zh_awk

I'll be completing my Masters in Public Policy by next spring, and am thinking about programs to pursue after that (I applied to a joint degree in sociology and social policy this past cycle and was waitlisted/ultimately rejected). I will likely apply to the sociology program again, but am wondering if having a PhD in social policy, on top of the MPP, is a good option to consider. For background - I'm looking to a career in academic, as a professor, focusing on research surrounding education policy reform. I've enjoyed taking a sociological angle at studying this work thus far (I'm published and continue to do research in this space outside of my full-time job/school). However, I recognize that I could approach grad school in various ways in order to get to this goal - one of which may be considering a social policy PhD. My question is, would this be redundant after the MPP? The university I'm currently at (Brandeis) has a very strong social policy program; however, there's overlap in my MPP courses and PhD courses (maybe 5 of those I've taken so far are also doctoral core or elective classes). A second question - what types of other PhD programs should I consider applying to? For example, I'm now wondering if an Ed.D or PhD in education could be good options. I'd love any suggestions or insight into this, thanks so much in advance!

I'll be completing my Masters in Public Policy by next spring, and am thinking about programs to pursue after that (I applied to a joint degree in sociology and social policy this past cycle and was waitlisted/ultimately rejected). I will likely apply to the sociology program again, but am wondering if having a PhD in social policy, on top of the MPP, is a good option to consider. For background - I'm looking to a career in academic, as a professor, focusing on research surrounding education policy reform. I've enjoyed taking a sociological angle at studying this work thus far (I'm published and continue to do research in this space outside of my full-time job/school). However, I recognize that I could approach grad school in various ways in order to get to this goal - one of which may be considering a social policy PhD. My question is, would this be redundant after the MPP? The university I'm currently at (Brandeis) has a very strong social policy program; however, there's overlap in my MPP courses and PhD courses (maybe 5 of those I've taken so far are also doctoral core or elective classes). A second question - what types of other PhD programs should I consider applying to? For example, I'm now wondering if an Ed.D or PhD in education could be good options. I'd love any suggestions or insight into this, thanks so much in advance!

I actually asked this to the admissions chair who initially emailed me telling me I'm on the waitlist - she told me it isn't ranked, so I got my answer on that one already!

So I got waitlisted at the start of March to my top choice Sociology PhD program, and went through the motions of following up to say thank you for letting me know/disappointed I didn't get accepted in the first wave but you're still my top choice/sent an updated resume because a piece I had under review when I applied was accepted for publication that same week. Talked to one of my rec writers who's a professor in that very department, he spoke to the admissions committee chair and didn't get much out of her but has been poking every couple of weeks. I intend to reach back out to them tomorrow, as a couple of weeks have passed since I last checked in, but I'm now wondering if it would be of any benefit to reach out to another person who wrote a rec letter for me - another professor in the soc department. If I did, what should I say? I figure something along the lines of 'thanks again for writing me a letter, I heard back and got waitlisted, can we meet to discuss the implications of this'? Or something else? What have people in similar situations done before? Thank you!

Hi everyone, I hope I'm not repeating a previously asked question but it's very likely - this forum is jam packed and I always end up drowning in search results! I applied to the Soc PhD program at Brandeis and got notice I've been waitlisted (last Friday 3/4), and responded to the email from the head of the grad admissions committee in the department this Monday 3/7. I asked how many students they're admitting this year, if the waitlist is ranked, where I stand if so etc etc, and got some info back quickly which was nice. Today, I found out a paper I co-wrote with a professor in the department (who also wrote one of my rec letters) just got accepted (yay!), and I updated my resume to show this movement since I originally had it included under my manuscripts section as an R&R at the time I applied. So my question is, would it be too pushy/inappropriate to email the soc admissions committee again today saying hey just wanted to pass along an updated resume, which as of today has a newly accepted sociology research piece? I don't want to be too in their face, but this seems like a significant achievement that would be helpful as they continue to make decisions about who to accept from the waitlist, assuming spots open up. Thanks!