seekingsun

Sandy Levitsky @ Michigan works in Sociology of Law and Social Movements.   She and Elizabeth Armstrong (Gender, Education, Organizations) have a giant Title IX project going on right now that might be relevant to your interests.

You need to remember that Grad School rankings are different than UGrad rankings.   On that list, the highest ranked/most prestigious program is UM-Ann Arbor (which is generally ranked somewhere in the top 4 depending on what list you're looking at).   Princeton is in the next tier of schools (somewhere between 6-10).  UC-Irvine & UPenn would be considered top 25 programs, and then Minnesota and Penn State rank somewhere below that.   I don't know what kind of placement record Toronto/UBC have in order to compare.
This is important for you to think about as you think about what kind of "dream job" you might be aiming for after graduation.  If you want a big-time R1 job, really UM, Princeton, and UC-I are the only places I would seriously consider.   Of course, all of these schools graduate people who get jobs that give them a high quality of life and job satisfaction, but obviously the closer you are to the top of hierarchy the more competative you will be for a wider range of positions.

You need to remember that Grad School rankings are different than UGrad rankings.   On that list, the highest ranked/most prestigious program is UM-Ann Arbor (which is generally ranked somewhere in the top 4 depending on what list you're looking at).   Princeton is in the next tier of schools (somewhere between 6-10).  UC-Irvine & UPenn would be considered top 25 programs, and then Minnesota and Penn State rank somewhere below that.   I don't know what kind of placement record Toronto/UBC have in order to compare.
This is important for you to think about as you think about what kind of "dream job" you might be aiming for after graduation.  If you want a big-time R1 job, really UM, Princeton, and UC-I are the only places I would seriously consider.   Of course, all of these schools graduate people who get jobs that give them a high quality of life and job satisfaction, but obviously the closer you are to the top of hierarchy the more competative you will be for a wider range of positions.

Remember, for visit weekends the "power" has now shifted. Departments have already admitted you to their program, now they are trying to woo you to choose them! You should represent yourself truthfully because you wwant to decide are there people there that you like? Is this the place you want to spend the next 5 to 8 years? If you aren't representing yourself truthfully, with your wild mohawk, your your nose ring, or your transgendered self, what happens when you arrive on campus in the fall and you find out that the faculty mentor that you have put all your eggs in one basket as a mentor is totally freaked out? You want to discover that while you're still have choices.

That said, mostly people are dressed neatly with some as fancy as business casual, but mostly just nice jeans and a sweater. You're going to be walking around a bunch, getting campus tours etc. so comfort is more important than fashion. It's ok to look like a college student.

I'm at a top-five department.   The admissions committee considers fit EXTREMELY carefully when they decide who to admit.  There are very strong applicants who do not get admitted because the department does not see how they would help shepherd the research interests of the student.   If they admitted you, they are confident that there are faculty (usually at least three) who are 1 - enthusiastic about your application, and 2 - believe they can help you achieve the project that you proposed.   
I just want to put it out there that these faculty may be more able to determine FIT than an undergraduate applicant.   For that reason, I would err towards the higher ranked programs.   Obviously if you go to visit days and everyone seems unhappy, or really competative, or the faculty you meet are super weird, then you might consider other options.   But the fit has been considered in reviewing your application and they think you are a good fit!

Top tier is usually considered (alphabetically) Berkeley, Chicago, Harvard, Michigan, Wisconsin.  There is a gap between that crowd and the next 10-15 or so (e.g. alpha) Duke, Indiana, UCLA, U-North Carolina, Princeton, Stanford, Yale.  That then a pretty big gap to the next set of schools.  On the margins there is plenty to argue about (i.e. should Stanford be considered in the top tier?  Does Texas fit in the next round, or the level below?)  Of course, then within specialties everything gets mixed up again.  The top 5 generally have strengths across the board, the next group will be pretty well rounted but may be more quant vs qual focused, etc.  All of the schools I listed train their students well and place them in good jobs.
 
At that point you'll want to be thinking about what faculty and students you click with.  Does this school seem to have a collaborative culture, or a competitive one?  Is there more than one mentor that you can envision working with?  You want to avoid going to a place where there is just one faculty member in the area - what if you decide they are a jerk?  or over committed?  or if they leave to go to another school.  What if you decide that you don't want an academic job - is this a program that will be accepting of such a decision and help you think through the possibilities?  Some places those conversations are very welcome and encouraged, others if you aren't interested in an R1 job then you are on your own. 
 
I've never heard of the Gourman rankings, but they appear to be extremely out of date and just plain weird...

