breaks0

Sorry Pizza, UCSB did the same, I'm expecting same method when I hear back from Santa Cruz, since I'm guess this is a UC system-wide practice. Really love the UCs (no joke!). Madison, however, was at least nice enough to directly email the letter from the Grad Program director, form letter or not. I feel a bit of consolation to have tried (esp Berkeley), I'll feel better when I get an offer somewhere. lol

Just got the thumbs down from Madison, now 0-3. I really should've applied to more top 20 schools.

Ewok, sorry to hear. I also just got my Berkeley rejection, so that's 0-2. Does anyone know how you word an email to one of your is it called poi's(?) about what was wrong w/your application? I have some idea, but even a sentence or 2 in an email from that prof would at least be informative and UCB was my top choice. Maxine and MBDT, isn't it possible you're waitlisted? You should probably contact them and ask, if you were, good luck.

Lioneironaut, I got mine on Feb 1 last year so I'd expect this weekend if that's indicative at all.

The last line of what you say is decisive. That's exactly what I'd expect and why I never thought had a shot there, was glad one of the faculty I contacted sent a very encouraging email last month but it's just that, an email.

I'm sorry for you both. Juice, I know they're ranked 1st in gender sociology, so I'm sure you'dve been a good fit too. This is ironic coming from me, but let's try to keep our chins up for now. This is a long, tough process but I think most people get in somewhere, esp if you've applied to alot of schools. Keep checking your email, etc, but I guess don't let it completely take over your life if only to keep your sanity and b/c better things still probably lie ahead.

1st reject this evening from ucsb, not thrilled. The Berkeley one will be more devastating b/c dying to go there.

Coindistina, you just described me almost exactly. lol That's exactly my concern on getting in and finding something if and when I were to finish. Yes it's possible for a 40-something to get in, b/c I've done it, so 30-something ffor sure. Getting funding, however, let alone what comes later is another matter, which is why I'm here again like last year in waiting limbo w/the rest of you over the next 2-3 months. I can only imagine how nice it is to get in w/funding.

Congrads UCLA admits especially, great school. I have no news, but ancitipate 1st rejections soon. My list so far of places applied, sociology: ucsb, ucb, ucsc, cuny, uw-m, suny-b, jhu, oregon, e asian studies: toronto, polisci:new school, polisci/anthro (secondary): lse, history: nyu and york in geography still to go. I didn't apply to enough big schools, but it's hella hard to find marxist departments in us and most foreign schools don't fund. I would've applied to minnesota and washington at least among big schools if I could do it over again. Just hoping I get a funded offer somewhere, or I'm really really screwed financially. Good luck everyone.

Disaster. I just got my course grade from the prof who's written my 3rd reference for a sociology seminar and she gave me a b+. Her ref is based entirely on my performance in this 1 class and I'm pretty sure this'll torpedo all my apps. I have an ma and am reapplying after last year's failed apps. I have nearly a phd program's worth of graduate credits, somewhere around 60 from 3 diff universities and in all that time I never pulled worse than an a- , partly because I've heard for years you don't wanna get less than that. A grade like this might be tolerable if I were already in a phd program, but I'm not thats the whole point. I'm so beyond screwed financially if I don't get a funded offer, this leaves me pessimistic about my prospects since multiple other areas of my apps are weak.

Email the profs definitely! I have a kind of formula I'm using for those emails. 2 short paragraphs is probably sufficient.

For starers, have 3 refs w/PhDs and get everything in on time! lol I know it sounds so commosensical and obvious, but literally that alone should help a bit anyway. Having something published of course should as well. Also the number of schools you apply to, from Soc's list 10 schools (in my case a dozen or more) hopefully this time gets us at least 1 offer (again funded!). Contacting the faculty you wanna work with (which I am doing, if late in the game) and I guess if possible students and even members of the adcomm (since they make the decisions). Visiting the campus and meeting people (especially profs) if its allowed. I shoulda done more, but did visit one school. I think Soc can probably provide more deets as to what s/he actually DID diff since I didn't do enough diff. If you're asking what should you do, well retake the GRE if need be, bolster your research experience and work/activities experience. The statements and writing samples obviously. Sorry sounds like a laundry list but, hopefully this helps. So far only 1 school I didn't apply to that I wish I had. Lastly, I think I picked more places where I'm a better fit this year. On the money/fin aid app end though, that's always been my weak point, I leave it to others to answer that. Buena suerte!

