Interviews/Acceptances/Rejections Fall 2019

[syza]

Geez, this thread went from high anxiety generating to deeply toxic. Feels good that I avoided the forums this time around. My condolences to all the real humans that had to sit through the toxic troll fest.

Good luck with the arduous path of an academic life for those who will be starting the PhD this year, and my best wishes to those who will try again with applications next year around. I applied to 12 programs last year, and got rejected from all. This time around I applied to 10, and got accepted to 2 programs ranked in the 10s and 2 programs ranked in the 30s. I am really excited about this, especially given that I got into one of my dream schools! Amazing things can happen...

[gradgirrrl]

3 hours ago, syza said:

Geez, this thread went from high anxiety generating to deeply toxic. Feels good that I avoided the forums this time around. My condolences to all the real humans that had to sit through the toxic troll fest.

Good luck with the arduous path of an academic life for those who will be starting the PhD this year, and my best wishes to those who will try again with applications next year around. I applied to 12 programs last year, and got rejected from all. This time around I applied to 10, and got accepted to 2 programs ranked in the 10s and 2 programs ranked in the 30s. I am really excited about this, especially given that I got into one of my dream schools! Amazing things can happen...

 

Would you mind sharing what changed in your application or tactic? I know a lot of people on here would be interested! 

[SocSophie]

10 hours ago, syza said:

Geez, this thread went from high anxiety generating to deeply toxic. Feels good that I avoided the forums this time around. My condolences to all the real humans that had to sit through the toxic troll fest.

Good luck with the arduous path of an academic life for those who will be starting the PhD this year, and my best wishes to those who will try again with applications next year around. I applied to 12 programs last year, and got rejected from all. This time around I applied to 10, and got accepted to 2 programs ranked in the 10s and 2 programs ranked in the 30s. I am really excited about this, especially given that I got into one of my dream schools! Amazing things can happen...

I also want to hear your sharing about this huge advancement! 

[purpleatheart1994]

 Anyone still waiting for a response from UIC? Haven't gotten a rejection but I haven't gotten an acceptance or waitlist either. I can see some posters who got a response. So confused. Anyone else in the same boat?

[sosociology]

On 2/23/2019 at 5:09 PM, onika92 said:

guys, i saw some uva sociology acceptances on forum. I wanna know, did everyone that they accepted firstly get interviewed or some people just got directly accepted?? 

Interestingly, I just got an email asking me to interview for UVA. No idea what it's about, just that they were 'interested in my application' and wanted a chance to speak. 

[Esenabla]

I see that uchicago already sent out acceptances and rejections, but i havent heard anything yet. there's nothing to see in my app portal either. i understand this likely means rejection, but it seems a little odd that i havent received a notification of any kind yet. anybody else in the same boat or have some insight? 

[sociopolitic]

2 minutes ago, Esenabla said:

I see that uchicago already sent out acceptances and rejections, but i havent heard anything yet. there's nothing to see in my app portal either. i understand this likely means rejection, but it seems a little odd that i havent received a notification of any kind yet. anybody else in the same boat or have some insight? 

I think they've only sent out rejections to those they interviewed but did not admit. Does that help at all?

[queersoc]

I haven’t seen many people here post about getting into CUNY, but I’m on the waitlist and it’s my only option so far! (And one of my top choices). If you know you won’t be attending, please, please let them know soon. 

[ErikaFate]

1 hour ago, Esenabla said:

I see that uchicago already sent out acceptances and rejections, but i havent heard anything yet. there's nothing to see in my app portal either. i understand this likely means rejection, but it seems a little odd that i havent received a notification of any kind yet. anybody else in the same boat or have some insight? 

It's the same for me. I'm not sure what it means.

[onika92]

2 hours ago, sosociology said:

Interestingly, I just got an email asking me to interview for UVA. No idea what it's about, just that they were 'interested in my application' and wanted a chance to speak. 

thanx for the respond. when did they send u this interview request? i am trying to figure out whether these interviews done via different periods or do they send the whole requests in one time.

[cornetto]

1 hour ago, onika92 said:

thanx for the respond. when did they send u this interview request? i am trying to figure out whether these interviews done via different periods or do they send the whole requests in one time.

I was interviewed and two days later received the acceptance letter.

[emilyv15]

still waiting on Arizona for my last PhD application. has anyone heard back since the 1st or anyone still waiting with me? got waitlisted to UIC and Bloomington and rejected from Umass Amherst so an acceptance somewhere would be nice lol

[gradgirrrl]

hey ya'll, when I log on to my yale portal its look all weird and empty/nothing comes up! Not sure if this is indicating an impending status change or just a glitch, anyone else have this going on?

[gradgirrrl]

LOL IT WAS ONE! Just got admitted to the Yale program! folks check your portal

[socchi92]

11 minutes ago, gradgirrrl said:

LOL IT WAS ONE! Just got admitted to the Yale program! folks check your portal

Congratulations ❤️ 

[NReken]

23 minutes ago, gradgirrrl said:

LOL IT WAS ONE! Just got admitted to the Yale program! folks check your portal

Me too! Huge congratulations!  

[bandanajack]

Congrats to our Yale admits!!!

[annetod]

Did anyone here apply to the Sociology and Social Policy program at either Harvard or Princeton and/or does anyone have any insight about them in general? What makes them more/less appealing than just a regular sociology program? 

[markhame]

These visit days for UCLA cannot come soon enough. I haven’t taken a vacation since July and I really need to get away. If anyone is staying an extra day in LA let me know and we can hit up a museum together!

Edited February 26, 2019 by markhame

[syza]

On 2/24/2019 at 3:28 PM, gradgirrrl said:

 

Would you mind sharing what changed in your application or tactic? I know a lot of people on here would be interested! 

