Illusio80

Acceptances you had: UCONN, Albany, Umass Amherst
Research Area: Women and Children issues, Middle East, Military Families 
Final Choice: Umass
Reason: I really liked the faculty there. The drive wasn't horrible (unlike Albany), and it was a top 30 program (unlike UCONN). 

Maybe I can help you if you have specific questions to ask.  I know something about political sociology.

Waitlisted at Ohio State! ...there is still some hope yet!

Thanks @sociologicals for the nice analysis.  See you guys/gals here next year if necessary, but very best of luck as things wrap up.
-- @Illusio80
As of today:
Accepted: 0/8
Waitlisted: 1/8
Rejected: 2/8
Crickets: 5/8

@Jessica80 this is an aside, but you're a qualitative person going to Cornell?  (I didn't know they really existed at the graduate level.)  Are you going to work with Mabel Berezin by any chance?

Quite happily claiming a "hold" (waitlist) at Notre Dame.  Finally, some halfway positive news!

I have been taken off the waitlist at Umass Amherst and offered a fully funded place!
(thanks to whoever declined!)

I can claim a Duke acceptance. I received an email to check the portal: was surprised to see that it was an acceptance rather than a denial. Duke guarantees five years of funding, but there's no information on visit weekends on the letter.

I've been really struggling the past week or so. I got rejected from my top two choices and my best guess is that I've been waitlisted at my "safety" school. It's been rough but I'm trying to stay positive. However, now that I've reached this low, I find that my anxiety level has dropped significantly. I'm actually going a normal amount of time between checking emails and have actually been productive in my work. 
This seems like a super depressing post, but as I'm learning to deal with the rejections, I'm finding peace. Hope that the rest of you find a calm place within yourselves - hopefully through good news, but if not, then in spite of the bad. 

Sounds like (perhaps unsurprisingly) there are lots of culture folks out there.  I thought we could use our own hangout.  So, which is it, sociology of culture, or cultural sociology?  Choose carefully...

Hi. I'm not sure what's going on here but maybe everyone can calm down and just answer the OP's question, or move on if you have nothing constructive to say. 

@socnewbie congrats! I might agree with @draco.malfoy (in part because of your interests but also because his/her handle is fantastic), but ask about retention when you visit. UCLA is quietly infamous for losing almost half of its students along the way - I'm sure there are plenty of reasons for this, but I think it's important to end up in a program where you feel confident you'll receive the support you need to complete your degree.

Accepted by UNC Chapel Hill via email this morning! Details are still hazy, but they mentioned ~20k of funding for 5 years, via fellowships or possibly TA-ships. It make the Berkeley rejection easier to take for sure. 

Congratulations to the person who got into UC Irvine!

I know you are right, but last night my thought was "anxiety control" after getting my first rejection and not hearing from 3 schools that others are reporting from...not sure how healthy turning to wine is in that situation BUT it was a nice evening  Mary is the worst in season one!  
Last night I dreamt that my dog got accepted and I didn't...(she's in my profile pic, it kind of shows how goofy she is).  So the dreams that are more pointed toward hearing back can be just as strange.  

Just got home with a nice Pinot Noir and a loaf of french bread...gunna start rewatching Downton Abbey tonight and force myself to not panic.

One of my favorite sociology jokes:
Why does Karl Marx hate Earl Grey tea?
Because all proper tea is theft.

Just about every top program will have excellent training in quantitative and qualitative methods, and "mixed methods." I second Illusio80's suggestion: just look for programs with scholars doing both qualitative and quantitative work. Mario Small had an excellent article on mixed methods in the Annual Review a few years back, you might want to check that out.