CUNY, no? This is probably too late to help you since the deadline just passed.

Is it just me or has this board kind of died relative to last year? It seems like there are at most half the posts and threads there were a year ago, when I last applied. So as everyone's doing finals, grading their students, helping w/research projects, scrambling to get in apps last minute and getting ready for holidays, I'm briefly posting here. I have so far submitted apps for UCs Berkeley, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara, CUNY-GC and Madison. I still have York U, Binghmamton and Johns Hopkins to go (all of these being Sociology) and possibly Oregon and/or Stony Brook. I'm additionally applying in history to nyu, politics to new school (where I already have an MA, 3.86 GPA) and lse, e asian studies to u toronto and int'l development at soas. Binghamton, Berkeley, JHU, CUNY, Madison and New School are all reapps, while York and NYU are reapps in different fields from last year. My GREs are fine, except the Q which is a very low 630 (40%), V 740 (99%) and AW 5.5 (98%). My CV, however, is weak on work and research experience, though I have an article published in a British journal and have done a few conference presentations. My references are pretty good and my research focus is roughly on Marxist/World Systems sociology, development and popular resistance to practices of primitive accumulation/extractivism and in industrial labor in the BRICS countries (India, Brazil and somewhere China). My Chinese and French are moderate proficiency. I don't think I've handled this process the best, though better than last year. I probably should've redone gre's, gotten more research and work experience, beefed up my language skills and applied for more financial aid sourcs. I hope in 2-3 months to be able to say I'm funded to go at least 2 of these to have a choice for next 4-6 or so years. Good luck all and happy holidays!

I am trying to do the same, 2nd year in a row, but don't take that as an indicator or level of difficulty in doing so, which it's not very. It just didn't work out for me well last year since I was late finishing my MA so only a few schools actually looked at my apps so I wasn't a strong applicant. 1st off, I basically agree w/you about polisci and only did my MA in polisci at the new school since it's an atypical program and am only reapplying in that field for phds there and a school in the UK. Most of the other places I'm applying are in sociology. You're right polisci is relatively narrow, hierarchical if I can say that and individually-focused, relative to sociology and other fields, that's part of why I want out. Your interests fit well in sociology at most places and there is overlap, but emphases are obviously different. I'll leave to others to give more specifics and to recommend what sorts of places you may wanna look at since I don't know your subfield (identity, ethnic conflict comp-historical,, etc) as well as I should. But this might well be the field for you.

Ok and what if your Q is a 40%, I think it's a 150? My other 2 sections are fine, but that one's horrible and I literally don't think I could've prepared better for it than I did (3 months putting in 3 hours/day on math, something like that). To be honest, I'm so broke I literally didn't have the money to retake it, the GRE is an overwhelming ordeal if you don't standardize test (ie deal w/trick questions or the CAT format) well. Though I've read the CAT is gone now. I'll restrain myself from saying more.

If we're using the US News rankings, top tier, agreed, is probably top 20 schools, more or less. You do well there and get strong pro references and some published work, and you have as good a chance getting a tenure track job when you finish as anyone in the county. I think of mid-ier as in the 20s and (maybe 30s), below that is relatively low. The point about acceptance rates is good too. Oregon, at least according to their website for example, I think only expects an incoming class of 6 or so/year. And I believe that's out of 200-odd applicants/year. I wanna go there too, but w/those numbers the odds are still very long so I don't think that's a safety school.

Thanks SMG.

