2020 FALL APPLICATION VENTING THREAD

[mjdc082]

7 hours ago, asamsoc said:

Hi everyone! What is the general reputation surrounding Columbia's MA Sociology program in terms of future applications to PhD programs? Any thoughts/advice on this would be greatly appreciated! 

Hey @asamsoc I spoke with a student who completed Columbia's MA program a couple years ago who said that in their cohort, 10 people applied to PhD programs afterwards, and five people got in -- the ones that did, though, were accepted into top programs. 

[0102030405]

Is anyone else still deciding between programs or is it just me at this point?

[coffeebee]

2 hours ago, 0102030405 said:

Is anyone else still deciding between programs or is it just me at this point?

I'm still deciding too, between Stanford GSE (sociology of ed) or WashU sociology

[yooj]

5 hours ago, 0102030405 said:

Is anyone else still deciding between programs or is it just me at this point?

Committed to UCI sociology a few days ago. Good luck with your decision! 

[0102030405]

5 hours ago, yooj said:

Committed to UCI sociology a few days ago. Good luck with your decision! 

That’s great congratulations! I’m sure I’ll see you around whichever program I choose. 

[lkaitlyn]

12 hours ago, yooj said:

Committed to UCI sociology a few days ago. Good luck with your decision! 

Same! I'll see you in the fall! Also sent you a DM. ?

BTW, for future applicants, I cannot emphasize this enough: negotiate your offers! I thought my school, especially during COVID, would never negotiate because they are a public school and likely strapped for money, and my other offers were in a different discipline — they did negotiate, both for fellowship quarters and additional money (e.g. summer funding). This is probably the only time you're in control instead of begging for things, so don't be afraid to leverage that. The worst that can happen is the school says no.

[0102030405]

19 hours ago, coffeebee said:

I'm still deciding too, between Stanford GSE (sociology of ed) or WashU sociology

Good luck with the decisionmaking!

[passere]

6 hours ago, lkaitlyn said:

Same! I'll see you in the fall! Also sent you a DM. ?

BTW, for future applicants, I cannot emphasize this enough: negotiate your offers! I thought my school, especially during COVID, would never negotiate because they are a public school and likely strapped for money, and my other offers were in a different discipline — they did negotiate, both for fellowship quarters and additional money (e.g. summer funding). This is probably the only time you're in control instead of begging for things, so don't be afraid to leverage that. The worst that can happen is the school says no.

Definitely try to negotiate. Unfortunately, I didn't have a particularly strong position, only having one offer, but it's still worth asking. I was offered an additional guaranteed year of TA support, although they refused to give any extra summer support. When we went to visit days, a GSA representative said that in the past, students have negotiated for guaranteed summer funding, "top ups" during TA years to provide support equal to fellowship years (key for first year TAing, because the pay is low until you get experience), and permission to move fellowship years around. Like lkaitlyn said, the worst that can happen is they say no!

[PoliticalSociology]

9 hours ago, passere said:

Definitely try to negotiate. Unfortunately, I didn't have a particularly strong position, only having one offer, but it's still worth asking. I was offered an additional guaranteed year of TA support, although they refused to give any extra summer support. When we went to visit days, a GSA representative said that in the past, students have negotiated for guaranteed summer funding, "top ups" during TA years to provide support equal to fellowship years (key for first year TAing, because the pay is low until you get experience), and permission to move fellowship years around. Like lkaitlyn said, the worst that can happen is they say no!

That's interesting. One of my top choices said they don't negotiate, but another offered me an additional modest scholarship when I asked. I wonder if there are any other things you can negotiate besides TA load and increasing the dollar amount?

[0102030405]

2 hours ago, PoliticalSociology said:

That's interesting. One of my top choices said they don't negotiate, but another offered me an additional modest scholarship when I asked. I wonder if there are any other things you can negotiate besides TA load and increasing the dollar amount?

I think negotiating fellowship semesters/quarters is quite common. I’ve also heard of people being offered non-monetary incentives like office space which might be negotiable.

[passere]

9 hours ago, PoliticalSociology said:

That's interesting. One of my top choices said they don't negotiate, but another offered me an additional modest scholarship when I asked. I wonder if there are any other things you can negotiate besides TA load and increasing the dollar amount?

I think it really is highly school dependent. For anyone in future years, I would recommend reaching out to the graduate student association at prospective schools to ask if they know what's usual. For example, I was told that they almost never will increase the dollar amount of fellowships, but they may guarantee summer funding.

[lkaitlyn]

On 4/14/2020 at 4:19 AM, PoliticalSociology said:

That's interesting. One of my top choices said they don't negotiate, but another offered me an additional modest scholarship when I asked. I wonder if there are any other things you can negotiate besides TA load and increasing the dollar amount?

Ask current grad students if their schools do this. Grad students at UCI gave me the heads up when we met up with them during admitted students days, and unlike at other programs, UCI itself was very open about this. Examples of things students at UCI have gotten from negotiations include fellowship quarters (do this! 6 years of teaching will exhaust you), years of summer funding, stipend top-ups, and rumor has it even non-monetary things like an office space with a view (can't confirm; didn't ask for or get that). Some other grad students said they had no competing offers when they negotiated; I had no competing sociology offers —  I just was really crystal clear that I wouldn't go if XYZ things I needed weren't met, whether that meant a gap year or not, and that worked. (I was serious.) I hope that helps!

Edit: If we hadn't had guaranteed housing already, I might have asked for that. Be creative! No harm as long as you're not mean or totally outrageous (e.g.  "I need $20,000 extra a year" or something crazy).

Edited April 16, 2020 by lkaitlyn