I just wrapped up my first semester of my doctoral program and I thought it would be helpful to recap what I learned and what I was taught about the application process. I distinguish learned and taught from each other because the process is mysterious and thanks to some friends and mentors, I was taught some things. Additionally, being on this side of it has allowed me to see some things that I couldn’t from the applicant side. Below I’m structuring this blog into a few categories: 1.) Prep Work; 2.) The First Round 3.) Second Round 4.) Key Takeaways. I’ll also create a section for key terms because there are lots of terms that are common to the academic world but not outside of it, necessarily.
Key Terms:
Curriculum Vitae (CV)- an academic resume
Statement of Purpose (SOP)- your personal statement that outlines your work, accomplishments, future goals, and research interests. Usually about 2-4 pages but could be longer or shorter depending on the university requirements.
Prep-Work
I went through the application process twice and both times were low-key traumatizing. The first year was HIGH-key traumatizing but that was because I was applying to the wrong schools.
Let me start by talking about my own prep work for a PhD. I have a BBA (Marketing) and an MPA (Public Admin) but I’m in Sociology now. And I’m interested in religion within sociology. So I did a whole flip and change. That doesn’t go over too well especially when most faculty CVs I’ve read show that they’ve been in their fields from their undergraduate career. I just happened into this...kind of.
Anyway. In addition to getting two degrees, I worked in-between degrees. 2 years before my master’s degree and 3 years before my doctoral program. Now my opinion is to encourage folks to take time off in-between your degrees. It gives you time to really figure out what you want to do and why. Life is also a great teacher and can shape you and influence what you are able to bring back to your coursework and research. Others will think differently about it but that’s my default.
I also taught as an adjunct for two-years before entering my doc program. I taught a course to first-year students about systems of power and oppression. That helped me decide if I actually wanted to be faculty because that is the reason that I am getting a doctorate: to be a professor. I LOVED teaching so I definitely knew this was a meaningful degree to seek for me. As a quick aside, don’t get a PhD if you don’t really think you have a need for it or as a box to check. It’s way too hard of a degree to pursue “just because”. Again, that’s my opinion. You do what you want lol.
Knowing that I was coming from a different field with minimal religion training, I took a course at a local seminary on Black religion to further expose and ultimately, confirm my desire for this area of research. And I would’ve continued taking courses until I made my way into a program.
I only took the course prior to my second round of applying to programs. I didn’t do this prior to my first round. I also took the GRE 3 times. Don’t do that. LOL. But I hired my ex-fiance (engineer and math whiz) to tutor me for the math and started listening to GRE podcasts, bought access to Magoosh and worked on it anywhere and everywhere I could.
I also emailed and tried to build relationships with faculty at each institution I applied to. I scoured their websites, CVs, and read their work. I interviewed them. I asked their advice for applying to their department. This is a full-time job and terrifying, I will admit.
Lastly, I continued doing my own research. I didn’t have any formalized training in how to do research like what is expected of faculty or social scientists but I continued working on my ideas and my questions, reading by key authors in my field, submitting to conferences, etc.
The First Round
The first round I applied to all big-name, highly selective institutions. 6 of them.
Harvard University
University of Maryland-College Park
Duke University
UNC-Chapel Hill
Emory University
I’m blanking on the 6th school at the moment, maybe Vanderbilt? No, I missed that deadline so that wasn’t it. Anywho. All of these are pretty competitive schools. Why did I apply to these you ask? I took the advice of folks who didn’t really know my work or know my interests or who KNEW my damn GRE scores. They were well-meaning but that was horrible advice. I did think I had a decent shot at Emory and College Park but they didn’t think so. LOL.
Each one was about $75-$100 per application plus sending my additional GRE scores ($27 per school after those 4 that they let you choose for “free” at the end of the test).
And I didn’t get into any of them. It was embarrassing, to say the least. I was horrified. Mostly because I had mentioned to several folks that I was applying and then naturally, they would follow up with me about it and I didn’t have any good news to share.
I definitely thought maybe I wasn’t supposed to get into a program. That maybe this wasn’t the path for me. Which leads me to round 2 of applying.
The Second Round
The level of anxiety I had in this round is unreal. I mean, I was procrastinating like no one’s business for as long as I could. I still worked on my SOP and I requested my recommendation letters early so they had the time but I didn’t submit the apps until I absolutely had to because I didn’t want to hear a bunch loud ass NOs like I did in the first round.
I still reached out to faculty at the institutions, I visited a couple schools and talked with faculty, students and the admissions folks at some schools. I sat in on classes and all. It was a whole situation.
This time I also asked my MPA advisor to have some of his sociology colleagues to take a look at my SOP and give me feedback so I could tailor it more to the field, given that I was not as familiar with how to frame questions sociologically (yes, this is a thing).
This time I applied to 9 schools, some highly selective. Some less so.
University of Maryland-College Park (Sociology)
University of Maryland-College Park (American Studies)
Georgia State University
Emory University
Vanderbilt University
Southern Methodist University
West Virginia University
Drew University
University of Missouri-Columbia
And I only got into 2 of these: West Virginia University and Vanderbilt University. I never heard back from American Studies at College Park, Georgia State, or Mizzou until well after the deadline to make decisions on school (April 15th).
