PhD in sociology - faculty connections?

[mighettio]

Hi! I graduated in 2017 with my B.A. in Neuroscience from a top 20 university. I've decided to pivot and pursue a PhD in sociology (going to apply for Fall 2019 admission), but I have a few questions about the application process. I was originally planning to apply for Clinical Psychology programs, meaning I was going to be applying to specific faculty whose research interests aligned with mine. Is sociology similar to this? Should I be contacting faculty within schools/departments I am interested in? Does prior contact with faculty of a specific department, even if it's just via email, weigh into acceptances at all? Thanks so much!