<p>I just graduated with a BA in Philosophy and a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Washington. Half way through my senior year I decided that I should be studying sociology or social psychology, but off course it was too late to make the switch. I intend on going to grad school Fall 2011 to get a MA in sociology and eventually get a PhD, but I've only taken a couple of sociology courses, so I feel like I'm not that prepared. Should I take a few more at a community college or should I take some graduate courses to show that I can handle the material. Also, my GPA is only 3.11. What are my chances of getting into a PhD program after taking a few courses in sociology, getting an A in them, and doing really well on the GRE's?</p>
<p>Most grad programs will not accept you unless you have between 12 and 18 upper level undergraduate credit hours in the field. If you don’t meet those requirements, you’ll either need to get them out of the way now or find a program that will let you in on the condition that you complete preparatory coursework first.</p>
<p>Your GPA kind of sucks, but if you do well in your sociology courses and do well on the GRE you’ll surely find some program somewhere that will take you.</p>
<p>There’s a graduate student in my program who did her BA in philosophy and now she’s studying for a Ph.D in social psychology.</p>
<p>What are your chances of getting in? Who the heck knows? We don’t know how you’ve done in your MA program, what your GPA is, and how much research you’ve done, who you’ve worked with, whether you’ve published, etc. Grad school is more than just a 4.0 and a 1600 on the GREs - an applicant to a PhD in sociology with a 4.0 in a sociology master’s and a 1600 on the GREs but no research experience will not gain entrance to a PhD program. More important than your GRE scores, and about on par with your GPA, is your research experience.</p>
<p>Your goal should be more than “taking a few classes” at a community colllege; sociology is about research, and if you want to be successful in admissions you’re going to need to get some research experience. A lot of students do an MA between undergrad and a PhD in order to beef up that research experience and even try to publish if possible. You also need to develop some stellar letters of recommendation, and the best way to do that is getting engaged in sociology classes and doing research with a professor.</p>
<p>Thanks, for the suggestions guys. I know my GPA sucks, I wasn’t at all focused in school, except for maybe a quarter or two when I made the dean’s list. I have no research experience, so it probably would be better for me to go the MA route first. Also, do schools care about the fact that I double majored? I know that if I had only focused on one major my GPA would have been a whole lot better.</p>