Fit issue: studying cultural responses to natural and man-made disasters

[cooltime]

I'm having a bit of a dilemma with finding good fits right now. Copying this from the 2014 applicant thread:

 

 

"My interests are in cultural and urban sociology, but focusing on environmental topics. I'm interested in government and lay responses to natural and man-made disasters. To narrow it down, I'm interested in the informal groups that arise in the wake of these disasters, along with government responses and policy (or lack thereof) re: natural disasters. I'm also interested in the sociology of tourism and the sentimental and emotional responses people attribute to places. So, as I think you can see, I'm definitely attacking these issues more from a cultural standpoint, rather than a purely environmental sociology perspective.

 

My problem so far is finding programs that are a good fit. I've found two great ones so far: NYU (Eric Klinenberg and Harvey Molotch) and Yale (Jeffrey Alexander and Ron Eyerman). Other than that, all the programs I've looked into so far seem to be a bit of a stretch. Most departments with a focus in urban sociology seem to be tackling inequality and poverty; these issues would definitely come up in my research, but they aren't at the forefront. So, am I being too picky? Or should I be finding multiple programs that are as good a fit as I feel NYU and Yale are? Does anyone know of programs/specific scholars whose research sounds similar to my interests?"

[Revō]

I think you're focusing too much on finding an "exact fit" and it's limiting your options. My advice would be to look at programs that have culture and/or urban sociology concentrations and go from there. Culture is the largest concentration in all of soc and finding faculty who specialize in your exact area is kind of impossible at times. I would definitely apply to more than two schools; NYU and Yale get roughly 800-1000 applicants a year for a combined ~12 spots or so. 

[currentgrad]

NYU and Yale get roughly 800-1000 applicants a year for a combined ~12 spots or so. 

 

The overall advice is right, especially since you are likely to change topics. But it is completely untrue that either of those departments--or any department--gets 1000 applicants a year. At my top-5 program we review about 200-250 a year. Not that it's a cakewalk to get in, but you don't have 1,000 people a year trying to be Yale sociology grad students.

[cooltime]

I think the poster meant that between the two schools they receive that many applications. If I remember correctly from last year, NYU received about 410 and let in 4 or 5. So the numbers are exaggerated a bit probably, but there probably is around 800 applicants for both schools.

 

Thanks for the advice! I'll broaden my horizons. I certainly am not going to apply to just those two programs, because I highly doubt I will get into either.

 

What are some ways to justify fit in a statement of purpose if one does need to stretch a bit to find potential supervisors within a department?

Edited October 14, 2013 by cooltime

[amlobo]

I think the poster meant that between the two schools they receive that many applications. If I remember correctly from last year, NYU received about 410 and let in 4 or 5. So the numbers are exaggerated a bit probably, but there probably is around 800 applicants for both schools.

 

Thanks for the advice! I'll broaden my horizons. I certainly am not going to apply to just those two programs, because I highly doubt I will get into either.

 

What are some ways to justify fit in a statement of purpose if one does need to stretch a bit to find potential supervisors within a department?

 

I think one way would be to discuss "how" a professor conducts their research.  So, if they are in your broader area and employ the methods you want to use or "see" a similar issue the way you see yours, that is a way to argue a fit.  Another way would be to find a department with a critical mass of people (could be as few as 2, really) that are "adjacent" to your interests, to show how the department's strengths overall would contribute to your development.  So, it could be that this person studies disasters, and this person studies urban sociology, or perhaps multiple cultural people could support your interests methodologically.  Just some examples  And, I would look at affiliated faculty, as well (as long as they have a practice of advising sociology students).  I was admitted to one school where my best fit was with a professor in a different department, who was only "affiliated" with the sociology department... but who had a history of advising sociology students (I contacted her ahead of time to check before mentioning her in my SOP).

 

And, just remember that cohort size does not equal # of admits.  For instance, at NYU, say they aim for a cohort of 8... they probably admit at least twice as many to obtain that yield.  Obviously, all of these schools are still selective, but even the top schools are admitting probably twice as many people as their intended cohort size, so just keep that in mind so you can gauge your chances accordingly.

[rising_star]

Does it have to be a sociology program or are you open to other social science fields as well?

[cooltime]

i feel most at home in sociology, but that might be because it's all i really know. i've considered urban studies programs, but i'm not sure if i want to make that leap because as other people have noted my interests might change and i don't want to limit myself too much.

[rising_star]

I wasn't thinking urban studies. I was thinking like the environmental politics folks at Colorado State, the environmental behavior folks at CUNY, or any number of anthropologists or geographers across the country... It also depends on whether you're leaning more towards the natural hazards/disasters or towards the sociology of tourism...

[sociologo]

I'm not quite sure if her research is what you're into, but Patricia Widener has done some research on natural disasters. I think she's focused on New Orleans and Haiti specifically.