Sociology PhD Applicants: Tell Me Where You're Applying!

[latemeg]

My list (not necessarily in this order:

University of Chicago (submitted)

Northwestern University (in progress)

University of Wisconsin, Madison (in progress)

Indiana University, Bloomington (in progress)

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (in progress)

University of Pennsylvania (in progress)

What about you guys?

[pinoysoc]

1. The Pennsylvania State University,
2. University of Pennsylvania
3. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
4. The University of Alabama at Birmingham
5. Stanford University
6. Vanderbilt University
7. Duke University

All submitted. Some schools are processing materials. 

[mfafiction2019]

UC Berkeley (submitted)

UCLA (submitted)

UC Irvine (submitted)

UT Austin (submitted)

Northwestern (in progress)

CUNY (in progress)

UCSD (in progress)

[qeta]

1. Berkeley (already submitted, with two whole minutes to spare!!)
2. Cornell Dev. Soc.
3. Brown
4. UW Madison
5. JHU (Program on Global Social Change)
6. MSU
7. TAMU
8. McGill

[abenz]

Hey, 

You might find this helpful as a lot of people have submitted in there!

mine are all in my signature.

 

 

[latemeg]

Thanks for sharing, everybody! How confident are you all about your applications? 

[mfafiction2019]

I go from feeling confident about all of them to not feeling confident about any of them a lot, though there are some schools that I consistently feel more confident about than others (be it because the fit is better or because they're not "ranked" as high as some of the other places I applied to).

[MintChocoChip]

In order of deadlines:

1. Rutgers (submitted)

2. CU Boulder (submitted)

3. UW Wisconsin (pending edits for SOP)

4. UCSF (pending edits for SOP)

5. U of Iowa (in progress)

6. Yale (in progress)

7. Indiana Bloomington (in progress)

8. UCSD (in progress)

9. U of New Mexico (in progress)

10. Vanderbilt (in progress)

 

My confidence levels seem to rise and fall depending on which app I happen to be doing. It's usually because of how well I think I fit with the school as well as ranking. I'm not so confident with the higher ranked ones because of my lack of research experience and quant score, but I'm also hoping for the best. 

[socstudentzzz]

I'm applying to 7 programs:

1. University of California, Irvine (Submitted)
2. University of Washington (Submitted)
3. University of Iowa (Submitted)
4.  University of South Carolina (In-Progress)
5. Cornell University (In-Progress)
6. University of Nebraska, Lincoln (Submitted)
7. University of Massachusetts, Amherst (In-Progress)

I'm pretty optimistic with most of my applications, I feel like I have a great fit with these programs. You never know with admission decisions, but I can only put forth the best me possible. 

[latemeg]

On 12/9/2017 at 11:25 AM, qualsoc2018 said:

I go from feeling confident about all of them to not feeling confident about any of them a lot, though there are some schools that I consistently feel more confident about than others (be it because the fit is better or because they're not "ranked" as high as some of the other places I applied to).

Some of my statements are definitely better than others. I feel like I'm a good fit at Northwestern; I also feel like I don't look good enough on paper for IUB [since they have such a short SOP!]. I feel you. 

On 12/9/2017 at 11:53 PM, MintChocoChip said:

In order of deadlines:

1. Rutgers (submitted)

2. CU Boulder (submitted)

3. UW Wisconsin (pending edits for SOP)

4. UCSF (pending edits for SOP)

5. U of Iowa (in progress)

6. Yale (in progress)

7. Indiana Bloomington (in progress)

8. UCSD (in progress)

9. U of New Mexico (in progress)

10. Vanderbilt (in progress)

 

My confidence levels seem to rise and fall depending on which app I happen to be doing. It's usually because of how well I think I fit with the school as well as ranking. I'm not so confident with the higher ranked ones because of my lack of research experience and quant score, but I'm also hoping for the best. 

Ugh. I hate editing the statements. It's like pulling teeth. I'm in the same boat on research experience and the quant score; my GRE score for verbal is great, but that quant section kicked my ass. Weird since I'm very good with statistics. 

