2021 Cycle

[cec2021]

Hi all! 

While we are in the difficult waiting time, I am hoping to get to know some other prospective PhD students. I have applied at UT Austin, UNC, and Emory. I am finishing up an MPH at Columbia and I have a background in Statistics and Survey Methodology. Have any of y'all been effected by the decision of many schools not to hold a 2021 cycle? Anyone else applying to the school's I'm interested in and want to chat about cities or programs? 

[saffasrass]

Hey there!

I'm almost done with all my applications -- three more left. I've been casting a wide net, just in case Covid impacts cohort size/funding as much as I'm worried it will. I also applied to UT Austin and Emory (as well as plenty other). I have a BA and MA in Economics, so my background is primarily quantitative. I'm interested in expanding into qualitative and mixed methods, and am mostly looking to pursue topics at the intersection of gender and sexual identity and inequality/health/stigma. Would love to talk to anyone else who's feeling anxious!

[PixelElephant]

I’ve heard that my program (public school, west coast) is admitting a smaller cohort this year, about 50-75% of the usual. A department’s decisions will depend on how funding works there. Some departments get funding based on how many students enroll, so there’s not as much of an impact on current students if they admit a new cohort. Some programs have funding set up so that enrolling more students does take money from those already enrolled. 

[FrigidSky701]

Hello! I have applied to UCLA, UC Berkeley (Ethnic Studies though), Baylor, CUNY, George Mason, Syracuse, SUNY Albany, and WashU. I am currently finishing up MA in Religious Studies, and I also have some background in Anthropology. So my research area is largely based on qualitative. I am more interested in migration and ethnic studies, with impact of COVID-19 on hand as well. I really really wish to get in SOMEWHERE, as this is my second cycle... How are others coping with the current situation? Looks like this page is totally dead.

[cec2021]

@samuelmsafford Your interests are so cool! My MPH is focused in sexuality, sexual and reproductive health and I want to focus on the US South, which is why my school list is pretty short. Your profile says San Diego. Have you spent time in the South? I lived in Texas and Alabama growing up, did undergrad in South Carolina then worked in DC before attending Columbia and living in NYC. So I've seen the South and the North East and would be happy to talk about living in the South if you end up considering UT or Emory! 

A blessing and a curse of COVID has been that I have moved in with my parents in Alabama while I finish my MPH. I have to say my childhood bedroom is a lot cheaper than Manhattan rent. But much less fun and hard to get the full Columbia experience (especially while paying Columbia money). But I've been able to save so much on living expenses. I don't think I would have considered a PhD if I was set to graduate with as much debt as I thought I would have when I started my masters. 

 

I'm interested in and worried about the visiting process. If y'all get accepted to more than one school, do you think you will travel to visit in the spring? I am a 13 hour drive from my #1 school, so I could make it work. 

Edited December 8, 2020 by cec2021

[cec2021]

@FrigidSky701 Are you familiar with Columbia's program on forced migration? It's in the school of Public Health, but does some really cool work!

[saffasrass]

1 hour ago, cec2021 said:

@samuelmsafford Your interests are so cool! My MPH is focused in sexuality, sexual and reproductive health and I want to focus on the US South, which is why my school list is pretty short. Your profile says San Diego. Have you spent time in the South? I lived in Texas and Alabama growing up, did undergrad in South Carolina then worked in DC before attending Columbia and living in NYC. So I've seen the South and the North East and would be happy to talk about living in the South if you end up considering UT or Emory! 

A blessing and a curse of COVID has been that I have moved in with my parents in Alabama while I finish my MPH. I have to say my childhood bedroom is a lot cheaper than Manhattan rent. But much less fun and hard to get the full Columbia experience (especially while paying Columbia money). But I've been able to save so much on living expenses. I don't think I would have considered a PhD if I was set to graduate with as much debt as I thought I would have when I started my masters. 

I was actually born in Houston! My immediate family moved to San Diego when I was 13, though, so I've lived in California longer. But I spend a lot of my holidays in Houston and/or Austin. 

I definitely have been lucky in that I've been staying with my parents through my master's, which I finished this May. So it was easy to just stay another year while working as a Research Associate and applying to PhDs. This is my first cycle applying, which is frustrating, because I feel like any other year I wouldn't be worried about my chances of being accepted with funding. But I have ~3 years of research experience and one (maybe two) publications under my belt, so I'm hoping programs will be like "hey, a great RA prospect! Let's give them money!"

[FrigidSky701]

8 hours ago, cec2021 said:

@FrigidSky701 Are you familiar with Columbia's program on forced migration? It's in the school of Public Health, but does some really cool work!

