My chances at Sociology PhD?

[marcorn26]

Hi all - I am new to this whole thing. I am a graduate of Cornell, where I studied organizational behavior, and a graduate of Cornell Law School. I have been out of school for awhile, mainly working in the white collar criminal field. I am applying to PhD programs this month to study organizational deviance. I took the GREs and got a 650V, 670Q, and 5A. I have no idea what my chances are for getting into a program and, if I can get into a program, which ones should I be shooting for. Also, do my years away from school (now 7 years, after law school) hurt my chances?

Thanks so much guys in advance.

[jacib]

Hi all - I am new to this whole thing. I am a graduate of Cornell, where I studied organizational behavior, and a graduate of Cornell Law School. I have been out of school for awhile, mainly working in the white collar criminal field. I am applying to PhD programs this month to study organizational deviance. I took the GREs and got a 650V, 670Q, and 5A. I have no idea what my chances are for getting into a program and, if I can get into a program, which ones should I be shooting for. Also, do my years away from school (now 7 years, after law school) hurt my chances?

Thanks so much guys in advance.

Two women in my current program are former lawyers. They both practiced law for 3-4 years. I think their experience as lawyers is generally looked on favorably, especially since they both want to study things related to the law. I recommend you look at this post: for more information on applying; I think it will give you a better idea of where you stand. The degree your research topic fits with a professor, and the degree that your topic interests a professor, are as important if not more important than grades, scores, experience, and writing sample. Contact potential advisers via email and ask them if they think your interests would be a good match for theirs. Most will be honest. Do not assume that interest means a guaranteed admission. Your GRE scores are not low per se, but look at the GRE advice starting on the second page thread I linked to above to get a better sense of what those numbers mean.

[marcorn26]

Two women in my current program are former lawyers. They both practiced law for 3-4 years. I think their experience as lawyers is generally looked on favorably, especially since they both want to study things related to the law. I recommend you look at this post: for more information on applying; I think it will give you a better idea of where you stand. The degree your research topic fits with a professor, and the degree that your topic interests a professor, are as important if not more important than grades, scores, experience, and writing sample. Contact potential advisers via email and ask them if they think your interests would be a good match for theirs. Most will be honest. Do not assume that interest means a guaranteed admission. Your GRE scores are not low per se, but look at the GRE advice starting on the second page thread I linked to above to get a better sense of what those numbers mean.

Thank you so much for the thoughtful response!