SleeplessInSomewhere

It seems that a lot of programs who didn't do interviews in the past are opting to do so this cycle. It is probably because of the high number of applicants and the need to find an additional way to filter down the candidates.
 
I've had three interviews so far and supposed to have a fourth this week, so I'll mention some of the common questions that came up:
1) In a 20 minute interview with four faculty members, I was asked the following:
- Why do you want to do a PhD in Sociology?
- Why do you want to do a PhD in Sociology at this department?
- What characteristics should a graduate student have?
- There was also a fourth question but I can't remember it...
I answered the above in 7-10 minutes so we had about ten minutes left for me to ask any questions. As I'm switching from another social science discipline, I had to also justify that switch and how my previous education would complement my upcoming training as a sociologist. I familiarized myself with the department faculty, the graduate student handbook, the facilities on campus and gave a specific answer about why I wanted that particular department.
I do suggest having questions prepared from your side so it isn't an awkward ten minutes and so they don't end the conversation early because you don't have any questions. Do your homework, study their website, their graduate student handbook, their faculty profiles - come with specific questions so they know you're keen and committed. I asked about resources (facilities, workshops, centre affiliations etc), and the general stages of progression through the PhD.
2) In another interview that was more casual (lasted about 45 mins), the faculty member referred to my CV and SOP to ask for more details about my past research and work experience and how it can tie into my work as a doctoral student. We found that there was a lot of overlap in our interests so the conversation kind of carried itself. For this call I also came prepared with questions, so it was a back and forth type of conversation rather than a formal interview.
3) In a fifteen minute interview with four faculty members, the committee had emailed me the questions prior to the interview and asked me to come prepared and to be concise in my responses.
- What is your anticipated dissertation project?
- What is the importance of your project for the field?
- Why would this university be a good fit for you?
- Talk about something you are most proud of accomplishing, or an academic or personal challenge you faced, how you handled the situation, and what you learned from it. 
 
Key tips from my experience so far:
Be confident and friendly. Smile, sound enthusiastic. They are judging your character as well as your intellect.
If it's a video call, choose a place that is presentable, and look presentable. Your space should be tidy and you should dress formally (blazer, nice blouse, etc)
Log in to the call at least one minute before. They are often doing back to back interviews so it's your time that is lost if you are late. Check your Internet connection and so on beforehand so you don't have any glitches.
Know your proposed dissertation project well. Practice if you need to, so you know how to intend to speak about it briefly. What is it, what's its importance, what methodology do you have in mind, and whose expertise will you draw on to conduct it?
If they share names of the committee members with you prior, get to know their profiles and their areas of research so you can find relevant topics of conversation and so you have an idea of what pikes their interest.
If they ask you any questions similar to the one above about personal challenges, don't make them too personal. I still think this is kind of a trick question, so you have to find a balance between sharing a personal challenge that is 'admirable' and 'inspiring' but at the same time not something you should only be sharing with your therapist - respectfully. I think it's also useful to try and tie in whatever personal challenge you faced to your current desire to become a sociologist/study the area that you want to study, and how that challenge motivated you to pursue it.
 
If anyone has any other advice to share/questions they were asked, please do post.
Good luck to everyone!!

You're most welcome. Yes, I did receive another offer elsewhere and will be accepting it. Hopefully you'll get an offer from CUNY next week. :))
Wishing everyone all the best in this new journey

Thank you so much for letting us know! I hope that means that you were accepted somewhere great and have a good funding package! And good luck to the rest of us - I don't want to get my hopes up, but I'm getting all nervous and excited all over again haha

All my love and support to everyone else currently in limbo, waiting for decisions/on a waitlist/not sure about funding. Hoping for good news for us all soon! 

Thanks! I think it really will be.
I was accepted to UT, UNC, and Emory and will be attending UT Austin. UT was by far the best research fit for me, with a research program focusing on exactly what I want to study. I was offered an RAship with the program and good recruitment funding increases over their standard offer. I will work twice as many hour than at Emory for only a bit more money, but I am very excited, and will make time for my classes and own research. 

Now that most accepts/rejects have gone out, just a friendly plea to anyone sitting on offers they *know* they won't be accepting to please notify departments as soon as possible. Most departments have had to downsize cohorts so there are much larger wait-lists this year -- and many people still hoping for spots to open up!
Hope everyone is holding up alright. Be well!

