2020 FALL APPLICATION VENTING THREAD

[annetod]

29 minutes ago, jamieack said:

I'm not really sure if this is the right thread to post this in but I'm not sure where else to turn. I've only been accepted to 1 PhD program that was close to the bottom of my list, and all other schools I have heard from have been flat out rejections no waitlist. I'm about to graduate from undergrad, and I would like to go straight to my PhD (I don't know what I'd do if I didn't) but I'm worried with how competitive everything is I won't be able to get a full time job as a professor if I don't get my degree from a top 25 sociology program. If there's another thread this is more suited for please let me know.

Just start a new thread for the topic. But I'm not sure what your question is. 

[PoliticalSociology]

1 hour ago, jamieack said:

I'm not really sure if this is the right thread to post this in but I'm not sure where else to turn. I've only been accepted to 1 PhD program that was close to the bottom of my list, and all other schools I have heard from have been flat out rejections no waitlist. I'm about to graduate from undergrad, and I would like to go straight to my PhD (I don't know what I'd do if I didn't) but I'm worried with how competitive everything is I won't be able to get a full time job as a professor if I don't get my degree from a top 25 sociology program. If there's another thread this is more suited for please let me know.

Congrats on your one acceptance! That's very impressive, regardless of where it is. In terms of your best option, if you want to try to get into a better PhD program, you could do decline that offer and do various things to improve your application: get more experience, get a Master's degree, retake tests, or get more feedback and improve your essays. If you want to start a PhD immediately, you can take that offer and just keep in mind that getting a tenure-track job is really tough (for any soc program, not just programs below the Top 25). If you are interested in quantitative research, for example, you can develop those skills and get a job for an NGO, the US government, or even a tech company.

[lkaitlyn]

6 minutes ago, PoliticalSociology said:

Congrats on your one acceptance! That's very impressive, regardless of where it is. In terms of your best option, if you want to try to get into a better PhD program, you could do decline that offer and do various things to improve your application: get more experience, get a Master's degree, retake tests, or get more feedback and improve your essays. If you want to start a PhD immediately, you can take that offer and just keep in mind that getting a tenure-track job is really tough (for any soc program, not just programs below the Top 25). If you are interested in quantitative research, for example, you can develop those skills and get a job for an NGO, the US government, or even a tech company.

I definitely don't think there's shame in 1. Going to a program outside of the Top 25 (though please get funding!), or 2. Strengthening your application and applying again. Just know it's possible to get rejected from all schools the second time around, so have a back-up plan.

[annetod]

1 hour ago, jamieack said:

I'm not really sure if this is the right thread to post this in but I'm not sure where else to turn. I've only been accepted to 1 PhD program that was close to the bottom of my list, and all other schools I have heard from have been flat out rejections no waitlist. I'm about to graduate from undergrad, and I would like to go straight to my PhD (I don't know what I'd do if I didn't) but I'm worried with how competitive everything is I won't be able to get a full time job as a professor if I don't get my degree from a top 25 sociology program. If there's another thread this is more suited for please let me know.

Still not sure what you're hoping to get an answer to, but I'll just give my two cents relative to your mentioning a job as a professor: the best thing you can do to predict what job you'll get is to look at the past few years of placements for whatever program you're interested in. If you feel comfortable sharing the specific program name here, I'd be happy to go track it down and look it over too. 

[foxfire123]

3 hours ago, lkaitlyn said:

I will never understand why programs torture us by holding out on rejecting us for as long as possible. Arg.

Or why they tell us they hope to let us know by the second week of February and then ghost us (COUGH). 

On a separate note, I have no idea how much longer I can handle the waiting game. It’s been about a month since my night and day have switched, and it’s starting to affect my health. The rejections are adding a healthy dose of desperation to the wait, too. 
 

Hopefully we’ll all have a better idea by the end of this week! 

[MFSocio]

Welp there's that Stanford decision! Rejection for me sadly, but I will say the nicest rejection letter so far! 

[hugfkds]

oops! deleted my post, wrong forum 

Edited February 19, 2020 by sgsociology
just read somewhere that you shouldn't post any identifying factors in forums because grad admissions look at them... sorry I am an idiot

[jberma01]

7 minutes ago, MFSocio said:

Welp there's that Stanford decision! Rejection for me sadly, but I will say the nicest rejection letter so far! 

Out of curiosity, what is considered a nice rejection letter? lol 

I just received my first one (and no acceptances so far) so would like to know how nice it is... seemed generic, but I guess it could be worse? 

[jberma01]

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Edited February 18, 2020 by jberma01
delete

[MFSocio]

1 minute ago, jberma01 said:

Out of curiosity, what is considered a nice rejection letter? lol 

I just received my first one (and no acceptances so far) so would like to know how nice it is... seemed generic, but I guess it could be worse? 

Haha maybe I should have said empathetic instead of nice?  They used personal language, gave me a sense of how many people applied for how many seats and (I felt) just humanized the process a little. The others I got were generic and curt. The Stanford one is below:

"I am very sorry to inform you that the Admissions Committee has not accepted your application to the Stanford doctoral program in Sociology. We had an especially large applicant pool of hundreds of students competing for only 6 spaces in our program. As you can imagine, this made our selection process extremely difficult, forcing us to turn down many outstanding candidates.  We apologize that, given the large number of applications, we are not in a position to provide individual feedback to those we are unable to accept. We very much appreciate your interest in Stanford and wish you all the best for the future."

