How's it going so far?

[Anonymona]

Hi all,

 

Since we're in the thick of our applications (or at least I am....), I thought we could use an outlet for this super stressful process (via this thread). How are your applications going? Anything you're super proud of? Anything making you nervous?

 

I know I've finished a few SOPs (which is exciting!), but even after editing, having friends proofread, and proofreading myself, I'm still nervous there are typos or gaps that I just can't see. Also, the writing sample.

[uselesstheory]

I have spoken to professors, PhD candidates, first and second year graduate students, advisors, department chairs...everyone that I know and all most all of the advice contradicts that of the others. I thought that soliciting advice from people with experience would help my anxiety about this process but it has only emphasized the role of chance, luck, and uncertainty. I think knowing that I can't predict the future has helped, because now, I just have to do my best work on every part of the application and hope for the best, which will hopefully make me feel less at fault if I am not successful, but I can't believe how contradictory the advice I have received was. 

[SOCphd15]

I have spoken to professors, PhD candidates, first and second year graduate students, advisors, department chairs...everyone that I know and all most all of the advice contradicts that of the others. I thought that soliciting advice from people with experience would help my anxiety about this process but it has only emphasized the role of chance, luck, and uncertainty. I think knowing that I can't predict the future has helped, because now, I just have to do my best work on every part of the application and hope for the best, which will hopefully make me feel less at fault if I am not successful, but I can't believe how contradictory the advice I have received was. 

 

Preach... everyone has a different opinion or something contradictory to say about the process. You just have to put your work out there and hope for the best. Quite the suck-tastic situation, but it is what it is: luck and chance. 

[amlobo]

I have spoken to professors, PhD candidates, first and second year graduate students, advisors, department chairs...everyone that I know and all most all of the advice contradicts that of the others. I thought that soliciting advice from people with experience would help my anxiety about this process but it has only emphasized the role of chance, luck, and uncertainty. I think knowing that I can't predict the future has helped, because now, I just have to do my best work on every part of the application and hope for the best, which will hopefully make me feel less at fault if I am not successful, but I can't believe how contradictory the advice I have received was. 

 

I think a lot of this is due to the individualized nature of graduate admissions.  People will say that what worked for them is the best way to do things... because that's basically all they know.  And, thinking about people in my cohort, we are all different people, with different backgrounds, interests, and strengths... and I'm sure our applications were all different.  Your application has to work for you, so advice is only helpful to the extent it leads you to figure out what that means.  Individual circumstances dictate how you need to present yourself to the adcomm, and you're right - you just have to do your best.  

 

A friend in a PhD program told me when I applied:  "Don't crowdsource your SOP."  Best advice ever.  I read people on here saying "NEVER do this" or "you HAVE to do this", and I kind of laugh now knowing that my experience didn't end up aligning with what they were saying at all.  Hang in there, guys

[jalison]

Its actually pretty shocking how much harder the SOPs are than I thought they would be!

At first I thought it would be easy - just an essay on why you are interested and why you fit - once you realize they are basically the only thing you have control of its a pretty stressful experience! I'm still working through them and currently only sending them to a select few (my siblings, close friends who I can trust) until I get them basically where I want, at which point I will bring them to a professor that has been working with me on my apps.

 

As for typos I would recommend literally looking at every individual word on your SOP - I accidentally typed "ethnic" instead of "ethic" and no one that read it noticed and since ethnic is a word it also didn't get caught by spellcheck - and it would have been a pretty awkward typo to make!

[Anonymona]

Tiny celebration: thanks to December 1 deadlines, four of my applications are now complete! I'm somewhere between awe, relief, and unrelenting panic.

 

I hope everyone else had successful December-first-deadline-days as well!

[uselesstheory]

I submitted all of my applications sometime before November 15th (I couldn't bear the sight of them any more, and realized that I would probably do more harm than good if I continued to obsess), but knowing that the due date for one of mine has now actually passed makes me strangely relieved.

 

Except I'll probably be checking my application statuses every day for months and months now...I wonder if submitting early could possibly mean my applications would be read earlier than some (not as an advantage acceptance-wise, but just for hearing back??)

[anna_M]

I won't be able to breath until I get a funded acceptance letter. Just curious.. What are your research interests? Where did you apply? Did you contact POIs?

[Anonymona]

I won't be able to breath until I get a funded acceptance letter. Just curious.. What are your research interests? Where did you apply? Did you contact POIs?

 

Oh man, tell me about it. December and January are going to be a struggle to get through.

 

I applied to schools mainly in the northeast and two in California. My interests fall between medical and cultural sociology (mainly in how people interact with ideas about preventative health). I reached out to POIs at four schools, and I wish I had for the final three (but it seems far too late now).

 

What about you?

Edited December 3, 2014 by Anonymona

[uselesstheory]

I also contacted POIs at four schools (half of the schools to which I'm applying), but also wish I had contacted more (at each school), given that I discussed my interest in different faculty members' work in my SOPs. I'm applying to schools all over the place, except for anywhere in the South...and I want to primarily focus on ethnography, gender & sexualities, and theory.

[abrakadabra]

Submitted all applications.

 

Now the waiting game begins.

[anna_M]

I contacted all my POIs as well as their grad students. I Skyped with most of them, but they don't know about my terrible GREs

[uselesstheory]

@anna_M: where are you applying?

I have not really heard of Skyping with POIs before applying in this field, at least from what I've read on here, so that's very impressive.

Edit: I'm on mobile and just realized you're in IR, not soc?

Edited December 8, 2014 by uselesstheory

[jalison]

Everything is done except my transcripts... need to wait until my grades from this semester are uploaded and then get them sent (aka overnighted) to the schools in time. 

Also one of my prospective recommenders isn't replying to my emails and we live on different continents! 

