2020 FALL APPLICATION VENTING THREAD

[Meylinaless]

1 hour ago, 0102030405 said:

Hi all! I was just wondering if anybody else comes from a non-Sociology background?

Yes! International development/environmental sustainability - but worked with anthropologists and sociologists during undergrad and grad school

[0102030405]

8 minutes ago, Meylinaless said:

Yes! International development/environmental sustainability - but worked with anthropologists and sociologists during undergrad and grad school

That’s so interesting! My background is also in international development with a regional focus on Africa, the field is obviously really interdisciplinary and like you I have worked across these fields during my academic degrees. 
 

I’m just glad I’m not alone in crossing disciplines to sociology! It was a worry of mine that I’d be disadvantaged when I applied, but a POI I met and I had a long conversation about her career which involved a very similar disciplinary shift during graduate school! 

[0102030405]

36 minutes ago, hap317 said:

Coming from econ! can't wait to run the f away from econ tbh  

I currently work in a research environment that's dominated by economists and I have to say it's been a real motivator to not do an econ-PhD because of how narrow minded the problem-solving can be there! Aha good luck with everything! 

[hap317]

20 minutes ago, 0102030405 said:

I currently work in a research environment that's dominated by economists and I have to say it's been a real motivator to not do an econ-PhD because of how narrow minded the problem-solving can be there! Aha good luck with everything! 

Haha sounds about right - I'm also working in a research position surrounded by econ PhDs so I understand exactly what you mean. Good luck to you too!!

[possumus]

2 hours ago, 0102030405 said:

Hi all! I was just wondering if anybody else comes from a non-Sociology background?

Me! My background is French and Philosophy

[passere]

7 hours ago, 0102030405 said:

Hi all! I was just wondering if anybody else comes from a non-Sociology background?

My background is in biomedical engineering, minor in linguistics. It sounds crazy, but when I say I want to study medical sociology, it sounds slightly less crazy XD

I knew I wanted to study medical stuff when I picked undergrad, but engineering was not the way for me!

[oldmanapplicant]

I'm a public-interest  lawyer.

[DisciplineSwitcher97]

On 1/27/2020 at 9:46 PM, laselvanegra88 said:

Hang in there! I also had a Rutgers interview and am waiting on Irvine... thinking it's a no at this point. Did your POI at Rutgers tell you when to expect a response? How did it go? Mine seemed pretty informal and conversational.

Thank you! The interview went pretty chill and informal. I'm thinking Irvine is no as well. Which leaves only my reach schools. I'm thinking that if I don't get into Irvine or Rutgers, I'm not getting in this year. 

[DisciplineSwitcher97]

22 hours ago, 0102030405 said:

Hi all! I was just wondering if anybody else comes from a non-Sociology background?

I'm from Education!

[laselvanegra88]

30 minutes ago, DisciplineSwitcher97 said:

Thank you! The interview went pretty chill and informal. I'm thinking Irvine is no as well. Which leaves only my reach schools. I'm thinking that if I don't get into Irvine or Rutgers, I'm not getting in this year. 

If you don't mind me asking, where else did you apply? I also wouldn't lose hope- I know personally of several people who didn't get into "safety schools" but got into an IVY or something similar

[MFSocio]

1 hour ago, DisciplineSwitcher97 said:

Thank you! The interview went pretty chill and informal. I'm thinking Irvine is no as well. Which leaves only my reach schools. I'm thinking that if I don't get into Irvine or Rutgers, I'm not getting in this year. 

Same!

[lkaitlyn]

1 hour ago, laselvanegra88 said:

If you don't mind me asking, where else did you apply? I also wouldn't lose hope- I know personally of several people who didn't get into "safety schools" but got into an IVY or something similar

I'm going to ditto this. It's about fit, and if a so-called "safety school" senses that you're not actually interested or not a fit for the department, they'll turn you down. And a lot of people tend to unconsciously or consciously put a lot less effort into apps for schools they assume they'll get into. (Not criticizing — it's a human thing to do!) If UMich is your best fit and your U of Delaware app (I almost applied there — not throwing shade!) doesn't make it clear that you'd really want to be there and have really thought about the connection between your interests and faculty interests, I'd put my money on you getting into UMich over Delaware. Just my two cents.