In a sociology PhD program they are going to make you do at least two quarters or a year of stats.  Depending on the department, you may be free to use the stats in your work or not use it.  The program I used to be in had optional advanced stats for after the basic sequence, as well as various qualitative and quantitative methods sequences.  I strongly urge you to take the methods sequence that is of most interest to you in the first year, if that is how your program is structured.  You will need it to draw from in the process of writing whatever MA requirement there is.  In my experience, methods training is far more important early on than topical seminars, because once you hit the second year, you are pretty much on your own in terms of coming up with a substantial paper, and it would be helpful to be able to follow some kind of standard procedure, whatever that may be, so you have a somewhat smaller chance of getting laughed out of the room.  The MA is not the time for avant garde experimentation, I found out.  Devise something doable, crank it through the methodological sausage grinder of your choice, present the results, and be done with it.  It all goes way faster than you could believe.  People were telling me first year to chill out, that I had plenty of time to worry about a project.  I thought they were wrong at the time, and now I know just how wrong they were.  Assuming your program has some kind of MA thesis, start thinking about it as soon as you can.  Ideally, spin it off one of your seminar papers.  Try to select a committee that is going to actually help you when you need it.  (Judging this can be easier said than done.)  Good luck and feel free to follow up with questions!

Hey @rococo_realism, I did my undergrad at UMN and live in the cities currently. I'm moving for grad school this fall and totally get the whole "stressed out about the move" thing. I'm actually super stressed because I LOVE the Twin Cities and kind of don't want to leave  With that in mind, here is my assessment of the areas you mentioned. It sounds like you don't have a car, so I will keep that in mind. Sorry for writing a novel, but talking about neighborhoods and cities is kind of my favorite thing to do...
"West side of St. Paul" - I would investigate St. Paul a lot. I live in the Highland neighborhood of St. Paul and I really like it, but I didn't live here as a student. I live close to the river (meaning lots of great trails and park space for running and biking) and just across the river from Minnehaha Falls State Park, which is really pleasant. It's a bit sleepy as Highland has a reputation for being older, more suburban in nature, but I live near a Starbucks, Chipotle, Target Express, nice grocery store, a movie theater, plenty of local restaurants. It's really...nice. Has an urban feel without being loud and crowded like Uptown. Most areas in the western part of St. Paul south of I-94 feel similar. Grand Avenue is a little more "happening" (and expensive) and there are like five colleges within a two mile radius, so lots of rental options, but also lots of families. I should mention too--I have never once felt unsafe in my neighborhood and run regularly at night by myself. Obviously it's a city, so crime happens, but generally Highland and most of this part of St. Paul have felt really safe to me. It's not super transit accessible in my opinion, at least not to the U. However, they are starting a Bus Rapid Transit that will run up Snelling Avenue and connect the Blue Line train to the Green Line trains. This could definitely be an asset for you. I imagine the commute may be 30-45 min via buses/trains, but the BRT should speed it up a little. By car, I would guess 20 min. during rush hour and 10-15 off-peak, but you'll have to deal with parking at the U (not fun). You can definitely live without a car in the Twin Cities, but I would know someone who has one or live closer to campus if this were the case. Otherwise, a car is really nice to have in these parts, even if you don't commute with it. 
"Uptown" - Uptown is much more urban and much more youthful than St. Paul. This obviously has perks and liabilities. I would never really consider Uptown or the Lakes area to be "high crime", but there will  be more crime just because it is more densely populated. I would consider more whether or not you want to live somewhere that is louder and busier. It's a fun area, for sure, and lots of people really enjoy living there. If you are worried about "sketchy" (which, again, I wouldn't be TOO concerned about in Uptown), stay west of Lyndale and you should be fine. However, you'll also pay more. Transit connections to the U are pretty frequent, so I think you could be fine without a car here. Parking can actually be a huge pain in Uptown.
"SLP/west of lakes" - So I don't know much about transit to these parts, but I imagine it exists. Parts of SLP are really nice, parts are just boring. I don't think anywhere would be "sketchy". Southwest Minneapolis (the area immediately west of the lakes) is quite nice, so if you can find something affordable there, more power to you. These just tend to be more single family homes or condos than student apartments. If you're really interested in living in SLP or somewhere, you could look in the area called the West End. Lots of new shops, on 394 so you could probably get transit into downtown then take the train. It's probably going to be expensive, the apartments are all newer and kind of sterile, and you'll basically be living in a Costco parking lot, but that's some people's style. 
Other neighborhoods to check out:
Southeast Como (Minneapolis) - Ok, so by no means a super "desirable" place to live, but I lived in a house here for a year and actually grew to like it. It's kind of dumpy, but not in a rundown or unsafe kind of way. It feels somewhat industrial and may seem off-putting, but it's very affordable and convenient to both UMN campuses. Lots of students, but not too loud or raucous surprisingly. Not a lot of apartments here though, so you'd likely be renting a room in a house. 
St. Anthony Park - This is also on Como, but east of 280 closer to the St. Paul campus. I love this area. Fairly affordable, quaint, convenient to get to both campuses, lots of families, parks, but also a nice little commercial node with coffee shops and bookstores. Lots of students with classes on the St.  Paul campus choose to live here, but I honestly don't think it would be a bad commute via bus to the Minneapolis campus either. 
Lowertown (Downtown St. Paul) - The area around Mears Park may be a little pricey, but is really doing well. Lots of artists, new restaurants, new stadium for the St. Paul Saints (minor league baseball) and the Green Line starts here and would take you into campus in 25-30 minutes. Some crime because you're downtown but, again, not what I would consider unsafe. Farmers market on the weekends. I work over here and repeatedly kick myself for not spending more money to live in this area. 
You may also check out Prospect Park (Minneapolis), Cathedral Hill (St. Paul), Northeast Minneapolis, and the area around Hennepin and Central just across the river from Downtown Minneapolis. Feel free to message me if you have other questions and sorry again for such a long response!