NYU sends the last official notification of rejection to me today, which marks the end of my 0 acceptance cycle. Though some people are questionning about spam and troll info, I think all the result posts related to the programs I applied were accurate. They indeed sent rejections a few weeks after the offers. So I still want to appreciate GradCafe and this thread for the information, which prepared me step by step to a no-acceptance-at-all result. I do hope those similar to me but dedicated to reapplying this year DO NOT LOSE HOPE. I feel comforted from many of the encouraging posts I read here and I want to extend mine at the end of the cycle. I am now through with the results and I deem it as an opportunity to explore more opportunities relevant but outside the academia. I have the belief that this will turn into a blessing in disguise. Best luck to you all, to those who keep their head up!

Popping in to say hello and hope everyone is holding up okay - saw that there were 666 replies on this thread and wanted to bump it up to 667. ?

Popping in to say hello and hope everyone is holding up okay - saw that there were 666 replies on this thread and wanted to bump it up to 667. ?

Popping in to say hello and hope everyone is holding up okay - saw that there were 666 replies on this thread and wanted to bump it up to 667. ?

I think for me, it was the decision to do a master's before applying to a PhD program that really bolstered my application. This had really consequential effect on the way I wrote and presented my research idea in my SOP (I came from a business background and I wouldn't have been able to frame things in a social scientific way). So if you're pivoting, a MA might be a good idea. Even then, I have been told by several POIs that having an MA is certainly an advantage and has the potential to override your undergrad GPA (if it's subpar, etc.). Unfortunately, MAs are super expensive but luckily, I was able to receive assistance to fund this decision. In this sense, you have "control" over whether or not to do a master's.
Additionally, you can really try and ace the GREs. I think the whole standardized testing scheme is BS and really does not reflect your capability as a graduate student but certain departments really have a penchant for it and they use it to sift out applicants - which is unfortunate. The test is absurdly costly as well. BUT it is something you have relative control over.
Lastly, I would recommend you thoroughly researching various soc programs and really homing in on faculty expertise for research alignment purposes. Review your literature and sharpen your SOP question. I think this can be a real game changer. You can also pick up some new skills along the way, especially if you're more quant. 

I just received an email from NYU....
Completely unrelated to my application! A spam-y (GRE-generated, I imagine) invitation to a "Summer Publishing Institute"! 
Verrryyyy poor timing -- I thought that I was finally going to be out of one of my two remaining purgatories! 
Good luck everyone. 

I'd object. If you're looking for a program to test the water. Try UChicago one's. that's a better bet, and they offer (though limited) funding opportunities even to master students. Columbia's MA is too pricy. If you must stay in NYC, or still thinking about Columbia, the QMSS program is better. 

Symbolically, there are benefits to jointing Ivy departments that aren’t so highly ranked. When you meet someone and they ask “Where are you getting your PhD?” Answering with “Cornell” or “Yale” will be impressive to them because it’s a school they’ve heard of and it carries Ivy League prestige. 
More importantly, though, an institution’s resources matter. The graduate stipends at Cornell and Yale are usually competitive. Yes, you ideally want to think long term about how the program might lead to earnings potential down the road. But in the here and now you still have bills to pay. Also, pay attention to health insurance plans. God forbid you actually need to use it. But if you do, you don’t want to be financially ruined. (File that under things I might never have thought about until a global pandemic struck).

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. 

The rankings are so out of date at this point that honestly it's a bit hard to know what is where. Things have shifted in the last 5 years, but U.S. News hasn't updated things since 2017 (based on a 2016 survey). Look at placement. That's a better indication of what's going on than what was happening in U.S. News five years ago. And don't focus on Ivy vs. not Ivy — what sports league a school is in has nothing to do with placement, and you'll find that at least half a dozen public schools (if not more) place better than Yale (and Cornell).

