PhD advice needed

[GradGirl90]

Hello all!

I'm new to this site. I was using the college confidential website, but I didn't really get a lot of help, so I'm hoping you guys can help me out.

I recently graduated with my MS in CJ from the University of Cincinnati (UC) with a GPA of 3.788. My undergrad is in psychology with a minor in CJ, but my GPA wasn't as good due to me moving around a lot (3.32) from the University of Washington. I have not taken the GRE yet and I'm insanely nervous about it! I have some prep books, but I haven't been studying due to me being sick. It's mostly the quantitative section that worries me because it's basically all math from high school that I don't remember *sigh*. I've contacted several schools. UMD and UC seem confident that I could be admitted. In particular, UC has told me that using their professors as my references would be beneficial. My MS was online, but I made connections with a few professors. One of them even used my demo project (cap stone course similar to a thesis) paper as an example for her future classes (yay!).

I do not have publications or research experience, but I do have 9 months worth of volunteer work as a court appointed special advocate (CASA). I was an advocate for neglected\abused children. I met some great people who also told me they'd be happy to be a reference (including a prosecutor friend). Granted, prosecutors are more valuable for a law school admission, but I don't think it could hurt, right? I also had a long conversation with her about the differences of law vs PhD track because I've always considered going to law school. In the end, I think a PhD is the better option for me due to my desire to do research and teach. I'd also be concerned about not getting into a top tier law school. I've heard this can effect your employment outlook a lot.

I've researched schools to the best of my ability. I am primarily interested in biosocial crim, but I'm also interested in epidemiological crim (fairly new area of research), gender and crime, juvenile justice, and terrorism\national security. Here are my school choices:

-Univ of Cincinnati

-UMD

-Florida State

-CUNY

-Penn State

-Arizona State

-American Univ

Can anyone tell me if I have a good shot at being admitted into any of these schools? Let's assume I do decently on my GRE.  I really want to go to UC, but obviously you can't always go where you want. Thank you!!

[crim_phd]

If you are going for PhD you need to have 3 letters of recommendation from academics. I would advise not to get one from your prosecutor friend.

If you're interested in biosocial, you're gonna want to make sure that you are applying to programs that have people doing this type of work. My understanding is that it's a  small subfield that is very separate from the rest of the field. I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming a place like Penn State that has a combined soc/crim program does not have people doing research on biosocial crim. It is important you check, because if you're not a good fit with the program you won't get accepted no matter how qualified you are.

[AspiringScholar17]

@GradGirl90 hi there! 

We are all in the same boat here when it comes to being nervous and anxious about admissions, but it seems like you have a good GPA (both MS and undergrad) as well as good connections. 

It's normal to have no publications under your belt -- so not to worry! I know cincy takes a holistic approach to applications so make sure you have a good statement of interest/purpose and good references! I agree w @crim_phd in saying that maybe 3 academic references would be better. But other than that, just do your best on the GREs. I did quite mediocre according to most standards, with the exception of my analytic writing score. Make sure your statement of intent essay is tight though. That can compensate for your GRE scores if it comes to that point! 

Just do your best :-) im sure itll all work out in the end. 

[GradGirl90]

10 hours ago, crim_phd said:

If you are going for PhD you need to have 3 letters of recommendation from academics. I would advise not to get one from your prosecutor friend.

If you're interested in biosocial, you're gonna want to make sure that you are applying to programs that have people doing this type of work. My understanding is that it's a  small subfield that is very separate from the rest of the field. I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming a place like Penn State that has a combined soc/crim program does not have people doing research on biosocial crim. It is important you check, because if you're not a good fit with the program you won't get accepted no matter how qualified you are.

Thank you for the references tip. I will remember that!

As far as the biosocial thing goes, Cincy and Florida State are the best two programs for it, as far as I know. I did days worth of research for which schools had professors with biosocial backgrounds, what the school's research areas were, etc. I want to go to Cincy especially because they seem to care more about biosocial than other schools (considering they actually have a class dedicated to it in the MS and PhD program). I chose all of these schools specifically because most of them mentioned something pertaining to biosocial.

Also, I read over the little biographies from those who have been admitted to the programs. Several people expressed interests in biosocial crim at a few of these schools. I know Arizona State is more concerned with policing, and I can't recall everything that American Univ. is interested in. I will definitely review all of these things when it is time for me to type my letter of intent.

Edited November 23, 2016 by GradGirl90

[GradGirl90]

4 hours ago, AspiringScholar17 said:

@GradGirl90 hi there! 

We are all in the same boat here when it comes to being nervous and anxious about admissions, but it seems like you have a good GPA (both MS and undergrad) as well as good connections. 