Top tier is usually considered (alphabetically) Berkeley, Chicago, Harvard, Michigan, Wisconsin.  There is a gap between that crowd and the next 10-15 or so (e.g. alpha) Duke, Indiana, UCLA, U-North Carolina, Princeton, Stanford, Yale.  That then a pretty big gap to the next set of schools.  On the margins there is plenty to argue about (i.e. should Stanford be considered in the top tier?  Does Texas fit in the next round, or the level below?)  Of course, then within specialties everything gets mixed up again.  The top 5 generally have strengths across the board, the next group will be pretty well rounted but may be more quant vs qual focused, etc.  All of the schools I listed train their students well and place them in good jobs.
 
At that point you'll want to be thinking about what faculty and students you click with.  Does this school seem to have a collaborative culture, or a competitive one?  Is there more than one mentor that you can envision working with?  You want to avoid going to a place where there is just one faculty member in the area - what if you decide they are a jerk?  or over committed?  or if they leave to go to another school.  What if you decide that you don't want an academic job - is this a program that will be accepting of such a decision and help you think through the possibilities?  Some places those conversations are very welcome and encouraged, others if you aren't interested in an R1 job then you are on your own. 
 
I've never heard of the Gourman rankings, but they appear to be extremely out of date and just plain weird...

I'm not writing from UCLA.  I can say that a 56% average completion rate is low, but can be more complicated that it seems at first.  Remember this is a 5-10 year odyssey that you are embarking on.  Some people start immediately out of undergrad and apply to grad schools because of no clear alternative with a liberal arts background.  Once they go a couple of years into the program, they realize that this is not for them.  Others family issues intervene.  Others are older when they start the grad school process and decide that being back in school isn't what it is cracked up to be.  Others fail out.  In small cohorts, one or two students making individualized decisions, can sway statistics wildly.  At my school, we certainly want everyone capable of writing a dissertation to be able to successfully do so, but we also want it to be ok for people to mid-way decide that they want to do something else with their life.  Academic is very hard.  Research is very hard.  It is largely independent, with very little regular positive feedback.  You have to be internally self-directed in a way that is uncomfortable for a lot of people.  Our philosophy is we'd rather students determine that this field is not for them earlier in their career rather than later, so thinking about attrition rates, you'd rather see people in their 2nd and 3rd year quitting than people in year 7 & 8.
 
I don't know anything about the specifics of UCLA and how good their program is (other than that my department keeps wanting to hire their graduates!), so I am only writing this to suggest that you use that data point extremely cautiously.  It should not be a determining factor, but add it to the big pile of issues you are considering when thinking about different programs.

The Council of Graduate Schools has a long standing agreement that students are "under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15".  University of Tennessee is a signatory to that agreement, so they should not be trying to get you to submit the answer before 4/15. 
 
Obviously, if you've already ruled out a school, it is nice to let them know as soon as they are out of the running, so that they can go to the waitlist, but until you've decided for sure, there is no reason to feel pressure to make decisions before you have all the answers.

That is insane.  Absolutely not.  The MAX I would work is 50% (this is about the same effort for a TA position at my school).  You are setting yourself up for failure.   Seriously.  The expectation is that students are doing coursework and research work all year and throughout the summer (even if unfunded).  Even teaching can be construed as part of the professional training program.  
 
You've got to decide what your goal is for a profession.  If you want it to be Sociology - you need to jump in with both feet.  If you want to continue your law enforcement career - AWESOME! - but don't bother with a Ph.D. it's too difficult a journey if you aren't fully committed.

Top tier is usually considered (alphabetically) Berkeley, Chicago, Harvard, Michigan, Wisconsin.  There is a gap between that crowd and the next 10-15 or so (e.g. alpha) Duke, Indiana, UCLA, U-North Carolina, Princeton, Stanford, Yale.  That then a pretty big gap to the next set of schools.  On the margins there is plenty to argue about (i.e. should Stanford be considered in the top tier?  Does Texas fit in the next round, or the level below?)  Of course, then within specialties everything gets mixed up again.  The top 5 generally have strengths across the board, the next group will be pretty well rounted but may be more quant vs qual focused, etc.  All of the schools I listed train their students well and place them in good jobs.
 
At that point you'll want to be thinking about what faculty and students you click with.  Does this school seem to have a collaborative culture, or a competitive one?  Is there more than one mentor that you can envision working with?  You want to avoid going to a place where there is just one faculty member in the area - what if you decide they are a jerk?  or over committed?  or if they leave to go to another school.  What if you decide that you don't want an academic job - is this a program that will be accepting of such a decision and help you think through the possibilities?  Some places those conversations are very welcome and encouraged, others if you aren't interested in an R1 job then you are on your own. 
 
I've never heard of the Gourman rankings, but they appear to be extremely out of date and just plain weird...

