chicago

[Waits]

Another result posted. Anyone have more info?

[Waits]

Anyone have any info on acceptances here? Wonder have they all gone.

[Tillyfan]

Received their acceptance letter on Tuesday via email. Not sure how many others got into the program. Besides, a campus visit has been scheduled in early March.

Edited February 10, 2012 by Tillyfan

[realmadrid7]

Just found out I am on a 'short wait list' anyone else in the same boat? Trying to see what my chances of getting off the waitlist might be.

[ThisSlumgullionIsSoVapid]

Accepted into MAPSS with 1/3 tuition aid

[Darth.Vegan]

Accepted into MAPSS with 1/3 tuition aid

Sweet! Is this swaying you at all?

[ThisSlumgullionIsSoVapid]

Sweet! Is this swaying you at all?

I thought about it because it is just a one year program and would help with getting into higher ranked schools but I'm not sure I would be able to stomach $30,000 of loans for tuition (on top of my $30,000 for my undergrad) and another $12,000 for living expenses.

Edited March 2, 2012 by ThisSlumgullionIsSoVapid

[allhandsonthebadone]

Accepted into MAPPS with 1/2 tuition. As awful as my SoP was I thought they would charge me a 1/2 more than full price.

I live in Chicago and I have no UG debt so it is tempting. But if my first 15 falls through I think I'd rather have a funded masters at a less prestigious place.

[sleepycat]

Accepted into MAPPS with 1/2 tuition. As awful as my SoP was I thought they would charge me a 1/2 more than full price.

I live in Chicago and I have no UG debt so it is tempting. But if my first 15 falls through I think I'd rather have a funded masters at a less prestigious place.

UoC less prestigious?!

[allhandsonthebadone]

UoC less prestigious?!

I mean the other MA programs I applied to as an emergency. They will most likely offer full funding with stipend. However, the moving and living expenses could cancel each other out as I live in Chicago already. Interesting dilemma if Plan A falls through.

[sleepycat]

Oh I see! lol

[Darth.Vegan]

I am still trying to gauge how competitive MAPPS is...? I plan on applying directly to MAPPS as a viable backup option, as U of C doesn't fit my research interests that well.

[undmich]

I am still trying to gauge how competitive MAPPS is...? I plan on applying directly to MAPPS as a viable backup option, as U of C doesn't fit my research interests that well.

i would suggest u to apply for PhD instead since it seems that they will either take you or forward ur application to MAPSS.it doesn't hurt to try.

[Darth.Vegan]

i would suggest u to apply for PhD instead since it seems that they will either take you or forward ur application to MAPSS.it doesn't hurt to try.

Yeah, I thought about that, but it really doesn't fit my research interests that well. I figure for a Masters it doesn't really matter (plus MAPPS is interdisciplinary by nature), but I am not sure I want to go there for 7 years. I may change my mind once I am in the program and get to know faculty on a personal basis and see what they are working on first hand. Trust me, I go back and forth on this all the time.

[ThisSlumgullionIsSoVapid]

Yeah, I thought about that, but it really doesn't fit my research interests that well. I figure for a Masters it doesn't really matter (plus MAPPS is interdisciplinary by nature), but I am not sure I want to go there for 7 years. I may change my mind once I am in the program and get to know faculty on a personal basis and see what they are working on first hand. Trust me, I go back and forth on this all the time.

You're going to end up in a top 20. Your application is stellar (pending your GRE scores). Even with average gre scores, the rest of your application can make up for an average GRE score. I highly doubt you're going to need any masters back up programs and even if you do, you should go to one that is fully funded with a stipend. I don't see the pay-off of MAPSS being worth $45,000 in tuition and another $15,000 for living considering you don't have much you'd need to compensate for. Just make sure you can clearly express why you're a perfect fit for whoever you want to work with. I may have under estimated the part of stating the case of why ___ university a little bit on some of my applications.

[Darth.Vegan]

Ya well I already have my top picks, and even though I feel I am pretty strong, I am still concerned with how competitive programs are. My deficits as I see them: My 30 credits from Portland Community College (3.2) bring what would be stellar GPA (3.94) down a bit (but still 3.7 cumulative). And seeing as I am looking to publish an article from my thesis in a professional journal, I will probably not have any journal publications by the time I apply, unless I try and publish my research paper for my social stats class (analyzing GSS data) in an undergrad journal. And while prestige does not matter that much, coming from the #158th ranked national university concerns me when I am competing with students from UC's and Ivy's.I also don't expect anything better than around the 1300's on the GRE. My partner and I fair about the same on the practice questions and she got a 1320 when she took it. I will feel better about my applications in the fall if I get one of the 2 NSF internships I applied for, guess I should know any day now.

Wisconsin Madison

Jack Kloppenburg (close friends with one of my letter writers, he was also her adviser and she thinks we would be a perfect fit)

Katherine J. Curtis

Michael Bell

Cornell (Dev Soc)

Phil McMichael

Charles Geisler

Stanford

Doug McAdam

Susan Olzak

Edited March 3, 2012 by xdarthveganx

[sciencegirl]

@xdarthveganx - I would apply broadly and if your goal is to go to a T20 school, discrediting Chicago because it doesn't immediately fit your research interests with faculty working on exactly what you want to work on is a bit shortsighted. Also, I've learned from this cycle that adcoms are incredibly finicky.. think 7-8 professors (from a pool of 30-40) trying to decide on 20 admits from over 400 applications. You have no idea who next year will be on the adcom of a given school. What are your research interests and why would Chicago not be a good fit? I actually think Chicago has produced an incredible array of scholars from the last ten+ years doing work on almost everything.

