Panicking and applying to more places

[APHI224]

Hi, I am a senior at a small, prestigious private liberal arts college

Sociology major, applying to Sociology MA programs for Fall 2010

Overall GPA: 3.10

Last 2 years: 3.01

Major GPA: 3.37

GRE: 1200 3.5AW (I don't know what happened with the writing, I know I'm a very good writer, am submitting writing samples)

I am conducting my own independent study research project and fielding a survey at school

I know I will have good recommendations from my professors

I have applied to UVA, UMD, American, Brandeis, UDEL, GW, Penn State, UNC Charlotte, UNC Wilmington and BU

I'm worried because of my low GPA and AW score they won't even consider me and I don't stand a chance at any of the places I'm already applying to so I've started to panic and looking for other schools with lesser requirements

My schools is known for grade deflation and they do send a letter with all transcripts stating that grades from here are typically lower than normal universities, but I'm not sure how much that will really matter

I just don't want to be left in a few months with only rejections, I need to get in somewhere, what do you think I should do? I'm going to end up spending thousands on like 20 applications if I don't figure this out

Thanks!

[Victorianna]

I do not think that you should panic. You have already applied to 10 schools for MA programs. Typically MA programs have less stringent requirements for candidates than PhD programs. Since you mentioned that your school sends a letter explaining the lower GPA's I would imagine that this would not be as great a cause for concern. Also, your GRE score is decent. The AW writing is off concern, but can be couter balanced by other things, your LORs, personal statement and writing sample will be quite important.

I would recommend possibly applying to a couple lower ranked programs that are a great fit for your work. Fit is key. Remember that if the program is not a good fit for your work then it is not really worth applying.

I am not a sociologist, but these would be my recommendations. Good luck!

[coyabean]

Hi, I am a senior at a small, prestigious private liberal arts college

Sociology major, applying to Sociology MA programs for Fall 2010

Overall GPA: 3.10

Last 2 years: 3.01

Major GPA: 3.37

GRE: 1200 3.5AW (I don't know what happened with the writing, I know I'm a very good writer, am submitting writing samples)

I am conducting my own independent study research project and fielding a survey at school

I know I will have good recommendations from my professors

I have applied to UVA, UMD, American, Brandeis, UDEL, GW, Penn State, UNC Charlotte, UNC Wilmington and BU

I'm worried because of my low GPA and AW score they won't even consider me and I don't stand a chance at any of the places I'm already applying to so I've started to panic and looking for other schools with lesser requirements

My schools is known for grade deflation and they do send a letter with all transcripts stating that grades from here are typically lower than normal universities, but I'm not sure how much that will really matter

I just don't want to be left in a few months with only rejections, I need to get in somewhere, what do you think I should do? I'm going to end up spending thousands on like 20 applications if I don't figure this out

Thanks!

As a native let me say that you have an EXCELLENT shot at UNC Charlotte. They are my safety, safety school and I am just under your cum GPA and GRE. I have had almost everyone there say that I would be welcome. I'm considering doing the MA in sociology or public history if I don't have an acceptance by the end of Feb. They have late deadlines and it's a fairly straightforward process.

So, maybe do something similar? Find one or two schools with late deadlines -- some are as late as July for the Fall -- and see where you are in a couple of months before you submit anymore?

[jacib]

Hi, I am a senior at a small, prestigious private liberal arts college

Sociology major, applying to Sociology MA programs for Fall 2010

Overall GPA: 3.10

Last 2 years: 3.01

Major GPA: 3.37

GRE: 1200 3.5AW (I don't know what happened with the writing, I know I'm a very good writer, am submitting writing samples)

I am conducting my own independent study research project and fielding a survey at school

I know I will have good recommendations from my professors

I have applied to UVA, UMD, American, Brandeis, UDEL, GW, Penn State, UNC Charlotte, UNC Wilmington and BU

I'm worried because of my low GPA and AW score they won't even consider me and I don't stand a chance at any of the places I'm already applying to so I've started to panic and looking for other schools with lesser requirements

My schools is known for grade deflation and they do send a letter with all transcripts stating that grades from here are typically lower than normal universities, but I'm not sure how much that will really matter

I just don't want to be left in a few months with only rejections, I need to get in somewhere, what do you think I should do? I'm going to end up spending thousands on like 20 applications if I don't figure this out

Thanks!

My dad is a sociologist at one of the schools you applied to (not on the adcomm) and he emailed tons of colleagues around the country for me asking about GRE scores. I can't find the direct quote, but one of them said "A lot of professors don't fully understand the change from the old analytic section to the new writing section, so a lot of older professors tend to ignore that score completely." When my father got the average scores from programs that don't publish their scores online, only about half even bothered to give the writing score, and most people made little comments about them as if there were two scores, and writing didn't really matter at all. Don't mentally kill yourself if you're fine with your other scores. No where said they used a strict cutoff, and some specifically told my dad they'd let in people with very scores on occasion if everything else was superlative, and I'm sure that this is honest.

Also, I can tell you that a person like my dad knows almost every major college, and about it, its programs, where it is, its reputations, some little oddities. I know this because that's all he'd talk about with my friends starting the second semester of our senior year of high school. He'd refer to some of my friends by the name of their school, for example there was Sarah LaSalle, and Anna Brown. A few years out of college and that's still one of the first questions he asks me about every new girl I meet. He knows so many amazingly random things about schools--though he's never worked on the West Coast, he commented on the bike culture around U C Davis (where my current SO grew up) and the strength of Queer Studies at U C Santa Cruz (where she went to college) in the first conversation he ever had with my current squeeze. The point is, if your school does have a sterling reputation and is known for its low grades, I'm sure the admissions committee will take that into account because it's their job to know stuff like that.

[Ziz]

My dad is a sociologist at one of the schools you applied to (not on the adcomm) and he emailed tons of colleagues around the country for me asking about GRE scores. I can't find the direct quote, but one of them said "A lot of professors don't fully understand the change from the old analytic section to the new writing section, so a lot of older professors tend to ignore that score completely." When my father got the average scores from programs that don't publish their scores online, only about half even bothered to give the writing score, and most people made little comments about them as if there were two scores, and writing didn't really matter at all. Don't mentally kill yourself if you're fine with your other scores. No where said they used a strict cutoff, and some specifically told my dad they'd let in people with very scores on occasion if everything else was superlative, and I'm sure that this is honest.

Also, I can tell you that a person like my dad knows almost every major college, and about it, its programs, where it is, its reputations, some little oddities. I know this because that's all he'd talk about with my friends starting the second semester of our senior year of high school. He'd refer to some of my friends by the name of their school, for example there was Sarah LaSalle, and Anna Brown. A few years out of college and that's still one of the first questions he asks me about every new girl I meet. He knows so many amazingly random things about schools--though he's never worked on the West Coast, he commented on the bike culture around U C Davis (where my current SO grew up) and the strength of Queer Studies at U C Santa Cruz (where she went to college) in the first conversation he ever had with my current squeeze. The point is, if your school does have a sterling reputation and is known for its low grades, I'm sure the admissions committee will take that into account because it's their job to know stuff like that.

Wow your dad sounds like he loves his job. I want him on my adcomm!!