I earned a PhD in a field where, at least at the time, was pretty male-dominated. I don’t know if being a woman helped me get a spot or if it was solely because of my great application, experience, passion. and letters of recommendation.
Doctoral programs in the social sciences choose their people based on a lot of factors including the focus of interest and maybe even the applicants’ “voice.” Regardless, If you do get in, you can be sure it’s because you earned it beyond your ethnicity. Legitimate programs don’t give precious spots to unqualified applicants.
Still, as others have pointed out, there are ways to make it impossible or less likely the school will know ahead of time.
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Affirmative Action at the graduate level may or may not be a tip factor- but it absolutely will not get you in to a program for which you are not qualified in every other way. And if there is a tip, it will be a VERY modest one. So I would not worry about this at all.
If it were me- I’d be focused on the GRE prep…40th percentile with a B average in undergrad does not spell PhD.
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Completely agree^^. It took me 7 years to complete my research for my Masters Thesis. Yes, I was able to work simultaneously.
There were a number of things that were out of my control, so it took me a little longer to complete.
I had a project that involved a Human Subjects research component which was very specific, time-consuming and frustrating. The university required every conceivable option for anything that could go wrong, in writing, before permission to conduct research was granted by the university.
Every step, in research is reviewed and controlled, and often can delay when you finish. (Subjects didn’t show up! One of my thesis panel members passed away! One went on a sabbatical!) Others on this thread can give you their myriad of experiences.
I also happen to be Mexican-American but in California, that does not matter when being admitted to graduate studies; they can’t use it. My program required a minimum GPA of 3.5, LOR’s, research leanings, an essay into the area I wanted to explore, and panel interviews. I fit their program and the environment fit me.
If I wanted to go for the Ph.D, I only had to take two 3-unit additional courses in research, and present the research results. I chose not to do that. I was tired of being a student. I was already teaching a course, and, they wanted me to teach more. Salaries were better in the field, and I had a new growing family, so it wasn’t my ultimate “goal”. I have no regrets. I didn’t need the Ph.D., but I did need the Masters.
All of the time I spent conducting research and learning the “trade”, however, made me a better employee.
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