switching fields of study

[xxtraloud]

hello everybody,

In December of 2008 I completed a Masters in computer science at the University of Minnesota, now I want to go back to grad school for a PhD program. But what I really want to get into is a totally different field, the social sciences. I'm looking into something related to the environment and society, so environmental anthropology or sociology, some subfields of geography, and recently I found out about some interdisciplinary programs which are very appealing.

At this point the main problem for me is that I lack some of the core requirements of these fields of study and that could be a major problem in my application. I don't have money to pay for another master, and I'd rather start right away PhD by 2 years.

what can i do to improve my chances? some programs told me to get a MA in a related field, some other told me that they accept people with different backgrounds, some other told me they have no time to look into my situation.

Should I take some classes at a community college, or some upper-level classes online at some good school?

I have been involved in a 2 year research project during my master but it was not related to what I'm getting into, and we did not publish any papers. I've done 3 class related research papers/projects but always in computer science classes. I was also TA for a year and a half. I am an international student.

Does anybody have any suggestions, ideas, comments or on what I could do?