BS Sociology low GPA

[wwikes]

Hey guys,

I'm new here, so forgive me if this should be redirected to another area. I will be graduating with a Sociology BS from a small state university in Georgia 5/2017. I've been browsing through various college sites as I've recently made the decision to further my education and I am a little overwhelmed by the number of graduate programs in sociology that I have to narrow my list down from! I am a little anxious that my GPA is subpar [ overall (roughly) 3.22, last 60 hrs 3.78, major 4.0], and I've yet to take the GRE. I will be applying for program admissions for Fall of 2018, which gives me a year to study. I am confident that I will do well on the GRE with several attempts and this long period of time to prepare. I'm 29 and I started college at 17, but have been in and out of school trying to figure out what it is that I want to do with my life. I fell in love with the discipline after meandering through many others and quite honestly feel as though I haven't gained what I want in the short time that I've been in the department; there's so, so, much more to learn and that excites me! I enjoy theory and deviance most, but everything that I've studied since landing here has been extremely interesting and I wouldn't mind going into any sub-field, so as long as it remains in the discipline of sociology. I guess what I'm interested in gaining perspective in is what more I should do to better my chances of being accepted into a program, what, if any, grants should I seek out or would be realistic with the aforementioned GPA, and if there might be a chance that I could enter a Masters>PhD program. I feel as though I could prepare an excellent SOP and I have three professors that could write letters of recommendation for me. Any other information that anyone would like to provide, any feedback at all will be well received and greatly appreciated!

[THS]

Hello!  So my advice would be to try to get on a research project of some sort during this year.  This can be done by contacting local professors at universities in the social sciences and just finding out if they need help.  You could explain that you will be applying to MA/PHD programs and want to have some research under your belt. You can also find field schools to fill this box/help with this professional development.  Doing this on top of working on getting a good GRE should all help get you into a program.  I would also say that if you don't know what subfield you are interested in you might consider doing an MA first.  This will help you narrow your ideas before jumping into a PHD.  It might be harder to get into a program if you don't identify and pursue a subfield.  I think if you are able to get on a project that would help.  That's my advice.  Best of luck! 

[Square49]

If you get a good GRE score you should be able to get into some pretty good Masters-PhD programs. Your last 60 hours is great, and schools will take into account your improvement from your first two years to your last two (especially if you work it into your SOP). If you had research projects it would be great as montanem suggested, but many applicants don't. Considering that you are at a smaller university, they may not expect you too because there is generally less opportunity to do so. So my advice would be to focus on the GRE and all of the supplementary application materials. Construct a professional CV, get a professor to proofread your SOP, and strategically pick your LOR writers. Also, make sure your SOP is at least somewhat personalized for each school. You should mention faculty members you would like to work with by name, and make sure you demonstrate your knowledge of the program's fortes. I think you would demonstrate your potential as a graduate student more if you really nailed those details. 

 

If you are interested in crime and deviance, Minnesota, Bowling Green State or North Carolina State may be great places to apply to. I would also recommend you apply to some criminology and criminal justice programs. Admissions are generally less competitive, and the field is burgeoning right now. That means more employment potential with a criminal justice degree. If you graduate from a top 10 university in criminal justice, you will most likely go on to another esteemed department. Finding employment with a sociology PhD is much tougher. Even if you go to a top 20 school in sociology, you may end up at a small, somewhat irrelevant, liberal arts school. 

[wwikes]

Thank you both for the helpful information! I have actually been entertaining the idea of entering into a criminology program (Florida State University, ranked 7th) as those are my top interests. The thing that is holding me back, though, would be the jobs available to criminologists. I don't care to work in any branch of law enforcement and academia would be the only thing that I know of that I would be truly happy with. I don't see many viable options as I look through, but it could just be that I'm not looking in the appropriate places. I am also looking into a one year research master's program at FSU, as I feel that would be most helpful for my future career path. It's a bit of an internal battle for me, because I desperately want to learn more theory and study more but I feel the research path would be more beneficial in the long run. Having taken so long to get to this point, I also have to struggle with other life priorities. I've been putting off starting a family with my significant other and I honestly don't feel that I could both take another 8 years of school and do that. I'm just rambling on now, but these are concerns that I will ultimately have to work out on my own. Again, thank you very much for taking the time to answer some questions for me and good luck to you both in your future endeavors!

On a sidenote, I'm bantering with a professor on using my research proposal from methods on a research project. Pretty excited about it! 

Edited January 25, 2017 by wwikes