Comments | alienacean: graduate application process

alienacean

graduate application process

Oct 07, 2009 07:42

applications complete: 2 of 5
GREs: thanks to dad, signed up for nov. 11
letters of recommendation: working today on the first of 3
application fees: OUCH
letter of intent: 90% done

academic

Comments 6

lostreality October 7 2009, 13:47:54 UTC

yeah i spent about $1000 applying to grad school (I applied to 9 schools). if you post your statement of purpose here I'd be happy to look it over and give you feedback :)

thanks! here's what i got... alienacean October 7 2009, 22:22:31 UTC

I have been gone from academia long enough ( ... )

Re: thanks! here's what i got... lostreality October 8 2009, 01:22:52 UTC

looks good so far (except for all the ellipses), but i agree it would help to have paragraph with info about your dissertation plans following what you have here.

Also you should be more specific when discussing your research project that you published in ASR (unless that's what the ellipses are signifying)- what was your research question and what did you find, summarized in 2-3 sentences.

also you should have a paragraph in each one specific to the school you are applying to, talking about who you want to work with.

And talk about why completing the phd is necessary to your long career goals.

Also I'm not sure what is standard in these situations, but some programs may require you to retake comps/some coursework, and if that is the case the admin committee will probably be interested in your whether you are willing to repeat stuff.

legolastn October 7 2009, 17:19:09 UTC

What are you applying for?

alienacean October 7 2009, 22:23:55 UTC

sociology at U-Chicago, UW-Madison, Loyola, U-MN, Notre Dame, and, of course, U of A. any advice?

legolastn October 7 2009, 23:04:55 UTC

Looking over your letter draft above, if you have a specific idea for a dissertation topic (maybe particularly one coming out of your "on-the-ground experience") that might strengthen your letter. You might even consider a 10-page prospectus or some such as a supplemental material if schools will consider such things.

I've also always heard (although I didn't follow this advice myself obviously) that it is good to identify specific faculty members you could work with (shared interests/ potential committee members) and contact them to talk about mentoring/ collaborative possibilities.

Also, it looks like most of your choices are region specific...so did you consider UI-Chicago? UIowa? Urbana-Champaign? Maybe not a good match of interests? The latter two are too "small town" maybe? Or maybe you only have so much money to go around. :)