AaronM

http://www.asanet.org/documents/research/pdfs/2011_2012_ASA_Job_Bank_Survey_Brief.pdf
 
here's a recent report, toward the bottom they have the top 5 and bottom 5 specialties that were advertised on the job market. There are some pretty good insights here, other reports have been linked before but I'm too lazy to look it up.

A lot of schools have 2 or 3 soc of ed people. Ohio State has Claudia Buchmann and Doug Downey, Texas has Rob Crosnoe and Chandra Muller (not to mention a very close relationship with some faculty in the education school. Indiana has Brian Powell and Jessica Calarco. All are top people in soc of ed (as well as people mentioned above). I didn't visit there but I think NYU just hired some top education people. Irvine has some good people as well as a very strong, sociologically focused education school. UCLA also has some very good people. All are worth checking out

A lot of schools have 2 or 3 soc of ed people. Ohio State has Claudia Buchmann and Doug Downey, Texas has Rob Crosnoe and Chandra Muller (not to mention a very close relationship with some faculty in the education school. Indiana has Brian Powell and Jessica Calarco. All are top people in soc of ed (as well as people mentioned above). I didn't visit there but I think NYU just hired some top education people. Irvine has some good people as well as a very strong, sociologically focused education school. UCLA also has some very good people. All are worth checking out

From my conversations with Penn State, it seemed like they were open to it too. Seemed like a department where they'll really try to accomodate what you want to do

Hello all!  Now that this year’s application season is over, I just wanted to take a moment to express my appreciation to all of the members of the Soc board for their guidance over the past year.
 
A little over a year ago, I came to gradcafe seeking support and information in my quest to change careers.  When I joined gradcafe, I was 6 years out of undergrad, 3 years out of law school, and had never taken a sociology class in my life.  Basically, I was clueless about just about everything.  I did not think I would be applying this year, but my circumstances changed and, with them, my plans.  I suddenly found myself feeling dreadfully unprepared for the application season that awaited… and this board was really my only source of information for sociology admissions.  Everyone on the board was incredibly patient and helpful over the long and stressful months that followed.
 
The advice I received and, more importantly, the friendships I made on this board provided invaluable support and guidance over the past year.  I will be attending one of my top choices in the fall, and I know it is due in large part to all of you.  So, please accept my sincerest thanks for your role in helping me turn what I thought was a pipe dream into reality.  I am looking forward to this new adventure...

I don't think that analytic score matters very much, which is unfortunate. Texas, for example, doesn't even have you report it. It obviously varies by school, but from what I've heard it's one of those things that doesn't really help you, but can hurt you if you do very poorly.

I don't think that analytic score matters very much, which is unfortunate. Texas, for example, doesn't even have you report it. It obviously varies by school, but from what I've heard it's one of those things that doesn't really help you, but can hurt you if you do very poorly.

I'm going to be honest, here.  Some programs will require a minimum GRE.  I took a brief look at the schools you mentioned, and Iowa requires a minimum of an 1100 on the GRE, which is considerably higher than your current scores (680 on old scale - check out a concordance table to convert).  So, at a school with minimum GRE requirements (which most have, even if undisclosed), yes, your GRE score will keep you from being considered.  Something to remember is that not only must the sociology department admit you, the graduate school must also admit you.  So, while a professor or department may be willing to overlook your GRE score, the graduate school probably will be more rigid in evaluating your scores.  Funding will basically be impossible, and as everyone here will tell you, do NOT do a PhD without funding.
 
What's the good news?  You have a ton of time until you apply to PhD programs!  You are just starting your MA program and won't need to apply until 2014 for PhD programs.  It will definitely be worth your while to study, study, STUDY.  Take as many practice tests as you can get your hands on, and retake the GRE - multiple times, if necessary.  I do not doubt that you are a bright and competent individual... and I understand that GRE scores are not the best indicator of a person's ability to succeed.  However, the fact is, the GRE matters and there are real cutoffs for programs that you need to be able to meet.  No one will look at your other accomplishments if you can't meet the minimum requirements for the program.  So, while you don't need to get stellar GRE scores, you need to at least meet that threshold.  It may not be fair, but it's just the way it works.

not exactly a lurker, but I'll be attending too!

Now that Decision Day has passed, would any of the lurkers care to come out of the woodwork and claim a spot in OSU's incoming cohort?

We're in luck! While experimental studies are rare in sociology, there is indeed a study that uses experimental methods to test women's career aspirations and expectations. 
 
http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-1224%28200402%2969%3A1%3C93%3ACIPGSA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O&
 
Under the belief that men are better at certain tasks, women tend to perform worse than their male counterparts. However, under the belief that both genders perform equally, there are no sex differences in performance. So women might be sorting out of male dominated occupations because they believe that men are better at them, leading them to perform worse on average. I'm not sure if they've done this, but it would be interesting to see perceived sex differences in performance between women in male-dominated occupations and female-dominated occupations. I would expect that the belief that men are "better" at their job is more prevalent in male-dominated occupations than female-dominated occupations, and given that male-dominated occupations pay better, this might be an important mechanism explaining the gender gap.