Top tier is usually considered (alphabetically) Berkeley, Chicago, Harvard, Michigan, Wisconsin.  There is a gap between that crowd and the next 10-15 or so (e.g. alpha) Duke, Indiana, UCLA, U-North Carolina, Princeton, Stanford, Yale.  That then a pretty big gap to the next set of schools.  On the margins there is plenty to argue about (i.e. should Stanford be considered in the top tier?  Does Texas fit in the next round, or the level below?)  Of course, then within specialties everything gets mixed up again.  The top 5 generally have strengths across the board, the next group will be pretty well rounted but may be more quant vs qual focused, etc.  All of the schools I listed train their students well and place them in good jobs.
 
At that point you'll want to be thinking about what faculty and students you click with.  Does this school seem to have a collaborative culture, or a competitive one?  Is there more than one mentor that you can envision working with?  You want to avoid going to a place where there is just one faculty member in the area - what if you decide they are a jerk?  or over committed?  or if they leave to go to another school.  What if you decide that you don't want an academic job - is this a program that will be accepting of such a decision and help you think through the possibilities?  Some places those conversations are very welcome and encouraged, others if you aren't interested in an R1 job then you are on your own. 
 
I've never heard of the Gourman rankings, but they appear to be extremely out of date and just plain weird...

That is insane.  Absolutely not.  The MAX I would work is 50% (this is about the same effort for a TA position at my school).  You are setting yourself up for failure.   Seriously.  The expectation is that students are doing coursework and research work all year and throughout the summer (even if unfunded).  Even teaching can be construed as part of the professional training program.  
 
You've got to decide what your goal is for a profession.  If you want it to be Sociology - you need to jump in with both feet.  If you want to continue your law enforcement career - AWESOME! - but don't bother with a Ph.D. it's too difficult a journey if you aren't fully committed.

That is insane.  Absolutely not.  The MAX I would work is 50% (this is about the same effort for a TA position at my school).  You are setting yourself up for failure.   Seriously.  The expectation is that students are doing coursework and research work all year and throughout the summer (even if unfunded).  Even teaching can be construed as part of the professional training program.  
 
You've got to decide what your goal is for a profession.  If you want it to be Sociology - you need to jump in with both feet.  If you want to continue your law enforcement career - AWESOME! - but don't bother with a Ph.D. it's too difficult a journey if you aren't fully committed.

Remember, for visit weekends the "power" has now shifted. Departments have already admitted you to their program, now they are trying to woo you to choose them! You should represent yourself truthfully because you wwant to decide are there people there that you like? Is this the place you want to spend the next 5 to 8 years? If you aren't representing yourself truthfully, with your wild mohawk, your your nose ring, or your transgendered self, what happens when you arrive on campus in the fall and you find out that the faculty mentor that you have put all your eggs in one basket as a mentor is totally freaked out? You want to discover that while you're still have choices.

That said, mostly people are dressed neatly with some as fancy as business casual, but mostly just nice jeans and a sweater. You're going to be walking around a bunch, getting campus tours etc. so comfort is more important than fashion. It's ok to look like a college student.

Remember, for visit weekends the "power" has now shifted. Departments have already admitted you to their program, now they are trying to woo you to choose them! You should represent yourself truthfully because you wwant to decide are there people there that you like? Is this the place you want to spend the next 5 to 8 years? If you aren't representing yourself truthfully, with your wild mohawk, your your nose ring, or your transgendered self, what happens when you arrive on campus in the fall and you find out that the faculty mentor that you have put all your eggs in one basket as a mentor is totally freaked out? You want to discover that while you're still have choices.

That said, mostly people are dressed neatly with some as fancy as business casual, but mostly just nice jeans and a sweater. You're going to be walking around a bunch, getting campus tours etc. so comfort is more important than fashion. It's ok to look like a college student.

Remember, for visit weekends the "power" has now shifted. Departments have already admitted you to their program, now they are trying to woo you to choose them! You should represent yourself truthfully because you wwant to decide are there people there that you like? Is this the place you want to spend the next 5 to 8 years? If you aren't representing yourself truthfully, with your wild mohawk, your your nose ring, or your transgendered self, what happens when you arrive on campus in the fall and you find out that the faculty mentor that you have put all your eggs in one basket as a mentor is totally freaked out? You want to discover that while you're still have choices.

That said, mostly people are dressed neatly with some as fancy as business casual, but mostly just nice jeans and a sweater. You're going to be walking around a bunch, getting campus tours etc. so comfort is more important than fashion. It's ok to look like a college student.

relay Indiana, the overall training is better at Michigan and arguably Northwestern as well.
 
Given you are interested in China, as am I, it's unlikely that you would find someone at Northwestern who knows 'closely' about China (this is why I didn't apply though it is very strong in comparative-historical studies in which I'm interested).
 
As you also want a solid training in quantitative methods, Xie is your guy and potentially your advisor (it of course depends on your speciality). If you want to go back to qualitative research somehow, Steinmetz (his 'Devil's Handwriting' touched upon Qingdao) and Zubrzycki will suffice.
 
