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

[dcfemme]

So I would have applied to more schools but I wanted to focus on the schools that would offer the best fit for me and what I want to do, which is related to Latin American Studies.

 

Yale

NYU

UT Austin

UC Berkeley

UCLA

My GPA for my sociology major was 3.52 with 2 concussions, one junior year and one senior year. And my GRE scores were not amazing, except I scored within the 98th percentile for the Analytical Writing section. I have people writing me good LORs, one professor told me her letter is "glowing". But reading people's responses to this forum, I am low-key panicking. My GPA and GRE are not amazing, but I am disabled and have dealing with lots of other life stuff. But I have bilingual research experience in the U.S. and abroad, sent in two kick-ass writing samples, and tried my best to write a kick-ass SOP.

I know for a fact that I have potential and research and writing, are two of my strengths. I have received positive feedback from professors I contacted at each school I applied to/ have been seeing emails that my Academia.edu profile is being viewed and people are googling me. 

I have submitted all of my apps but back in earlier in the Fall, two professors I was in contact with at Yale, asked me to come up for a whole day and see them in person back in the fall and go to some workshops. But I didn't go for financial reasons-I live within an Amtrak distance from the city I live but I am a super broke millennial (no surprise there). And I have either Skyped or talked on the phone with faculty from two other schools on this list. 

Of course I am keeping things extremely vague and am leaving a lot of important details to try to maintain some sort of privacy and anonymity, but is there hope for me y'all?? I know the first cut is so often numbers based, so I am worried that my app will fall through the cracks because I am not 100% amazing, fixing everything with amazing scores and grades. 

[pinoysoc]

9 hours ago, dcfemme said:

So I would have applied to more schools but I wanted to focus on the schools that would offer the best fit for me and what I want to do, which is related to Latin American Studies.

 

Yale

NYU

UT Austin

UC Berkeley

UCLA

My GPA for my sociology major was 3.52 with 2 concussions, one junior year and one senior year. And my GRE scores were not amazing, except I scored within the 98th percentile for the Analytical Writing section. I have people writing me good LORs, one professor told me her letter is "glowing". But reading people's responses to this forum, I am low-key panicking. My GPA and GRE are not amazing, but I am disabled and have dealing with lots of other life stuff. But I have bilingual research experience in the U.S. and abroad, sent in two kick-ass writing samples, and tried my best to write a kick-ass SOP.

I know for a fact that I have potential and research and writing, are two of my strengths. I have received positive feedback from professors I contacted at each school I applied to/ have been seeing emails that my Academia.edu profile is being viewed and people are googling me. 

I have submitted all of my apps but back in earlier in the Fall, two professors I was in contact with at Yale, asked me to come up for a whole day and see them in person back in the fall and go to some workshops. But I didn't go for financial reasons-I live within an Amtrak distance from the city I live but I am a super broke millennial (no surprise there). And I have either Skyped or talked on the phone with faculty from two other schools on this list. 

Of course I am keeping things extremely vague and am leaving a lot of important details to try to maintain some sort of privacy and anonymity, but is there hope for me y'all?? I know the first cut is so often numbers based, so I am worried that my app will fall through the cracks because I am not 100% amazing, fixing everything with amazing scores and grades. 

That sounds amazing! I think at the end of the day, you made the right decision to apply to schools that you felt were the perfect "fit" for your interests. Doing the tango with graduate school applications can get very tricky! Being practical, you can only do so much (i.e. apply to a number of schools without spending $$$, doing your research, etc.). At the same time, you want to make sure to cover all your bases (i.e. apply to more than 5 or 6 or whatever you feel comfortable with). 

There's hope! So don't worry about it. Speaking from experience, it took me until my second application season to get into a program with funding (an MA program). I learned that I do better with breaks in between school so that I'm always recharged and fresh when taking on a big chunk of schooling. I thought I regretted not applying for this Fall, but I realized I needed a mental break from school because getting a PhD is a commitment like marriage. Not trying to comment on the way things are these days, but often we rush into things that we think we want. 

Of course, there are some that do better with going through school in one go, but I'm not sure what your story is. However, sometimes, rejection is often a blessing in disguise. I remember applying to 2 of the schools you applied to this year and they were my first grad school rejections. It broke me. But, it turned out to be the best thing that's happened to me.

Not to preach, but if your gut tells you your going to make it, trust it. 

I do worry about the numbers game though! My GRE is horrible and expiring next year! But this is why I pray that ad comms really follow through their word of "holistically evaluating" our apps. Because I suck at tests, but I know damn well I can do the work!

Sorry for the long reply. Hope this helps in a little way!