Hi friends! I'm probably getting too caught up now in the rankings game but am hoping other people are interested in discussing the topic as well.. 
So let's say I got into a soc program ranked between 10-20 on US news and then got into an ivy like Cornell or Yale. If both seemed like good fits for my interests and aspirations, would one be a better choice than the other regarding name recognition/status, etc? Would it matter? 
What about if I got into two programs ranked between 10-20. Would it matter really which one I picked if the fit was good? 
I'm not 100% sure what I would like to do post-graduation, but I would like to keep the option of potentially working at an R01 school open. Would I have a decent chance going to a 10-20 school or should I really try to go for a top 10 spot? 
I don't know if any of this matters at all in the long run, so I would appreciate any insight anyone has  
 
 
 

Hello! I'm the student who just turned down their offer. I did turn it down due to getting offers from higher ranking schools, but I will say that their program is really good especially in the area of transnational sociology. I also felt like the faculty was very warm and the students were very friendly, which I think are important factors to consider. If you're going to be somewhere for several years it should at least be a relatively healthy environment (relatively healthy for PhD students anyway).
As someone else mentioned, it does depend on your interests and the faculty members expertise. Another thing is that you have at least five years to really maximize what you've got. Network, present at lots of conferences, build a good relationship with your department faculty - the bigger names have wider networks and will come in handy when you apply for jobs and need a reference. I think many faculty members who ended up teaching at great schools but didn't graduate from Ivys did just that.
Personally I couldn't see myself living in UC for that long. There was also the question of summer funding (ask about that), they'll probably tell you what they told me which is that you can apply for TA positions and make money that way. 
Congratulations on getting in and best of luck with your decision. I did my homework pretty well on the program so if you have any questions feel free to reach out.

No worries, I think you'll be OK. Let's not forget, UIUC is the flagship state public school in Illinois so you're in good hands. That said, it is true that your network tends to be clustered where you do your PhD studies but that doesn't mean that you are bound to be regionally locked there. I think if you are able to produce great research, you are very likely to be hired anywhere. 
Good luck!

The answer to this question will ultimately depend on the following:
1) What your focus in sociology is going to be and what are you comparing this program to? If UIUC has faculty members whose research aligns with yours better and could provide better mentorship, then you might want to consider attending it.
2) When you say, is it "worth it", are you receiving full funding and stipend? If you have to pay out of pocket, then no, it's nor worth it (assuming this is a 5-year PhD).
3) What your purpose is in getting a Sociology PhD. If you really want to work in academia at big-name schools, then going somewhere with "better" name recognition may be worth considering. But again, this is not an end-all-be-all, it ultimately comes down to your research and publications.
4) Your geographic preference. UIUC is in the middle of nowhere and gets cold winters. Are you OK with being there for 5+ years. 
Hope this helps!

Hi all. I was accepted at UIUC. Is it worth it to get a degree from there? it is lower ranked. any info will help. thnx

Thank you @jetsetter and @JimmyR. I've emailed them. Hoping for a positive response.

I just went through and read the (I think) three old threads on this topic yesterday, in preparation for the same thing. 
I sent my first declination email yesterday (only one day after getting the offer). I've worked with the department chair previously, so I was mildly concerned it would be awkward. They were however very pleased to have my decision. so fast, so that they could offer the position to the next person on the wait list. Remember that there is some anxiety on the department's end as well! Good luck. 

As long as you've not signed any paperwork, there's no ethical conflict if you decide to go to Stanford.
Anyone who would throw shade at a person picking the best option available for you isn't your friend or someone who deserves to be.
Insofar as how to tell the story of your change of fortune on social media, you can either delete the OP or add a post "a funny thing happened on the way to Chapel Hill." IMO, the key to the latter option is to make it clear that it's not that UNC was your second or third choice (which would simply be a crass thing to say) but rather that Stanford is an opportunity of a lifetime that you must seize.
But before you make any decisions, do what you can to understand which place is really the best for you.

I hope you don't mind my saying that this sounds like a situation only sit-com characters find themselves in. The dramatic irony is pretty rich, and I can only imagine that you are terribly frustrated by it. Please don't let me upset you if I sound flippant because I just want to give you a distant stranger's opinion.
This might sound harsh, but I would bet that no one who has shared your post and listened to your story besides personal acquaintances have any real stake in your outcome. I believe you have an impressive story that affected them all, but I wouldn't expect anyone to check back in and make sure that the story remains consistent with reality.
Tell your friends and family how a funny thing happened and now you have an even better opportunity. Share it publicly if you like, but don't expect it to go viral. The internet got their underdog story and will be just fine whether or not you want to go to Stanford.