Hello everyone, I'm a first gen college student and totally overwhelmed by the grad school process. I'd appreciate any suggestions, insight, tough love, whatever you have to offer. I'm particularly interested if anyone has suggestions for a very specific niche that I would like to continue researching - or if I should abandon the specificity and be more broad about my potential program choices.
Me: Bachelors in Sociology, 3.79 GPA, tons of research experience (both home and abroad, in both sociology and communications,) 2 internships, excellent relationships with professors who can provide good LOR. Taking the GRE in 10 days, expecting an above average verbal and fairly average quant. Many STS and Communications courses under my belt as well. With that said, my past research has been fairly niche - I have been studying the effects of technology on Holocaust remembrance, particularly in educational environments, as well as its impact on collective memory, etc.
My dilemma: I'm pretty confused/stuck about what programs to apply to. I really, really love sociology, I love the rigor and theory that the field provides. However, the "big name" individuals who study the same field of things I am interested in are all over the board. Some are in Communications, some in Sociology, some are in Holocaust/Genocide Studies, some in Comparative Literature, some are in History. Some are in the USA, some abroad.
So, my questions are:
1. Does anyone have any suggestions for faculty members who work on this topic, if you know of any? (I feel like I'm fairly aware of who is out there but I could be missing someone.)
2. Am I putting the cart before the horse? Should I focus my search more on programs that have faculty members who have a background in Sociology/Media? Or would Sociology/Memory Studies/Genocide Studies be more realistic?
3. Is it completely bonkers to apply for Sociology at some schools, and another major in others? For instance, both Annenberg East and West have a ton of faculty I would love to work with, but they are all in Communications. I don't think I'd be unhappy in Comms, but it's just not where the majority of my prior experience is.
Anyway, this was super long. I appreciate any advice, or if I should move this to a different board, etc.
Thank you so much for reading!
