Fall 2014 Sociology Interviews and/or Acceptances

[VLog]

Any news on harvard/ yale?

[hpa87]

Folks who heard back from Yale and NYU, any info on visit dates? 

[Blackbloc]

Any news to share about Boston University?

I am also anxiously waiting for some BU news. I have contacted them many times and no answer whatsoever!  

[meowth]

I haven't heard anything back from grad schools for a full month now. I'm so glad I got that acceptance in January or I'd be really dying right now. No news in February at all, unless someone sends something this evening...

 

Some rejections for closure at this point might be nice though. Didn't think I'd be waiting long enough to make a "Probably not accepted" category in my signature.

 

They'll probably all be coming in at once. That'll be a sad day.

[SocGirl2013]

Hahaha you did include the likely not accepted meowth! good idea. Hope they surprise you, in any case.
February has been the BEST month for me. One rejection followed by 3 acceptances, I was just like . I am not even going to bother waiting for the 3 I haven't heard from, because I love the schools I got into and am already having a very hard time deciding. I wish CUNY would give me funding already, so it would be a simple decision. I wanna go there so bad. >.<

[Darth.Vegan]

From what I've heard, funding at CUNY is a nightmare

[Pennywise]

.

Edited March 1, 2014 by grrlfriend

[Celukwazi]

Sorry to chime in so late, but I got into Yale's sociology Ph.D program!!! The chair and DGS, Ron Eyerman, emailed me on Feb. 11 to tell me I was on the short list and wanted to know if I had accepted offers elsewhere. The department then sent out a more official notice on Feb. 26 inviting us all for a prospective student visitor's weekend in April. Yale's GSAS sent out the official acceptance letter on Feb. 28. I haven't yet gotten my funding package offer, but it should be coming in the mail in a few weeks.

 

Just to give a little background--I was a double major in English and Sociology with a minor in Africana Studies and came to Yale in 2012 as an M.A. student in African Studies. Because the program is interdisciplinary, I continued to combine my interests in cultural sociology and African literature. I applied for a mix of programs this year--one in English (Columbia), one in Comparative Literature (UPenn), and one in African and African American Studies (Harvard). I didn't get into either Columbia or Harvard, and am still waiting to hear from UPenn. Yale was actually the only school I applied to for sociology because I really like their cultural sociology program. 

 

I've got sort of an unusual background/path toward the sociology Ph.D, but I think for me the problem is figuring out my academic identity. Because I had undergrad and grad training in both sociology and literature, I really struggled to choose one discipline to pursue. My sense is that Yale's sociology program, unlike perhaps others that might be a little more positivist/quantitative-oriented, is very open to interdisciplinary engagement and collaboration with the humanities. I'm leaning toward staying here, but wondered if anyone else had thoughts on this?

 

I know Yale ranks high in cultural sociology, but their overall rating has been around 17 and 20 over the last few years. Would love to hear everyone else's opinions of Yale's program!

Edited March 2, 2014 by Celukwazi

[Alterman]

Anybody knows what's the latest on Columbia? I saw some posts on the board claiming that all acceptances have been sent, can anyone verify that?

[sociologynerd]

I think Yale has a great program! I've met some of the grad students there and they really liked it. I've also met Phil Gorski. I don't think you

 

Sorry to chime in so late, but I got into Yale's sociology Ph.D program!!! The chair and DGS, Ron Eyerman, emailed me on Feb. 11 to tell me I was on the short list and wanted to know if I had accepted offers elsewhere. The department then sent out a more official notice on Feb. 26 inviting us all for a prospective student visitor's weekend in April. Yale's GSAS sent out the official acceptance letter on Feb. 28. I haven't yet gotten my funding package offer, but it should be coming in the mail in a few weeks.

 

Just to give a little background--I was a double major in English and Sociology with a minor in Africana Studies and came to Yale in 2012 as an M.A. student in African Studies. Because the program is interdisciplinary, I continued to combine my interests in cultural sociology and African literature. I applied for a mix of programs this year--one in English (Columbia), one in Comparative Literature (UPenn), and one in African and African American Studies (Harvard). I didn't get into either Columbia or Harvard, and am still waiting to hear from UPenn. Yale was actually the only school I applied to for sociology because I really like their cultural sociology program. 

 

I've got sort of an unusual background/path toward the sociology Ph.D, but I think for me the problem is figuring out my academic identity. Because I had undergrad and grad training in both sociology and literature, I really struggled to choose one discipline to pursue. My sense is that Yale's sociology program, unlike perhaps others that might be a little more positivist/quantitative-oriented, is very open to interdisciplinary engagement and collaboration with the humanities. I'm leaning toward staying here, but wondered if anyone else had thoughts on this?

