Illusio80

I lived in Saint Paul for four years while attending grad school on the West Bank and lost at least a couple hours of productivity to bus travel each day. But, I had no choice (free rent option.) I don't study well during bumpy busrides. So, I recommend living within Minneapolis.

Craigslist is a good option, and there might be a University housing office - I never used it, but try Google. As I said before, I would concentrate on Uptown and Northeast, maybe Seward and Longfellow. Above all else, avoid Phillips and North Minneapolis due to crime rates (sorry to offend anyone.) If you are from a tropical climate, or something like it, I'm sure the winter weather will come as an utter shock. By November you should have bought a winter coat with down filling. That is the warmest kind of coat. You will survive. On a positive note, summers are hot and humid. Summer will probably remind you of home, but not quite as hot.

6. (which is perhaps a corollary to 1): Never ever go somewhere unfunded, thinking something will materialize, because it won't.

Agreed. Bourdieu tried to synthesize a wide variety of anthropologists, sociologists, and philosophers. Insofar as he followed a methodology it was ethnography or statistical analysis.

CA is the analysis of audiotaped or videotaped interaction, whereas ethnography is typically more oriented to "hanging out" in the world and then taking detailed notes. My understanding is that they are distinct methodologies.

I know of a sociology professor, who now is retired, who specifically listed an interest in sociolinguistics. Similarly, there is a subfield of sociology called "social psychology". However, you may do as you wish. Good luck.

Possibly. Do some research on "sociolinguistics." I don't know a whole lot about it, but I do know that conversation analysis is a significant part of the subfield.

Well, there are a few different strains of sociology of culture. The most traditional one looks at culture as music, dance, art, etc. and analyzes the social conditions of its production. Then there's cognitive sociology, which draws heavily from cognitive anthropology, and the Strong Program, which draws heavily from Geertz and semiotic anthropology. What kind of anthro have you concentrated on?

Schools that offer full funding to everyone are, by definition, not schools that have "have-nots." But full-funding schools could still have attrition mechanisms, and enough students would still choose to enroll at these institutions given enough reputation. Quite right -- quite the reign of terror isn't it?

Yes, definitely, I had a minor in anthro and a major in something else, and once was in a highly ranked sociology program. If you're interested in culture, look at such places as UC-San Diego, UC-Santa Barbara, UC- Berkeley, Chicago, Yale, Princeton, etc.

It is true beyond a reasonable doubt that certain departments at certain times have admitted "haves" and "have-nots", which is a cruel irony, being that it is sociology. You can't tell me that said departments have had the same level of commitment to have-nots as they have had to haves. And it is not true that nobody would attend departments that operate by attrition, because they do over and over. Think of it from the department's perspective. We have X amount of resources, but need Y amount of research and teaching labor, and Z number of butts in seats. But we are fine with graduating W number of PhD's. From the students' perspective, it's a slice of the American Dream. Of course I will persevere over others, of course funding will materialize once I get there... People have limited information when making decisions.

I don't have first hand experience finding an apartment with a pet, but I think you should be able to find something. Try looking around on Craigslist a bit. Also, familiarize yourself with Metro Transit, especially their express lines to the U. I'm sure there at least a couple from the area casually known as Uptown, which is everything west of Lyndale, south of Franklin, and down to the Lake Harriet area. Lots of grad students live in this area. There are also buses from Northeast Minneapolis, which is another good option. Dinkytown, Prospect Park, and Southeast Como are pretty undergrad, so beware. There are some caveats further up this thread about certain landlords, about which I have no direct experience. Actually, looking at your program, you are probably on the Saint Paul campus. Living in Saint Paul is nice (I'm biased) and will save you money. Just look for apartments near campus in Saint Paul, Falcon Heights, or Roseville. EDIT: the 3 and the 61 go near the Saint Paul campus, not sure about any others. I don't think the 61 runs on weekends, but the 3 runs all the time. Saint Anthony Park would be a very nice neighborhood to check out.

