hip2btriangle

Haven't been to any yet -- I've been talking with tons of people at Irvine though and the impression I get for that open house is that it's fairly casual. Since part of the open house includes a trip to the beach with our cohort...I imagine it's not going to be all that uptight!! I'd ask the graduate secretary for the school in Boston though what their dress might be, though.

nope -- from nyc. big trip! excited, though!!

way cool! are you from the east coast as well?

Could someone elaborate on this perhaps a little more? I've been funded for 5 years at at UC school, and even though I'm sure I'll be signing things and have a guarantee, they can actually tell me in a year that I won't get any support for the next 4 years? What does "everyone is usually able to find funding in another department" mean? That they actually had to apply for PhD programs again at another institution in the hopes of finding funding? Sorry if I sound green about this.

god, though part of me is worried i'm going to start at a program with people who are mostly married and planning the rest of their lives together. fun reminders about how single i am. wah!

25 when i start! oof. have any of you youngin's ever had a real job? always wondered about that. like, if having a job and being out there in the real world affects grad experience/performance at all.

If this is something that has already been discussed on here, apologies -- a redirect link would be appreciated: Does anyone ever spend their dissertation years (after first 1-2 years of coursework) off-campus? I'm talking like in a different city. I think I've read somewhere that this is generally discouraged, but I wonder if and when it happens. Like, say you're studying a certain culture that only exists in a major metropolis across the state, but your university is in uber suburbia and not really a good place to study what you want to study. Or, say you just would rather live in a different place when you write your dissertation. Does it really depend on the department? Could you lose/get more funding? Is there a rule of thumb to follow about this stuff?

...can this all seriously be over? Let's skip to September.

this is REALLY good info. i'm totally bringing a list of selected Qs to visits.

i obviously really applaud migrationdude for a job well done, but i'm really hesitant to make graduate admissions in sociology about a cookie cutter package. part of why i enjoy this forum is because we're all here as geeky sociologists, and in may ways i think our dialogue deconstructs what could easily become a numbers game re: admissions. i work at a top law school right now and though prospective law school students have a crapload of sites where admissions statistics are readily available (and, quite honestly, very useful for law school admissions), i can't help but think/hope that admissions (and the ability to succeed as a phd candidate in sociology) shouldn't be based on one perfect application. i know many sociology departments ARE looking for something very specific as far as numbers and grades and whatever, but is it stupid to just hope that wisconsin or berkeley or stanford might be looking beyond a GRE score to really find a good fit for their program? i'm clearly being really melodramatic (two rejections in two days, anyone?), but i still think that people who don't get into some of these schools need to recognize that they're likely quite capable sociologists. perhaps if people have any desire to create a post where stats are published, it could instead be a showcase of accepted students who have fairly nontraditional backgrounds/applications.

grad admin told me they will be making decisions by no later than the last week of feb

I don't really understand why a school would state something on its site and then act differently. It makes me feel gross.

bioshock is terrifying. i can't even watch a scary movie unless someone holds my hand. even the old resident evil games freaked me the hell out. super mario any day!!!!

haha, so funny that there are a handful of gamers on here. i've spent a good chunk of time WoWing myself -- i ended up justifying my wasted hours of gameplay by writing a (very good!) paper on self-identification and gender identity in avatar creation. let's see -- very involved with LGBTQ activism (moving towards trans issues now, and figuring out how to address neoliberal issues that surround gay/trans politics), run a 501©3 website about gender stuff that i might link to after i know where i'm going to grad school (;]), and i loooove to cook!

ok, i LOVE that this post has devolved/evolved into what it has. this is a part of why i want to go to grad school! to meet huge dorks that love talking about this stuff when 90% of the world couldn't give a damn. i suggest we all hang out one day at an ASA conference and whip up some rad soc geek conversations!! and yes, i've read guyland, and i'll follow up eventually with how i feel about it (mixed). note that i'm obsessed with kimmel's work -- he was the reason i've pursued gender/masculinity/sexuality studies as much as i have. there's just something decidedly white-ish about it that i can't quite articulate yet... thanks again for all the reading suggestions here!

well, i mean, i went to a pretty conservative undergrad in virginia (of the rock-throwing variety) and i'm slowly but surely opening my eyes up to the world of crazyliberal academia. i'm stoked!

definitely plow through parts of foucault's history of sexuality. good stuff!

pleeeeeease, if tritonetelephone is the gender/sexuality scholar ze claims ze is, then foucault will most certainly be in zir library ;]

for all your LGBTQwhatevers out there, i'm getting the sense that most sociology departments are full of queer people. it's awesome! i'm surprised i had no idea it'd be a little tolerant haven...

Okay, so I'm in somewhere. I thought the anxiety was over, but surprise surprise -- it's only beginning! I don't have a strong background in sociology, and while I've read theory here and there (yes, yes, Bordieu), can anyone actually list texts that I should brush up on before starting a PhD program? I've got a basics on sociological research book from Babbie, but i need more on the theory side of things. Help!

Anyone else going to open house at Irvine? I'm excited.

This is very helpful. Thank you!!

Okay, so this is a bit anticipatory, but has anyone heard of people who apply one year, don't get in/get funding, and then apply again the following year to the same schools? I say this because I know I will have a much, much stronger application next year, but I decided to apply for this year because I have a pretty strong application and I just really wanted to get going on this stuff. Do people who apply twice generally have better or worse outcomes as far as admissions/funding? Any general responses to this somewhat general question?

I'd love to start out teaching for a while, but then I'd love to return to higher education administration and be a Dean of Students type at a small undergrad. Putting my research into action!

woohoo! i was going to comment about the school choices, too. i think that means we've really done our research, and we're ideal candidates for the phd world be in touch!!