Interviews

[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 :)

[lkaitlyn]

UCI has historically done that! The interview was very chill (though perhaps that's a function of the professor I talked to?). Mainly just asking about my research interests, etc.

[TJ0987]

On 12/10/2020 at 8:39 PM, lkaitlyn said:

UCI has historically done that! The interview was very chill (though perhaps that's a function of the professor I talked to?). Mainly just asking about my research interests, etc.

Hello, 

I also applied to UCI (Sociology)... I'm hoping for good news. 

My profile isn't exceptional, but I am passionate about carrying out this research. 

Undergrad 3.12/4(Urban and Regional Planning), 

MSc 3.5/4 (Environmental Pollution Control), 

Gre: Q151, V157, A3.5

Toefl: 115 (S29, L29, R29, W28) 

Work experience of over 4 years as an Immigration officer in my country. 

If you have started the program there, I would like to as you about your experience so far. 

Thank you, and compliments of the season. 

[TJ0987]

I want to examine Racial inequality in my country Nigeria via Neighbourhood and housing location (of immigrants from various racial backgrounds).

[lkaitlyn]

5 hours ago, TJ0987 said:

Hello, 

I also applied to UCI (Sociology)... I'm hoping for good news. 

My profile isn't exceptional, but I am passionate about carrying out this research. 

Undergrad 3.12/4(Urban and Regional Planning), 

MSc 3.5/4 (Environmental Pollution Control), 

Gre: Q151, V157, A3.5

Toefl: 115 (S29, L29, R29, W28) 

Work experience of over 4 years as an Immigration officer in my country. 

If you have started the program there, I would like to as you about your experience so far. 

Thank you, and compliments of the season. 

Hey! First, don't worry too much about your stats — they care a lot about research experience and fit with faculty, regardless of your stats.

My experience has been a bit all over the place, but overall, positive. The positives: I absolutely love my cohort. We literally do Zoom hangouts several times a week just to catch up or help each other with stats homework or share memes about one of our less than ideal professors. Even though we're socially distanced, we do things like on my birthday, someone from my cohort dropped off cupcakes outside my apartment, and people are always happy to help each other with fellowship applications. Everyone's research interests are so different but interesting, ranging from people looking at teen dating violence to the experiences of first-gen college students. I truly couldn't ask for a better, smarter, more interesting group of people. I also love my advisor, who was instantly willing to help with fellowship applications despite just meeting me, and most of my professors, who are super accessible and always willing to help. I was a bit concerned due to the size of UCI about support coming in, but the faculty are truly super connected with graduate students and will go out of their way to help you with things. I also love that the undergrad students we get to teach are 50% first-gen and we're a Hispanic Serving Institution, so you get to TA students who are truly motivated and have a host of different life experiences. (Trust me, this will make your time in grad school much better than it would be if you were TAing snobby rich kids who don't do the work; as a graduate from a school with lots of the latter, I'm so thankful I get to teach the UCI undergrads instead of the type of students I went to undergrad with.)

As for the negative, we've been hemorrhaging gender studies faculty, and it's a big problem for me and the other gender-focused researchers in the program. Fingers crossed we hire someone new, but it's a big issue, so if you study gender, I'd caution you to wait to see if we hire another gender scholar. (We really have three right now — two plus one who kind of does some gender stuff, so if even just one leaves, it will be a problem.) Our first year theory course is also notoriously terrible; it's like some bizarre hazing experience from the department or uncomfortable rite of passage. The good news is with the quarter system, that's short, and grades don't matter in grad school. Another huge issue is we literally only have one Black faculty member in the department right now (Sabrina Strings, who is incredible), which is ridiculous. As someone who incorporates Black feminist theory into my work, that limits what I feel able to do, and I live in a constant state of fear that Sabrina will leave. The good news is we're hiring 1-2 faculty members this year, so hopefully some of these problems will be ameliorated a bit.

So overall, despite Zoom, I do really love my program, but there are obviously things that need improvement. If you're looking for a really supportive, not-competitive atmosphere where mental health is truly valued and there are faculty spanning a ridiculously large number of research interests, UCI is a great place. We do well with placements and fellowship applications relative to ranking, such as someone getting TT at Wisconsin last year and several current NSF-GRFP fellows, so you'll have plenty of opportunities that you'd get at one of the top 10 programs. If you're super focused on feminist theory and want to be in a department where there are lots of faculty who can advise you on that, we might not be the best fit right now. I see that you're interested in immigration and inequality, and those are definitely topics our department is fantastic in (immigration in particular). Feel free to ask more questions if you have any! Also always happy to recommend faculty to people if you're looking for who might be a good advisor.

Edited December 15, 2020 by lkaitlyn

[TJ0987]

Wow! So detailed and insightful... Now I really want to attend! 

I'm looking to work with Professor Stanley Bailey, because of his research focus on Immigration and inequality. We had a zoom meeting sometime in September, and he seemed super nice. 

Anyway, fingers crossed on all my applications. 

Thank you for your time Ikaitlyn, and all the best! 

[lkaitlyn]

On 12/15/2020 at 11:17 AM, TJ0987 said:

Wow! So detailed and insightful... Now I really want to attend! 

I'm looking to work with Professor Stanley Bailey, because of his research focus on Immigration and inequality. We had a zoom meeting sometime in September, and he seemed super nice. 

Anyway, fingers crossed on all my applications. 

Thank you for your time Ikaitlyn, and all the best! 

Stan is on the grad admissions committee (not sure if I'm supposed to say that or not) and is such a sweet person. He's super supportive of his students so definitely a great person to talk with! Always feel free to message me if you have more questions.

[TJ0987]

Wow! Okay. I hope I left a good enough impression on him then. I mean good enough to get me in... Lol. 

[lkaitlyn]

On 12/23/2020 at 1:45 AM, TJ0987 said:

Wow! Okay. I hope I left a good enough impression on him then. I mean good enough to get me in... Lol. 

There's a whole committee that makes decisions so if you don't get in, I doubt it's anything you did wrong. Fingers crossed you get in, though!