Edited January 29, 2020 by lkaitlyn

[DeadAccount]

Out of curiosity, did anyone else apply to Penn (UPenn, not Penn State)? I saw that the combined Soc/History PhD program has done interviews in the past, but does anyone know if the Sociology PhD program does interviews? It looks like they don't notify until mid-to-late February - the waiting is killing me. 

 

[quietsoc]

52 minutes ago, SocAnth_Lou said:

Out of curiosity, did anyone else apply to Penn (UPenn, not Penn State)? I saw that the combined Soc/History PhD program has done interviews in the past, but does anyone know if the Sociology PhD program does interviews? It looks like they don't notify until mid-to-late February - the waiting is killing me. 

 

I don't think they do interviews--overall, I think interviews are pretty rare with straight sociology programs, especially at the top. 

[lkaitlyn]

I'm being driven crazy but the lack of Berkeley news, too.

[DeadAccount]

30 minutes ago, quietsoc said:

I don't think they do interviews--overall, I think interviews are pretty rare with straight sociology programs, especially at the top. 

Okay, that's what I thought, but I wasn't sure - thanks!

[toolkitsocio]

2 hours ago, lkaitlyn said:

I'm going to ditto this. It's about fit, and if a so-called "safety school" senses that you're not actually interested or not a fit for the department, they'll turn you down. And a lot of people tend to unconsciously or consciously put a lot less effort into apps for schools they assume they'll get into. (Not criticizing — it's a human thing to do!) If UMich is your best fit and your U of Delaware app (I almost applied there — not throwing shade!) doesn't make it clear that you'd really want to be there and have really thought about the connection between your interests and faculty interests, I'd put my money on you getting into UMich over Delaware. Just my two cents.

So true! And I admit I did this. As an international student I tend to see northeastern, Vanderbilt even UNC as safety schools! I know this is crazy but thats true. We won't stand a chance ahead if we don't have a Columbia or Berkeley on our bag! So there is this conditioning that makes you not focus on the fit on what assume as safety schools. It is backwards. You prepare a SOP for lets say Columbia or NYU and then try to modify that one paragraph for these safety schools and the lack of interest becomes obvious. 

And on another note shout out to all those who think their GREs are going to kill them. It might not. I am betting my money on this after speaking to current students in Berkeley, Michigan, NYU, Columbia who have around mean GREs but their SOP and fit of interests was impeccable! Along with this If your application shows a clear indication of research experience there is a lot to look forward to. Be hopeful!

[2ms1234]

I only applied to 5 schools, i'm so nervous 

[annetod]

28 minutes ago, toolkitsocio said:

So true! And I admit I did this. As an international student I tend to see northeastern, Vanderbilt even UNC as safety schools! I know this is crazy but thats true. We won't stand a chance ahead if we don't have a Columbia or Berkeley on our bag! So there is this conditioning that makes you not focus on the fit on what assume as safety schools. It is backwards. You prepare a SOP for lets say Columbia or NYU and then try to modify that one paragraph for these safety schools and the lack of interest becomes obvious. 

And on another note shout out to all those who think their GREs are going to kill them. It might not. I am betting my money on this after speaking to current students in Berkeley, Michigan, NYU, Columbia who have around mean GREs but their SOP and fit of interests was impeccable! Along with this If your application shows a clear indication of research experience there is a lot to look forward to. Be hopeful!

I mean this in the most helpful way possible: you might want to do a little more research on programs if you think UNC is in the same category as Vanderbilt and Northeastern, and if you think of UNC as a safety school. UNC the 6th best program in the country...Vanderbilt is ranked #32, and Northeastern is ranked #47. All three of them are probably in different tiers altogether (some may argue Vandy and Northeastern are in the same "middle" tier), but regardless, UNC is in a different stratosphere than the other two. UNC isn't a safety school for even the best applicant in the country. 

[PoliticalSociology]

12 minutes ago, annetod said:

mean this in the most helpful way possible: you might want to do a little more research on programs if you think UNC is in the same category as Vanderbilt and Northeastern, and if you think of UNC as a safety school. UNC the 6th best program in the country...Vanderbilt is ranked #32, and Northeastern is ranked #47. All three of them are probably in different tiers altogether (some may argue Vandy and Northeastern are in the same "middle" tier), but regardless, UNC is in a different stratosphere than the other two. UNC isn't a safety school for even the best applicant in the country. 

