American University

[socnerd]

Hey, I noticed there was someone who said they were rejected from American and I was just wondering if anyone else had heard anything. They "invited" me to their open house in March but I know that doesn't mean anything because anyone who wants to can sign up to go, so have they started notifying people already? I know probably very few people on here applied there because it's only a lowly Master's program and it's not even ranked.. Just wondering!

[barilicious]

Hi socnerd!

Sorry I can't answer your main question, but I would like to say that I did my undergrad at AU and loved it. Not only was I a socy major, but I also worked in the department as a federal work study. I became super close with all of the faculty and really enjoyed my undergrad time there. I was wondering what made you apply to the socy MA program at AU? And are there any particular faculty you are wanting to work with aka what are your research interest? I'm expecting you should hear soon, but with AU being closed for a whole week due to the snow a couple weeks ago, who knows? Best of luck!

[socnerd]

Hi barilcious,

Yea I've heard American is nice, I had 2 good friends from high school go there for undergrad. I applied to American for a few different reasons, mainly being that it was one I was familiar with in the area of the country that I wanted to be in. I applied to 14 schools so it was an obvious one I wanted to throw on the list. My main area of research is in criminology and sociology of medicine so I was interested in the work that Dr. Newton-Francis does with deviance and cultural criminology. I'm fairly flexible with my research interests and I like a lot of the things the professors there were doing. I have no idea if a stand a chance at admission, I'm not too hopeful at any place because my GPA/GRE isn't really up to par but right now I'm just waiting to see what happens. It looks like a lovely place

[karma897]

Hi,

I applied to American and received acceptance about two weeks ago but it was a school that I applied to as a "safe school" I am not sure if they are still sending acceptances out or whether they have made all of their offers nevertheless I am curious to know what area of Sociology you're interested in studying and what you think of the Masters program, I am on the fence about considering it as an option.

[MAPHDSOC]

I received a rejection from American quite some time ago. I was told they had quite a few applicants, but what university doesn't this year. Good luck to all that applied! I was lucky enough to end up at another DC school.

[socnerd]

I just went to their open house for prospective graduate students this past Friday and met with some people from the department. They were so nice and I really loved it. There were only 5 people there for sociology and all but 1 still had applications that were pending. They said they hadn't looked at mine yet because one of my letters of recommendation got lost in the mail. I talked to them about it and they seemed so lax about it, they just told me to have my professor e-mail it as soon as they could. I have no idea if I still have a chance at getting accepted but the way the professor we met with spoke (he said he was on the admissions committee) he made it sound like they were still giving out acceptances and it wasn't a big deal. He said that he hoped I could get my letter in soon so they could take a look at my application and "give me a green light." They were so adorable and nice.

[karma897]

Thats cool that you got the chance to go visit the school do you think admission to the program was competitive or that they accepted a lot of people? Also, in your opinion how would you rank American's sociology program, I'm really trying to weigh whether or not it would be worth it to attend if they don't offer any scholarship as it would require a move and such. Anyways good luck on your acceptance.

[socnerd]

I got the feeling that it was a reasonably competitive program, they said they were aiming for a cohort of 20 this year. I know that American is listed on USNWR's list of best schools for Sociology. It isn't actually ranked but it's still on the list, I think this is because they used to have a PhD program. They said in 2002 the school overhauled all of the PhD programs and only kept 5, so most departments lost their PhD at that point due to budget constraints. Yet they have kept a lot of the same aspects of the program they used to have which makes it a pretty good program as far as Master's goes. They make you take more theory and methods than most schools do for a Master's so I think they are pretty good.

As far as any scholarships or financial aid I didn't get the impression that they offered much. They gave a little presentation on where to look for outside funding and they said that they only offer 2 TA positions every year. I'm not sure if those are tuition-waived or stipended or what. I mean it's not THAT expensive of a program so I imagine most people find a way to pay for it on their own. The biggest issue for me I think would be the cost of living in DC. I am not a city person at all so it's very unfamiliar to me but it looks like I may end up there anyway because I've been accepted to another program in DC. I haven't heard anything from them yet but we'll see. It seems like a nice place with cool people but I wouldn't expect any funding from them.

Edited March 26, 2010 by socnerd

[karma897]

I didn't know that the school got rid of the PhD program, thats good to know and gives a different perspective on the program. Overall I think American is a really good school it just gets tricky when weighing various masters in Soc programs against each other because there are so many factors that come into play such as cost of living, size of program etc etc. What other DC school did you apply to? I have heard that its hard to go wrong with most schools on the East Coast as the experience will undoubtedly give one connections and experience needed afterward do you think this is true. I'm currently in MN and am weighing the cost of living too because DC is really expensive. It seems that American wont be giving out any funding, I called the department and was told that they have already notified students who will be receiving scholarships or merit awards although they will be offering a second round within the next few days. Will you be moving from another state to get your masters? If so what other schools are you considering? Also, what is your area of interest within sociology? Its hard to find people on this board that are going the masters in sociology route.

Edited March 26, 2010 by karma897

[barilicious]

Well again, I got my undergrad sociology degree at AU (and worked in the dept), so if any of you have any specific questions about the program or faculty or whatever, feel free to message me. I loved all of the faculty and truly think the sociology dept at AU made my undergrad experience superb!