There are a couple other of these, so I'm going to use this thread to track my progress towards getting into UW-Madison's Sociology PhD program and all the neuroses that come with it. Things I need to do: Do well in Russian study abroad. Those grades need to pull me up from 2.97 to above a 3.0 so that I can actually get my application even looked at when I send it in the fall. Get grades transferred. I think I just need to show up at my advisor's office with paperwork? Bribe whole Philosophy department with baked goods. They like chocolate. Hit up professors in Philosophy department for recommendation letters (TH, DR, CL?) Take GRE Select and send in writing sample Try to get TH to do undergraduate research project with me?? Research on my shortlist of Sociology dept professors Personal statement (reason for getting a PhD - academia & public policy) transcript resumé - emphasize lit mags, emergency medicine Which, written down, seems manageable. I am low on spoons right now, though, so things seem more overwhelming. Also I am twitchy about my grades. I've gotten term honors the past three semesters, and a GPA above 3.8 the last two semesters, but my GPA is still kind of shit. UW-Madison's Sociology grad program is one of the more competitive ones, and typically prefer a total GPA above 3.6, which is probably not going to happen in my case. Which means that, even though they will typically take someone with a GRE score above the 50th percentile, I need at least the 75th percentile, though higher is obviously better (why can't GREs be like the AP US Gov. test, where the entire state of Alabama has to take it to graduate and thus you can miss an entire essay and still get a 4?). This is mostly here to keep track of my progress and contain my rambling: because of the extended time frame I get wound up even when I can't do anything, and I am bored of making a new post on tumblr every time I'm feeling whiny.[/S][/S]
You go, Chiomi! Also, as the author of Art School or Bust: you have now inspired me to bribe so many people with baked goods. My white-chocolate and raspberry blondies will grease so many wheels. So many. Thank u.
Go you! It's amazing how writing things down seems to make them more manageable. I call a long unwritten list a Doom Cloud - it's fuzzy and nebulous and hovers over me raining down bad feelings. I'll be cheering for you! The baked goods idea is great. :)
Thanks, both of you! And I definitely recommend the baked goods route. 4 days before grades were due, I took in dark chocolate raspberry cheesecake bars, and - well, okay, I worked damned hard and they know my track record and I'm engaged in class and stuff, but still - my 88%s in two department classes ended up as A-s (which typically have a lower bound of 90%). I didn't mention grades at all. Just cheesecake. Also - managed to register for an ETS account so I can take the GRE. But it's $195. So I need to hit up my aunt who is in charge of my trust fund for money, THEN register for it. If I take the test in August, I should have my score well before I need to send everything in, and I won't be super stressed about it.
Some unsolicited advice. Stay on top of the people writing letters for you. We forget sometimes so don't feel guilty or like you are bugging them if you send emails/poke them about the letter. Don't worry too much about the GRE's I did relatively mediocre and got into Penn State with mine. As someone involved in grad admissions now I can tell you the major test that the GRE fits is can you plan months in the future and follow through. How well you do on the test isn't actually a good measure of how you will do in class. But managing to get it done and get the scores to me means you probably have the stick-with-it-ness to finish a dissertation.
Thanks! And yeah - I think I'll have to do that a lot with one of the professors. He knows me really well and likes me and is dilatory as heck. And that's really reassuring - the whole process should be pretty easy, because there's a testing center here in town and another one on campus and the one in town has seats open very nearly every day for the next three months right now.
How strange. I thought I knew someone who had been been through the Madison sociology department years ago, so I looked him up. He was one of my college roommates. Turns out he has been the Democratic party boss for Dane County for years and years. I think it is an omen you will not only get into the department, but go on to do amazing, or at least surprising, things.
Oh, drat. I thought this was one of those "pick the one you like more", and I was gonna say, undergrad degree's been plenty for me, boobs are awesome.
Updates: Russia was awesome! And I got a 4 (2 credits), a 4+ (4 credits) and a 5 (1 credit). I have no idea how those will translate, but I'm thinking a 4 is a B and a 5 is an A, so that should edge my GPA up just high enough. There's a class that is basically How To Adult being offered this fall, and it specifically mentions grad school, so I signed up and will show up and see if I can get help there for working on my application. Talked to my dad about GRE, and he'll pay for it. Just need to actually set that up. Emailed professor about undergraduate research again.
Update: I'm taking the GRE on thursday! The professor said no to research. Which, uh - @siveambrai ? or other people with higher education experience - how necessary is undergraduate research? Or, well, not necessary, but, like, does it look enough better to have it than not that I should try to do it on top of six classes this fall and working 30 hours a week?
Answering backwards 1) No you should absolutely not do that. 2) For grad school its not super necessary. I'll be very blunt (sorry) but undergrads usually get stuck with the most menial, rote, boring tasks for research. Since it's important to our careers and not critical to undergrads most profs aren't going to trust important analysis parts to their assistants. Additionally, since my time is very expensive and there are lots and lots of boring pieces to data analysis which are required but not knowledge generating it's worth my time to find an undergrad/junior grad student to do these. You will get more useful research experience in grad school because you'll take the ideas all the way through the process.
They only gotta be good enough. Mine were average at best. It's not too much of an impediment. More of a test about can you plan ahead and follow through.
So my parents all have Opinions about me and grad school. Mostly in that they are not paying attention to anything I say, either thing Madison is the same as Whitewater or that as a state school it's completely inferior to where I should be applying (Harvard, my dad is super set on Harvard). It's mostly this past week that's stressing me out, as it's both of them. And it feels like they really don't have my back and aren't supportive, which is kind of crushing and annoying. I mean, at least in person Tristan has my back, and all of my friends have been supportive. But the family stuff is getting to me.
Get grades transferred. Nag admissions office. Personal statement (reason for getting a PhD - academia & public policy) transcript unofficial transcript once grades are transferred apply to graduate ask RI for letter ask MA for letter (end of term) edit writing sample after feedback from RI GPA once credits are in
*internal screaming* So it hit me today that I have less than a month for my Madison application, and more like a couple of weeks for other places that I really should start looking into because backup plans are apparently a thing that some people do. I've done a bunch of stuff, but I'm still waiting for other stuff and still am waiting on other things, so I'm just gonna start a new list. get transcripts (talk to registrar about possibility of getting transcript from after grades get in) ask MA for letter, and if no go to DS take DR fudge and ask about letter take RI fudge and ask about letter/feedback finalize writing sample take CF fudge and ask about feedback on statement of purpose finalize Madison application Penn State and Harvard applications/scream until I achieve liftoff and fly into the sun
I feel like you told me before but what is your speciality in soc? I worked closely with PSU's soc department and the chair was on my committee. I can introduce you to my grad advisor, who is in the tech department but is listed with soc, she's the sweetest.
None, basically: I'm a Liberal Studies major with a minor in World Religions. I'm interested in environmental sociology and social movements and technology, though, and the writing sample I'm using is about the digital divide in Milwaukee. And that would be completely amazing. Would it be weird, though, since it's not my first choice?
