Graduate School in Sociology
Our department's curriculum, with its emphasis on theory and
methods, is a good preparation for graduate school in sociology.
Admission will depend on a combination of GPA, faculty recommendations,
and your score on the Graduate Record Examination. Most schools
require the general GRE and not the Sociology section, and you
may want to take the GRE late in your junior year or early in
your senior year, to get an idea of how realistic graduate school
may be as an option. In general, you will want to start the process
of sorting out programs and making applications at least a year
before you intend to enroll, as application deadlines sometimes
come early.
The purpose of these materials is to help you decide whether sociology graduate school is the right choice for you, and if it is, where you should apply. These materials reflect my perspective, and I strongly encourage you to talk about graduate school with other faculty members to supplement or correct any shortcomings in what I have to say here.
Academic Careers
Traditionally most professional sociologists have pursued faculty positions at colleges and universities. However, the market for academic sociologists has been tight ever since the mid-1970s. For years there has been talk about the faculty positions that would open up in the early part of the 21st century, as the large number of older sociologists reached their retirement years, but in the last few years a great many of the retirees have been replaced not by new tenure-track faculty members but by nonregular faculty on term appointments(like myself). In other words, the job market for Ph.D. sociologists remains tight and unpredictable. To succeed in landing a tenure-track position, you will need talent, a very strong work ethic, and perhaps more than a modicum of good luck. To maximize your chances of landing a good position, you will want to pursue every opportunity of collaborating with your professors on research, making presentations at professional meetings, publishing your research, and establishing a successful teaching record.
You may also want to track trends in academic employment. Two good sources are The Chronicle of Higher Education, available in the UMD library, and the American Sociological Association , which has quite a few resources for students (you may want to join to get access to the online job bank).
Criminology
Many graduate schools in sociology offer a specialization in criminology and deviant beviant behavior. In addition, there are many Criminal Justice departments at universities across the country that are usually more interdisciplinary and that also offer graduate degrees. My impression is that the job market for academic positions in criminology has been somewhat stronger than in other fields of sociology, although I do believe that at some point the falling crime rates of recent years will result in a reduced public policy emphasis on crime and that in turn will eventually mean less academic positions.
Sociological Practice outside Academia
In recent years, partly in response to the tight faculty job market, the field of sociological practice, involving jobs in organizations outside academia, has received more emphasis. At the Sociologists of Minnesota meetings, for example, there is always at least one session on sociological practice. Sociologists with masters and doctorate degrees are well-qualified for research positions, but there is not at this time a well-established career path. As you consider a graduate program, you will want to look closely at the placement record for Masters and PhD graduates at the school you are considering. Do not merely assume that an advanced degree will make you more employable. In fact, I often tell my advisees that if they are looking at masters level graduate work, they may be better off pursuing a Master of Social Work(MSW) degree, where the career paths outside teaching are better established. You might want to read about UMD's MSW program and or go to a national web site that has links to accredited programs by state.
Students should seek a learning environment that encourages and supports graduate
students as they progress toward degrees, rather than a program that puts up
barriers. The best way to explore the learning environment at a school you are
considering is no doubt a visit, with a chance to converse with current graduate
students at the school. If this isn't possible, you should be able to contact
current graduate students by phone and e-mail. Of course, before you contact
a department in any way, you will want to explore them extensively on the internet.
The department you are considering will also have a packet of information materials
for prospective graduate students, as well as a faculty member who is identified
as the graduate advisor and can provide you with additional information. But
don't hesitate to contact other faculty members in the department, with e-mail
a particularly good way to communicate with someone whose specialization interests
you.
You should know the answers to the following questions before
deciding to enter a particular graduate program:
Specialization: Are the areas of specialization
in this program consistent with your interests?
Completion and placement rates. What is the completion rate for this program? What is the average length of time it takes to earn a masters or doctorate in this department? What is the placement record for new graduates, whether in academia or in nonacademic institutions?
Ranking of Department. Other things being equal, people with degrees from the higher rated programs have a better record of placement after completing graduate school.The National Research Council ranks graduate programs once every ten years; that may not sound current, but actually these rankings don't change rapidly. Here is a web page that allows you to generate an Exel file listing the the ratings in sociology, provided that you have Exel on your computer: http://newton.nap.edu/html/researchdoc/appendix_p.html. If you want to go to a top-20 program, you probably need a GPA of at least 3.5 and high GRE scores, though there are always exceptions. The best way to get an idea of what it might take to get admitted to a particular program is to contact the graduate school itself and ask.
Financial support. What are your chances of getting fellowship
support or a teaching or research assistantship? Will the work required in an
assistantship realistically take 20 hours per week or less? (
Teaching experience and training. All graduate
programs teach research skills; less common is a
formal training program for effective teaching. Find out what
the school you are considering does to train its graduate students
as teachers. Also find out what teaching opportunities are open
to graduate students. At some schools, advanced graduate students
have the chance to take full responsibility for courses. This
has advantages, but at the same time, you don't want to get so
engrossed in teaching that it impedes your progress toward a degree.
Sources of Information
You can always find departments of sociology by doing a google search, but there are also links to the home pages for graduate sociology programs all over the country at Sociolog.