From Math to Sociology?

[markhame]

Hi there,

I am a math major with some statistics coursework and recently I have started considering graduate school in sociology. My grades in math are not great (gpa 3.45), and I only will have had two courses in sociology under my belt by the time I graduate this year. I don't really know what to do, I especially have no idea what range of grad programs to even consider. I think I am interested in studying economic sociology or something along those lines but I don't really know how to narrow down my focus because of my lack of experience. 

 

Also how do you figure out what a school/department specializes in? Do you just have to go through the faculty pages and look at all of what the faculty researches? Or is there a better way to get a feel for what the strength/fit of a program is? How did you do it?

Edited July 21, 2016 by markhame

[rising_star]

If you don't know what you're interested in studying, then it doesn't really matter what a department specializes in. You need to do a lot of independent reading (a gap year could help with this) so you can figure out what particular areas of sociology interest you. Without that, your chances of getting in are lower, even at less competitive programs.

[historicallinguist]

13 hours ago, markhame said:

Hi there,

I am a math major with some statistics coursework and recently I have started considering graduate school in sociology. My grades in math are not great (gpa 3.45), and I only will have had two courses in sociology under my belt by the time I graduate this year. I don't really know what to do, I especially have no idea what range of grad programs to even consider. I think I am interested in studying economic sociology or something along those lines but I don't really know how to narrow down my focus because of my lack of experience. 

 

Also how do you figure out what a school/department specializes in? Do you just have to go through the faculty pages and look at all of what the faculty researches? Or is there a better way to get a feel for what the strength/fit of a program is? How did you do it?

How about political economy along the theory of Marxism? I was not and am not a sociology major, but I did some readings in Marxism, and I found its political economic theory quite easy for a non-major to get into.

[MaxWeberHasAPosse]

On 7/22/2016 at 3:04 AM, historicallinguist said:

How about political economy along the theory of Marxism? I was not and am not a sociology major, but I did some readings in Marxism, and I found its political economic theory quite easy for a non-major to get into.

terrible advice.

[MaxWeberHasAPosse]

You're a math major? You'll do great in sociology (being serious). Math requires very deep analytical skills, and in general, the discipline values the quantitative skills. You need to find some area that you find interesting, but you'll do well.