<p>I'm currently a sophomore (soon to be junior) bounded for Yale, but since I've been set on sociology for years I figured getting acquainted with the graduate field as soon as I can would be a good idea. </p>
<p>I'm into critical/phenomenological sociology and don't mind going halfway across the globe (I'm an international student already, so really, new location is a plus rather than a problem) if it means getting to a good place for education and research. I enjoy aiming high, and if a degree from the program means being able to work a little wherever, I don't mind high admission standards.</p>
<p>I've already skimmed through US News sociology grad rankings, but they scare me -- I've never heard of these places, and they seem to be in the boondocks. Will having a degree from these programs really carry any weight when I apply for public and private jobs in Europe? Would it be wise to choose brandname over specialization, or would I just end up giving up a great experience and education?</p>
<p>I don't know how many people here would be acquainted with these things, specific or general, but any help is appreciated!</p>
<p>If you're a junior in HS, forget grad school until you've made it through your first year of college. </p>
<p>And try to let go of the prestige thing. The best grad school for you is not necessarily one that scores well on some magazine's "ranking". </p>
<p>Anyway...</p>
<p>Grad school admission is much more of a "relationship" than undergrad - there must be "fit" between the school and the student. If your research interests don't have a match with a professor who has time (and perhaps funding) to take you on, perect grades, and 800/800/6 GRE and a super SOP and LORs won't get you in ahead of a student with a 3.4 GPA but a perfect fit with an available professor.</p>
<p>That said, what schools are you looking at? The biggies (so far as I am aware) are all in or near major metropolitan areas. Berkeley, Chicago (where sociology was invented), Princeton, Stanford, Wisconsin (not that far from Chicago) - only Cornell is even close to the "boondocks".</p>
<p>The fact that you haven't heard of them suggests that perhaps you need to do more research, eh?</p>
<p>Umm... what schools were listed? Last I checked, UCLA wasn't in the boondocks.</p>
<p>Unless you consider LA the boondocks.</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore in college and transferring in.</p>
<p>It's not "prestige" per se, which is exactly why I feel so conflicted between this factor and the general desire I have to really grow into my field. However, since I probably will NOT be able to work in the US, it becomes one - just as undergrad schools like Dartmouth mean nothing to the employers in my country of citizenship but Yale does at least ring a bell, I'm guessing the same holds true for gradschool. I'm hoping there's a compromise where the program will be BOTH internationally recognized AND have what I'm looking for in terms of development and fit.</p>
<p>Neither Stanford, Princeton nor Chicago came up in my initial research - schools like Wisconsin–Madison and Michigan–Ann Arbor did.</p>
<p>frrrph,</p>
<p>I think most people worldwide who will be worth working for will know about Michigan. It's one of the better known American universities.</p>
<p>One thing you can do this summer is work on making contacts in your country with places you might want to work. Then you can get a feel for what schools your potential employers see as appropriate. </p>
<p>You could also start reading (if you haven't already) the journals in the field (e.g. Critical Sociology) and try to identify professors whose interests match yours. </p>
<p>Your professors will also be invaluable sources of information in your grad school search. they will be aware of who is doing the kind of work you're interested in, the rising stars, and so forth.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Wisconsin and Ann Arbor are really respected for sociology as are Berkley, NYU, Columbia, UCLA and Chicago.</p>
<p>Chicago did not exacly invent sociology. Durkenheim, Marx and Weber (although the last 2 I guess can be called economists) were around before Chicago had a soc department. However, chic were fundamental in creating the field of Urban Sociology ,Criminology and also popularising qualitative methods.</p>
<p>psmyth, qualitative methods sounds like something I would be interested in. Would you know if they still carry their weight in the sociology department?</p>
<p>I'm very curious about a university called "the new school for social research", in NYC, because of their connection to the more European, critical, progressive ideas I enjoy the most. I feel very uncertain on whether it would be internationally recognized by employers, however -- is it possible to take one's M.A. in one place, then finish the Ph.D. in another? Pardon the ignorance.</p>
<p>Not quite sure if Qualitative methods are still huge at Chicago but as far as I know most Sociology departments will teach Qualitative and Quantitative methods. If you want I can send you a list of a few famous qualitative studies from the golden chicago age and a short history of what happend there.</p>
<p>The LSE, where I go, is quite into qualitative methods.</p>
<p>The New School in NYC is very good for social sciences. Not sure of rep with employers, though.</p>
<p>I don't know of a sociologist named Durkenheim, but I do know of one named Durkheim...</p>
<p>Wow spelling mistake!! Might not sleep tonight.</p>