Darth.Vegan

Columbia, Boston College and The New School offer an MA in Sociology.

12 PhD programs, 3 MA programs

Well then.... I have a 3.92 from a flagship state research school (not a special school by any means trust me) I started in community college, had a 3.2 and transferred with 30 credits. I am currently working on an honors thesis, working as a research assistant, and taking a graduate level research methods class. Will have 1 1/2 years of research experience before I apply next fall. I also got a departmental merit scholarship. Haven't taken the GRE yet, NICE SCORE BTW! But I feel like I am in the same boat as you. Most of the programs I am applying to are top 20, my #1 choice is enviro soc at Madison. Your lack of research experience seems to be biggest drawback for you, do you have other research experience that you didn't elaborate on? I would suggest picking 2 or 3 schools that are lower in the rankings but fit your research interests well ( this is the most important factor) How many schools are you planning on applying to? I am applying to 12 PhD. programs and 3 terminal masters programs. 3 of those are lower in the rankings (univ of oregon, new school, and Brandeis) I may suggest doing something similar, especially without the extra research experience.

If the antonyms and analogies are your weakest section, why not just wait and take the new test that won't have either of those sections? Sure the quant will be harder, but I think that the quant section is easier to "study" for. I got tired of trying to memorize ridiculous words like mendicant that I will never, ever use when writing papers or in daily life.

Hey everyone, sorry to start another one of these threads but I could use some advice.... I am hoping to gain acceptance to a top 20 soc. program for Fall 2013, and want to know what else I can do to strengthen my app.... And also possibly get advice on where to apply given my stats... As is stands.. Non-traditional student, I am 27, went back to school at 23 I am a Soc major, poli sci minor Portland Community College (34 credits) GPA 3.2 Major GPA 3.5 University of Hawai'i at Manoa (Currently 60 credits at UH, so I have 94 credits total, need 124 to graduate) ( Mostly I have general ed requirements and then my honors requirements left) GPA 3.95 Major GPA 3.90 (33 credits) (I have had straight A's but got ONE B arrgghhh) Minor GPA 4.0 (12 credits) Honors Program Deans list (every semester thus far) Alpha Kappa Delta Hoping for PBK (but probably won't happen due to my CC GPA) I also received one of three departmental merit scholarships from the sociology department for Fall 2011 I am an honors student currently doing independent research for my honors thesis ( inequality in education in Hawai'i, will be both qualitative and quantitative) I am also a research assistant in the sociology department, and will hopefully be presenting at a conference next year. By graduation (Fall 2012) I will have a total of 2 years of research experience. Research interests: Poverty and Inequality, Ecology (particularly food politics, GMO's etc..) and social movements So far my top picks are (ya I know) Stanford (Poverty and Inequality) Berkeley (Social Movements) UW-Madison (Enviro Soc.) I have three excellent LOR 1st Prof. PhD in sociology from UW-Madison ( she also has a close working relationship/ friendship with Jack Kloppenburg, who I would love to work with) 2nd Prof. PhD. in sociology from U-Michigan 3rd. Prof. University of Alberta (15+ years in the field) I am her research assistant and she is my thesis advisor I plan on applying to 12 or so PhD. programs to increase my chances as well as 2 or 3 M.A. programs as a backup plan GRE, taking the NEW GRE next summer, only thing I struggled with was the analogies and antonyms, so it should be easier M.A. Programs: University of Chicago Boston University for $ sake I hope to get placed in a PhD. program right out of the gate... What else do you think I should do to increase my chances?

A lot of graduate schools only calculate the last 2 years of undergrad study, I know Berkeley for example does it this way. Seeing as you have a perfect major GPA and an amazing GRE score, I think you are siting pretty well.

Hey thanks for the kind words Yup, I've had anarchist leanings politically for about 6-7 years, been vegan for 15 years and straightedge for almost 16 years (yup I was really young) I grew up in the hardcore / punk scene in Orange County, CA before moving to Portland, OR at age 23. I have been pretty involved in social and environmental justice movements for a long time, so as you can imagine, sociology was pretty easy fit.

thank you everyone. I know the grad school admissions process is sort of hit or miss. I guess I just needed some reassurance that I was on the right track. I will pick out 2 or 3 M.A. programs to apply to as a safety option, any idea of the few top programs that offer M.A.'s which ones offer partial funding?