On 12/10/2017 at 12:20 AM, soc4315 said:

I'm applying to 7 programs:

1. University of California, Irvine (Submitted)
2. University of Washington (Submitted)
3. University of Iowa (Submitted)
4.  University of South Carolina (In-Progress)
5. Cornell University (In-Progress)
6. University of Nebraska, Lincoln (Submitted)
7. University of Massachusetts, Amherst (In-Progress)

I'm pretty optimistic with most of my applications, I feel like I have a great fit with these programs. You never know with admission decisions, but I can only put forth the best me possible. 

It's good to see some optimism! Hopefully some of that rubs off on me.

[mfafiction2019]

Just submitted apps for CUNY and Northwestern (both due on the 15), mostly because I got an email today from CUNY reminding me to submit the application that I'd already started. How is everyone else holding up?

[pinoysoc]

1 hour ago, qualsoc2018 said:

Just submitted apps for CUNY and Northwestern (both due on the 15), mostly because I got an email today from CUNY reminding me to submit the application that I'd already started. How is everyone else holding up?

I'm biting my fingernails... OVER AND OVER AND OVER!

I'm so nervous about this application season because I haven't' been this eager to get in since the first time I applied for the Fall 2014 application season. God knows that I have changed since then, but still a worrywart basketcase with all the waiting!

[MintChocoChip]

23 hours ago, latemeg said:

Ugh. I hate editing the statements. It's like pulling teeth. I'm in the same boat on research experience and the quant score; my GRE score for verbal is great, but that quant section kicked my ass. Weird since I'm very good with statistics. 

I feel your pain. Some statements were definitely easier than others, but it was still quite a challenge to show how everyone and everything is connected. Glad I'm not the only one who got owned by the quant section. I like statistics too, though it's been awhile since I took a class in it.

1 hour ago, qualsoc2018 said:

Just submitted apps for CUNY and Northwestern (both due on the 15), mostly because I got an email today from CUNY reminding me to submit the application that I'd already started. How is everyone else holding up?

Just submitted apps for UW Madison and Indiana Bloomington (though this still requires professors to submit their recs) and I'm pretty much done with UCSF pending some small details. I'm halfway there in my apps, losing a bit of my sanity, but glad that I organized myself and my application stuff beforehand. Just one more month and I'll be free from application preparation and submission madness. How are you holding up?

[latemeg]

4 hours ago, qualsoc2018 said:

Just submitted apps for CUNY and Northwestern (both due on the 15), mostly because I got an email today from CUNY reminding me to submit the application that I'd already started. How is everyone else holding up?

That Northwestern app is giving me so much trouble. Cluster statement, diversity statement, quantitative fellowship paragraph/statement, my God, it just doesn't end! Congrats on the submissions. 

3 hours ago, MintChocoChip said:

I feel your pain. Some statements were definitely easier than others, but it was still quite a challenge to show how everyone and everything is connected. Glad I'm not the only one who got owned by the quant section. I like statistics too, though it's been awhile since I took a class in it.

Just submitted apps for UW Madison and Indiana Bloomington (though this still requires professors to submit their recs) and I'm pretty much done with UCSF pending some small details. I'm halfway there in my apps, losing a bit of my sanity, but glad that I organized myself and my application stuff beforehand. Just one more month and I'll be free from application preparation and submission madness. How are you holding up?

Got my IUB app in tonight too! I've got to finish my UW Madison / UM Ann Arbor / UPennsylvania / Northwestern apps tomorrow afternoon, since I have family coming into town and I just know they won't get done if I wait until Friday. The UWM app is mercifully brief, though, IMO. 

[mfafiction2019]

7 hours ago, latemeg said:

That Northwestern app is giving me so much trouble. Cluster statement, diversity statement, quantitative fellowship paragraph/statement, my God, it just doesn't end! Congrats on the submissions. 

Got my IUB app in tonight too! I've got to finish my UW Madison / UM Ann Arbor / UPennsylvania / Northwestern apps tomorrow afternoon, since I have family coming into town and I just know they won't get done if I wait until Friday. The UWM app is mercifully brief, though, IMO. 

I just applied for a cluster (so no diversity or quant fellowship statement), but still, I felt like I was being redundant in the cluster statement, because from my SOP it should be kind of obvious why I'm applying to that cluster and why I would be a good fit (it was one of the area studies ones).

