DustSNK

It might be a bit overbearing to do that. Because no one sends cover letters to department chairs, or tells the school they are applying as a non-degree (or a degree seeking for that matter) student just to say hey. These people deal with a hundred or few hundred applicants a year. Some with ridiculous qualifications, so it wouldn't help you. Just apply as a non-degree student, pick your classes, and email your professors early! Ask them how their class is. Tell them your intentions also! Be upfront about you wanting to get into the program, and you really would like every opportunity to prove you're a good student. If you really want to email the chair , I would say it would not help you in anyway. But if they are a good guy/gal it will only help you to talk to them for general advice. Once your in as a non-degree, email them. Tell them your situation and ask if you could see them on office hours to tell them your plans/hopes in the school and field. They would prob give you good advice. That is what I did, unfortunately I'm not applying to the school I am taking non-degree classes as, but the chair is a good guy and went out of his way to give me some good direction. I would say you need to craft a relationship with the professors your taking classes with. But always be upfront about your plans to apply, and how you did not prepare well so you want to show your stuff now the best you can.

Thanks Sir for your help ^__^. Can I ask what Uni your in?

Yea it is a great idea to do this. Also if you can, I would only take SOC electives if you could. Meaning no core classes (methods, theory). I say this for the chance you don't get accepted into the program at your top school but get into it at any other place. Sometimes programs differ with the core classes. So say one program has quant methods 1, but the other schools wants you to do quant methods 1 &2, you will have to jump into quant 2 and who knows if it even would pick up from quant one where you took it. Also with theory I have seen that differ a lot between schools, and methods can get sticky too. The non core course are something all students must take and every school makes you take them. Just my opinion though.

I'm doing this myself. I did not prepare well during my BA to look well for grad admissions, so taking non-degree courses to upgrade. One thing, if you are going to be taking classes AT the University you really want to go to, it can only help. Why? A lot from what I've read is admissions can be a crap shoot. If you develop a genuine relationship with a professor that really likes your work, they might vouch for you when decisions have to be made. It is not a guarantee, as it shouldn't be, but depending how you shine as a student, giving a face to a otherwise faceless application could help a lot. Another question is, should you take graduate classes? This is a gray area that I have been trying to have answered for a LONG time. I still have posts on here from a while ago with lots of views and no one can answer this. Deductive logic would assume "Hey I'm not IN a program, but I did just as good if not better then these students that you accepted over me INTO your program..... this clearly shows I'm a good fit right?", but I can't get a clear answer on this from anyone. What I have heard, is that some times they actually care way more about grades in Undergrad classes as grad classes (in terms of GPA) are "easier" to get high marks. What did I do? I'm taking a mix of undergrad and grad classes as a non-degree just to play it safe. Also I am taking non Soc grad classes (but useful in the long run) to kinda show I can be a good student outside my comfort area, esp on a grad level. Real thing is admissions are such a subjective process that there is high degree of "luck" involved, and all these things are merely good directions to take in hoping to get to a destination. P.S : Ive looked at prob 50 or more grad programs in the USA, every one had a policy of letting you use your credits as a non-degree towards your program if you get in. Cut off is 12 credits. Deff a norm I would say. But if you want to go to Canada (which I do), you have no idea if anything will be accepted until you fill out the paperwork and have it reviewed.

I am in the same boat, got denied my first time around and am upgrading to apply again this fall. One thing I have spent A LOT of time researching is the S.O.P. I am not trying to sh*t on your work, because personally I love anecdotes But I think any admissions board will take one look at your format and not read the rest. You are supposed to spend much time selling your self, explaining how you fit with the program and end it off by explaining why you want to work with the faculty there. Personally, I would strongly strongly tell you to not add the first half of your essay into your S.O.P. BTW get the book "getting what you paid for", it is sort of dated but an AMAZING help. Trust me well worth the 10$ on amazon.com!

Just trying to start a thread to get a dicussion going about the eviornemtn of the feild in Canada, specifically Ontario. As an American, it would be great to hear some thoughts by Canadians or others who have gone through the process of being in the system. I'll start with a few questions.... 1) What seems to be the focus on methods at the moment as a whole? In the states it seems to be shifting towards a very heavy focus on producing quantitative sociologist. From all the programs I have seen in Ontario, there still seems to be a good focus on producing qualitative sociologist. Is this assumption true? 2) How are your stipends and funding? I know there is no objective answer to this, but do you need another job? Does your school let you teach enough to live off of? Numbers would be great! 3) How is the job market after you receive your PhD? Do you search the interwebs for your job postings (and if so what sites), or do you get recommendations from professors you know to apply for positions that are open? 4) Can you teach college with an MA? Here in the states we call it community college, and you can apply for lecture jobs with an MA. Has anyone taught only with an MA here? Any other comments, advice, opinions would be great! Comment comment comment!

Hello all. I am trying to get into several Canadian MA programs, which as a visa student is proving to be QUITE difficult. I don't know if anyone else has done/tried this as an American here, but currently most schools only have 2 spots open each year for visa students! Adding to this already extremely competitive spot, as an American, lots of people apply from Western Europe where they were held to much higher undergraduate standards and had to complete a thesis just to graduate! Also I have heard from schools they most of the time admit these visa students who have prior published work.... from an undergrad level. Very, very tough odds indeed. Anyway, so when I graduated my major GPA (Soc) was great, it is very competitive. But my overall GPA is quite low, around a B-. Realizing I did not prepare at all well for admissions, I am currently taking courses full time as a non-degree student to boost my GPA and also work more closely with professors to show them I am capable of grad work. Now of the courses I am taking, 4 in all, 2 of them are graduate level credits. I am very interested in knowing if I do well, would doing well in graduate courses help me out at all in terms of how I look to someone analyzing my transcripts? More so, would submitting a paper for the writing sample, done in a graduate class, hold any more favor in terms of my judged ability to an admissions committee? Thanks for taking a look at this, feel free to reply with any advice you might have.