Law is one of the oldest, still-standing professions in the occident.  I have a pet theory about "cultural hangover effect," that is that beyond the point in which the ecology of social structure has made one or another tradition functional in society, such traditions hang around because of the network effects and path dependency of the tradition.  So for instance, people still feel guilty about not finishing their plate at dinner, which was once an extraordinarily economically rational thing to worry about when food clocked in at eating up well over half of the modal person's income -- but makes little sense in a world with abundant and cheap food.  Since law is so old (and notably the academic professions as well), we might expect accordingly that social mores have more staying power in these institutions for no better reason than, "that's the way we always dun it 'round here."
 
The vast majority of occupations in the economy do not have these same historical roots.

I always hesitate to go to "this place", but in my geographical region and occupation, I see a lot of "boys' club" mentality.  I am told it's not as prevalent in the legal world in NYC, DC, etc.  But, here in St. Louis, I can walk into a courtroom, and I might be the ONLY woman out of 30 attorneys.  Basically, female attorneys are not taking on trial roles as much as men.  Most female attorneys I know in the area do transactional work or leave the court appearances "up to the men."  It happens in my firm, as well.  We have 3 men and 2 women... and the women largely do the research and writing tasks, while the men attend depositions, trials, hearings, etc.  
 
I assume this assortative behavior is two-fold, in that women to some extent feel they are not as good at the more forceful roles as men are (or, for some reason, genuinely do not enjoy this type of work), and upper-level attorneys grooming employees in this way - steering men to more confrontational roles and women to more "academic" roles.
 
RE: deliberate discrimination and my aforementioned "boys' club" - I absolutely feel deliberately discriminated against as a woman in the law.  I have had attorneys AND clients treat me differently because I'm a woman.  You get called "little lady" or "miss" by male attorneys, which is incredibly demeaning.  I have had clients tell me they'd be more comfortable with a male attorney handling their case because men are "junkyard dog" attorneys.  My male coworker (who only has 1 year of seniority on me) has a lot more leeway in the office than I do and much less oversight/micromanagement by the partners.  I might get paid the same as my male counterpart, but I am definitely not treated the same.

We're in luck! While experimental studies are rare in sociology, there is indeed a study that uses experimental methods to test women's career aspirations and expectations. 
 
http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-1224%28200402%2969%3A1%3C93%3ACIPGSA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O&
 
Under the belief that men are better at certain tasks, women tend to perform worse than their male counterparts. However, under the belief that both genders perform equally, there are no sex differences in performance. So women might be sorting out of male dominated occupations because they believe that men are better at them, leading them to perform worse on average. I'm not sure if they've done this, but it would be interesting to see perceived sex differences in performance between women in male-dominated occupations and female-dominated occupations. I would expect that the belief that men are "better" at their job is more prevalent in male-dominated occupations than female-dominated occupations, and given that male-dominated occupations pay better, this might be an important mechanism explaining the gender gap.

We're in luck! While experimental studies are rare in sociology, there is indeed a study that uses experimental methods to test women's career aspirations and expectations. 
 
http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-1224%28200402%2969%3A1%3C93%3ACIPGSA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O&
 
Under the belief that men are better at certain tasks, women tend to perform worse than their male counterparts. However, under the belief that both genders perform equally, there are no sex differences in performance. So women might be sorting out of male dominated occupations because they believe that men are better at them, leading them to perform worse on average. I'm not sure if they've done this, but it would be interesting to see perceived sex differences in performance between women in male-dominated occupations and female-dominated occupations. I would expect that the belief that men are "better" at their job is more prevalent in male-dominated occupations than female-dominated occupations, and given that male-dominated occupations pay better, this might be an important mechanism explaining the gender gap.

Made the decision that I had been expecting since before I submitted my application. Looks like I'll be a Buckeye in the fall!

Might be redundant because I have stated elsewhere, I accepted Notre Dame's offer.  So stoked...

UCLA

Feels almost redundant to post this now, but as noted elsewhere in this forum, I accepted my invitation from Yale.

UC Santa Barbara.

Princeton! Intellectual fanboy-dom fulfilled.

Chicago it is.  Couldn't have done it without you guys.

Just formally accepted my offer to Ohio State. I had some great offers and it was a tough decision, but the fit at OSU is amazing and I'm really looking forward to studying there.

Just formally accepted my offer to Ohio State. I had some great offers and it was a tough decision, but the fit at OSU is amazing and I'm really looking forward to studying there.

Officially accepted my offer to Indiana. It was a tough call at first, but it proved to be the best! Very excited!