Evaluate me chances please!

[waisee]

Hi everyone!

Firstly my thanks to this wonderful community for helping me with my application last year. I have been lurking since last year's round of applications and my doubts were answered by many contributions here

Anyway, I've decided to give it another shot after last year's dismal attempt (got into 1 out of 8, and without funding). While it was a top 3 program, I had to decline because I simply couldn't afford it as an international applicant with no resources. :cry:

Please help me evaluate my chances this year for admissions with some form of financial aid:

- GPA (on 5 point scale) : BA (hons): 4.39, MA: 4.50 (both in sociology), some university level awards

- TOEFL: exempted

- GRE: V640/Q740/AW5.5 (an improved second attempt)

- 1 monograph under review for a small publisher, 2 articles in refereed journals under review, 3 regional conference papers & 4 book reviews

- 1 year of research experience in external think tank, and 1 year of overseas fieldwork experience

- strong LORs from faculty who are recent graduates from 3 of the schools I'm applying to

- leadership role in NGO advocacy work and active in student organisations

- good teaching feedback

- some prospective faculty members have expressed "polite" interest in my application

Applying to the following sociology phd programs, which I've deemed to be a good match with my interests in comparative and historical sociology, postcolonialism, class and labor politics:

Berkeley, Michigan, New School, NYU, UCLA, Yale

I know it's gonna be tough for an international applicant this year, especially with the fiscal cuts within my choice of schools, but I'm still quietly hopeful that something might just work out.

Your honest views will be appreciated!

[slothy]

Your stats are pretty good; I'm suprised you had such poor results last year. However, the funding situation will probably be particularly poor at public universities this year (especially in the University of California system), so it might be worthwhile to diversify your list of programs a bit if you have your heart set on starting next fall - Yale and NYU are the only ones on your list where I'd say you would almost certainly be funded if admitted. There are a few good large-endowment schools out there that you might want to consider with deadlines that haven't passed yet; one that you might be a good fit for (given your interests and life experience profile) in particular is Johns Hopkins. Good luck!

[cordelia]

hi,

as far as i know, UMich mostly funds those it admits as well..

[waisee]

Thanks slothy, gonna give JHU a shot now!

Hi cordelia, you're right about how UMich - "mostly" being the operative word here as state schools have cut their budget for international applicants since 2007's round of applications. I'm hoping if I do get in this year, I won't be one of those exceptions that fall through the funding cracks. :wink:

[misterpat]

Please help me evaluate my chances this year for admissions with some form of financial aid:

New School

0%. New School provides no funding.

(Sub-topic: Is that what makes its the New School?)

[waisee]

Hey Misterpat,

You're definitely right about the funding situation at NSSR, some of the current students have written back saying funding is almost definitely self-sourced there. Not to mention New York can be really expensive to live in! But there are some people I really want to work with there and since my application has already been completed, I figured I might as well give it a shot. :oops:

By the way, anyone had experiences where your LOR writers send their letters in only after the deadlines? I'm facing a similar situation where a LOR writer is MIA and it's really freaking me out

[misterpat]

Yeah, one of my recommenders submitted his letters late for some of my schools. Haven't gotten my results yet, but he made it sound like he explained it in the letter and that it shouldn't make much of a difference.

[slothy]

One of my writers still hasn't uploaded a letter for a 12/15 deadline and the department won't reply to any of my emails about it... I think that most 12/15 deadline schools will take supporting materials through the week after new year's (professors generally don't like spending their winter breaks reading application files anyway), although there's no way to know for sure unless you hear it from them.