[latemeg]

3 hours ago, qualsoc2018 said:

I just applied for a cluster (so no diversity or quant fellowship statement), but still, I felt like I was being redundant in the cluster statement, because from my SOP it should be kind of obvious why I'm applying to that cluster and why I would be a good fit (it was one of the area studies ones).

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I'm taking a break from that app and just doing UPenn and UWM right now. NW and UMAA will happen later tonight, I think. 

[MintChocoChip]

21 hours ago, latemeg said:

Got my IUB app in tonight too! I've got to finish my UW Madison / UM Ann Arbor / UPennsylvania / Northwestern apps tomorrow afternoon, since I have family coming into town and I just know they won't get done if I wait until Friday. The UWM app is mercifully brief, though, IMO. 

Nice! Wishing all of us good luck on our apps. Oh my goodness, I can't imagine doing that many apps in one day!  I'm guessing those got done by now?

I think so far Iowa U was my shortest app if you don't count submitting the supplemental materials (that's why I am technically submitted but I still need the supplements for a full app). 

Got UCSF done and now to work on my next cluster: Iowa and Yale. 

[latemeg]

1 hour ago, MintChocoChip said:

Nice! Wishing all of us good luck on our apps. Oh my goodness, I can't imagine doing that many apps in one day!  I'm guessing those got done by now?

I think so far Iowa U was my shortest app if you don't count submitting the supplemental materials (that's why I am technically submitted but I still need the supplements for a full app). 

Got UCSF done and now to work on my next cluster: Iowa and Yale. 

Everything's done! Just going to revise one final time in the morning and submit it then. 

Best of luck! Looks like you're coming in ahead of deadlines, even by just a few days, which is always the goal IMO!

[infovore]

16 hours ago, qualsoc2018 said:

I just applied for a cluster (so no diversity or quant fellowship statement), but still, I felt like I was being redundant in the cluster statement, because from my SOP it should be kind of obvious why I'm applying to that cluster and why I would be a good fit (it was one of the area studies ones).

Yes, I actually haven't even started my cluster statement yet (Science Studies), and I don't know how I will be able to differentiate it from my SOP. I'm considering just not including one, even though my work is incredibly interdisciplinary and it would be great to be a Cluster Fellow. I feel quite pessimistic about my chances of getting into Northwestern in general, though, so spending extra time to work on a cluster statement feels admittedly foolish.

[latemeg]

10 hours ago, infovore said:

Yes, I actually haven't even started my cluster statement yet (Science Studies), and I don't know how I will be able to differentiate it from my SOP. I'm considering just not including one, even though my work is incredibly interdisciplinary and it would be great to be a Cluster Fellow. I feel quite pessimistic about my chances of getting into Northwestern in general, though, so spending extra time to work on a cluster statement feels admittedly foolish.

I submitted for the Science Studies cluster as well. I'd love to work w Dr. Epstein, but I'm also in that spot where NW does not seem like they'll like me as an applicant. 

If you haven't submitted your application yet, I'd probably tell you to bite the bullet and write something up. My cluster statement is pretty crappy, but I feel happy it's in there. To each their own, though--the burn out is real at this point!

[CandideCoating]

Submitted to UNC-Chapel Hill, UT-Austin and Emory. I feel pretty confident - the fit is strong at all of them, I have non-academic work experience in the sub-field I'm interested in (social movements) and my scores and recs were good. I have to just stay calm and confident - I am so ready for this to be my next step. Everyone's long lists makes me wish I had felt the fit as strongly at more schools, but my advisor told me not to apply anywhere I wouldn't be super-thrilled to spend 5 years. Good luck to everyone. 

[MintChocoChip]

22 hours ago, latemeg said:

Everything's done! Just going to revise one final time in the morning and submit it then. 

Best of luck! Looks like you're coming in ahead of deadlines, even by just a few days, which is always the goal IMO!

Nice! And thank you! I try to save a few extra days to account for things going wrong, though yesterday was really pushing it for UCSF. I'm just glad that I'm done with the December apps now and can breathe a bit knowing the next batch is due in January. 

