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marif

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  1. anyone waitlisted in Boston University? wondering if anyone knows if they waitlisted candidates based on area.
  2. hey, I did not! I would be really interested in learning their answer. thanks for sending the email!
  3. hope everything turns out good for you! fingers crossed!
  4. god, me too! do you know if they send the acceptances/waitlists in batches or is it dead for good for us?
  5. Is there anyone with an update about Penn State's Comparative Literature MA program?
  6. What's up with Yale Complit? I saw acceptances, interviews or rejections, but I haven't heard from them. What could that be?
  7. Thank you very much for your response. I genuinely understand what you say, but I also believe that your response includes two different components that do not have a necessary logical connection: - You say that there are strong inequalities, not only in the way we understand academic work, but also in the way we play the game. I genuinely agree with that, and I am *currently* living the same thing. I come from a working-class family, and believe me, I know. - Yet, you also say that because there are inequalities, then the personal stories should be an integral part of our "game." This is the part I have strong disagreements. My point before was that an admission process should be, in an ideal world, only about the quality of the work and the quality of the research imagination, and nothing else at all. The main reason I think this way, and I believe this reflects the deep problems in the sociological field as well, is that I do not want to *change* the world with a sociologist hat in my head. If I want to do political work (as I do in my own country - I am an international applicant, and yes, GRE was a third of my salary, too), I can do it as a citizen, as a worker, or as a social movement member. I do not think that sociology (or any other social science) should be about remedying social inequalities. I want to do sociology because I want to do scientific work. I want to contribute to the scientific understanding of human behavior and social groups, and I believe that this should be the only goal we have to strive for. This does not mean that we are value-free (the research shows that we *have* strong values), but this doesn't exclude it as a normative ideal. I am really upset to see that a highly personalized trend is occurring in the social scientific disciplines, where people are asked to provide "personal statements" that document their life-stories. I do not understand HOW one's life story should be a measure to understand valuable scientific research. I, personally, do not have strong personal histories. As I've said, I come from a working class background. I do not know what to tell about my life. I really love science, and I want to be evaluated with my potential as a scientific contributor, and nothing else. If an admission committee wants to learn more about me rather than looking into what I want to say as a contributor to the field, then I am sorry, I do not have anything to give, and I, personally, do not want to be judged on account of how poignant my history was. We would have no common ground for comparison and evaluation if we lose the fact that we want to be scholars.
  8. Don't get me wrong (not here to say something in a bad way), but I think this is also a problematic approach to the admission process. You are absolutely right that there is an element of rubbish chance, and more importantly, some people have strong cultural and economic capital, particularly from their parents, and some don't (like me). That being said, an admission committee should not decide based on your life story or your particular attributes. An admission committee should look into your research statement, the relative fit of your statement to the faculty, and the degree to which you understand how a research is conducted. I do think that this is not happening in the admission processes right now, and I believe that it is quite problematic. Just an opinion, please feel free to chime in and we'll have a nice discussion!
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