In short, Michigan.
 
My two pennies anyway...

Yu Xie at Michigan might interest you. Congrads!

@moda I didn't realize students had such different packages--that is to say, it wasn't something that came up while I was on my visit, both from folks in the accepted cohort,or folks who are currently in the department. Where did you hear that the packages were so different? Either way, it didn't seem like this was a big issue or that students were competitive or jealous, since it wasn't something that came up or was a visible/obvious tension. The department and the grad school also seem to have a lot of pots of money that students can tap into, which is something that a lot of people highlighted as an important/attractive resource. There were some folks buying themselves out of work responsibilities by winning outside $$, but at the same time there were people who were purposely taking on teaching work so that they could get more experience, so that didn't seem to be an issue either.
 
Of course you typically see the best sides of a department during their visit days but overall, it seemed students were happy/content and adequately supported, in this respect. 
 
I would contact UMich for their average time to completion and for a placement list so you have an idea of where grads are going.
 
BTW, don't want to sound like I'm down on Northwestern. They were an awesome department too, as friendly/supportive as everyone says they are! And, if there is any part of you that thinks you'll want to do comparative historical, ethnography, or other qual research, then you should definitely strongly consider them because this is an undeniable strength of theirs.

I totally disagree with inwhatway.
 
Writing as someone who is in a Department already - the faculty are totally overwhelmed and working their butts off this time of year.  The last thing they want is "networking-type" emails from unknown students clogging up their inboxes.  Most programs admit by committee, so having a person who isn't on the committee on your side isn't going to help you get admitted.    Faculty would much rather spend more effort with substantive conversations with prospective students that have been admitted and are trying to decide which programs are best for them.   Of course, during the summer and early fall, as you are trying to learn about graduate programs and trying to get a sense of where you fit in, these sorts of conversations might be interesting (and the faculty might have time for them), but seriously, don't do so just because you think its something you should do.  They are getting 10-20 of these emails a week and most just stop responding.  It's too much...

I totally disagree with inwhatway.
 
Writing as someone who is in a Department already - the faculty are totally overwhelmed and working their butts off this time of year.  The last thing they want is "networking-type" emails from unknown students clogging up their inboxes.  Most programs admit by committee, so having a person who isn't on the committee on your side isn't going to help you get admitted.    Faculty would much rather spend more effort with substantive conversations with prospective students that have been admitted and are trying to decide which programs are best for them.   Of course, during the summer and early fall, as you are trying to learn about graduate programs and trying to get a sense of where you fit in, these sorts of conversations might be interesting (and the faculty might have time for them), but seriously, don't do so just because you think its something you should do.  They are getting 10-20 of these emails a week and most just stop responding.  It's too much...

Maleficent999 is correct.  There is a national agreement amongst universities to not require admittees to make a decision before April 15th.  
 
After April 15th, universities have the right to take away the offer of admissions and any funding offers.  This allows students to travel to the variety of recruitment weekends and do a fair evaluation without the pressure of having to make a quick decision.  Of course, if you are admitted to multiple places and know that you are definitely NOT going to some of them, then best to let those schools know as soon as they are out of the running.  This allows them to move down their waiting lists.  
 
I say that with the caveat that you should visit schools you are admitted to and give yourself a chance to see the place and meet the people.  Most of us haven't visited all of the cities/schools that we apply to, so you never know - what currently feels like your "dream school" once you visit you might realize that everyone seems unhappy and there appears to be a lot of infighting/competition amongst students and/or faculty.  Conversely, there may be places that you applied to as an afterthought, but when you get there you realize that it seems like a nurturing, supportive place, everyone you talk to is really smart, and the city seems pretty cool.  
 
The reasons people use to decide where to go to graduate school is always extremely personal.  Give yourself time and space to make this critical decision.  But, once you've decided "no" on a place, let them know.  Of course, let them know if the decision is "yes" too! 

Keep in mind about what the SOP is supposed to do.  You don't need to narrow down your specific dissertation topic yet (that nearly always changes), but you do want to give the AdComm an idea of the sorts of questions that are interesting to you.  Michigan's website has a good description about the content of the SOP.  It's a lot to pack into a small space.
 
"Academic Statement of Purpose - The Statement of Purpose is the single most important item in your application. The purpose of this essay is to give the faculty a clear idea of a) why you want to pursue a career in sociology; what questions or problems interest you; c) how you want to address these questions; d) your subplan interest(s), if applicable (see section below); and e) why you want to pursue your graduate degree at the University of Michigan.   This statement should be about 2 pages long."

Michigan seems to be open about non-academic placements.  They brag re: the different directions pretty hard on their website.  http://www.lsa.umich.edu/soc/graduateprogram/recentgraduatesandplacement