waitinginohio

ewurgler I definitely agree, it's pretty ridiculous because (as far as I know) all of the other top programs guarantee funding for at least the first year, and usually it's more like 4 or 5 years and a couple summers. Not to mention it's rather funny to tell a bunch of sociology grad students to trust an institution, knowing that they must lose significant economic capital in order to (maybe, eventually) gain some cultural capital. What would Bourdieu say?

I got my e-mail too, though they didn't say anything about sending funding package info. They gave a very vague: I am sure that funding your graduate career at Wisconsin is a concern. Some, but by no means all, students come here with support in their first year. For those who come with no advance support, many pick it up once they have arrived or soon after. Usually, if a student has a successful academic year, he or she will find funding through various kinds of assistantships by the second year. There are a variety of mechanisms to obtain support. Please visit the website http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/soc/grad/admissions.php#funding to see what some of these mechanisms are. Does that mean I should assume I'm not getting any funding for year one?

yeah, another thing to keep in mind is that this application was due rather early - it was the first of the 7 schools I applied to. I know my SoP had a minor typo or two that I caught later, and my writing sample was much less polished at the time because I sent a working draft. I also found out after submitting my application that I was chosen to present a conference, but when I e-mailed the Graduate Program Administrator he said they couldn't update my information because it would be unfair (which I thought was odd because Stanford was happy to update my info...). Anyway, my point is that particularly because of the early deadline and refusal to update applicant profiles, I wouldn't be too concerned that a rejection from UMN will indicate rejections at other schools.

Yeah, I applied there too. From what I can see in the results from past years we should be hearing in the next couple weeks. A post in a different thread mentioned that they update the application status on the website, but mine still says "(L) Application Complete - sent to program". I guess I'll just have to keep checking. Also, does anyone know what the (L) means?

A prof. at my school who got her PhD from UW Madison in 2002 said that a good number of students didn't have funding (or at least not enough to cover all of their living expenses) for the first year at Madison, but because so many drop out after the first year it's rather easy to get funding for the rest of your time there. The FAQ section on their website makes it sound a bit better (http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/soc/grad/admissions_faq.php): 13. What are my chances of getting funded, and when? Chances vary depending on factors such as your academic record, skills and the size your cohort turns out to be. The department nominates a number of students with the most promising academic records for University fellowships. Generally about 5 or 6 recipients of these fellowships will accept the offer. In addition, some of the admitted students obtain graduate assistantships or traineeships, and some come in with outside fellowships, such as NSF or Fulbright awards. Of 22 students in the Fall 2007 cohort, 21 came in with funding; in the Fall 2006 cohort, 27 students entered the program and 25 had funding for their first year. Unlike many departments, we do not have a policy of admitting only students for whom we have initial funding. If you come in with no funding and if you do well in the program, your chances of eventually getting some kind of assistantship are quite good. International applicants must complete a financial statement which shows sufficient funds to support themselves for their first year in the program, plus show the intent for funding to continue through the duration of study in the U.S., after the Department has recommended admission to the Graduate School. Additional information about International Student Expenses can be found at: http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/admin/admi ... linfo.html That makes it sound like most people get funding. However there's a good chance that most people without funding didn't decide to go, which skews the numbers. Not to mention they don't say how much the funding is... it might not be enough to live off of. Also, from what I've seen in the results sections, some people still didn't know their funding status in March.

Several of my programs required updated transcripts, so you might want to check the websites to see if they mention anything.

Good idea, I've been looking for people with similar interests! I'm interested in political sociology and social movements (and possibly some social psych... we'll see). So far I've focused specifically on South Africa and Poland, looking at liberation movements that become political parties. I've applied to: University of Washington, UC Berkeley, Stanford, University of Arizona, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, University of Wisconsin - Madison, and NYU.

Oh my god, mine also says Your department has recommended you for admission!!! I guess I need to hurry up and submit my FAFSA, though I've been waiting to get my official income/tax info before filling it out. Any advice on if I (and other people in this position) should estimate our way through the FAFSA now, or wait until we get the official numbers to submit it?