It's normal to have no publications under your belt -- so not to worry! I know cincy takes a holistic approach to applications so make sure you have a good statement of interest/purpose and good references! I agree w @crim_phd in saying that maybe 3 academic references would be better. But other than that, just do your best on the GREs. I did quite mediocre according to most standards, with the exception of my analytic writing score. Make sure your statement of intent essay is tight though. That can compensate for your GRE scores if it comes to that point! 

Just do your best :-) im sure itll all work out in the end. 

Hi @AspiringScholar17 !

Thank you for the reassurance. It's such a stressful process!!! Agh!! Do you have any recommendations to make sure your statement of purpose is strong? I'm pretty good at writing, but my mom used to be an English teacher. I could ask her to look it over for any possible grammatical errors. I can ask another professor for my third reference. I find it interesting, and kind of odd, that someone who is in the CJ field wouldn't be a good choice for a reference. I guess they really, really want those only in academics! I suppose it makes sense given that I'm trying to be a researcher\professor, and not a lawyer. Do you know about those other schools application process? I'm particularly worried about getting funded as well. I know Florida State is a great school for what I want to do, but they don't offer full funding to all of their students and they also have a longer time period to graduate! At least UMD and UC can be done in 3 years (but usually 4).

Edited November 23, 2016 by GradGirl90

[AspiringScholar17]

@GradGirl90 No need to thank me -- we are all in this stressful ride together! : ) I wish we all get into some of the programs we apply for.

Cincinnati is also one of my top three choices. I spoke to the faculty there regarding reference letters and yes, it is way more credible getting a letter from another scholar because it proves that you're serious about research and academia. For some reason, academics aren't super fond of practitioners (lawyers, etc.). This doesn't mean that if you get a great letter from that lawyer, that your application will look bad. But if you had the option, I'd go with three solid professors and/or researchers that can talk about how qualified you are as a doctoral candidate. Given how competitive these programs are, I'd rather be safe than sorry. But if the lawyer is all you have going for you in terms of a third reference, I wouldn't worry too much about it! It's better to get an amazing letter from the lawyer than a mediocre letter from an academic.

From what I've heard and gathered, GRE scores are not considered very highly. That being said, if you do really bad on them, that won't look good on your total package -- no matter how great other things are. But if you score in the mid/high 140s to mid/high 150s, you should be okay. The higher the better, but mid/high 140s - mid/high 150s on verbal and quantitative should be "safe" scores that don't bring your application down.

Personally, I'm not going to go to a school that doesn't give me full funding. I find that such an insult, given that I'll be publishing and researching under the school's name. If a school doesn't offer full funding, it's a polite way of them rejecting you -- or so I hear. From what I've gathered, FSU doesn't fund all of their students, so they expect some of those non-funded students to reject their offer and go elsewhere. I'm also applying to UCincinnati and the faculty there told me to "sell myself" with the statement of interest letter. Tell them why you are qualified, why you would be a good fit to the program, and what makes you stand out. I'm going to mention that my GRE scores are on the softer side of the spectrum, but they should still consider me based on my publications, research experience, GPA, etc. 

Oh and yes, do consider the length of the program. I was considering SUNY but after hearing how long their students take to graduate, I dropped it from my list. There is no way I'm going to do 6 years of PhD when I can do it elsewhere for 3-4. Unless of course, the school's offer is way greater and ranking much higher than the others.

If we both get accepted and ultimately choose to go to UCincinnati, that'd be amazing! I loved the faculty there (at least those that I met at ASC) and could see myself enjoying my time there as a doctoral candidate. But if I get into MSU or Northeastern, I might have to really think about where I want to go.

Here's to hoping I have options come late Jan/early-mid February!

 

Happy Thanksgiving btw!

[GradGirl90]

@AspiringScholar17 I totally agree with you about it feeling insulting to not be funded. It upsets me a lot that Florida State does this because they are a great school for biosocial! If you check out the Biosocial criminology association, all of the people listed on their site went to FSU. Ugh. It's very frustrating for me. I'm so jealous that you got to meet the facult at ASC! Im really hoping to attend next year's conference.

in terms of the reference letter, I can email a past professor and ask them to write it for me. I mean, I could ask my prosecutor friend, but if I can contact a past professor who I know has similar research interests as my own, I think that would be a better option. I'll just explain how I was a past student and it was an online course. I'm already planning on asking Dr. Wright and Dr. Fisher (not sure if you met them but I loved their classes!) for a recommendation.

Thanks for giving me some insight about the GRE scores. That at least gives me some feel of how my application will look once I've taken the test. It looks like I'm most likely going to try to work for a year and spend a lot of time studying up, so I don't think I'm going to apply for 2017. December is already here basically, so I feel kind of rushed, and we all know this is something you want to do your best on! I'm trying to plan out everything to the best of my ability.