In a sociology PhD program they are going to make you do at least two quarters or a year of stats.  Depending on the department, you may be free to use the stats in your work or not use it.  The program I used to be in had optional advanced stats for after the basic sequence, as well as various qualitative and quantitative methods sequences.  I strongly urge you to take the methods sequence that is of most interest to you in the first year, if that is how your program is structured.  You will need it to draw from in the process of writing whatever MA requirement there is.  In my experience, methods training is far more important early on than topical seminars, because once you hit the second year, you are pretty much on your own in terms of coming up with a substantial paper, and it would be helpful to be able to follow some kind of standard procedure, whatever that may be, so you have a somewhat smaller chance of getting laughed out of the room.  The MA is not the time for avant garde experimentation, I found out.  Devise something doable, crank it through the methodological sausage grinder of your choice, present the results, and be done with it.  It all goes way faster than you could believe.  People were telling me first year to chill out, that I had plenty of time to worry about a project.  I thought they were wrong at the time, and now I know just how wrong they were.  Assuming your program has some kind of MA thesis, start thinking about it as soon as you can.  Ideally, spin it off one of your seminar papers.  Try to select a committee that is going to actually help you when you need it.  (Judging this can be easier said than done.)  Good luck and feel free to follow up with questions!

Yes Yale, but also look at Jeffrey Guhin at UCLA for the culture/education combo.  I'll let you know if I think of anyone else.
Also, you might want to throw in a safety school.  LOL.  Best of luck with the range you've selected.  You probably have killer GRE scores.
EDIT: I guess I misread your post.  But look at UCLA anyway for Jeffrey Guhin and Rebecca Emigh among others.

Some of the University of California campuses such as Berkeley, San Diego, Santa Cruz, and Santa Barbara have very strong qualitative areas.  Some other schools that come to mind are Northwestern, Emory, and Rutgers, but there are good qualitative people in many places, so it depends on your specific interests.
I would say that Wisconsin, Washington-Seattle, North Carolina, and Cornell are more heavily quantitative focused, among other places.

I think you've made some good choices.  Maybe look at Minnesota and Berkeley too.  Minnesota is very strong in Crime, Law, and Deviance, and Race/Ethnicity.  Your interests also make me think of Wacquant at Berkeley.  There are probably more out there, but those are my suggestions.

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