I am resurrecting this thread briefly w/a repost partly from a GRE thread, just trying to make sure I cover all my bases. I am actually reapplying to programs this fall after only getting 1 unfunded offer last Spring (Binghamton), which I had to turn down for financial reasons. I am reapplying to Binghamton, Berkeley, Johns Hopkins and possibly NYU (unsure) and CUNY (either sociology or polisci). I'm also tentatively applying to Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Oregon and Stanford (all sociology programs) & LSE in polisci. I may add more, am still researching. My interests broadly defined are sociology of class conflict/Marxism, Chindia and either political or comp/historical sociology. I would like to use primarily qualitative methods in my future research, but secondarily some quant ones if it helps w/getting in w/full funding to one or more of these schools. I aced Stats 1 in my master's program at another private school in NY where I earned an MA in polisci, the only methods class I took in that program (now wishing I'd also taken ethnography or some qual methods course). My MA GPA was 3.86, but my resume is quite weak on the work experience side. I do, however, have 1 published paper in a foreign academic journal and have pretty sharply defined research interests and know who I'd like to work with at the schools I'm applying to. I am also hesitant about most foreign programs, since I keep hearing from several professors I've met in the US and abroad in my subfield that old boys networks still govern alot of admissions decisions and post-phd job prospects. My GRE scores are V 169 AW 5.5, but Q 150. I literally don't think I have the time or money to retake the GRE at this point, this is a gap year for me so money's tight and have student loans from my MA program. So am I missing anywhere key on the list I guess for US, Canada or UK/Europe? Is there a chance at least of finding work (preferably academic job, but another too if needed) if you do well in programs like these?

You know where you should look is Berkeley w/Louis Wacquant, sort've missing the elephant in the room by forgetting him. Really isn't my area though that's my dream school, but I have a friend from my dept (in another field at that, not at Berkeley) who loves his work. So try there.

Cult's partly right that within socal sciences you often deal with colonial and postcoloniality more often (at least traditionally) in anthro and history, for example. Perhaps some polisci programs too, let alone various areas of the humanities. That said, it is perhaps possible, for starters, to look at the world systems centric departments, or those that have World Systems people in them. I say that as someone considering schools w/that focus myself, perhaps Binghamton, Hopkins and Santa Barbara for starters? And perhaps Berkeley, the latter is moving that direction in S Asia studies generally (taking some of Columbia's top people, including the new VP and Provost, Nick Dirks) and their India sociology specialist (Raka Ray) is probably open to that. There must be other places, cult's right look through dept websites if you're set on soc as your field.

Thanks cult, appreciate your feedback. Yes, there were several other problems w/my apps last year. I will probably post other question on a diff thread in the future. Cheers.

I have a follow up question on the GRE, which may be repeating issues that have been previously addressed. I am actually reapplying to programs this fall after only getting 1 unfunded offer last Spring (Binghamton), which I had to turn down for financial reasons. My concern is my quant score, which is simply terrible since I'm not good at math and have a phobia toward it. My scores: Q: 630 (41% last I checked) V: 740 (94% roughly) and A: 5.5 (97-99%). I am reapplying to Binghamton, Berkeley, Johns Hopkins and possibly NYU (unsure) and CUNY (either sociology or polisci). I'm also tentatively applying to Santa Barbara, Davis, Oregon and Stanford. I may add one or 2 more, am still researching. My interests broadly defined are sociology of class conflict/Marxism, Chindia and political sociology. I would like to use primarily qualitative methods in my future research, but perhaps secondarily some quant ones if it helps w/getting in w/full funding to one or more of these schools. I aced Stats 1 in my master's program at another private school in NY where I earned an MA in polisci, the only methods class I took in that program (now wishing I'd also taken ethnography or some qual methods course). My MA GPA was 3.86, but my resume is quite weak on the work experience side. I do, however, have 1 published paper in a foreign academic journal and have pretty sharply defined research interests and know who I'd like to work with at the schools I'm applying to. I am also basically ruling out foreign programs, since I keep hearing from several professors I've met in the US and abroad in my subfield that old boys networks still govern alot of admissions decisions and post-phd job prospects. I guess my main questions are given that info, do I need to retake the GRE? Secondly, given my rather poor financial situation if it is necessary, is there a way to get a fee waver? This is basically a gap year and I can take the GRE again, but for various reasons would of course prefer not to, if possible. But of course whatever gets me in somewhere funded in about 6 months time would be worth it in the long run.

Definitely interested!

Che, yes harder than Berkeley and Wisconsin I believe (both tied for #1 dept in the nation atm), at least statistically. Oh and Che, if you're looking abroad (as am I), look at least at LSE and York too (probably others in UK and Canada too I'm unware of). If you can stand it and get funded, there are also probably programs in Paris and elsewhere in continental Europe as well, among other places.