Sociology?

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Has anyone else's DC applied for sociology and had any offers back yet? Have had a look at the google doc which is linked in the offers coming in threads, but there appear to be very few applying for sociology+/- other subject.
College have finally submitted to UCAS so we are just waiting to hear back,

Yes, my daughter has her grades and applied to Durham (offered in November) and Glasgow (offered within 24 hours). Waiting on Bath (Social Science). No offer from Cambridge (HSPS).

Had first offer back from Man Met so at least we know the system is working!

Sociology offers should come back quickly, unless applying for Bath, in which case be prepared to wait. And wait. And wait.

At very popular unis, Sociology was a subject that people used to apply for when they couldn’t get in for History. So some unis were very popular and others aren’t very competitive. The popular ones can be slow.

Yes I'm surprised it's not even more popular, and many unis offer it as a joint with Social Policy and/or politics. And with IR and criminology seemingly riding a wave of popularity too...
Martin Luther King had a degree in Sociology, as does Michelle Obama. My daughter loves the political side of it, not so much the anthropological side (surprisingly as I thought it was initially a toss up between S and A). I think all the reading she had to do to prepare for her Cambridge interviews got her more and more interested in the politics/policy side. I heard not too long ago on Radio 4 a talking head saying we need more sociologists to understand how society works within the systems and how to change those systems for the better - like the NHS and education. It seems a more practical degree than History, though that's also very relevant to Sociology.
Bath seems to mainly had it STEM offer out, with a trickle of other subjects.

Michelle Obama converted to Law though. Ivy League all the way.

As we move to populist politics, expertise in anything is being jettisoned. Plus I feel actually working in a meaningful job for years is better background for advice than someone with a sociology degree who becomes a political adviser after uni. They know very little and we have found the shortcomings in that.

The OP has a child who applied for sociology and has asked a straightforward question.

Is sociology similar to history and anthropology? I thought it was more along the lines of psychology but looking at groups of people rather than individual minds.

I think this is somewhat unfair! OK so my dd is doing sociology (at one of the very popular universities yiu mention) but she and all her cohort applied to do sociology because they wanted to do sociology and all have a clutch of A stars to their names! None of them have any interest in doing history!

I think it depends where you apply to and also perhaps when you send in your application- and a certain amount of randomness too! My dd is a current first year so applied last year the time scale of receiving her offers was between 24 hours and 2 months.

great news about the MMU offer - my ds is at UoM and has many friends at MMU who are all loving it. Manchester is such a great city!

Sociology is an AMAZING subject - I sometimes feel if we had more sociologists the world may be a better, fairer place.

It’s not similar to history at all. My dd did A levels in Biology, Chemistry and Psychology and there is some cross over perhaps with Psychology and some of the research method skills.

@Piggywaspushed can explain far better then me as they teach the subject but it looks at why societies / groups behave how they do, the causes of inequalities and violence etc etc.

The grades required for sociology are usually lower than History or Law. Like Arch and Anth it’s used strategically. That doesn’t mean by everyone. Obviously.

@TizerorFizz I don’t want to derail the OP thread so this is my last comment on this but I disagree - my dd has 2 x A stars and 1 x A (she’s fairly average for her course). Her friends doing history and law have the same grade profile.

I find posts like yours sad as they devalue a very important rigorous subject taken by many amazing young people.

Eg. Law or History at Durham
is Astar AA. Sociology AAB. Quite a difference. Obviously not the same everywhere but you often don’t need a clutch of Astars for sociology.

Law, History or Sociology. Hmm.

Two are boring as fuck and one is fascinating. In that order. IMVHO.

HTH xx

Funny how the former asks for higher grades then? Why might this be? Students all want to be bored stiff?

Sociology is a great choice.

One of its benefits as an academic field is that it isn't too precious and will happily draw on and engage in mash ups with other disciplines so it can be a good way to explore broader social, political, economic and historical stuff within one degree.

Maybe this research shows the issue .

Not everyone is motivated by greater earning potential. It is not a good indicator of the value of a subject, unless your only value relates to being richer than others. Which is the sort of thing a sociologist might be interested in exploring.

sociology has and always will be looked down on like general studies

my dd is doing A levels and i’ve got another at uni

sofiology was and even now, is the subject kids have chosen who just about passed gcses and have no interest in anything specific

it’s highly regarded - (amongst almost everyone) as an easy subject

None of this is a)helpful b) necessary c) tactful to the OP.

Much of it is also incoherent nonsense.

Hi op,
I can’t help with your initial query but I wanted to wish your DC luck getting in to their chosen uni and with their degree. I’m currently studying my third year in a sociology degree and I have loved every topic. Scoring higher than any other subject I’ve studied as I generally enjoy the learning. I hope your DC enjoys it as much as I have.
If it helps quieten the discourse surrounding sociology as a subject, some of the brightest and most intelligent people I’ve met have been through this degree.

Unfortunately with the cost of housing and parental costs associated with going to uni, grad jobs and earnings are becoming important to many. Hence the huge competition for medicine, economics and other degrees that can lead to higher paid careers. The fact that those studying sociology don’t need or value higher wages does, I guess, keep the subject in the bottom few for earnings. It’s also why people are abandoning English. Not nursing though where a grad job is guaranteed. If young people cannot earn a decent wage after a degree at least they know they have studied a degree that’s not boring. Must be a comfort.

What a load of nonsense!!

honestly go look around the heat group of one of your dc

you won’t see anyone ‘clever’ doing sociology

it’s looked down on everywhere