obsessovernothing

Made it off of a waitlist for funding today. I want to encourage people not to lose hope, and to hang in there. Best of luck!

I am currently doing a MA at an Ivy in a slightly different field than soc. I'm one year into a two year program. Last year, I deferred a PhD offer at a top 30 soc program in order to pursue this one. However, job propsects seem to be hit or miss in the feild I am pursuing. Though, I have made fantastic contacts, meet huge people in my area of interest, and will research under one this summer. In any case, my question is: 1) Should I pursue the PhD at a school which is ranked much lower than my current school in fall 2013, so I don't have to go through the gruesome process of applying to PhD programs all over again or should I forget about this school altogether and apply to higher ranked programs, if a job doesn't materialize from this degree? The schools are two hours apart, so I'd have to juggle between both locales. Though, if I were to be offered funding again, it'd offset the cost of living for me a lot. Any thoughts?

I am just soliciting advice, opinions and thoughts about this program. That said, I am most interested in hearing from those who have applied or gone through this program. Note: I am interested in working for at a NGO or an UN subagency post graduation. Any thoughts?

^^ for you

Agreed. Very strange. But it seems as though the ranking methodology for the world report is different when compared to the US report, that's all.

If you want to go merely by ranking, according to US News and World Report Oxford sociology is ranked third in the world: http://www.usnews.co...ities-sociology

I found this post on a psychology forum and liked it a lot. So I ask the author, QxV, if I could post it here and fortunately he said yes (read street credit and a big fat thank you, QxV!). While I have reservations on how graduate committees assess and rank the first three criteria (my gre scores where obscenely low- in fact, so low if I were to tell you, you'd probably throw up-- and still managed several PhD acceptances), I totally and wholeheartedly agree with number four and five. So here it goes, a behind the scene look into how grad committees select applicants: "1) Application piles are thinned using quantitative criteria - those with low GPAs, GREs, get weeded out. 2) Applicants are further eliminated based on how much research experience they have - lack of experience means you're out. 3) A number of applicants are selected based on their personal statement and recommendations - this still leaves a sizable number of applications to deal with Thus, 4) Faculty meet in a conference room, each equipped with a bow and arrow. The program chair gives the signal, and throws all the applications in the air. The faculty fire their arrows simultaneously, and applicants whose files get hit are called up for interviews. 5) To decide who gets offers, the faculty are given a series of challenges. These range from challenges of skill (e.g., who can perform an ANOVA by hand the quickest), to games of chance (e.g., winning a dice roll while juggling bowls of gold fish - the person who rolls the highest and comes within half a standard deviation of the average number of goldfish in each bowl wins). Based on their performance, faculty then get assigned priority to choose who they would like to invite to the program. As you can see, there is a lot of randomness in the selection process, especially in the latter stages. As such, I would advise you to apply to multiple programs. p.s., the bold phrases are meant to be taken seriously." Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Landril, I think the contrary: NGO work and non-profit managerial experience, in terms of sociology programs, is viewed in a separate light than other professional experience. For instance, a person who goes into the Peace Corps and does volunteer work for some time, even if it is outside their research area, would definitely have a competitive advantage over someone who, let's say, held a sales position for the last couple of years. Thus, put more politely, I think admissions committees are going to care how many starving children in Africa you have saved. This tells more about someones character than their personal statement or other parts of their application. Research experience is not the only experience that will help you get your foot into a sociology graduate program, other (professional) experience is valued too. That is, even if such experience cannot be 'weaved' into your particular research interests or career goals.

Yeah, I second, third or fourth this quote. I'm actually on an academic exchange (what better way to spend your last semester of your undergrad, right?), so I bought all my recommenders coffee mugs from this university. One professor with whom I am particularly close, I also bought a book. Before I went away, though, I bought all of my letter writers books, because they wrote letters which enabled me to go on this exchange and get nominated for a scholarship. I suppose it depends on how close you are with your letter writers, but conceivably you are pretty close to them because they went out of their way to write you a recommendation. At that, one which contributed to you landing a place in a graduate department.

Hi Ladril, Sorry for the digression earlier. I hope you'll accept my apologies. Okay, so I think that your original question requires further elaboration on your part. You say what are the prospects of finding a job, but you don't mention the type of job you are aiming for (unless I missed it, and again I am sorry). Do you mind sharing what your career goals are and research interest? I think that these things matter in what type of program you may want to shoot for. For instance, I do not intend on staying within academia, so my motives for choosing a department are going to be different than someone who does. Also, my research interest are such that not many departments have faculty in this field. Therefore, my scope of programs may be wider than an area where every department has faculty doing research in such and such field. Does this make sense? My top choice was a top fifty program (and if you want to merely go by ranking, it was the lowest program I was accepted), but because of a particular faculty member doing research in my area of interest, among other things, it was my dream school. It turns out that I was not offered funding from this school, so by default I am going to a top twenty. For me, ranking did not matter as much as it may for others, but, of course, it was something I considered, though not the sole thing. If you share with us your career goals and research interests, perhaps more people can offer you advice. On that note, bare in mind that this is only my experience and others may vary. Thanks!

the post in these forums tend to end on fairly aggressive terms and i think this my deter people from posting... sometimes it is not what you say, but rather how you say it. i feel as though i can contribute to this question, because i meet the criteria of xdarthvegansx original question, but am hesitant to share it because of the negative connotation people have within these post, and fear of saying something to the misliking of another and being reprimanded. for instance, i can't help to ask myself ask myself was this quote really necessary? after all, xdarthveganx did make a generalized statement about africa: . i think we need to bare in mind that people here come from various backgrounds. what we say may offend people, so be mindful of this before making a contribution to a forum. the hostility here is really starting to bother me. i think we should be working together, helping one another through this process, rather than subtly putting each other down. i am sorry for the rant, but this has been bothering me for awhile. also, my post is not directed towards anyone in particular, so please, even if i have quoted you, do not take this personally.

Hey congratulations, xdarthveganx and AaronM! This sounds super cool and I hope you guys have a blast!

CUNY also has a similar program. It's a Masters in Liberal Arts Studies and offers a wide range of research focuses. I am not sure what your research interest are, but this may also be a good fit for you and likely be half the cost of going to NYU for a masters. Also, at NYC schools (NYU, Columbia, CUNY, Stony Brook, etc) you can take classes between schools, which is a good way to network. Hope this helps.

I got an invitation to the Draper Program. I will not be applying, though. Are you considering applying, sleepycat?

Hey secretshayats, there's a thread in the lobby called "The sub-3.0 GPAs ACCEPTANCE thread." i think it might be helpful discussion board for you. have a look. good luck!