[Chuck]

Sciencegirl- I believe Darthvegan is interested in environmental sociology. Unless I've majorly overlooked someone, there is nobody in Sociology at Chicago doing primarily environmental work. This is true broadly of the social sciences at Chicago.

[sciencegirl]

@chuck.. I wouldn't assume that based on the profs listed in the earlier post.. my guess is that @darthvegan's interests are in political sociology which is a fairly broad.. I think your field, environmental sociology is one of those truly niche fields where "fit" matters the most.. I would venture to say though that most, maybe over 90% of applicants have interests that are not so niche and can be applied almost to any top 30 program. Chicago also seems to be one of those places that is hands down well regarded for training, regardless of interest. (Wisconsin is another place that I would put in that framework).

[Darth.Vegan]

@chuck.. I wouldn't assume that based on the profs listed in the earlier post.. my guess is that @darthvegan's interests are in political sociology which is a fairly broad.. I think your field, environmental sociology is one of those truly niche fields where "fit" matters the most.. I would venture to say though that most, maybe over 90% of applicants have interests that are not so niche and can be applied almost to any top 30 program. Chicago also seems to be one of those places that is hands down well regarded for training, regardless of interest. (Wisconsin is another place that I would put in that framework).

My interests lie at the intersection of environmental sociology and social movements. So you are both correct. I am primarily interested in issues of food, energy, development and globalization. Then I am also interested in new left social movements such as the animal rights, environmental, anti-globalization. occupy and people's movements (such as ELZN).

If Stanford seems to stick out a bit from the other 2 listed, it probably does. My choice of Stanford is based on work that Colin J. Beck did on the radical environmental movement while he was Stanford (now at Pomona).

Oh and just fyi science girl, my intention is to apply to 8 top 30 phd programs

Stanford

Wisconsin

Austin

Michigan

NYU

Cornell

Brown (maybe)

UC Irvine

I feel like I can make a strong case for each one being a really good fit for me (each for different reasons)

Then I am applying to 2 or 3 lower ranked (#31 and #57) PhD programs and 4 or 5 MA programs (3 of which are funded)

Edited March 3, 2012 by xdarthveganx

[tt503]

Ya well I already have my top picks, and even though I feel I am pretty strong, I am still concerned with how competitive programs are. My deficits as I see them: My 30 credits from Portland Community College (3.2) bring what would be stellar GPA (3.94) down a bit (but still 3.7 cumulative). And seeing as I am looking to publish an article from my thesis in a professional journal, I will probably not have any journal publications by the time I apply, unless I try and publish my research paper for my social stats class (analyzing GSS data) in an undergrad journal. And while prestige does not matter that much, coming from the #158th ranked national university concerns me when I am competing with students from UC's and Ivy's.I also don't expect anything better than around the 1300's on the GRE. My partner and I fair about the same on the practice questions and she got a 1320 when she took it. I will feel better about my applications in the fall if I get one of the 2 NSF internships I applied for, guess I should know any day now.

Wisconsin Madison

Jack Kloppenburg (close friends with one of my letter writers, he was also her adviser and she thinks we would be a perfect fit)

Katherine J. Curtis

Michael Bell

Cornell (Dev Soc)

Phil McMichael

Charles Geisler

Stanford

Doug McAdam

Susan Olzak

For Cornell, I'd suggest a few things...

1. You're on the right track about applying for additional funding. I'd also suggest a FLAS with Cornell. If you have external funding (especially for the first year), they're more likely to consider you.

2. Fit is huge. Most of the students I know in Dev. Soc. had prior contact with their advisers. I can give your better guidance through PM, but one of the bigger names you've mentioned just took a student this year, so I'm not sure how that affects your chances.

3. From what I gather, fieldwork is extremely important. Everyone I know here has at least a year (most have more than that) of overseas fieldwork. I'm sure they all have great GPAs, etc. but the fieldwork seemed especially important.

Edited March 4, 2012 by tt503

[sleepycat]

If Stanford seems to stick out a bit from the other 2 listed, it probably does. My choice of Stanford is based on work that Colin J. Beck did on the radical environmental movement while he was Stanford (now at Pomona).

Ugh...I took a class from him for like a month and hated the class. (I went to Pitzer)

[Darth.Vegan]

For Cornell, I'd suggest a few things...

1. You're on the right track about applying for additional funding. I'd also suggest a FLAS with Cornell. If you have external funding (especially for the first year), they're more likely to consider you.

2. Fit is huge. Most of the students I know in Dev. Soc. had prior contact with their advisers. I can give your better guidance through PM, but one of the bigger names you've mentioned just took a student this year, so I'm not sure how that affects your chances.

3. From what I gather, fieldwork is extremely important. Everyone I know here has at least a year (most have more than that) of overseas fieldwork. I'm sure they all have great GPAs, etc. but the fieldwork seemed especially important.

PM'D

[NeeNee]

It really depends on the school, I talked to my prof who graduated with a phD from Chicago School and my interest lie in environmental structures and their influences on health- that is something that fits right in with Chicago! UC Berk is very theory driven, and Madison is running out of money. He also recommended Harvard and told me great profs he has worked with at each. Currently I am doing a masters in environmental studies, with a thesis based around using GIS to measure health in a community. He told me your masters will look like you have a very specific goal in mind, which is what phD departments want to see. I am really hoping to get in to Chicago after my masters!