Do I have a good chance of getting into grad school? (PhD in Sociology)

[as700]

Hi everyone! So, I am hoping to attend graduate school in the Fall of 2022 and am currently in the process of getting my applications together. I have about two months left until I formally submit them and have been wondering what my chances are of getting admitted. Here are some of the basics of what I have/am working on, please let me know what you think, thank you!!!

BA University: Graduated from the University of New Mexico in the Spring of 2020

Undergraduate Major/Degree: Majored in Sociology with a minor in Psychology

Graduate GPA: 4.05

Program: PhD in Sociology 

Schools I am Applying to: University of New Mexico, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Washington, and Pennsylvania State University 

Interests: Sociology of health and medicine, sociology of human life course, statistics, data analysis

GRE:  V 155 / Q 160 / W 4.5

Work/Research Experience: 

- Since I majored in SOC for my undergrad I have taken a great deal of courses, and I have written a few research papers (for a grade of course). 

- I have a semester of research experience as I got to intern as the UNM's PRC (prevention research center) and helped with many projects, focused on qualitative data analysis and assisted with literature reviews. 

- I volunteered at a local crisis hotline since Fall 2018, although some may suggest it falls under more psychology based experience I believe it can relate to sociology in the sense that speaking about how one's environment heavily affects them and their mental health relates to the field. 

LoR: I already have two former professors who said that they would not only write letters of support but would also look over my personal statements and writing samples. The director of the hotline (where I volunteered) also said that she would write me one as well. The director where I interned previously said she would write one, but hasn't gotten back to me in a while. From speaking with each person, I believe that each letter will be positive.

Personal Statements: Plan to work my butt off on these and will heavily research each university I plan on applying to, look into the faculty and their work and will add that into each statement with other reasons I hope to attend each individual college. 

Writing Samples: Have chosen two that I received an A on, and will severely edit and sharpen them. I will also have others go over and read them when I am finished. 

Concerns: Low GRE verbal score (although I am not planning to take it again as it is expensive and I hope to put forth more effort and energy into other aspects of my application, and if I don't get accepted this time around then I will retake it for the next time I hope to apply). I also have little research experience and no publications, any advice is greatly appreciated!!

 

 

[limonchello]

Your scores seem fine and I think you have high odds of getting in somewhere. I would recommend not going to the same phd program as undergrad, as that can have a negative connotation, but I understand that this might be unavoidable. No phd programs can reasonably expect publications, even top 5 programs. Don't worry about lack of those.  Same with research experience - you get different opportunities at a SLAC than an R1, and so make your application shine as best as you can and they'll understand these things. 

[lkaitlyn]

From what you put, it sounds like you'd be a competitive applicant.

One concern I have is you mention your third letter is non-academic. At least when I applied, schools all wanted three letters. You're applying for a research program, so having all the letters be from academic sources who know what it takes to succeed in a PhD program is important if at all possible, especially since you graduated recently. Don't worry about publications — almost no one has them coming in for sociology unless they did an MA previously, and most of those people don't have publications either.

One other thing: you're applying to very few programs for a PhD applicant. Do you have a back-up plan? Many people target 8-10 schools and still have to apply multiple cycles. Only applying to four might be a problem regardless of how strong you are, unless you know for sure you are in at one of those places. I highly encourage you to broaden your horizons — many programs have sociology of medicine/life course/quant methods. Many schools also offer fee waivers if that's part of the issue. Even if you got into one of the four, you'd have very little stipend negotiating leverage with a list this small.

[as700]

On 10/8/2021 at 5:36 PM, limonchello said:

Your scores seem fine and I think you have high odds of getting in somewhere. I would recommend not going to the same phd program as undergrad, as that can have a negative connotation, but I understand that this might be unavoidable. No phd programs can reasonably expect publications, even top 5 programs. Don't worry about lack of those.  Same with research experience - you get different opportunities at a SLAC than an R1, and so make your application shine as best as you can and they'll understand these things. 

Thank you for the reply! Others have recently let me know about not applying to the same school as BA. I was not aware of this as it is my first time applying so thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it!

[as700]

On 10/23/2021 at 8:19 PM, lkaitlyn said:

From what you put, it sounds like you'd be a competitive applicant.

One concern I have is you mention your third letter is non-academic. At least when I applied, schools all wanted three letters. You're applying for a research program, so having all the letters be from academic sources who know what it takes to succeed in a PhD program is important if at all possible, especially since you graduated recently. Don't worry about publications — almost no one has them coming in for sociology unless they did an MA previously, and most of those people don't have publications either.

One other thing: you're applying to very few programs for a PhD applicant. Do you have a back-up plan? Many people target 8-10 schools and still have to apply multiple cycles. Only applying to four might be a problem regardless of how strong you are, unless you know for sure you are in at one of those places. I highly encourage you to broaden your horizons — many programs have sociology of medicine/life course/quant methods. Many schools also offer fee waivers if that's part of the issue. Even if you got into one of the four, you'd have very little stipend negotiating leverage with a list this small.

Hello! Thankfully I have found three individuals who are academic and have stated that they will write letters on my behalf which is great news! I have also taken your advice into account and am now applying to 7 schools total. I am also looking into more, thank you again for the reply!

[deadinside]

Try to publish a paper or, at least, work on a paper draft to show your academic competence. Regarding your other stats, you look fine to me.