7 hours ago, CandideCoating said:

Submitted to UNC-Chapel Hill, UT-Austin and Emory. I feel pretty confident - the fit is strong at all of them, I have non-academic work experience in the sub-field I'm interested in (social movements) and my scores and recs were good. I have to just stay calm and confident - I am so ready for this to be my next step. Everyone's long lists makes me wish I had felt the fit as strongly at more schools, but my advisor told me not to apply anywhere I wouldn't be super-thrilled to spend 5 years. Good luck to everyone. 

Sounds awesome! I can definitely relate to feeling ready for grad school to be the next chapter in my life. I can't speak for everyone else, but I have a long list because I was told to cast a wide net by my mentor. My specific interests also crossed different areas of sociology, and it was hard to find a perfect fit encompassing all of them. Plus they say interests change, therefore, I applied to schools that fit some but not all of my interests. I would still be happy to be in all of the places I applied to, but there are some I would be more happy to go to. 

[infovore]

12 hours ago, latemeg said:

I submitted for the Science Studies cluster as well. I'd love to work w Dr. Epstein, but I'm also in that spot where NW does not seem like they'll like me as an applicant. 

If you haven't submitted your application yet, I'd probably tell you to bite the bullet and write something up. My cluster statement is pretty crappy, but I feel happy it's in there. To each their own, though--the burn out is real at this point!

Yep, I want to work with him, too. His current projects on sexual health are even more closely related to my research interests than they were when I applied to the program back in 2014. But I'm not gonna hold my breath -- my SOP was probably terrible.

I just don't really have any time to write one -- I couldn't find anyone to pick up my shift today at my retail job, and tomorrow I need to finish my SOP for UPenn HSS, which I somehow forgot was only about 2/3 done. I would have called out of work, but I had to call out a few days ago because my wrist got strained and I had to let it rest (which meant I couldn't type, either!). Oh well *shrug*

Edited December 15, 2017 by infovore

[latemeg]

12 hours ago, MintChocoChip said:

Nice! And thank you! I try to save a few extra days to account for things going wrong, though yesterday was really pushing it for UCSF. I'm just glad that I'm done with the December apps now and can breathe a bit knowing the next batch is due in January. 

Sounds awesome! I can definitely relate to feeling ready for grad school to be the next chapter in my life. I can't speak for everyone else, but I have a long list because I was told to cast a wide net by my mentor. My specific interests also crossed different areas of sociology, and it was hard to find a perfect fit encompassing all of them. Plus they say interests change, therefore, I applied to schools that fit some but not all of my interests. I would still be happy to be in all of the places I applied to, but there are some I would be more happy to go to. 

Congrats on the first batch getting done! I decided to do all of mine at once so I am fiiiinally done! 

I was also told to cast a wide net. My research areas are super wide, and my background is kind of varied, so I have room to expand in most programs. 

11 hours ago, infovore said:

Yep, I want to work with him, too. His current projects on sexual health are even more closely related to my research interests than they were when I applied to the program back in 2014. But I'm not gonna hold my breath -- my SOP was probably terrible.

I just don't really have any time to write one -- I couldn't find anyone to pick up my shift today at my retail job, and tomorrow I need to finish my SOP for UPenn HSS, which I somehow forgot was only about 2/3 done. I would have called out of work, but I had to call out a few days ago because my wrist got strained and I had to let it rest (which meant I couldn't type, either!). Oh well *shrug*

Positive thoughts coming your way. I work in service at the moment (those bills, y'all) and know exactly how it goes. Let us all know when you get your things submitted! Everybody's on the same team here.

[R1001]

I’m a little late to this, but I’ve been observing for awhile and I thought I’d finally jump in. I’m applying to 13 schools (I know it’s a lot, but I’m really worried about getting in). In the order I applied/am applying:

University of Chicago (Submitted) - Sociology

University of California-Berkeley (Submitted) - Sociology

University of Texas-Austin (Submitted) - Sociology

The Ohio State University (Submitted) - Sociology

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (Submitted) - Sociology

University of Wisconsin-Madison (Submitted) - Sociology

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (Submitted) - Sociology and Public Policy

Kent State University (Submitted) - Sociology

North Carolina State University (Ready to Submit, just have to pay application fee) - Sociology

Penn State University (Not Submitted) - Criminology

Washington State University (Not Submitted) - Sociology

Indiana University-Bloomington (Not Submitted) - Criminal Justice

University of Tennessee-Knoxville (Not Submitted) - Sociology