[UCF- Applied Sociology]

I was wondering if and what anyone has heard about UCF's Master's in Applied Sociology, specifically the track in domestic violence. I love the Orlando area, and my husband is probably going to be going to school there himself next year, so if it's at all a decent program (and if I get in, obviously!) I'd go. If it's not a very good program, I'll probably just wait out my husband's time in school and find a Master's/PhD program somewhere else. I can't find much about it online other than the UCF website itself, which I'm not taking to be a good sign, but I figured I'd check here too. Any insight would be awesome, thanks!

[HELP!]

Thanks for the advice Lauren! Well I wanted to do political speech writing...realized it was not for me...and was more interested in the sociology of politics, along with religion, social movements, etc. I will definitely try to get some research under my belt, I already have sociology classes but research and/or volunteering would definitely aid my application. My senior overview/thesis will be very sociology related concernining religious and political rhetoric in the media and how it shapes our society. (It will obviously be more narrowed down than that). However, I am not looking forward to the GRE. My ex girlfriend took it last fall and said it was agonizing haha. Anyway, I am graduating in December and trying for Fall 2012. When were you thinking of applying? What made you think about UCF??? Once again you've been a great help, thank you!

No problem, I'm glad to be able to help someone! Yeah, the GRE was in no way, shape, or form fun; the only thing I liked about it was getting the results back immediately, so that I didn't have to spend the next few weeks agonizing over anything but the writing score. I'm graduating in the fall too, and provided that I'd be eligible for funding, I'm actually going to apply in the spring; if I have to wait till the fall to get funding, though, I'll just do that. (I'm not sure how that works, to be honest, and I'm waiting for some clarification from UCF on that one). I picked UCF for the location, honestly. My husband and I love the area, and a Master's program would give us an excuse to spend a year or two in Orlando before we move off to a PhD program somewhere. That, and I'm looking to get some more research experience in my specific area of interest, in order to (hopefully!) get into a better PhD program for that subfield. UCF's Master's program has sent its graduates to some very respectable PhD programs, so I'm really excited about that.

Best of luck to you, and let me know if I can help in any other way!

[HELP!]

Hi! I'm in the application process as well, but I know a bit about USF and UCF, so I'll try and help.

First of all, your GPA looks to be acceptable for schools of this calibre, but (this probably goes without saying) try and get it as high as you can. A higher GPA can never hurt, especially since grad schools have gotten much more competitive. Along those lines, study very hard for the GRE, even if you feel like you'll do fine. I breezed through the SAT, and assumed I would do the same with the GRE. I was wrong. I studied my butt off for the second go-around, and I did pretty well. It's not impossible, you just have to put in the effort.

What made you decide to switch from Speech Comm to Sociology? The admissions committees are going to want to know that you're not just picking a grad program haphazardly, and that you're going to bring something to their program. Make sure you clarify these things in your SOP. Will you have the opportunity to get some sociology-related volunteer or research experience in any time soon? If, for example, you were interested in the Domestic Violence track at UCF, it might look good if you had some experience volunteering with a women's shelter or crisis center. Probably not necessary, but these are just little suggestions that could boost your application.

I know that you originally posted this in February, so I'm sorry if this advice is too little, too late. I just saw your post because I too am interested in UCF's Applied Sociology program, and I figured I'd help out as best as I could. Hope that helped!

[Evaluate Me? (I know these are common, but I appreciate it!)]

Thank you very much, this is great advice. I'm the type of person who makes lists like this anyway, so this shouldn't be too difficult.

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Your qualifications look great and I fully agree with everything in the above response! GRE = don't stress. The best programs look at the 'whole package,' so make sure that your personal statement shines. Also, work hard to connect with professors at your top-choice institutions - don't just rely on your recommendations. My season of emailing potential mentors and putting my name 'out there' was arduous (and felt a tad like online dating... "hi, we have SO much in common..." ;-p), but it's worth the stress. Many of these professors are on admissions committees!

