Sociology of Education Advice

[EdSocPhD]

Greetings! 

I am having a lot of difficulty choosing a program to attend in the fall and was hoping to find some others in my field facing this same decision. It is a great problem to have, but it is absurdly stressful. So...any other soc of ed people out there? I am considering UT Austin, Penn State, and Notre Dame (all Sociology PhD programs) as well as Columbia Teachers College (Sociology & Education PhD). I hope to ultimately teach at a graduate school of education, so TC might be good, but I've also heard that there is a general perception of the straight sociology degree as more valuable on the market than an education-specific degree. Notre Dame seems great, but I'm concerned that it might not be great for placing graduates at education schools, given that the university itself does not even have an education school. UT Austin is technically the highest ranked sociology program on the list, but I've heard that students have trouble making ends meet with the stipend, which would be especially difficult for me as I have family on the east coast that I would need to visit from time to time. The funding situation at TC is also somewhat of an issue, since they only give full funding for the first 3 years (the program is expected to take 5+ years to complete). 

Furthermore, I have been told that I am very high on the waitlist at Johns Hopkins (Sociology PhD). If anyone has heard any news from them, I would really appreciate hearing it! I am almost certain that I would accept Hopkins on the spot if offered admission. 

Also, does anyone know if there are any rankings lists for the sociology of education subspecialty? I'm not relying on rankings to make my decision, but I'm sort of surprised that I haven't come across any lists like this yet and would be very curious to see any that exist. 

Thanks!!

[EdSocPhD]

No, that made sense, @SocPhDStudent, thanks for the response! I'm just having trouble figuring out whether Notre Dame (a 40-ish ranked Sociology program) would be more valuable to an education school than Teachers College (a top-10 ed school). I definitely don't want to work in a sociology department. 

[faculty]

If you're definitely not interested in a sociology job, the education school vs. sociology department doesn't matter. An ed school degree will get you a job in an ed school or in policy venues, practice, etc. If you had any possibility of changing your mind, though, it would be exponentially more difficult to get a job in a sociology program with the education degree than a sociology one.

The admissions process doesn't end until April 15th. Tell yourself that you have the next two weeks to hear from Johns Hopkins and that you don't need to decide until you do, when you have full information.

Good luck!

[EdSocPhD]

Thank you @faculty! Another question for you: in terms of future job opportunities, how foolish would it be to choose Notre Dame over one of the top-20 programs? I've heard that ranking means everything and I've also heard that ranking is pretty meaningless, so I'm really confused about how much it should play into my decision. 

Edited April 1, 2016 by EdSocPhD

[faculty]

On 4/1/2016 at 4:16 PM, EdSocPhD said:

Thank you @faculty! Another question for you: in terms of future job opportunities, how foolish would it be to choose Notre Dame over one of the top-20 programs? I've heard that ranking means everything and I've also heard that ranking is pretty meaningless, so I'm really confused about how much it should play into my decision. 

Notre Dame is under-ranked and on the rise, so I'm not sure I would let ranking hold you up if you're choosing between that and a school closer to the bottom of the top-20. More important might be whether the schools have placed in education schools. Did you ask about those placements during visits or in correspondence? It sounds like your heart is in Johns Hopkins, though, so I would embrace the uncertainty for ten more days and wait to decide after you've heard from them.