My chances of being accepted into grad school?

[andsomeverses]

Hello! I totally created this account just so I could post this topic, because I really would like to know if I have even a decent shot at getting accepted into grad school. But, I'll probably be hanging around; this forum looks pretty interesting.

Anyway, I'm considering grad school for sociology (PHD):

- First two years of college, I went to a local community college. Graduated with a GPA of 3.8-something.

- Transferred to a four year college directly after--am currently a senior with one year left to go, double majoring in Sociology and Criminology, minoring in Psychology. It's ranked in the top 10 for smaller, public schools in the Midwest. Don't know if that *really* matters or not.

- Currently, my GPA is just above 3.5, but I'm taking a load of summer courses, and I figure my GPA will end up being somewhere in the 3.7's when I apply to grad school next fall.

- I haven't taken the GRE yet, but I'm planning to study hard for it pretty soon. My ACT score was a bit above average, but I never studied for it.

- Letters of recommendation...I know I've got one that'll be pretty good (I hope). The others, I'm not sure. I've only been at this school for a short time, so I haven't gotten much time to get to know anyone real well. :S

- As far as courses in my major go, all A's except one C-. I'm doing a small research project in the fall and, obviously, have a background in soc.

- Writing is one of my biggest strengths, so I think I've got the purpose of study nailed.

I'd like to get in to a top 20 school (but who wouldn't?). Do I have a fair shot? Or...isn't there enough information to tell yet?

[fuzzylogician]

Well, it's hard to tell.

- First two years of college, I went to a local community college. Graduated with a GPA of 3.8-something.

- Transferred to a four year college directly after--am currently a senior with one year left to go, double majoring in Sociology and Criminology, minoring in Psychology. It's ranked in the top 10 for smaller, public schools in the Midwest. Don't know if that *really* matters or not.

- Currently, my GPA is just above 3.5, but I'm taking a load of summer courses, and I figure my GPA will end up being somewhere in the 3.7's when I apply to grad school next fall.

- I haven't taken the GRE yet, but I'm planning to study hard for it pretty soon. My ACT score was a bit above average, but I never studied for it.

These are all the things that will get you past cutoffs -- but they are not what is going to get you in. It sounds like you're doing OK in this category.

- Letters of recommendation...I know I've got one that'll be pretty good (I hope). The others, I'm not sure. I've only been at this school for a short time, so I haven't gotten much time to get to know anyone real well. :S

- As far as courses in my major go, all A's except one C-. I'm doing a small research project in the fall and, obviously, have a background in soc.

- Writing is one of my biggest strengths, so I think I've got the purpose of study nailed.

Here are the things that matter. It is usually the recs, experience, sop and writing sample will get you into a school.

Writing a good SOP is hard work and is not just (or mainly) about being a good writer. It's about taking some serious time to reflect and decide what topic interest you; being able to formulate a reasonable research question you are interested in and will show that you understand where your field stand and what would be a good-sized project that will contribute to the knowledge in your field; convincingly arguing that you have the background to do this project, and that you chose the right school in which to carry the project out (showing that you 'fit').

You didn't write about your writing sample, but is some fields that is a very important part of the application packet. If you don't have one yet, spend the summer/fall working on a paper which ideally presents a well-contained and argued-for argument on some topic relevant to your grad school interests.

One small research project may (or may not) be enough...are you also writing a seniors thesis? If not, consider writing one, or doing some kind of independent study with a professor of your choice. You don't have to have a publishable product at the end, what's important is having the experience doing actual research so the university knows you have a fair idea of what is going to be involved in a graduate education and that you've invested in at least one long-term serious project.

Recs: also a major issue. You want at least two of your three recs to be glowing. The third can be just "OK." Again, a thesis, RAship or independent study are all good places to impress profs. Otherwise, be sure to enroll in a small seminar and start making an impression early in the semester so you can get a decent letter by its end.

You still have time to boost you application in many ways. If you do these things....then yes, you have a fair shot.

[andsomeverses]

Wow, thanks so much!

You didn't write about your writing sample, but is some fields that is a very important part of the application packet. If you don't have one yet, spend the summer/fall working on a paper which ideally presents a well-contained and argued-for argument on some topic relevant to your grad school interests.

Yes, I totally forgot to mention the writing sample. I've got a research proposal I did for a class a semester or two ago, which I'm going to rework this summer. Ultimately, I'd like to do the actual research through a UROP program, but of course I won't have that done by the time I submit my applications.

One small research project may (or may not) be enough...are you also writing a seniors thesis? If not, consider writing one, or doing some kind of independent study with a professor of your choice. You don't have to have a publishable product at the end, what's important is having the experience doing actual research so the university knows you have a fair idea of what is going to be involved in a graduate education and that you've invested in at least one long-term serious project.

The small research project I'm doing is a 2 credit independent study. I would love to do more, but this professor wasn't looking for anything big, so I settled for 2 credits. =\ Like I said above, I'm really hoping to do a UROP sometime this year...or an honors project (which I guess is basically the same thing as a senior thesis, since apparently my major doesn't do senior thesis at my school). So, if I don't get accepted this year for grad school, I'll probably reapply next year after I actually graduate and have more of this done and more research experience. But I might as well try right now, anyway.

Recs: also a major issue. You want at least two of your three recs to be glowing. The third can be just "OK." Again, a thesis, RAship or independent study are all good places to impress profs. Otherwise, be sure to enroll in a small seminar and start making an impression early in the semester so you can get a decent letter by its end.

Yeah...this is the part I'm most nervous about. I'm doing a (required) internship this fall, but it's with an outside, small-ish organization. I'm sure I could get a good letter of recommendation from my supervisor there, but I don't know if that's absolutely the best idea since she's not a professor. But, if I got one good one from a professor, another good one from my internship supervisor, and another mediocre one from another professor, that might look better than one good one and two just-ok ones from all professors.

Anyway, thanks for all your input, I really appreciate it!

[so47]

Yeah...this is the part I'm most nervous about. I'm doing a (required) internship this fall, but it's with an outside, small-ish organization. I'm sure I could get a good letter of recommendation from my supervisor there, but I don't know if that's absolutely the best idea since she's not a professor. But, if I got one good one from a professor, another good one from my internship supervisor, and another mediocre one from another professor, that might look better than one good one and two just-ok ones from all professors.

DEFINITELY get a stronger letter from an industrial supervisor instead of a crappy one from a prof who doesn't know you well. It will be glaringly obvious who really knows you and how you work. The requirements depend from school to school, but usually for mine they asked for at least one academic recommendation, and the rest had to be from people in the field. I used 2 professors and 1 supervisor from industry, and got into top 20 schools in my programs.

I would be slightly concerned about the length of your relationship with your recommenders though. If you look at the recommendation form, they almost always ask how long they have known you, and at the time that they write the recommendations, the internship supervisor and research project advisor sound like they will have only worked with you for a few months. So just be wary of that, and review all your options. If you don't have anyone else that you can ask (were you close with any profs at your Community College? I think the quality of the letter and their relationships with you is more important than where they teach), then just you REALLY have to work your butt off to build a personal relationship with them, so it doesn't sound like a generic letter of rec. This is also hard though, because some people are hard to get to know that fast.

After writing this I feel like I sound like a Debbie Downer! But truly, it sounds to me like you have a good shot, you just need to be aware of where you need to improve your application. Good luck!