I think there are at least two types of rankings we should think about if we're deciding where to go: one is the prestige within sociology (approximated by the USNWR rankings) and the other is the general prestige of the institution. Both matter. Sociology prestige depends a lot on small historical quirks (e.g. which departments had superstars 30 years ago, which were founders of sociology as a discipline even longer ago than that) but is department-specific, such as if a school funds its natural sciences very well but not social sciences. There is also placement ranking, which I think might be the most important of the three, which directly tells you where students get academic jobs. Unfortunately that probably depends a lot on self-selection of 'top' students into certain programs.

This is the most useful placement ranking in my opinion (https://www.socjobrumors.com/topic/updated-placement-ranking-2014-2019/page/6). Scroll to the end of the thread for the most current rankings. Here are the top 11:

1. NYU: 0.97
2. Harvard: 0.86
3. Duke: 0.84
4. Michigan: 0.67
5. UCLA: 0.66
6. Arizona: 0.65
7. Princeton: 0.64
7. Columbia: 0.64
8. Cornell: 0.6
10. Northwestern: 0.58
10. Upenn: 0.58

[toolkitsocio]

14 minutes ago, annetod said:

I mean this in the most helpful way possible: you might want to do a little more research on programs if you think UNC is in the same category as Vanderbilt and Northeastern, and if you think of UNC as a safety school. UNC the 6th best program in the country...Vanderbilt is ranked #32, and Northeastern is ranked #47. All three of them are probably in different tiers altogether (some may argue Vandy and Northeastern are in the same "middle" tier), but regardless, UNC is in a different stratosphere than the other two. UNC isn't a safety school for even the best applicant in the country. 

I appreciate your comment and I understand the usnews ranks it that way. But given the employment trends in countries beyond US, there are colleges that stick to QS often. I totally understand the issue with this. But its not me who is constructing this, thats how it is seen outside. Hence I wrote "even UNC". Some colleges may have a rapport based on a niche area of research but its quite difficult in terms of employment. I am not comparing any colleges. Just an observation! 

[0102030405]

1 hour ago, lkaitlyn said:

I'm being driven crazy but the lack of Berkeley news, too.

Aha me too 

[PoliticalSociology]

2 minutes ago, toolkitsocio said:

But given the employment trends in countries beyond US, there are colleges that stick to QS often.

Interesting. What do you mean by this? Like you think there are employers who look at QS Sociology Rankings when making hiring decisions? I don't think that's common at all in the US. A lot of people don't even look at USNWR; they just have in their head an intuitive sense of rankings that they've built over the years.

Also, congrats on your waitlist at UNC! That's great.

[0102030405]

56 minutes ago, toolkitsocio said:

So true! And I admit I did this. As an international student I tend to see northeastern, Vanderbilt even UNC as safety schools! I know this is crazy but thats true. We won't stand a chance ahead if we don't have a Columbia or Berkeley on our bag! So there is this conditioning that makes you not focus on the fit on what assume as safety schools. It is backwards. You prepare a SOP for lets say Columbia or NYU and then try to modify that one paragraph for these safety schools and the lack of interest becomes obvious. 

And on another note shout out to all those who think their GREs are going to kill them. It might not. I am betting my money on this after speaking to current students in Berkeley, Michigan, NYU, Columbia who have around mean GREs but their SOP and fit of interests was impeccable! Along with this If your application shows a clear indication of research experience there is a lot to look forward to. Be hopeful!

I'm also an international student and definitly had this mentality at undegrad/masters. I ended up not studying in the US because I only got into a (very very good) liberal arts college and my teachers and headmaster were like "but it's not Harvard". I ended up going to a top university in my home country that is higher ranked and more prestigious, but I always regretted not going to that US school given that my friends that did go to liberal arts colleges had amazing and life changing experiences, I think I missed out on a lot when I prioritised pretentiousness. Having valued that for so long, I made a deal with myself when it came to this PhD cycle and honestly prestige hasn't figured in at all with my choices this time around (a lot of that is to do with personal circumstances though). I literally threw an application to Berkeley in under pressure from loved ones when my class rank for graduate school came out and I was top, but I have told myself this time, I make this decision for me and not on league tables!  

[CeXra]

So quick question: programs between 1-25 are considered top tier schools? Can someone break down the tiers for me and what schools are considered "safety." I did a bit of research and saw that the usnews breaks things down, but they don't classify as top tier, mid tier or safety etc. I'm looking for a general consensus. 

Edited January 29, 2020 by CeXra