 

I know Yale ranks high in cultural sociology, but their overall rating has been around 17 and 20 over the last few years. Would love to hear everyone else's opinions of Yale's program!

I think Yale has a great program! I've met some of the grad students and they were happy there. I've also met Phil Gorski. I'm sure you would have a great time and find a supportive environment at Yale!

[gingin6789]

celukwazi, congratulations! Your background is so fascinating and wonderful, too, by the way! I don't know a lot about Yale, but it sounds like a fantastic fit for you!!

[hpa87]

@Celukwazi What are the exact dates for Yale's visiting weekend? I haven't heard back from them yet, and I'm thinking I'm a potential wait list or a wait-and-see-based-on-funding person (since I seem to have missed the bullet on the rejections sent out Friday...). On the off chance I do get in I want to keep it in mind when I'm planning my travel schedule in April

 

@alterman I think the Columbia decisions are done, unfortunately...I got a phone call on 2/7 with an offer, the GSAS sent out a letter on 2/11, and the department's already sent out logistics for the recruitment visits

[Celukwazi]

@Celukwazi What are the exact dates for Yale's visiting weekend? I haven't heard back from them yet, and I'm thinking I'm a potential wait list or a wait-and-see-based-on-funding person (since I seem to have missed the bullet on the rejections sent out Friday...). On the off chance I do get in I want to keep it in mind when I'm planning my travel schedule in April

 

@alterman I think the Columbia decisions are done, unfortunately...I got a phone call on 2/7 with an offer, the GSAS sent out a letter on 2/11, and the department's already sent out logistics for the recruitment visits

 

@hpa87: Hey there! The visitor's day is on Friday, April 4. But because I sort of have an inside scoop, I know that this year Yale cut down the number of people sociology could accept from 15 students to 9. The DGS/Chair tried to send out emails early (around Feb. 11) of those who were short-listed (they had a list of 12 students) to get a sense of who might already be taking offers elsewhere. 3 out of the 12 said they weren't going to accept Yale's offer, so they sent out letters to the 9 students that made their short list.

 

To my knowledge, Yale doesn't normally do a wait list. I remember asking about this for sociology--but I could always check again for y'all. (Not having a wait list is a silly policy, in my opinion!!) I would imagine that not all 9 students offered admission will necessarily accept. So, I wouldn't be discouraged! Like I said, I can always confirm with the DGS himself about whether there is a wait list.

[msmr]

I'm also one of the Yale applicants who hasn't heard one way or the other yet. It seems weird that they would release mass rejections over multiple days, so I was also thinking, "wait list, maybe?" In earlier years on the results page it looks like one or two people have reported "wait listed" for Yale before. Hopefully we'll know something more definitive soon! 

 

 

@hpa87: Hey there! The visitor's day is on Friday, April 4. But because I sort of have an inside scoop, I know that this year Yale cut down the number of people sociology could accept from 15 students to 9. The DGS/Chair tried to send out emails early (around Feb. 11) of those who were short-listed (they had a list of 12 students) to get a sense of who might already be taking offers elsewhere. 3 out of the 12 said they weren't going to accept Yale's offer, so they sent out letters to the 9 students that made their short list.

 

To my knowledge, Yale doesn't normally do a wait list. I remember asking about this for sociology--but I could always check again for y'all. (Not having a wait list is a silly policy, in my opinion!!) I would imagine that not all 9 students offered admission will necessarily accept. So, I wouldn't be discouraged! Like I said, I can always confirm with the DGS himself about whether there is a wait list.

[riverscuomo]

Anybody knows what's the latest on Columbia? I saw some posts on the board claiming that all acceptances have been sent, can anyone verify that?

 

I e-mailed Josh Whitford a couple of days ago to find out and he said that they had notified everyone that had been accepted.

[Zhicao Fang]

Sorry to chime in so late, but I got into Yale's sociology Ph.D program!!! The chair and DGS, Ron Eyerman, emailed me on Feb. 11 to tell me I was on the short list and wanted to know if I had accepted offers elsewhere. The department then sent out a more official notice on Feb. 26 inviting us all for a prospective student visitor's weekend in April. Yale's GSAS sent out the official acceptance letter on Feb. 28. I haven't yet gotten my funding package offer, but it should be coming in the mail in a few weeks.

