Interested in MA/PhD Sociology -- What are my chances?

[christinan]

Hi everyone,

I've been considering graduate school in Sociology for this past year now..

Right now I'm in my fourth year, I have about 6 more courses until I can officially graduate. But I think I will postpone my graduation for a couple of semesters so I can take additional courses to bump up my average.

Here's what I'm at right now:

Currently in 4th year at one of the top 5, well-known schools in Canada

- GPA (3&4th year)- 3.7 / 4.0 scale (A-)

- GPA (cumulative) - 3.0 / 4.0 ( -- I was in the faculty of Sciences for my first two years of university attempting to do a math major.. failed miserably in 3 calculus/computer science courses.. should I retake them?

- Great relationship with my professors so letters of recommendation shouldn't be a problem

- I'm going to be a part of a Field School this summer, a chance to do first-hand research on an immigrant community

- Applied to be a research assistant for one of the profs in Sociology -- got an interview at the end of the month, hope I can get it

- Work experience (pretty irrelevant): 2 years as a bank teller, 2 years teaching piano

- Have not done the GRE yet... I'll do it this summer

I'm thinking of applying to UBC, U of Toronto, Carleton, U of Alberta... it'd be great if I could get into one of these Canadian schools because it'd be more convenient for me..

But I'm not limiting myself to only Canadian schools.. Also thinking about applying to University of Washington (seattle), UCLA, University of Michigan, University of Texas (Austin)

What are my chances of getting into grad school? I'll be taking roughly 10 more courses, so I might be able to increase my major GPA to 3.8..

I'm extremely worried about my stupid mistake of going into Math the first two years.. wondering how this will affect my chances..

I don't even know if I could retake the calculus courses and get a decent grade... Haven't done any math in years..

Please let me know if there are any tips for me to better improve my chances of getting into graduate school.. I'm thinking of applying in 2012, anyways.. so I'll have some time to upgrade my application!

Thanks for all your help in advance.

[lily_]

Honestly, even with a couple small bumps in the road considering your GPA (which is still very high)I think you would be a competitive candidate for most graduate programs. So long as you don't bomb the GRE and continue to do well I think you'll do great.

[christinan]

Honestly, even with a couple small bumps in the road considering your GPA (which is still very high)I think you would be a competitive candidate for most graduate programs. So long as you don't bomb the GRE and continue to do well I think you'll do great.

Hi Lily,

Thanks for your prompt reply.

I'm more at ease after seeing your message.. I was hoping I wasn't too out of my mind about considering graduate school, lol.

[graddamn]

I agree. I think you've got a great shot at some good programs. The only reason I would or could think that the math grades might be a problem is if you are interested in formal modelling. But otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it. Do well on the GRE and work on the personal statement and you should have a great shot.

[christinan]

I agree. I think you've got a great shot at some good programs. The only reason I would or could think that the math grades might be a problem is if you are interested in formal modelling. But otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it. Do well on the GRE and work on the personal statement and you should have a great shot.

Thanks Graddamn,

Yeahhh.. I don't think I would be doing any formal modelling haha.

I was just worried that my low marks in my first two years would affect my chances.. Seems like most US schools look at cumulative GPA, while Canadian schools tend to only look at the last two years of study. I'll try my best to explain that in my personal statement... hopefully they will understand that most people don't know what they want to study or what they're truly interested in when they first begin their undergraduate studies.. sighs..

[Brussell Sprouts]

I agree with everyone else, your stats seem pretty decent. If you wanted to you could address your bad math grades in your statement of purpose so they know it wasnt core classes that you did badly in (although if they look hard enough they should be able to see that on your transcript). But the main reason I wanted to reply to this was because I was an undergrad at UT Austin in sociology and I really loved all the professors there. Dr. Warr is FANTASTIC if you want to work on crime related things, and Dr. Woodberry and Dr. Regnerus are really good for religious studies. If you want to PM me I can maybe tell you a little more of them if you want! But as an undergrad I loved the soc group at UT, so I assume grad students would too!

[christinan]

I agree with everyone else, your stats seem pretty decent. If you wanted to you could address your bad math grades in your statement of purpose so they know it wasnt core classes that you did badly in (although if they look hard enough they should be able to see that on your transcript). But the main reason I wanted to reply to this was because I was an undergrad at UT Austin in sociology and I really loved all the professors there. Dr. Warr is FANTASTIC if you want to work on crime related things, and Dr. Woodberry and Dr. Regnerus are really good for religious studies. If you want to PM me I can maybe tell you a little more of them if you want! But as an undergrad I loved the soc group at UT, so I assume grad students would too!

Thanks Brussell Sprouts! PMed you!