Probably rejected and certainly depressed

[Takky]

Cheer up!

There are 9 schools to accept you.

[coqui21]

A seemingly excellent Master's program with a late (March 1) deadline: UNC Charlotte.

Their website says that their MA grads have moved on to top programs like Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, and others. There's also a lot of very good research coming out of there.

http://sociology.uncc.edu/academics/graduate/admissions.html

[SocCard]

I'll add an advertisement for Louisville--that's were I received my B.S. and they have some excellent faculty members. Their deadline is Feb 15th. It lacks the prestige of Emory, but they do offer funded positions every year to incoming MA students.

[Roll Right]

I highly recommend UNC Wilmington. Excellent department, lots of research opportunities, and if you're interested in non-profit work there is a good chance here. Dr. Leslie Hossfeld is a very well known public sociologist and the director of graduate studies. I know her well. I believe there is a late deadline here as well. Plus, its a beach town.

[SocHopeful2011]

Your reasoning makes sense for sure, but I don't know of anyone who has received an invite. As far as I know, no one on this board is aware of anyone with an invite within Sociology. I know of a bio major who received their invite--but departments work independent of each other. All that aside, you (and the topic creator) are probably correct. Emory is a tough school to get into (they have Robert Agnew--probably the most famous living criminologist in all of America).

Emory is at the top of my list of schools I've applied to. I guess we're all in the same boat

I also applied to Emory Sociology and have not heard back. But, I also have not had a rejection either. I'm also assuming I did not get in and it was by far my first choice. Let's hope they're doing waves of interviews, but I have a suspicion that's not the case.

[joops]

Thank you! I'm giving myself until February 7, at which point if I do not have an acceptance I will kindly ask my reccomenders to submit their letters to MA programs, probably including the one you suggested. Thanks again!

A seemingly excellent Master's program with a late (March 1) deadline: UNC Charlotte.

Their website says that their MA grads have moved on to top programs like Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, and others. There's also a lot of very good research coming out of there.

http://sociology.unc...admissions.html

[maximus82]

What if you take the GRE again and do everything from scratch? I know it sounds horrible, but I did it after being rejected everywhere and I am really happy I waited... You've applied to a bunch of really good programs, most in the top 20 or 30, and you have to understand that most programs can't accept more than 10% of their applicants... so you have to present yourself as being in that top 5-10% to get the attention of the committee.

Unlike most people here, I don't think getting a masters before you go to a PhD is the best idea. I don't think it is a bad idea, several people in my cohort came here with MA... but none of them did it because they couldn't get into a PhD program. If you have an MA in sociology from, say one of the UNCs, and transfer to a school like Indiana, chances are you'll have to do everything (except for a few stats classes) again. Do you really want to do that?

[Roll Right]

What if you take the GRE again and do everything from scratch? I know it sounds horrible, but I did it after being rejected everywhere and I am really happy I waited... You've applied to a bunch of really good programs, most in the top 20 or 30, and you have to understand that most programs can't accept more than 10% of their applicants... so you have to present yourself as being in that top 5-10% to get the attention of the committee.

Unlike most people here, I don't think getting a masters before you go to a PhD is the best idea. I don't think it is a bad idea, several people in my cohort came here with MA... but none of them did it because they couldn't get into a PhD program. If you have an MA in sociology from, say one of the UNCs, and transfer to a school like Indiana, chances are you'll have to do everything (except for a few stats classes) again. Do you really want to do that?

Maximus is right, you'll have to do probably a year of coursework over. A MA program is good if you want to sort out your research interests especially though. Make sure you do it for the right reasons. Its costly, but if you'd really like to go on to a PhD and worry about your GRE scores, or don't get accepted first round and don't want to take a break...go for the MA.

[foucault1]

Hi all,

I'm sorry if this post is inappropriate or too whiny, but no one I know is going through the same thing. Everyone has been so supportive here and I feel like I have to reach out for my own sanity's sake.

So it looks like the first response I'm getting from one of the ten schools I applied to is going to be a rejection. Needless to say, I'm absolutely devastated. When I found out, I cried for over an hour. I just know it was my SOP that killed me. It was the first school I applied to, as it had an early deadline. I tried the anecdote-as-hook thing and looking back on it, it was totally unprofessional. As a whole, also, the SOP was totally unpolished.

My subsequent SOPs were much better, but some were different than others and not all were equal. I'm feeling quite unhopeful right now. My GRE quant score was TERRIBLE (25th percentile; I was very surprised because I'm not actually that bad at math), and I feel like I won't get in anywhere. Trouble is, grad school is all I want to do.

Anyone have any thoughts/condolences? Anyone in the same boat? I feel like I need some solidarity right now.

Thank you in advance and sorry if my post offends anyone.

Dear Alissa,

Your post is not at all inappropriate or too whiny. Haven't heard from anywhere yet & I feel just like you.

Lets cry on each others shoulders.

[faculty]

A forum like this didn't exist when I applied to grad school (and in many ways, I'm grateful for that), but a friend and I from undergrad applied to grad school at the same time. I got in everywhere but one school (Stanford). She was rejected everywhere but one school, a state school with no real reputation. We both started school. I stayed in my highly ranked program (which I chose, in large part, because I was so impressed at the visit weekend. I had no idea I'd like it so much). She earned her MA and switched to a top sociology program in her field. That MA did cost her a bit of time and I did end up finishing a year before she did, getting a tenure-track job in a wonderful department at a good school. One year later, though, that friend interviewed for a job in my department (through no pulling pf any strings of mine). Her starting at what was supposed to be our "fall back school" didn't hurt her one bit.

[joops]

Thanks, Faculty. This makes me feel more confident about getting an MA first. Hopefully, I will get into a PhD program, but if not, I'm not going to give up.

A forum like this didn't exist when I applied to grad school (and in many ways, I'm grateful for that), but a friend and I from undergrad applied to grad school at the same time. I got in everywhere but one school (Stanford). She was rejected everywhere but one school, a state school with no real reputation. We both started school. I stayed in my highly ranked program (which I chose, in large part, because I was so impressed at the visit weekend. I had no idea I'd like it so much). She earned her MA and switched to a top sociology program in her field. That MA did cost her a bit of time and I did end up finishing a year before she did, getting a tenure-track job in a wonderful department at a good school. One year later, though, that friend interviewed for a job in my department (through no pulling pf any strings of mine). Her starting at what was supposed to be our "fall back school" didn't hurt her one bit.

[joops]

Hey, thanks. yeah, I could use an extra shoulder right now.

Dear Alissa,

Your post is not at all inappropriate or too whiny. Haven't heard from anywhere yet & I feel just like you.

Lets cry on each others shoulders.