PoliticalSociology

That's interesting. One of my top choices said they don't negotiate, but another offered me an additional modest scholarship when I asked. I wonder if there are any other things you can negotiate besides TA load and increasing the dollar amount?

I've narrowed my decision down to 2 schools, which is a big accomplishment for how indecisive I am! I'm still having follow-up calls with a few professors and students just to make sure I have considered everything. It's challenging because the two schools are so different and therefore hard to compare. But I keep reminding myself that both seem great, and the opportunity to spend 5-8 years learning and doing sociology research is just so fantastic. What about you?

I heard Cornell cancelled too. I think that's almost everyone from now on. Plus classes have been canceled for undergraduates at most of these schools too.

I know someone who decided not to because they have at-risk family members. I expect more will cancel later in the month, and it would be especially bad if visit days were in April instead.

Anyone else going to UCI's visit day this week? I'm excited but also nervous!

Yeah I wonder about this too! I've been living in the US for a time, but I'm not from here and certainly don't know anyone near the schools I'm thinking about. My guess is there will be some bonding between students coming from this kind of background, while other students with more established social networks will keep to themselves.

Great thread! I think asking about the financial details is important, particularly when payments come in (e.g. August vs October) and health insurance. I'm also just excited to nerd out on research topics with people, learning what research other people are excited about, what sort of approaches are most common at the school (e.g. qualitative, Bourdieu), and what people think of my ideas. I think it would also be nice to make connections with fellow prospective students, even if we end up at different schools. These are the people we'll be hanging out with at conferences, on the job market with, and perhaps working in the same department in the long-term.

I'm excited to see people from this forum at visit days! I know most probably don't want to share which ones due to anonymity, but it will be nice hanging out in person with others who shared this exciting yet anxious experience.

That is weird. 12 for a cohort of 10 certainly seems more in like with historical standards, though I don't think 6 would be out of the question if, for example, the previous year had an unusually large cohort.

Congrats on your one acceptance! That's very impressive, regardless of where it is. In terms of your best option, if you want to try to get into a better PhD program, you could do decline that offer and do various things to improve your application: get more experience, get a Master's degree, retake tests, or get more feedback and improve your essays. If you want to start a PhD immediately, you can take that offer and just keep in mind that getting a tenure-track job is really tough (for any soc program, not just programs below the Top 25). If you are interested in quantitative research, for example, you can develop those skills and get a job for an NGO, the US government, or even a tech company.

Does anyone know when NYU's visit day is? I think they're announcing decisions soon, but I want to go ahead and book flights for other visit days if possible.

Any explanation on the Princeton acceptance? Strange to just see one posted...

Congratulations! That's amazing. There's so much randomness in this process, both in which applications get noticed by whom at what time, but also in the varying fit and interests of soc programs. This seems especially true if the professor who inspired you is at Yale, so it's great that the stars aligned with your interests and their interests. Sounds like you'll have a very fruitful time at Yale.

Welcome! One post is always hard to interpret. It looks like there were three on the Result page on Friday, so that probably was a wave of acceptances. And in 2019, it looks like rejections came out only a day or two after acceptances. So maybe you'll hear back in either case tomorrow? Good luck!

Based on previous years, I think Cornell and NYU might send out acceptances this week! Good luck, everyone!

I've also noticed this and find it strange. My guess is it's overall trends in reporting to gradcafe. The nature of graduate school admissions doesn't seem like it should change that much in a single year.

Just to add one point on this topic of school visits, you can try to have a Skype call with faculty of interest or grad students. I expect if schools have given you an offer, then that probably won't be too much to ask. You might even be able to schedule an off-day visit to the school!

Yeah, you gotta do what you gotta do, and it sounds like you can only go to the ones higher on your list. I'd try to be slower to RSVP in the future, but for now, I'd just send a polite, brief, and straightforward email. If you want to keep the option open, you could say, "..but I'm still interested in your program and may ask for a call in the future once I have my options laid out in front of me."

That's smart! Does anyone know about NYU? I might do the same thing and anonymously post all the Visit Day dates I can.

UCI's Visit Days are March 6-7. I'm tempted to go, but it's not my top choice, and I don't want to commit if I might want to go to a different Visit Day at that time. Do people think schools that release decisions later will consistently have later Visit Days? Like, is it safe to assume schools that admit after today will have Visit Days after March 6?

Hey all! What does everyone think of Chicago? I know the PhD program has attracted criticism in the past, perhaps because it runs AJS, but it has a good fit with my interests, and I'm not sure how much merit there is to the criticisms.

It's sad to see a rejection when your application scores were high, but in addition to 'soft' concerns or limited spots for internationals, keep in mind a lot of this process is just random. I've been accepted to a couple schools now, and already got a presumed rejection (the school sent out acceptances and I didn't get one) from a much less competitive university. Nothing I can think of in my application was worse for that school. It could just be the time of day it was looked at, the mood of someone who looked at it on the committee, or random views on what makes for a 'good applicant' that we can't possibly predict in advance. There's only so much we have control over, and academia is a place where you often have control over very little.

Another weird result: It looks like Cornell sent out some rejections? Two people reporting in, but no acceptances reported... I guess it's a good sign if we haven't heard anything.

I can't speak for everyone, but I would call a couple of my selections "safety" schools, just in the sense that they were schools I'd be happy to attend and where I thought I had the best chance of acceptance. I already got a positive result from one program, which is great and makes me feel "safe" for the rest of admissions season ? My guess would be that a lot of people just call the least competitive 1-3 schools they applied to "safety", whether they would guess they have a 10% or 90% chance of acceptance. And yeah, I think it's a term people are used to from undergrad, though I don't know the exact etymology.

Interesting. What do you mean by this? Like you think there are employers who look at QS Sociology Rankings when making hiring decisions? I don't think that's common at all in the US. A lot of people don't even look at USNWR; they just have in their head an intuitive sense of rankings that they've built over the years. Also, congrats on your waitlist at UNC! That's great.