Khayembii

Well someone was really playing up the idea that I have strong math skills and that is a big advantage, so I thought it would portray that? And yes, I am speaking of a line on my CV, not a writing sample and not in my SoP.

What about the huge engineering project thingymajig? I'm sure that would be good to put on there as it shows my strong mathematical skillz. Would that count as original research, though? EDIT: Here's another one. I co-manage a blog about current events surrounding Iran. We update it daily, but it is all news aggregation; we usually write our own stuff when there's an uptick in views (we only get like 30 views/day, but that goes up to thousands when Iran is in the news in a big way). It's not that great, but it's something I guess? I suppose I'm getting way too far ahead of myself as I shouldn't be worried about this stuff until after I pass the GRE and start looking at schools.

No, it was really just a terrible paper. I even thought so as I was writing it. Still got an A on it though, hahaha. I can post it online for the lulz if you really want to see how terrible it is. I'm definitely not using it as a writing sample, that's for damn sure. Are you suggesting that I put "Original Research - Economics Major Senior Thesis" on my CV but don't show it to them? Because I'd be fine with that if that's acceptable.

Well for my engineering degree I had to present a senior design project which involved myself and three others as a group designing a three story building, which we designed according to LEED Platinum certification (highest environmental certification possible), as well as diverting part of a river to create a fish spawning basin, diverting bus routes and so on. Overall the entire report was a few hundred pages. Though it was a collaborative effort, would that count as "research" or "original research" as we designed it ourselves? I also had to present an Econ thesis at the end of my major but TBH though I enjoyed reading about the thesis (Red Capitalism in China) the paper sucked ass.

First off I want to thank everyone for all their input on this; I really truly appreciate the advice and direction considering that I'm completely new to this entire process. Well this was my plan pretty much from the start of my undergrad so I have no problem explaining my situation. I also think it's advantageous in that I have very strong math/stat skills from my engineering background, and I also have a lot of real world experience which has given me quite a different perspective than most that go straight through from undergrad to grad/doctorate (at least IMO, based on anecdotal evidence). Heh I just discovered him a couple days ago. I got so excited I started giggling uncontrollably as I read one of his papers. Then I found out that my friend, who is already in the Sociology PhD prog at NYU, has him as an adviser. I don't really like the idea of being characterized as a "theorist". I think that imperialism theory in general, since the classical expositions of it in the early 20th century (and certainly including its descendents), were overwhelmingly structuralist, and that Marxist methods of study in many fields has historically moved in this direction. I think that historically the marginalization of Marxian studies and applications of "Marxian methodologies" has more to do with the fact that Marxian interpretations have increasingly taken a structuralist approach even as such an approach was exposed as one-sided and incomplete (wrong). To be honest, many of the most eloquent recent expositions of Marxism that I have seen have been by writers who do not self-identify as Marxist. Self-described Marxism in general has been this way for much of the 20th century, primarily due to historical developments (ideology, after all, is a reflection of social conflict and whatnot ). Most of these interpretations are incredibly mechanistic, dogmatic and simply, utterly, wrong. Going back to what I said in my first sentence, theory only really makes sense as a reflection of empirical research and therefore I am equally as passionate about indepth empirical research and analysis. Thanks for this, know of any others I could check out?

Thanks for the tips! I thought about this as well but pretty much concluded that there isn't much of a way for me to get into the research game in time. I'm planning on meeting with some sociology professors (as well as other profs) to discuss this further to see if there is anything I can possibly do to get into research at least in my free time for a professor or something. I've been pretty well-read in a few different fields relating to sociology, though I am always open for possibly changing my area of focus. Thanks for the tips.

I know that these types of threads are frowned upon, but I'm not really asking my chances here. I've looked at a few schools, and I know for example that NYU's sociology department has about a 4% admission rate. I guess what I'm wondering is where I stand right now and what I can do to improve my chances in getting into a program that I want. I graduated in 4 years with a BS in Civil Engineering and went back for the following two semesters for a second major in Economics. My cumulative GPA was about a 3.4 if I remember correctly. I worked in the engineering field for the past two years (since graduating in 2010). I was able to get all of my student debt paid off and I have a solid engineering resume to boot. My goal was always to get my undergrad in something practical that I enjoyed and then after I could go to grad school for whatever I wanted if I so chose. That way if I completely crash and burn I have something really well rooted to fall back on. So that's what I'm doing here. I was able to pay off all of my debt over the past two years, so I'm debt free. I'm interested in going to graduate school for a PhD in sociology (originally it was history but sociology fits better what I have in mind and also includes historical research anyways). I've always had a special love for politics, economics, history and so on. So I've decided, now that I'm debt free with some money in the bank that it's time to actually try to pursue my dream of making that a reality. I'm planning on applying for Fall 2013 so I have some time (some). I'm just starting to study for the GRE, which I have not taken yet. I figure I need to pass that ASAP to get it off my mind so I can focus on finding schools, programs and mentors to look into. That gives me until about October to figure all of this out. I don't think I'll have a problem doing well on the GRE. I studied abroad in Great Britain for a summer semester and took classes in history and politics in 2008. Both of my professors loved me, and I have kept in touch with them and they would be willing to write glowing, descriptive letters of recommendation. I also have another history professor whose classes I took in the Honors college here that I am now good friends with, and so he would as well. I know of one or two other profs that would remember me well enough and like me enough to write really good recommendation letters. I also feel like I'm a step ahead of other prospective students in that I know exactly the field of research that I want to get into specifically, and have been pursuing these studies as sort of a hobby. Based on what I have been independently studying, I even have some ideas that I could pick for possible dissertation topics. I'm not talking about something vague like "womens' studies" or "social change," either (without getting into it too much, and I'm saying this just because I'm hoping this could help people recommend schools to me, my primary area of interest is Imperialism theory in both the classical Marxian sense as well as its more modern offshoots - primarily dependency theory - their fatal flaws, and a movement towards the development of a new theory of Imperialism, among other things). I am very committed to this idea and haven't really waffled on it at all; I know what I want. So, I feel like I'm doing everything well so far: planning on getting great GRE scores, will have glowing letters of recommendation and I already have a very clear plan of what I want out of this which I can sum up in a statement of purpose. So what else can I do to help further? I've thought about submitting some of my writings for publication, but to be honest I'm not really sure what publications are out there or what the submission process is. I also know that it's a very good idea to converse extensively with professors prior to applying, once suitable programs are found. Anything I'm missing here or do I have all my bases covered pretty much?