 

On 2/24/2019 at 9:57 PM, SocSophie said:

I also want to hear your sharing about this huge advancement! 

Sure, in case it helps!

By the end of February, I received all by rejections. I was devastated. I just could not process it or make any narrative sense of it. I was pretty confident that I will get in somewhere; my friends and recommendation letter writers were even more confident. It was suggested that I contact professors at schools I have applied to, asking what I could do to improve my applications next time. I just couldn't even muster the courage to do that. Really, it was a period of darkness until June. I won't torment you with my depressive state of being.

Then in June, I took a 2 weeks vacation. It was a helpful change. After return back to work, I decided that I should reapply to grad schools again, after a lot of soul searching. My GRE were valid for one more year, and I was still passionate about doctoral studies, so decided to give it a shot. I read some of the statement of purpose of my friends that have gotten in. I realized they were more impersonal/citational/jargon-y in their statements, meanwhile I was more biographical and chronological. I also spotted that I had only applied to the top 10 schools (clearly overconfident, with a conflated sense of self). I decided to expand the range to top 40 instead. I decided not to apply to any below top 40, given that the job prospects are non-existent if you stray outside the hierarchy. I threw myself into the application process from July onward.

Then came the process of selecting departments, working on writing samples, and writing the statement of purpose. I decided to apply to only those departments in the top 40 programs that had at least 6 professors that I would want to work with. Arbitrary number, but I needed some selection criteria. I found 18 programs that met this criteria. I then read at least 3 essay by these 6 professors in each program. After reading them, I read some more essays, especially those that were cited the most by the professors I had already read and those that stood out as particularly promising. After reading all of their essays, I ranked the professors from 1 to 5, based on my subjective interests in their work. This was really helpful in eliminating other schools. Being cost sensitive and focusing on quality over quantity, I decided to only apply to 10 programs. I ended up applying to the 10 programs that I gave the highest points, based on my essay readings.

This informal literature review process was very helpful in writing my statement of purpose and tweaking my writing sample. I wrote highly individualized statements, based on what the professors had said in the essays I read, especially making use to use the keywords, highlighting key problems, and talking about how I personally would expand on this research question. My writing sample was similarly reworked to incorporate all the essays I had read, although this wasn't individualized to each program as that would be just practically impossible.

I kept reworking on this till the application deadline, and then I checked out. The rest in history.

I probably went overboard with this process. It was incredibly time consuming. But, I really enjoyed it. I am sure all those essays I have read will be very helpful for the actual graduate studies.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask me anything else.

[socchi92]

Anybody have any thoughts on what they're wearing to visit days? How formal/casual are you thinking?

[HumanHeatSOC]

Was rejected by my own University today ( currently have a 4.0 at but in a different program for my masters, graduating this semester) but am still holding out for Yale's Africana/Sociology program. Congrats on all those who got in today!!!!!!

[markhame]

1 hour ago, syza said:

 

Sure, in case it helps!

By the end of February, I received all by rejections. I was devastated. I just could not process it or make any narrative sense of it. I was pretty confident that I will get in somewhere; my friends and recommendation letter writers were even more confident. It was suggested that I contact professors at schools I have applied to, asking what I could do to improve my applications next time. I just couldn't even muster the courage to do that. Really, it was a period of darkness until June. I won't torment you with my depressive state of being.

Then in June, I took a 2 weeks vacation. It was a helpful change. After return back to work, I decided that I should reapply to grad schools again, after a lot of soul searching. My GRE were valid for one more year, and I was still passionate about doctoral studies, so decided to give it a shot. I read some of the statement of purpose of my friends that have gotten in. I realized they were more impersonal/citational/jargon-y in their statements, meanwhile I was more biographical and chronological. I also spotted that I had only applied to the top 10 schools (clearly overconfident, with a conflated sense of self). I decided to expand the range to top 40 instead. I decided not to apply to any below top 40, given that the job prospects are non-existent if you stray outside the hierarchy. I threw myself into the application process from July onward.

Then came the process of selecting departments, working on writing samples, and writing the statement of purpose. I decided to apply to only those departments in the top 40 programs that had at least 6 professors that I would want to work with. Arbitrary number, but I needed some selection criteria. I found 18 programs that met this criteria. I then read at least 3 essay by these 6 professors in each program. After reading them, I read some more essays, especially those that were cited the most by the professors I had already read and those that stood out as particularly promising. After reading all of their essays, I ranked the professors from 1 to 5, based on my subjective interests in their work. This was really helpful in eliminating other schools. Being cost sensitive and focusing on quality over quantity, I decided to only apply to 10 programs. I ended up applying to the 10 programs that I gave the highest points, based on my essay readings.

This informal literature review process was very helpful in writing my statement of purpose and tweaking my writing sample. I wrote highly individualized statements, based on what the professors had said in the essays I read, especially making use to use the keywords, highlighting key problems, and talking about how I personally would expand on this research question. My writing sample was similarly reworked to incorporate all the essays I had read, although this wasn't individualized to each program as that would be just practically impossible.

I kept reworking on this till the application deadline, and then I checked out. The rest in history.

I probably went overboard with this process. It was incredibly time consuming. But, I really enjoyed it. I am sure all those essays I have read will be very helpful for the actual graduate studies.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask me anything else.

That is some serious hustle. Good for you that’s awesome!!!

Edited February 26, 2019 by markhame

[Soc_foucault]

49 minutes ago, socchi92 said:

Anybody have any thoughts on what they're wearing to visit days? How formal/casual are you thinking?

Yes I’m also curious about this!

 

[Dorkface]

Business casual. Like business slacks / skirt with flats and a trendy blouse? Accessorize (jewelry)with something tasteful and not distracting. Definitely my favorite messenger bag / briefcase thing with a fancy notebook. You want to show you have a personality while still remaining professional.