another PhD profile for evaluation..

[cordelia]

edit: no more available for evaluation.

[pac1371]

According to my personal experience, I would not put much hope on the U.S. sociology programs. GRE seems to play a substantial role if you are "the average applicant," by which I mean no special connections or very strong records. Two years ago I applied with qualifications similar to yours, and did not make it to any programs I applied to, including some second tier programs. I would guess that a combination of verbal and quantitative to 1200 would be a minimum to not be dropped down immediately. The more the better.

Of course there are exceptions. Given the programs you listed, it seems that you are more qualitative-oriented. You also have consider research experience, so maybe you are also pretty sure about the topics you are going to work on. I think there is still a chance if you can be a good fit to the programs, and contact professors that you want to work with.

Good luck!

[cordelia]

According to my personal experience, I would not put much hope on the U.S. sociology programs. GRE seems to play a substantial role if you are "the average applicant," by which I mean no special connections or very strong records. Two years ago I applied with qualifications similar to yours, and did not make it to any programs I applied to, including some second tier programs. I would guess that a combination of verbal and quantitative to 1200 would be a minimum to not be dropped down immediately. The more the better.

Of course there are exceptions. Given the programs you listed, it seems that you are more qualitative-oriented. You also have consider research experience, so maybe you are also pretty sure about the topics you are going to work on. I think there is still a chance if you can be a good fit to the programs, and contact professors that you want to work with.

Good luck!

Hey thanks! I wonder what you've done about PhD later

And yes, I am more into the qualitative, with a very specific doctoral research proposal. I had contacted the faculty in advance and applied only to the departments which seem a good fit. Yet I am not that hopeful, either.

[slothy]

Being published will be a big leg-up that few applicants have in sociology. Although your GRE scores are a bit on the low side, being an international student nobody will expect a marvelous verbal score. If you really are struggling with English, though, you might consider taking a year to really focus on being able to communicate in English before applying, especially since those big-state schools may want you to teach undergrads (at my institution that is the main reason we require the TSE in addition to TOEFL). Also, all the sociology programs you listed are rather competitive, you might be well served to conder some lower-ranked programs.

Finally, it's a definite red flag that you failed or withdrew from graduate level courses. You will need to have a comeplling excuse for those grades; a B is considered de facto failing in some US programs, so you will need expain why the schools you're interested in shoud be confident that you will complete your PhD this time around.

[misterpat]

Hi,

I'd like to hear your opinions about my chance. I am an international student, applying to PhD programs and in need of full funding. The schools fit well my research interests.. Thanks in advance.

* GPA: BA:3.28, MA: 3.81, and some PhD coursework with a terrible transcript (F, CB and withdrawals)

earlier degrees in PolSci & Hist.

* TOEFL: 102 (but with a terrible speaking score)

* GRE: 460/700/3.5

* 2 published articles in refereed journals & some essays

* academic work experience & some small awards

* great LofRs from not-so-famous profs

*Schools*

Sociology: Berkeley; UMich; UCLA; NYU; York

Pol Sci: New School

Be prepared to pay for that New School degree, should you be accepted. They don't fund their students.

I have no idea how competitive York is, but you really should look into a school or two that aren't top tier. You should get a little bit of leeway on your Verbal and AW GREs since you are an international student, but with a 460 and a 3.5 you need a lot of leeway. Those programs turn down many qualified applicants each year; they're going to be looking for ways to make the pile of apps smaller, so despite what they may say about GREs being only one part of your application, it might be the nail in your Berkeley coffin.

If your published articles are good, I suppose you aren't out of the running. Do consider some second-tier programs, though. A UC campus other than Berkeley, UCLA or Sanata Barabara would be a good option. Check out UC Davis.

[pac1371]

misterpat wrote:

...

If your published articles are good, I suppose you aren't out of the running. Do consider some second-tier programs, though. A UC campus other than Berkeley, UCLA or Sanata Barabara would be a good option. Check out UC Davis.

I am not 100% sure, but I heard that UC schools aren't really good bets for international students, especially considering their funding situation.

[misterpat]

Sounds like you know something I don't. What situation are you referring to?

[pac1371]

I heard that UC Irvine claims that they rarely admits international students. Not sure how much could that be generalized to other campuses. Also heard that funding for international students under the UC system is highly competitive.

I am not an insider. These are heard from other graduate student, so please take it with a bit of salt...

[cordelia]

hey people,

thanks a lot for the comments & suggestions.

seemingly i am quite a bit late for picking up new appropriate departments to apply now, considering the deadlines..

anyway, i was told by a prof at berkeley that uc schools lately have limited funding opportunities, especially for int'l students, but he also said it's worth to try..

cheers