UCSB is rolling out its rejections. I'll claim one. Wa...wa...waaaaa. Kind of looks like the competition is vicious this year.

France Winddance Twine at UC Santa Barbara and Enid Logan at Minnesota are two people you could check out. I'm not an expert in this area, but those are two people I'm familiar with. Maybe Deirdre Royster at NYU, but I think her thing is more economic sociology. Maybe also Abigail Saguy at UCLA, though I don't think she has focused on the African American experience per se.

I'm with you on this one. :-/

I think I will sleep for days if I get a positive response. This is surprisingly rough on me - I don't remember this being as stressful the last time I applied to school. I know those of you already in programs will just tell me and the rest of us to chill out, but I have to get this off my chest.

Well, my studio in Dinkytown a few years ago was about 575 or 600. I've been living with family since then. I would think you could get a one bedroom in the 700 range. PM me if you want to bounce neighborhoods/addresses off me. Though everyone has different ideas about safety (and I am male, FWIW.)

I have taken two courses in the department at Minnesota. If you have any questions about life here or want to tap my limited knowledge of the department, post or PM away.

Well, it looks like the Minneapolis thread has been largely abandoned, so as a native of the area I'll jump in and answer your question. Please do come visit the Twin Cities; I've lived other places around the country and the world, and it's in general great to live here. The climate is the main drawback. It's freaking cold today. We have cold weather from about November to March, and relatively hot and humid weather June-August. Dinkytown is the main undergraduate "ghetto" -- definitely worth a look for the business district around 4th and 14th, but don't rent an apartment there unless you want to listen to other people's partying all night, especially on the weekends. If I am not mistaken, Bob Dylan lived in what became the Loring Pasta Bar, which you can still see (and is a very good place for dinner.) Most grad students either live in NE Mpls (north, and to the east of the river) or in South/Uptown. I would say you should get to the MIA and the Walker if you like art. Pick up a Citypages or a VitaMN at a cafe and see what's going on. The Minneapolis theater scene is famous, but I still haven't really scratched the surface. Let me know if you have further questions.

Thanks for elaborating. I did my undergrad degree in a small city with minimal entertainment, so I think I could handle being there. Plus, it's not like I would have oodles of extra time for doing things. I've read similar things about Carrboro. This month sure is a special brand of torture. Good luck everyone! By the way, Madison is also very close to Minneapolis, which has one of the best theater scenes in the country. ;-)

Is something wrong with Chapel Hill? UNC is one of my picks, and the photos of campus look quite nice. Please explain.

At my former program there are comprehensive exams, but they generally come after the masters process. I think it may have been possible to take an exam before getting the MA, but it isn't common.

I once spent two years in a very highly ranked sociology program. The reading load was very thick, but overall, the standards were not that high, surprisingly. It wasn't that difficult to get A's. (After that program didn't work out for me, I struggled a lot more in a professional masters program at a different university.) The "intermediate" statistics sequence was a bit of a joke - one of the professors couldn't teach his way out of the proverbial bag - and the overall expectations were very low. The thing that hit me upside the head was the second year masters paper process, as well as the problems of not having good funding. (So here goes nothing, again...) I can't say for sure how difficult your first year courses will be if you are doing hard core quantitative stuff. If my former program is any indication, I would not expect wonders in terms of quality of teaching.

I guess I'm a little late to this party, but what the heck. UC Santa Barbara Chicago UNC - Chapel Hill Princeton Rutgers Yale UAlbany SUNY Interests: Culture and politics, urban sociology General GRE picture: Verbal: very happy Quant: Not so happy Writing: Disappointed but not too bad

I don't think anyone mentioned the University of Minnesota. It's a good all-around department with a strong area in environmental sociology. Check out Michael Goldman, Lisa Sun-Hee Park, David Pellow, and Rachel Shurman. I can't exactly speak to the specific topics you listed though. I've taken a couple courses in the department as a student in a professional masters program and had the opportunity to meet Lisa Sun-Hee Park, who is friendly.