Now of these, my number one choice was Vanderbilt. Yea, Nashville is cool and all but ultimately, I was most excited about this program because there were pioneers in my field teaching here. Emile Townes. Stacey Floyd-Thomas. And their work was phenomenal. Dean Townes was one of the faculty who I was able to talk with prior to my applying. Though I could have emailed her on my own, I asked my Black religion professor to connect me with her.
I was invited to finalist interviews at Vandy in February. The turnaround was pretty quick. I feel like the deadline was December 15th? And I got the email invite mid-January. I almost screamed in my office when I got the email. Excited is an understatement. They flew us out, put us up in a hotel, paid for all meals and all that jazz. They reimbursed our travel to and from the airport too. It was kinda nice to be treated, ya know? We did tours of campus, the department, the library, and talked with the library staff and the religion research librarians. I even met a couple other really dope students that I still keep up with now.
If I remember right, they invited two people from each concentration, to interview. I already knew I was the underdog because I didn’t have a traditional religion background but I also know I had shown that I will hustle and do this because I enjoy it and I find meaning and purpose in it. And they praised me highly for being a hustler, an independent scholar, for my work I’ve already done. But I didn’t get in. They suggested I do the MA first and then apply to doctoral programs. They did cover most tuition but funding I’d have to find, a place to live I’d have to find, and likely a roommate, I would have to find too because the stipends were ROUGH. And because we were now in the midst of a pandemic, I’d have to do all that from a distance. It was heartbreaking, truly. I felt like it was so close and snatched away.
Then came WVU. I had some concerns about cultural awareness and diversity within the program, the university and the town itself. All of my formal higher education has been done in small, rural settings at public and usually land-grant institutions so the rural environment wasn’t of big concern but the folks on the campus? That definitely was. Especially coming from living a mile outside of DC for the previous few years. But everything lined up well here. I was able to get full-funding. I was able to find reasonable housing. There were religion people in the department so I knew I would have a couple folks to mentor me and that I could learn from.
Key Takeaways
As I mentioned, so much of this process is out of your control. So much and I’m just getting started so I can only imagine what’s coming down the pike. Alot of it depends on the faculty in your department, their politics, funding that is available, who is accepting students, among other things. Things to consider when you are applying:
Funding.
I almost never encourage people to go back to school unless they find full funding but that’s ultimately your call. Look to see if your university or department offers graduate assistantships (which usually include tuition coverage, a stipend, health care, and some university fees)
Fellowships are great options too. I have a fellowship and it covers my health care, tuition, all of my fees (hallelujah!), and a stipend. Based on the cost of living, I haven’t had to take out loans or anything to subsidize my stipend. I do have to manage my money well because I don’t get paid in the summer so I have to find summer funding, a job or save enough money throughout the year to cover summer expenses.
Also, take a look to see if you qualify for a fee waiver. These applications are EXPENSIVE. If you are a McNair Scholar, a veteran, or fall under a certain income bracket, you may be able to qualify for a fee waiver. Either way, it doesn’t hurt to ask because the worst they can say is no, you don’t qualify. This is one of your first lessons in advocating for yourself and asking uncomfortable questions.
Faculty.
Are there faculty who can mentor you? And these are folks inside and outside of your department. Rarely do you find everything you need in one place so look in sister departments and relevant fields for folks who can also offer mentorship or support.
Ask yourself how you feel about the demographic makeup of your department? You don’t have much control over this, of course, but thinking through the types of environments you will thrive in can be helpful to you in determining where you apply.
Give yourself time to apply.
This is not a late and last minute kind of process. Give yourself a couple months to write your statement of purpose (SOP) especially if you are working full-time because it’s going to take you some time to get back in the groove of academic writing. Also, you can give your recommenders time to write your letters, pay for the fees or take the GRE/GMAT/LSAT if you need to. But don’t rush this.
Double check names and institutions on all of your documents.
Nothing will shut down your application process by misspelling faculty names, using the wrong faculty names and research interests, and putting the wrong institution on your SOP and other documents. I think I spent the most time on this when applying.
Consider format and location for program.
Again, you can’t control where your people are. If the faculty member you want to work with is in a less than desirable location, are you good with that? Are you willing to make that sacrifice?
Do you want an online program or an in-person program? Being honest with yourself about how future employers will view your program post-degree. Many won’t care either way but some will and if you have a very specific career outcome, you have to consider that. Fortunately or unfortunately.
Interview students and faculty.
They will be best to provide insight into the politics, environment, and culture of your department and of the university. But don’t be too “lax” with the students, they may have some say in the application process (big maybe but it’s possible) so you don’t want to come off unprofessional or inappropriate. But you can be clear in your questions and try to understand where you may be going for the next 3-5 years of your life.
Lastly, really and truly consider if this is what you want and if this is what you need for where you want to go next in your career.
If you can do what you want career-wise without going through a doc program, I ENCOURAGE IT. This process is too hard to just do it all willy nilly. You want and need to have a reason, a why for taking on this degree. Because it is HARD. If you’re not sure that this is what you want, wait and then apply when you think you’re really sure.
I’m sure I left out some things but if you have questions, feel free to send us an email at brilliantanddisruptive@gmail.com and I’m happy to help in any way I can! Good luck!