I actually haven't checked out MSU or Northeastern. What are their primary research areas? Also, is it worth stressing about the ranking of your school for crim? From what I know, the only ranking system is on US News for crim grad schools. I've been told that basically you find professors who are more actively involved in research in the top schools. Needless to say, I would definitely like to go somewhere where there are plenty of well respected researchers, but is it going to hurt me if I attend a school ranked below #25 or so? 

Happy Thanksgiving to you as well!

[RoadtoPhD]

On 11/25/2016 at 7:55 PM, GradGirl90 said:

@AspiringScholar17 I totally agree with you about it feeling insulting to not be funded. It upsets me a lot that Florida State does this because they are a great school for biosocial! If you check out the Biosocial criminology association, all of the people listed on their site went to FSU. Ugh. It's very frustrating for me. I'm so jealous that you got to meet the facult at ASC! Im really hoping to attend next year's conference.

in terms of the reference letter, I can email a past professor and ask them to write it for me. I mean, I could ask my prosecutor friend, but if I can contact a past professor who I know has similar research interests as my own, I think that would be a better option. I'll just explain how I was a past student and it was an online course. I'm already planning on asking Dr. Wright and Dr. Fisher (not sure if you met them but I loved their classes!) for a recommendation.

Thanks for giving me some insight about the GRE scores. That at least gives me some feel of how my application will look once I've taken the test. It looks like I'm most likely going to try to work for a year and spend a lot of time studying up, so I don't think I'm going to apply for 2017. December is already here basically, so I feel kind of rushed, and we all know this is something you want to do your best on! I'm trying to plan out everything to the best of my ability.

I actually haven't checked out MSU or Northeastern. What are their primary research areas? Also, is it worth stressing about the ranking of your school for crim? From what I know, the only ranking system is on US News for crim grad schools. I've been told that basically you find professors who are more actively involved in research in the top schools. Needless to say, I would definitely like to go somewhere where there are plenty of well respected researchers, but is it going to hurt me if I attend a school ranked below #25 or so? 

Happy Thanksgiving to you as well!

Hi! So I actually did my undergrad at FSU and I would highly suggest emailing specific professors from the department you'd like to work with. Your funding chances will be a lot higher if you have a faculty member who can advocate for you in the department and FSU is really great for biosocial research (they're the ones who taught me everything I know on the topic)! In terms of ranking, my professors from Fsu told me that going to a high ranked school will of course be a foot in the door for future jobs but that it really all comes down to your mentor/advisor in the program and his connections, mentorship style, and ability to guide you into getting published along with what you put into the program. I'm applying to similar schools so I'm on the same boat but hope this helps!

[AspiringScholar17]

@GradGirl90

I agree with everything @RoadtoPhD said! My mentors also mentioned that graduating from a well known school is great, but if the professors that supervised you aren't very enthusiastic in publishing, your chances of landing a job would be no different if you were to go to a less known institution. That being said, the schools you are interested in all seem to be reputable places -- especially in the Crim&CJ department.

It's just my two cents, but I think you should still apply this year. I did my first ever GRE (or any standardized testing for that matter) last month and, although I did sub-par (V149/Q146/A 5.5), the people I spoke to at ASC all said that they look for scores ranging from mid/high 140s to mid/high 150s. Obviously, the higher the better; however, give it a try! Who knows, you might land a decent score. I only studied for about 3 days and managed to get what I scored. If luck is not on your side this year, you can always apply next year as well, but why not give it a try this time around as well! The faster you get in, the faster you can finish and graduate! While doing things hastily is not in anyone's best interest, if you're just worried about GRE scores, I'd say give it a try and go from there.

I'm in the midst of writing my Statement of Purpose essays and it's driving me insane. Trying to make everything perfect is a tiring process -- especially when the end results are still imperfect, haha!

[GradGirl90]

@AspiringScholar17 if I applied for this year I would unfortunately be missing UMD. Their application deadline is December 1st  I think all the other schools are due in January though. 

[GradGirl90]

Could anyone possibly shed some light on the employment prospects of a CJ phd holder? My husband and I want to go forward in becoming a scholar, but I want to make sure there are a lot of jobs out there for us. I would rather be a researcher/consultant than a professor, but at the end of the day I need a job. @AspiringScholar17 @RoadtoPhD do you guys know?

[RoadtoPhD]

10 hours ago, GradGirl90 said:

Could anyone possibly shed some light on the employment prospects of a CJ phd holder? My husband and I want to go forward in becoming a scholar, but I want to make sure there are a lot of jobs out there for us. I would rather be a researcher/consultant than a professor, but at the end of the day I need a job. @AspiringScholar17 @RoadtoPhD do you guys know?

I heard the job market is looking very good for phd students in terms of academia. If not, there's a ton of government agencies, think tanks, or post docs you can get hired in. I would make sure to find a professor that is experienced in the researcher/consultant field that way you make those right connections while in the program!