So, a friend of my sister’s is planning on applying to docorate programs in sociology. I am curious about the competitiveness/how realistic this is. But first, the back story.
My family’s home is in a rural area that slowly got converted into a series of McMansions as the area became a suburb for a nearby city. As a result, a lot of high-income people moved into the area. My sister’s best friend is a daughter of one of these families. There was a recurrent theme throughout our childhood of her being disappointed with our parents for not being able to keep up with her friends. As a science geek, I was largely immune to this sort of crap. My sister, however, angsted over it.
Time passed. Friend ended up in opiate rehab before she graduated high school, and then went to college where she apparently replaced opiates with alcohol. My sister tried getting her in AA programs, but when she (my sister) dropped out of college and came back home, couldn’t watch her friend anymore. They have kept in touch though.
Friend isn’t a bad person. She grates on my nerves (a little too giggly for my tastes), but she’s not malicious. She is utterly clueless. She’s the type of child who had to have someone teach her to use a vacuum cleaner at college. Or doesn’t understand why someone wouldn’t buy all-natural all-organic free-range hand-fed no-abx chicken breast. Or why someone would get upset that she left the door open…in the middle of 104 degree heat…while they had the AC on. Or why you wouldn’t just buy a new sofa if the old one had a stain. Etc, etc.
She managed to nearly flunk out of the UC system her first year of college. Her parents are alumni and pulled strings to keep her in, and apparently she’s improved since then. “Improved a lot” apparently. However, when you almost flunk out, there’s no where to go but up. Now, she’s facing graduation and the realization that a sociology BA will not keep her in the lifestyle to which she is accustomed. She’s not entirely stupid. As long as she’s in school, Mommy and Daddy direct deposit enough money for her to pay rent and buy designer clothes at will. So, she’s not going to leave school. Her current plan is to apply to phd programs in sociology. As far as I can tell, sociology is no great love (I believe alcohol holds that title).
I’ve been in science my entire life. I’ve never, ever looked at alternative career paths and I have no idea if this sociology thing is feasible. I’m just kind of morbidly curious…could she do this? What is the job field for sociology? What are her chances for getting in? I feel like a sociology program would realize she doesn’t have any interest in the field, but would they suck up her tution money anyway?
I hold a Ph.D. in sociology and I am an academic. I would suggest that any graduate program worth the time will grind her up and discard her. Graduate school is not to be taken lightly or trifled with, as to be successful, one becomes absolutely committed to the discipline. Given what you have said, I don’t think the relevant question is what sort of career she will have, it is what will she do when she is refused entry into a graduate program or is asked to leave. Habitually making "C"s is considered flunking out in many programs. Further, to get in she will likely need to do well on the GRE and couple that with good undergraduate grades. If she is accepted, I think that she will find that the rigor in sociology will not be to her liking. I hope this helps.
Based on my experience in graduate school, none of the above will make her out of place.
I think she stands a fair chance of being weeded out of Ph.D. progams. It’s actually not that common to get into a Ph.D. program right after undergrad unless you’re very sharp. But if she gets good GRE scores, has good grades in her sociology major, and strong recommendations, I could see her getting into a Master’s program.
None of this bodes particularly well for her career, though. Making a career as a social science academic is no cakewalk, and getting into graduate school is the least of it. Non-academic options with a M.S. in Sociology are things like working for a nonprofit, maybe going into marketing in the corporate world, maybe some other options depending on what kind of sociology.
Although I didn’t attend a sociology program, I had a nodding acquaintance with some of those folks when I was grad school. I endorse CateAyo’s comments 100%.
A PhD isn’t just an interesting way to pass a few years while acquiring some initials to go after your name. There’s too much of the “grinding up” that CateAyo so aptly refers to.
CateAyo is right – a doctoral program isn’t a good place to be for lack of having anything better to do. The workload is such that it would cut seriously into her shopping time. (Not her drinking time, alas – I drank heavily all the way through. Not a strategy I recommend, though.)
Thanks for all the good replies everyone. I appreciate the info. I sort of thought that sociology would be a closed field - ie. you must love it to do it. I’ve heard stories about law schools, who will take your money to fill the seat, regardless of one’s credentials. I wasn’t sure if there was a sociology equivalent. Doesn’t sounds like it though.
Now this is very interesting. For the record, with those examples, I was trying to show her disregard for money, even when it is not hers. I mean, I do absentminded bone-headed things all the time…but she was so surprised anyone would care about the difference in price between premium chicken and standard chicken…I honestly don’t think she has any idea of what it’s like to live on a fixed budget.
I hadn’t realized that it’s not common to go straight to Ph.D. programs though. An old friend just went straight from undergrad to her Ph.D. program…in science. A lot of people from my cohort in college did a similar thing. I kinda thought that was pretty typical. My friend is quite sharp, but I just thought it was obvious she’d go straight through. I hadn’t really attached any significance to it. Well, I got her a congrats cake, but well…you know what I mean.
ack! My doctor’s appointment is in 20 minutes! Thanks again everyone!
Well, grad school is often a good place to *learn * about living on a fixed budget. But there is definitely no common sense prerequisite required for entry.
Going straight through from undergrad does seem to be more common in hard sciences. I actually thought I’d qualified my statement to social sciences, but now I see not.
As far as taking money to fill seats, that is unlikely. In most cases a Ph.D. program in the social sciences actually pays the students a stipend to attend, in exchange for teaching or research assistance.
Following up with what you said before, I wouldn’t clutch my chest and fall over dead, if she got a position in a Master’s program. But my eyebrows would become acquainted with my hairline.
Teaching or research assistance? Ha. hahahaha. Given her career-of-the-week attitude and what you’ve said before, it really doesn’t sound like she’s Ph.D. material.