Seeking advice to decide sociology Ph.D. program for fall 2021 application

[tsengch77]

Greetings,

I am an M.A. in sociology from National Taiwan University, which is among the top universities in East Asia. My research interests are urban sociology (urban politics, comparative urban inequality), housing policy, political sociology (developmental state, governance, neo-institutionalism), political economy and uneven development in the Global South. My master thesis had been awarded, and my grad school GPA was generally good, though my undergraduate GPA was below average (mostly because of courses in other disciplines). Besides sociology, I was an activist and a policymaker. I have taken my GRE (V155/Q161) and TOEFL (total of 103). In my SOP I proposed a comparative urban inequality research that included cases from East Asia and Latin America.

Despite many programs that matched my interests have paused for the cycle, I am still applying for fall 2021. I have planned to apply for Harvard, UMichigan, UChicago, UCLA, NYU, UT Austin, UC Irvine, Michigan State U, Boston U, and some Canadian programs such as UToronto, UBC, and McGill U. Except for Harvard, UMichigan, Boston U, and UToronto, I currently have corresponded with at least one professor in every other listed programs.

I am looking for advice to narrow down my list, and I also welcome any additional program suggestions if that may suit my interests (for now, I am also considering Rutgers, USC, and John Hopkins). Thanks a lot!

[Nihankg]

Hello good luck with your applications! I do not have a specific suggestion, given that the application cycle is almost over now. But maybe you can keep an eye on the programs in Europe. Also I figured we kind of have similar profile, not in terms of corresponding interests but I guess other parts of our application profiles such as coming from non-western country, having a professional job in your field, similar Toefl, GPA, and GRE scores, etc... I also applied a couple of schools that you listed. Though, I guess my profile is not as good as yours. So I would really like to hear some updates from you  Best of luck again!

[lkaitlyn]

If you can afford to apply to several schools and have the time to work on your apps leading up to the application cycle, applying to many programs can be a good thing given how competitive admissions can be. If you can devote time into all those applications, I say go for it. Right now, your list is at 12, which would be hard to do all in the fall but seems doable if you work on your materials over the spring/summer.