My profile for PhD programs?

[Vivian Chen]

Hi! I'm an international student from China and want to enroll in the Sociology grad programs in the US. I've finished the applications of UCLA, ASU, Ohio State, and Chicago. Now I'm working on the applications of New York University and UNC-Chapel Hill. After talking with some of the applicants from both the Sociology and other majors, I got, like, extremely anxious that universities will get harsher in admitting students because of the current COVID situation and fewer fundings. Let alone I don't really have any papers published. So I wonder that could someone help me to see if my profile may get me to be accepted by any of the schools that I'm applying to?:( (Especially UNC-Chapel Hill! That's my dream school. )

I graduated from the University of Washington with honors in Sociology, had a 3.76/4 GPA, 3.78/4 in major. I haven't taken the GRE test yet, but based on the results of my practices, I'm expecting a grade from 325 to 328. I have an abstract accepted by an international social science convention and have submitted my honor dissertation to a journal, waiting for review. My references are directors of graduate studies and chairs in the UW. Oh, also I double-majored in Communication and my French level is around B1 ( I learnt the language because I was sooooooo obsessed with Durkheim), but I'm not sure whether they can help me in the application process.  

Thanks in advance for replies!

Edited December 1, 2020 by Vivian Chen

[lkaitlyn]

So much of admissions is fit with faculty, writing (e.g., personal statement, writing sample), and depending on the school, perhaps LORs. This means we're pretty useless in gauging chances. That said, your stats won't hold you back, so it will really come down to those other things that we can't see.

I will say that programs are indeed admitting fewer students this year (e.g., NYU cutting the cohort in half), so I'd say anyone applying should be prepared for the real possibility of needing to do a second cycle next year just due to the lack of space in programs. Heck, a ton of people do second or third cycles without the pandemic! But in terms of hard numbers, you'll be competitive.