I will be glad when this is over

[Anonymona]

Oh no! If it makes you feel better, I didn't hear back from one of my recommenders for a month. I was getting super nervous, and then he submitted it right before the deadline out of the blue. Phew.

 

I haven't submitted all of my applications yet, but I'm already anxious to hear back. Anyone else like this? I keep reading old threads from this site as if they'll give me some perspective, but they just make me more nervous. This waiting game is (already) the worst.

[SocInTheCity]

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a good season so far. I've been really quiet this year because this board totally contributed to my neurosis last year. That said, I feel much better prepared this year than last.

 

I have completed 8/10 applications. Two of my LORs were a little late on a few of the 12/1 deadlines, but I suppose that's out of my control. I'm planning to stay on them throughout the next few weeks for my remaining deadlines. 

 

I plan to complete my final 2 after tweaking my final statements to fit these programs better. (They have a slightly different research focus than the other 8) 

 

Good luck to all!

[jalison]

soooo one of the profs that I was going to ask for a LOR isn't replying to my email.... I then googled her and found out she may be working at a different university and there is an email listed - is it weird/creepy/aggressive/impatient if I just copy the email that I originally sent and send it to this new email too and just say something like "wasn't sure if you were checking your other email blah blah" - I can't send my recommendation requests until I have both profs on board and the other prof is ready and waiting!

[jalison]

My second recommender got back to me! YAY!

[DDsoc]

I have heard from a professor that most universities don't care if your LORs are late.

[uselesstheory]

This is true, mostly: as long as your recommenders have their letters in before the committee actually begins reviewing applications, you're fine. So a week or so after the deadline isn't a problem, but it is best to notify the department grad secretary if they're going to be late, just to make sure and give a heads up.

[breaks0]

Is it just me or has this board kind of died relative to last year? It seems like there are at most half the posts and threads there were a year ago, when I last applied. So as everyone's doing finals, grading their students, helping w/research projects, scrambling to get in apps last minute and getting ready for holidays, I'm briefly posting here. I have so far submitted apps for UCs Berkeley, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara, CUNY-GC and Madison. I still have York U, Binghmamton and Johns Hopkins to go (all of these being Sociology) and possibly Oregon and/or Stony Brook. I'm additionally applying in history to nyu, politics to new school (where I already have an MA, 3.86 GPA) and lse, e asian studies to u toronto and int'l development at soas. Binghamton, Berkeley, JHU, CUNY, Madison and New School are all reapps, while York and NYU are reapps in different fields from last year.

 

My GREs are fine, except the Q which is a very low 630 (40%), V 740 (99%) and AW 5.5 (98%). My CV, however, is weak on work and research experience, though I have an article published in a British journal and have done a few conference presentations. My references are pretty good and my research focus is roughly on Marxist/World Systems sociology, development and popular resistance to practices of primitive accumulation/extractivism and in industrial labor in the BRICS countries (India, Brazil and somewhere China). My Chinese and French are moderate proficiency.

 

I don't think I've handled this process the best, though better than last year. I probably should've redone gre's, gotten more research and work experience, beefed up my language skills and applied for more financial aid sourcs. I hope in 2-3 months to be able to say I'm funded to go at least 2 of these to have a choice for next 4-6 or so years. Good luck all and happy holidays!

[uselesstheory]

I've heard that as long as the recommendations are in by the time applications are actually reviewed, there is no need to worry and you will not be penalized. Admissions committees are full of professors who know how other professors can be with these things.

[SocInTheCity]

Is it just me or has this board kind of died relative to last year? It seems like there are at most half the posts and threads there were a year ago, when I last applied. So as everyone's doing finals, grading their students, helping w/research projects, scrambling to get in apps last minute and getting ready for holidays, I'm briefly posting here. I have so far submitted apps for UCs Berkeley, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara, CUNY-GC and Madison. I still have York U, Binghmamton and Johns Hopkins to go (all of these being Sociology) and possibly Oregon and/or Stony Brook. I'm additionally applying in history to nyu, politics to new school (where I already have an MA, 3.86 GPA) and lse, e asian studies to u toronto and int'l development at soas. Binghamton, Berkeley, JHU, CUNY, Madison and New School are all reapps, while York and NYU are reapps in different fields from last year.

 

 

I agree...maybe less of us applying this year? I feel like I've handled the process MUCH better than last year. Maybe because I'm spending less time freaking out on these boards? Good luck, my co-reapplier. (Is that a word?)

[Anonymona]

This is my first round of applications, but I browsed the boards from previous years and it certainly feels that way.

 

For those of you who are applying for the second time, what did you do differently this year, and do you have any stellar advice about how to make it through this waiting period? I know it's only mid-December, but I'm so ready to hear results.

[breaks0]

For starers, have 3 refs w/PhDs and get everything in on time! lol I know it sounds so commosensical and obvious, but literally that alone should help a bit anyway. Having something published of course should as well. Also the number of schools you apply to, from Soc's list 10 schools (in my case a dozen or more) hopefully this time gets us at least 1 offer (again funded!). Contacting the faculty you wanna work with (which I am doing, if late in the game) and I guess if possible students and even members of the adcomm (since they make the decisions). Visiting the campus and meeting people (especially profs) if its allowed. I shoulda done more, but did visit one school.

 

I think Soc can probably provide more deets as to what s/he actually DID diff since I didn't do enough diff. If you're asking what should you do, well retake the GRE if need be, bolster your research experience and work/activities experience. The statements and writing samples obviously. Sorry sounds like a laundry list but, hopefully this helps. So far only 1 school I didn't apply to that I wish I had. Lastly, I think I picked more places where I'm a better fit this year. On the money/fin aid app end though, that's always been my weak point, I leave it to others to answer that. Buena suerte!