[jberma01]

1 minute ago, MFSocio said:

Haha maybe I should have said empathetic instead of nice?  They used personal language, gave me a sense of how many people applied for how many seats and (I felt) just humanized the process a little. The others I got were generic and curt. The Stanford one is below:

"I am very sorry to inform you that the Admissions Committee has not accepted your application to the Stanford doctoral program in Sociology. We had an especially large applicant pool of hundreds of students competing for only 6 spaces in our program. As you can imagine, this made our selection process extremely difficult, forcing us to turn down many outstanding candidates.  We apologize that, given the large number of applications, we are not in a position to provide individual feedback to those we are unable to accept. We very much appreciate your interest in Stanford and wish you all the best for the future."

ok wait that is actually very nice haha, and humanizing is a good way to out it! It makes it seem like they considered you as a person and not just some stats on paper. Thanks for sharing!! 

[goodnoodle]

6 hours ago, MFSocio said:

Haha maybe I should have said empathetic instead of nice?  They used personal language, gave me a sense of how many people applied for how many seats and (I felt) just humanized the process a little. The others I got were generic and curt. The Stanford one is below:

"I am very sorry to inform you that the Admissions Committee has not accepted your application to the Stanford doctoral program in Sociology. We had an especially large applicant pool of hundreds of students competing for only 6 spaces in our program. As you can imagine, this made our selection process extremely difficult, forcing us to turn down many outstanding candidates.  We apologize that, given the large number of applications, we are not in a position to provide individual feedback to those we are unable to accept. We very much appreciate your interest in Stanford and wish you all the best for the future."

I wonder why they said they only had 6 spots? I was just accepted today and the letter said they admitted 12 people and are aiming for a cohort of 10. Were those 6 extra spots like just auto-top choices and then the rest were open to more debate/discussion? Idk just random guesses 

[passere]

10 minutes ago, goodnoodle said:

I wonder why they said they only had 6 spots? I was just accepted today and the letter said they admitted 12 people and are aiming for a cohort of 10. Were those 6 extra spots like just auto-top choices and then the rest were open to more debate/discussion? Idk just random guesses 

Now that's really odd. My rejection also said 6 spots.

[PoliticalSociology]

6 hours ago, goodnoodle said:

I wonder why they said they only had 6 spots? I was just accepted today and the letter said they admitted 12 people and are aiming for a cohort of 10. Were those 6 extra spots like just auto-top choices and then the rest were open to more debate/discussion? Idk just random guesses 

That is weird. 12 for a cohort of 10 certainly seems more in like with historical standards, though I don't think 6 would be out of the question if, for example, the previous year had an unusually large cohort.

[PoliticalSociology]

I'm excited to see people from this forum at visit days! I know most probably don't want to share which ones due to anonymity, but it will be nice hanging out in person with others who shared this exciting yet anxious experience.

[annetod]

I find it so interesting that at this point (February 19) last year, this thread was already at page 40...they were exactly twice as talkative as us! I wonder if they're the outlier or we are? 

[0102030405]

1 hour ago, annetod said:

I find it so interesting that at this point (February 19) last year, this thread was already at page 40...they were exactly twice as talkative as us! I wonder if they're the outlier or we are? 

I'm all up for being more talkative! I just didn't want to be annoying and overload the thread aha 

[socsocssoc]

I've seen some folks wondering about how UMich stuff is going on. Apparently, they have made a decision on their own and waiting for the result from other departments. Congratulation again to all who made it. Not sure they keep the waitlist or not although I doubt it. Just for venting, this was the only school I applied this year for some personal reasons. I know there is no guarantee for the admission process, but it still hurts much. Truly wish who got admitted to the school enjoy their environment and do some good research! 

[SOCGRAD2020]

Anyone know when UCSB visit weekend occurs?

[yooj]

UCSB's visit weekend is March 6/7.

[asamsoc]

Hi! Congrats to all the admits! For those like me who have received rejections, are you asking for feedback on your application? If so, who would you recommend asking specifically (committee chair, general department contact, POI, etc)? 

[Soc2020]

On 2/19/2020 at 3:05 PM, goodnoodle said:

I wonder why they said they only had 6 spots? I was just accepted today and the letter said they admitted 12 people and are aiming for a cohort of 10. Were those 6 extra spots like just auto-top choices and then the rest were open to more debate/discussion? Idk just random guesses 

Wow. Congrats on all your admissions! Especially Stanford. I remember you being nervous about "ghosted" by them a few days ago.

 

Meanwhile, I am amazed how Yale continues to be the only institution I got into. I guess the "fit" really does matter. I did think, the moment I went through the faculty list at Yale, that this would be THE institution for my research ideas. Apparently they did too. And none of the other universities shared the sentiment.

[annetod]

Can anyone claim Princeton admits? Are they coming from POIs or is it an individualized email or something? It seems so strange to only have 2 admits posted, 6 days apart...

[passere]

1 hour ago, Soc2020 said:

Meanwhile, I am amazed how Yale continues to be the only institution I got into. I guess the "fit" really does matter. I did think, the moment I went through the faculty list at Yale, that this would be THE institution for my research ideas. Apparently they did too. And none of the other universities shared the sentiment.

I had a similar feeling when I was looking at UCLA faculty, and similarly, it’s the only place I’ve been admitted. 

[DeadAccount]

3 hours ago, asamsoc said:

Hi! Congrats to all the admits! For those like me who have received rejections, are you asking for feedback on your application? If so, who would you recommend asking specifically (committee chair, general department contact, POI, etc)? 

I would like to, but am in the same boat of not knowing who to ask. Also, with how many applications they received, I'm not sure if any of them will be able to give any feed back and I'll just look silly for asking.