maximus82

Interview at IU. Does anyone have any tips? I am freaking out.

Congratulations to those who got into UT Austin. I was recently contacted by Duke to submit my writing sample (which is weird because they didn't ask for one in their application). Anyway, I take that as a good sign. What do you guys think?

I was thinking about applying to Northeastern last year, but never did. I guess if you find faculty that you like, you should apply there. One of the things I liked about Northeastern is that because it is in Boston, you can work with professors outside of the university (for example Harvard, etc). It's not very common, but I has happened.

I have a question for everyone here. Is it ok, and if so at what point is it acceptable, to contact the DGS at a school to find out when decisions are going to be made? I'm REALLY FREAKING TIRED OF WAITING! i know that most of the schools I've applied to usually send admision letters on the second week of February. but really, i want to know now.

That's sweet. Congratulations to you and all the other people who have been admitted in the past couple of days.

That's freaking incredible. Berkeley is probably the best sociology program in the country. big big CONGRATULATIONS. I'm sure you're pretty happy about it.

Someone just posted an acceptance to Berkeley. Congratulation to whoever it was. and, how sad is it that i hit refresh every 10 minutes in the results page to see if any of my programs have accepted anyone?

Last week I got one of those. I almost cried. But here's my favorite story so far: last week I logged in to one of my applications... and there was a link at the bottom of the page that said "A decision "Your application decision is now available online". I freaked out. This was also my top choice. So I took a deep breath and clicked on the link.... and then.... I realized I had log in with last year's user ID. I was looking at the letter they sent me in the summer to tell me they although I had been waitlisted all the spots were taken. FML... big time

I'm so jealous of you. I didn't apply to CUNY, but just the idea of knowing that there is at least one school that wants you... If I could get just one acceptance!!!!!!! is that too much to ask??

Someone just posted a CUNY acceptance in the results page. That's three so far. congratulations to whoever got in.

Congrats!

I heard a professor say that grad school is like sex: you shouldn't pay for it when you can get it for free

Congratulations!

I did my undergraduate thesis in religious studies about Hinduism in Latin America, especially the Sai Baba Movement in Colombia. As a graduate student I'd like to study the ways in which immigrants use religion to connect in new countries and to keep/strengthen ties to their home counties. I'm also interested in the way religion travels and the connection between income and religious affiliation.

I agree to a certain extent. Most of us here, I assume, are really passionate about sociology and about becoming academics, otherwise we wouldn't spend so much time on message boards (when we could just be looking at lolcats or watching hulu, which is what I used to do with my free time before apps.) So we're not really representative of the general population. I'd like to believe that although there might be people who have a better GPA and a better GRE score than I do, they're not as passionate about sociology as I am. Thus, I'm better qualified to go to a top 10 program (if only adcoms looked at these forums). Second. Let's be realistic. We're not going to grad school for the money. Personally, I am prepared to face the fact that when I finish my PhD I'll probably be making less money than what I make right now. So if someone here is applying to a PhD in sociology as a way of surviving the recession: STOP. seriously, the last thing we need is more people to compete with. Finally, about professors giving negative feedback. Here's the thing: most people with a PhD lack social skills (prepare to be one of them). Seriously, most PhDs suck at communicating anything that's not related to their area of expertise. Think about it. You spend at least 5 years researching something and explaining it to everyone around you, you forget how to do anything else. So don't let anyone tell you you're not good enough for a school! But at the same time, try to figure out if they're trying to tell you something. In my case, I took the whole "you're not good enough for a top ten program" and interpreted as a "hey, you might want to retake the GRE and this time study, and study hard" (I did, and i scored much higher the second time).

speaking of professors who pull you down, I think everyone should read this: http://chronicle.com/article/Graduate-School-in-the/44846/ It's about graduate school in the humanities. Nonetheless, I think it applies to those of us interested in social sciences.

BA with a double major in sociology and psychology and a major in Religious Studies (the soc department at my school kinda sucks). I think that your major only affects your chances of getting in if you don't have any LoR from sociologists. but even in my case, I was more confident getting letters from religious studies and psychology people than from sociology.

I hate the wait! and I thought this year was going to be easier since I was doing it for the second time, but now I just feel like I need to know NOW! Has anyone heard anything from any of their schools? I just heard from the last school I applied to. they emailed me to tell me everything was there and I would hear from them no later than April 1st. I don't want to wait that long! If anyone has any tips to keep my mind of gradschool I would appreciate it. Oh, and is anyone here going to the Eastern Sociological Society meeting in Boston? I'm trying to convince my office to send me there. Small regional meetings are usually fun because you get to talk to more people than at the big ASA meeting.

I can't answer 1 and 2, but I can tell you that Hopkins is very good in sociology. According to US news Hopkins is 25 in the country. I think that changes a little bit depending on what you may want to do.

good luck!

I don't mean to laugh at your misery, but thank you for making my day! We all have a lot to worry right now.. we just don't need anyone reminding us how worried we should be

I was actually wondering about that. Last year I applied to 4 schools and didn't hear back from any of them until late march (2 waitlists and 2 rejections). I'm hoping things will be better this year. Does anyone know when we should start hearing from schools? I need to find something to keep me occupied until then. Good luck to everyone!

I graduated from a small liberal arts college in Maryland, with a double major in psychology-sociology and religious studies. Undergraduate GPA: 3.7 GRE Scores, round 1: V. 450, Q. 730, A. 4 GRE scores, round 2: V. 630, Q. 780, A. 3.5 (i have no idea why my essay scores were so low, I never had any issues in college with writing/. Since english is my second language I hope they don't pay much attention to this part). Since graduating in 2006 i've been working for the American Sociological Association (I hope that helps). My interests include migration, religion, population change, and development. Research experience: At ASA, I've been involved in three NSF funded research projects for the past 6 months doing network analysis. applying to: Duke, Indiana, UPenn, Princeton, Northwestern, Cornell, and who knows what else. in 2008 I got waitlisted at Duke and Indiana. Good luck to everyone.

Hello everyone, I'm 27 and have been working for a nonprofit in DC for the past three years. I applied to a few schools last year (with GRE Scores like this: V43/Q730/AW4) and got waitlisted at two of the four schools I applied to. I took the GREs again this year and scored 630 in the verbal, 780 in the quantitative, and 3.5 in the Analytical Writing (bummer, I know). This year I'll be applying to Duke, Princeton, Cornell (Development Sociology), Indiana, Northwestern, and who knows where else. My interests are in Sociology of Religion, Immigration and transnational communities, and population change in big cities. If you think of other schools where I should apply please let me know. I am looking for one or two safeties to add to my list. Good luck to everyone.

I guess I wasn't. I just got an email from the DGS telling me they filled the cohort without having to go to the waitlist. Good luck to everyone who decided to go to Indiana. Maybe I'll get to meet you next year!