Not really! My research is more on voluntary immigration + identity of second generation immigrants. I never thought about even applying for a Master's at Columbia because... it's New York City and I don't think I could afford living there with all the tuition fee. But here I am, applying to CUNY and wishing to get in...

[cec2021]

14 hours ago, FrigidSky701 said:

Not really! My research is more on voluntary immigration + identity of second generation immigrants. I never thought about even applying for a Master's at Columbia because... it's New York City and I don't think I could afford living there with all the tuition fee. But here I am, applying to CUNY and wishing to get in...

Yeah, I totally get that. With scholarship, Columbia ended up being cheaper for me (including cost of living) that the other schools I applied to for a masters even though they were in smaller cities. And, I wasn't considering a PhD seriously at the time, so I wasn't considering funded programs really. 

I think it is great to apply to CUNY! I keep telling myself not to make any decisions without the most information possible, and I just won't have the information about how much a school will really cost until I get in and see their funding package. That being said, I did not like living in NYC as a student. I don't live a fancy lifestyle, but I had to live in a neighborhood that was not designed for young professionals or English speakers to afford it and be close to school, going out for a drink didn't fit into my budget (because drinks are 10-18 dollars even at lunch), and sit down dinner definitely didn't either. So I lived in New York, but only experienced the noise and dirt and none of the food, museums, or culture. I was used to DC where museums are free and you can find cheap happy hour drinks at a nice place for $5. Or pregame on cheap traders joes wine then go to a bar and buy nothing. Trader Joe's in NYC (except 1) don't sell wine!!!! Also I didn't live near central park, and generally found the greenspace disappointing and crowded. 

[lkaitlyn]

Just popping in to say if anyone has questions about UCI or doing grad school online, hit me up! But hopefully you all won't have the online experience next fall. ? Good luck on your apps!

[SleeplessInSomewhere]

Hello! Has anyone had any experience doing interviews after applying to a program and before being offered admission, specifically for sociology (PhD)? If so, can you please tell us about your experience and share any advice on how we can prepare 

also, thanks for creating this thread!

[lkaitlyn]

17 hours ago, SleeplessInSomewhere said:

Hello! Has anyone had any experience doing interviews after applying to a program and before being offered admission, specifically for sociology (PhD)? If so, can you please tell us about your experience and share any advice on how we can prepare 

also, thanks for creating this thread!

Going to answer here too so people can see: UCI has historically done this. You meet with a professor (generally one that you mentioned you wanted to work with, and in my case, turned into my advisor!). It's very chill. Mine actually hadn't read my application due to VPN issues (oops), but normally they do before the interview. The interview ranged from discussing my research interests to comparing pets. My impression of the interviews is that it's really just seeing if you mesh well with people, not a super serious weeding out process. Honestly I think it was helpful, because I learned I'd feel comfortable working with this person and asking them questions.

Also interviewed for a gender studies program. That was more formal — it was me and then the grad director, my potential advisor, and another person, which to me felt a bit more intimidating. They were nice but I was more nervous about it and they asked more "real" questions (like, "tell us about a time when you got into a conflict with someone; how did you resolve it?" and stuff like that). I got into this program as well, but the interview was a bit more intimidating just because of the number of people than with UCI.

So TL;DR: it really depends on the program! Make sure that you think of questions to ask about the program and just be open and honest about your interests and it will be fine. If you interview with a potential advisor and the conversation feels awkward, that's something to take seriously when you're deciding where to attend, because if you're going to work with this person for at least your first couple years (if not longer), you want to be able to talk to them comfortably.

[cec2021]

3 hours ago, lkaitlyn said:

Going to answer here too so people can see: UCI has historically done this. You meet with a professor (generally one that you mentioned you wanted to work with, and in my case, turned into my advisor!). It's very chill. Mine actually hadn't read my application due to VPN issues (oops), but normally they do before the interview. The interview ranged from discussing my research interests to comparing pets. My impression of the interviews is that it's really just seeing if you mesh well with people, not a super serious weeding out process. Honestly I think it was helpful, because I learned I'd feel comfortable working with this person and asking them questions.

Also interviewed for a gender studies program. That was more formal — it was me and then the grad director, my potential advisor, and another person, which to me felt a bit more intimidating. They were nice but I was more nervous about it and they asked more "real" questions (like, "tell us about a time when you got into a conflict with someone; how did you resolve it?" and stuff like that). I got into this program as well, but the interview was a bit more intimidating just because of the number of people than with UCI.

