PS Why do you want to study sociology at the graduate level? Provide a personal statement of your professional objectives that clearly indicates your goals and commitment to sociological training. Your personal statement should be one to two pages. Your personal statement is evaluated for its written quality as well as for its clarity of your professional goals. Please use the questions below to craft your research statement, which you should upload under Statements #1. You do not have to answer every question but do choose the questions that will give us the best sense of you as a sociologist. Why have you chosen to apply to the University of Minnesota? What you want to accomplish by receiving a PhD in sociology? Why is sociology attractive to you as an intellectual discipline? How did you become interested in the field? What does sociology offer you that related disciplines do not? How do your interests match with the interests of department faculty? (Identify specific faculty with whom you would like to work.) Specifically, what are your core areas of research/teaching interest within the field? (Your interests may change and the members of the committee know this is a common occurrence.) What are some of your most sophisticated sociological thoughts? What is your grasp of sociological theory? (Provide us with a sense of your sociological imagination.) Do you have deficiencies in your standardized test scores, statistics, and/or sociological theory preparation? (Self-identify the weakest area of your application and draw the committee's attention to the stronger parts of your application.) CV A short resume or CV of 1-3 pages. Fee International: $95.00 RL Please submit three letters of recommendation with your application. It is preferred that your recommenders have earned a PhD or a similar terminal degree and they should confirm your academic work and professional experiences. Send an email to your recommenders through the ApplyYourself system. ApplyYourself will provide them with directions on how to submit their recommendations electronically. The Department of Sociology will accept recommendation letters after the December 15 deadline. You will not be penalized for the late arrival; however, if the letter is submitted too long after the deadline, it might not be considered. Transcript Upload your unofficial transcripts from each college or university that you have attended in the “Educational Background” section on ApplyYourself. Once you are admitted, the Graduate School requires official transcripts to be submitted and approved before you are eligible to enroll.