession will make the competitiveness of these programs even more pronounced, as more people will apply to PhD programs in order to secure even the small stipend and health insurance that comes with it. This will be a simple economic decision, as the only alternative for many really smart people will be to work a minimum wage job, live with their parents, deal with unemployment and extreme precarity, etc. Given the very, very competitive nature of the application process, and the likelihood that it will continue to intensify, I think anyone who would give up a spot at a top 30 program this year, in order to try to get into a better program (or a program in a city that they like better, is cheaper, etc.), has to seriously weigh the risk of applying next year and not getting in anywhere.
If cost of living is an issue, you can take out student loans to top off your stipend, and make do. It's not ideal, but it's a whole lot better--it seems to me--than working a dead end job and making less than you would as a grad student. Hope this helps. Good luck everyone.

I wasn't awarded, and I definitely felt a bit of a ding after reading the email. But I've started to look at the things that have gone right for me so far. Personally, I'm just happy that I'm going to grad school. Even if the NSF is indicative of ability (which, as jstop28 mentions, isn't necessarily true), a rejection isn't a death sentence to my scientific career. I have a lot of time ahead of me to learn and develop, and I'm looking forward to seeing the reviews so that I can figure out what areas to improve. While the validation (and money) would have been great, not getting the fellowship doesn't fundamentally change the calculus of the next few years, and it won't stop me from pursuing my goals. 

Congratulations everyone!
I'm not one of the lucky ones, but I'll try again next year.
Edit: The email I got wasn't even proofread XD I'm dead.

There have been many instances of schools rejecting applicants and then changing their mind after the applicant gets GRFP. A professor at my school was originally rejected from Stanford, but Stanford changed its mind and accepted her once she got GRFP. Schools care a LOT about money. Having your tuition & stipend (mostly/completely) paid makes you look very nice to them. It can't hurt to reach out to programs that rejected you letting them know you got GRFP and asking if that may have any impact on their previously made decision.

Lol. I’m trying to limit myself to checking every half hour. That and binge watching netflix will hopefully help, but my heart rate is definitely up! I have a lab meeting early tomorrow morning and I would die if I could tell my advisor and labmates I got it. 

Sorry to hear that. I hope you and your family recover from your loss. And I hope you do hear good news. No matter what you hear back, remember that submitting an application is a big accomplishment on its own.

It's looking like the NSF will fund 2000 individuals again this year. Information from an article from Feb. 13, 2020:
The 2021 budget proposal also puts NSF’s flagship graduate fellowship research program (GRFP) under the knife, proposing a 20% drop from 2000 annual fellowships to 1600. Begun in 1952, the fellowship program is a pillar of NSF’s investment in training the next generation of scientists, and several labor economists have argued that its success warrants growing it to 3000.
[NSF Director] Córdova, however, has repeatedly proposed trimming GRFP since President Donald Trump took office, in some years down to 1500. In 2017 she said it was time to compare its impact with that of other mechanisms for supporting graduate students, notably traineeships and through research grants. And NSF’s current program announcement says the agency plans to make 1600 awards in fiscal years 2020 and 2021.
The Senate has rejected previous attempts to trim the program, however. For example, the final 2020 spending bill approved a few months ago ordered NSF to stay at 2000 slots. An NSF spokesperson says the agency will comply with that language.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/how-congress-could-reverse-cuts-trump-s-budget-request-nsf

I've seen several people on twitter that got emails saying their proposal was rejected for being disease related, so you would likely have received an email if that was the case for you.

Here are some questions to think about that are specific to talking to advisors:
https://blog.ml.cmu.edu/2020/03/02/questions-to-ask-a-prospective-ph-d-advisor-on-visit-day-with-thorough-and-forthright-explanations/

Thanks for the perspective! I really hope I'll be able to get accommodations for turning things in late sometimes. I never tried in undergrad (mistake) and I've heard stories of some people having trouble getting the accommodations they need. I'll also have to find new providers since I'll be going across the country. It'll be an adventure, for sure.