My only concern would be that you're going straight from undergrad to graduate school. There is growing enthusiasm for diversifying cohorts. Admissions committees seem to be looking for well-rounded candidates with some "life experience" to round out their sociology cohorts. Thus said, ask your potential programs what they would like to see emphasized, and if your rapid transition to grad school will be a help or hindrance. Your research will definitely mark you as 'grad school material' though Well done!

I've heard other people mention contacting the faculty at the schools I'm interested in, but I've always been a little confused on how to do that. Am I basically saying "Hi, I'm Lauren, I like your research and would love to study under you, so please consider me for the 2012 cohort"? Or is there more substance to these correspondences?

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Wow, this has been incredibly encouraging- thank you all so much for your input! I have just seen so many posts on here about how anything less than a 700-720 quantitative score on the GRE wouldn't be competitive, so I've been a little nervous, to say the least. This does make me feel a lot better, and while I'm definitely still going to have some safety schools, I'm much less nervous about sending off $75 or $80 to a top-25 school

Also, GardeningGrad- I have sent out some emails to my top-25 picks, and hopefully they'll give me some more insight on their preferences concerning post-baccalaureate work experience. Thanks for the idea!

[Evaluate Me? (I know these are common, but I appreciate it!)]

At first glance, your stats seem fine. Your undergraduate GPA and GRE scores are better than several of the folks on the forum (including mine) who got into several top-25 programs. I guess your quant score could be a bit higher if you want to go somewhere in the top 10 (720+ is pretty typical I think), but I certainly don't think you'd be just wasting your time and money with those scores.

Also, your research and publication experience should make you a strong candidate. I don't think adcoms really care much about the volunteer and leadership experience. That's more of an undergraduate concern. Adcoms are more interested in research experience, and you should frame your volunteer/leadership experiences as life experiences that helped develop and confirm your current research interests and desire to be a sociologist.

It might help others on the forum evaluate you if you communicated your research interests and what sort of undergraduate institution you are currently attending.

Edit: On the terminal MA idea, I think you should apply to PhD programs and terminal masters programs (UChicago and Colombia have these types of programs) and just see what works out. No sense in doing a terminal masters degree if you are satisfied with the offer you get from a PhD program. Just my thought.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for your quick response! That all makes a lot of sense, I had been concerned about my math score, but it's reassuring to know I don't need to stress too much about it

Also, I currently attend a fairly well-respected public university that has a strong research focus, although unfortunately, that focus is in the biomedical sciences rather than the social. I have significant research experience in political sociology (going on 3+ years with the textbook I'm helping write) and to a much lesser extent, I've presented/written on modern culture and the sociology of education. After having taken a variety of sociology courses, however my real passion is in gender inequality and the sociology of religion.

Best of luck to you as you pursue your PhD!

[Evaluate Me? (I know these are common, but I appreciate it!)]

So, I know that people do these all the time, but I have just been so encouraged by how friendly and helpful everyone seems to be on this board, that I figured I'd seek out your help.

I am a junior who is going to begin applying to Sociology PhD programs sometime in the fall. I have a 3.89 GPA (that should go up slightly, but not much), and I got a 1360 on the GRE (680 on both sections, and a 4.5 on the writing). By the time I graduate, I will be a published co-author on a textbook, and will have had my research on two different sociological themes presented at national conferences (due to various factors, I was not able to attend either conference, but my name was on the papers). I will also have a stellar letter of recommendation from at least one well-known professor, and then very good letters from less famous faculty members. For what it's worth, I also have a good deal volunteer and leadership experience (I don't know how much, if at all, Sociology PhD programs look at things like that).

I know my GRE scores aren't the best, but I'm hoping that my research experience and my GPA will help boost my application. I also know, however, that the application process is much more rigorous due to the bad economy. Do I even have a shot at a top-25 school? I don't want to waste several hundred dollars in application fees because I have unrealistically assessed my qualifications. I'm also considering doing a terminal Master's first, if that would significantly boost my application. Any help/advice/insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much