Wow, so thank you for such an informative, and detailed post. First just to get this out of the way GRE... I am not worried about quant section, I expect to score above a 700. I am a little rusty in some of the math, but when I took it at the CC, at the time it was all quite easy. I never took geometry in high school, so that will probably my most difficult section, but it does not seem too hard so far. I am using the GMAT/ GRE a systematic approach book by Sid Thatte, and I am also working through the exercises on Khan Academy. My biggest concern is the verbal, not because I have a small vocabulary or anything, simply because I have heard its a total crapshoot. I will keep working on bringing up my score, I am hoping to take it before the new test goes in to effect, but I have decent amount of time left before then. On to the SoP, thanks for the advice on emphasizing research and not teaching. I have ordered Donald Asher's book "Write Your Way Into the Graduate School of Your Choice", which will hopefully help with the SoP's. As far as my school picks... some of them are on the list for practical reasons, others because they are a strong fit for me. I am currently working on a spreadsheet with all the schools I plan to apply to (I know I am not the only who did this haha) I have already weeded out quite a few that I did not think would work for me. My #1 choice is by and large, Stanford, particularly for Poverty and Inequality, but that is a huge long shot. Most I have found have full-time faculty working directly in my areas of interest, the rest are still somewhat related. I am applying to some for practical reasons because my partner is also hoping to get into a PhD. education program ( I know, I know, believe me I know) so I am applying for multiple schools in the same region (i.e. Harvard, BU and BC) My accepting is not contingent on her getting in, but we are trying anyway. Her profile is better than mine anyway. She has a 3.7 GPA from Haverford in Anthropology and an M.P.A. from Washington State with a 3.97 GPA and she got a 1340 on the GRE the first time around. Her score is expired now (6 years ago) so we are studying to retake together.

I have considered this as well. I have a couple concerns.... When I graduate I will have 50K in debt and the thought of getting more, esp. with the current state of higher ed. makes me really nervous. I feel kind of old already, I am 27 now, I will be 28 when I graduate. That means I would be on track to finish a PhD. by 34-36, if I do an MA first ill be 38/39 before I even start looking for a job. What is the chance that being older will help me get accepted? and also do you know of any well regarded M.A. programs that offer at least partial funding that I could consider?

Hey everyone, Let me first start off by saying that I apologize for making a post like this, I am sure you get tons of them, and they get really annoying. That said, a PhD. in Sociology (I want to teach and do research) has been a goal of mine starting with my first intro sociology class in CC, and I have been feeling a little insecure about my chances Portland Community College GPA 3.2 Major GPA 3.5 University of Hawaii at Manoa (Yeah I know mediocre at best and my biggest concern at this point) GPA 3.95 (On track to graduate with distinction, highest honors) (Spring 2012) Major Sociology GPA 3.90 Minor Poli Sci GPA 4.0 Research Assistant (3 Semesters + 2 summers) Hopefully presenting a paper at the pacific sociological association conference next year ( My Prof. that I RA for is encouraging me and signing me up) GRE ( Currently studying, taking over summer, quant should be no problem, I am working on the verbal) ( I am expecting around 1300 based on practice) In progress independent research project on poverty and inequality on Oahu' as part of my honors senior capstone project Alpha Kappa Delta (Hoping for PBK by graduation next year) 3 very solid LoR (they have all told me that they believe I would "excel" in a top PhD. program) 1.PhD. 20+ years teaching ( This is the Prof. that I RA for) 2.PhD. UW-Madison (2005) 3. PhD. U-Mich Ann-Arbor (2009) I am planning to apply to a lot of schools (15) so I am beginning to prepare SoP's now so that I can tailor each one to increase my chances Research interests: Social Stratification, Poverty and Inequality, Gender Inequality, Globalization, Social Movements, and Environmental Sociology / Ecology Here is my stupidly ambitious list, I recognize that some are better fit than others, and depends entirely on particular faculty in the departments. My plan is contact faculty at about the 6 month mark before applying. First choice picks: Stanford Harvard Columbia Berkeley NYU University of Michigan - Ann Arbor University of Wisonsin - Madison Second choice but also top picks: Cornell Yale Northwestern U Chicago U Penn Brown UCLA Third Choice: Boston College Boston University UCI USC