So TL;DR: it really depends on the program! Make sure that you think of questions to ask about the program and just be open and honest about your interests and it will be fine. If you interview with a potential advisor and the conversation feels awkward, that's something to take seriously when you're deciding where to attend, because if you're going to work with this person for at least your first couple years (if not longer), you want to be able to talk to them comfortably.

I'm encouraged to hear the interview involved a potential advisor. I met with the professor I want to work with at my top choice and we really hit it off. She followed up after to say I would be a good fit for her team. She isn't on the admissions committee, so I can't tell how much it would help with my application. I'm really hoping it will! 

Anyone have thoughts on how much letters of recs help? Obviously we have already submitted them (for Dec 1 schools). I think two of mine are really great (impressive people in the field, connections to the school, know me pretty well), but I'm just stressing so much about this cycle because of COVID's effect on cohort sizes. 

[Soc_Gen23]

Hi all! I'm graduating with my Masters in Soc in Spring of 2021 and applying for 2021 Fall cycle. I've applied to about 9 PhD programs (one gender-ASU, the rest sociology). Due to everything going on I'm extremely anxious awaiting results from schools (as I don't want to go through another cycle). I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling this way. I presume there are less applicants this year than previous years so I hope we all hear good news.

[letsgetit21]

Hey! I've applied for a lot of programs: UGA, UMich, UI Bloomington, Rutgers, UNC Chapel Hill, UT Austin, Ohio State, & UWashington. I'm still finishing up my Penn State application.

I'm anxious to start hearing back from programs, just wanna know where I have/have not been accepted to. 

[cec2021]

On 12/28/2020 at 6:05 PM, letsgetit21 said:

Hey! I've applied for a lot of programs: UGA, UMich, UI Bloomington, Rutgers, UNC Chapel Hill, UT Austin, Ohio State, & UWashington. I'm still finishing up my Penn State application.

I'm anxious to start hearing back from programs, just wanna know where I have/have not been accepted to. 

Keep us posted! I was interested in UI Bloomington but I can't do the area and the weather. 

[SleeplessInSomewhere]

Don't you wish that they'd all surprise us with early acceptance decisions like, tonight, given that this year was so shitty and we could all desperately use a win?

[letsgetit21]

6 hours ago, SleeplessInSomewhere said:

Don't you wish that they'd all surprise us with early acceptance decisions like, tonight, given that this year was so shitty and we could all desperately use a win?

Wouldn't that be nice! Hoping for a quick process though..... hoping...

[Soc_Gen23]

8 hours ago, SleeplessInSomewhere said:

Don't you wish that they'd all surprise us with early acceptance decisions like, tonight, given that this year was so shitty and we could all desperately use a win?

I wish! I noticed most schools have decisions made by late January. Hopefully earlier this year.

[SleeplessInSomewhere]

Anyone else see that post on the results board showing an acceptance from Yale? I also applied to Yale and have yet to hear back. It seems a little early and I'm rather suspicious of whether that post is real. Anyone else applied to Yale and already heard back?

[Soc_Gen23]

4 hours ago, SleeplessInSomewhere said:

Anyone else see that post on the results board showing an acceptance from Yale? I also applied to Yale and have yet to hear back. It seems a little early and I'm rather suspicious of whether that post is real. Anyone else applied to Yale and already heard back?

I did not apply but a friend of mine did and has not heard anything. From what I've seen they usually send results in beginning/middle of Feb. 

[glee1111]

I though applications for Yale sociology was due on Jan 2nd. 

[macska]

On 1/2/2021 at 5:17 PM, SleeplessInSomewhere said:

Anyone else see that post on the results board showing an acceptance from Yale? I also applied to Yale and have yet to hear back. It seems a little early and I'm rather suspicious of whether that post is real. Anyone else applied to Yale and already heard back?

Every year there are people that submit fake results for some of the top schools to just cause chaos. So if there is only one result that's really early and there are no details in the result, it's probably just that.

[lkaitlyn]

4 hours ago, macska said:

Every year there are people that submit fake results for some of the top schools to just cause chaos. So if there is only one result that's really early and there are no details in the result, it's probably just that.

I want to echo this. I remember last year people posting Michigan weeks in advance of when decisions actually came out. Also note that schools do make decisions at different times. I thought I was rejected from the school I ended up attending because I got my interview notification roughly a week after tons of other people. Someone else in my cohort didn't find out she'd been admitted until after Welcome Weekend because of a tech glitch in the acceptance email! Until you get a rejection, you aren't rejected. ?

[socszn_28]

Thanks for making this thread! Was waiting to find other soc applicants to freak out with...

I applied to 9 programs and would really love to not do another application cycle (although this is my first, and probably is a wild card cycle). Good luck everyone!!