 

Just to give a little background--I was a double major in English and Sociology with a minor in Africana Studies and came to Yale in 2012 as an M.A. student in African Studies. Because the program is interdisciplinary, I continued to combine my interests in cultural sociology and African literature. I applied for a mix of programs this year--one in English (Columbia), one in Comparative Literature (UPenn), and one in African and African American Studies (Harvard). I didn't get into either Columbia or Harvard, and am still waiting to hear from UPenn. Yale was actually the only school I applied to for sociology because I really like their cultural sociology program. 

 

I've got sort of an unusual background/path toward the sociology Ph.D, but I think for me the problem is figuring out my academic identity. Because I had undergrad and grad training in both sociology and literature, I really struggled to choose one discipline to pursue. My sense is that Yale's sociology program, unlike perhaps others that might be a little more positivist/quantitative-oriented, is very open to interdisciplinary engagement and collaboration with the humanities. I'm leaning toward staying here, but wondered if anyone else had thoughts on this?

 

I know Yale ranks high in cultural sociology, but their overall rating has been around 17 and 20 over the last few years. Would love to hear everyone else's opinions of Yale's program!

 

Congrats! I was rejected by Yale but I love the program. You are right that it's one of the few places in the US to get sociology PhD training that does not attach too much of emphasis on quantitative/posivitist methods. It has a strong theory and comparative-historical focus and a great toleration of interdisciplinary perspectives. As for the problem of academic identity, I believe it's something you could figure out by the time you write your second-year paper, take the qualification exams and become PhD candidate. Most people with interest in more than one subject or shift to another discipline in PhD will face the problem of narrowing their paths for their PhD studies ( I transformed from IR to sociology), but I think there must be a reason why you choose to do PhD of THIS rather than THAT discipline. Or perhaps you could just do sth like "sociology of literature production" or "sociology of African writers" lol. Anyway, congratulations again! 

[Zhicao Fang]

Anybody heard anything from Cornell? 

[turbodream]

Anyone have info on USC?

[pinoysoc]

Anybody heard anything from Cornell? 

 

Zhicao, I e-mailed them last week and they said they'll be "rolling out" admissions this week. If you're talking about Development Sociology, then this is for you. As far as I know, the regular sociology program I think already sent out their acceptances.

[meowth]

Just woke up to see I received an email from SUNY Albany just 5 or 10 minutes ago. Waitlisted due to funding they said.

 

While I like that their program offers an MA in women's studies on the way to their PhD in sociology, the POI I was really interested in isn't doing research in that area anymore, and another POI is retiring this year. So I don't know if I'd want to go all the way to Albany if there aren't any POI I'm super interested in plus if the school isn't doing well financially. Maybe if that awesome POI was still doing sexuality research, but all of this combined... maybe not even worth waiting.

[Zhicao Fang]

I have declined the offer from University of Virginia. Quite committed to JHU now. If there's anyone on the UVA wait list here good luck and hope my decision helps

[SocInTheCity]

Anyone have info on USC?

 

I called last week. They expected to be sending out decisions this week.

[meowth]

Glad that Chicago is finally sending out rejections. Finally some closure.

 

And even though I know they offer a ton of people acceptances to MAPSS, it still kind of makes me feel good, since I originally even considered applying to that program (before I realized how absurdly expensive it was).

[Darth.Vegan]

2 years in a row we've had MAPSS students get into the PhD program at UCI. This year, said MAPSS student had a few good offers. 

[meowth]

Wow, this thread is dead. I feel like mine all just came really late. Just waiting on Boston now!

 

So, today I got accepted to University of South Florida's Master's program. They offer funding, but only half as much as I've been offered from University of Florida's PhD program. But, I do really like several of the professor's work there, and I've never hung out in Tampa, so I still want to go visit. The e-mail also said they encourage master's studies that do well to continue in their PhD program, so that's good. I also have to consider that it's better not to go to the same school you got your undergrad degree from. Except that UF has more prestige too, so.

 

Anyway, since I haven't gotten accepted anywhere else, I figure I should at least consider this as my other option. Maybe I'll fall in love the the school and area and figure it's worth it despite less funding, prestige, and only being guaranteed for master's? You never know. And even if I don't end up going, maybe I can connect with some professors that could serve as some long-distance mentors, second readers, etc.

 

At some point I also want to get more info on the potential of transferring from one PhD program to another (like applying during your second year so you'd be getting your master's at least), but that's probably for another thread. Because it'd be cool to be able to still consider schools that I either got rejected from this time around, or one's that I felt were so out of my league that I didn't even bother applying.