yale sociology phd application

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About the graduate program, program description.

The doctoral program in sociology prepares students for careers in research and teaching. The curriculum is intended both to acquaint students with the discipline of sociology and provide training in fields of special interest. Of the twelve required courses, four must be drawn from core courses in sociological theory, statistics, and research methods. Students are given ample opportunity to specialize, but the Faculty believes that specialization must be preceded by a thorough grounding in a wide range of classical and contemporary theories, proficiency in social statistics, and a variety of research methods. The curriculum permits — and Faculty encourage — study in related disciplines.

Institutional Resources

The Department encourages students to pursue work in any instructional unit of the University which furnishes additional dimensions to sociological analysis. We also encourage students to attend seminars and apply for research and training grants outside of the Department. A partial list of some of the many such opportunities within Yale include:

• The Institution for Social and Policy Studies
• The MacMillan Center
• The Yale Law School
• The Yale School of Management
• The Yale School Public Health

Joint Degrees

The Sociology Department offers joint Ph.D. programs with African American Studies and with Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Students can also work closely with the Statistics Department and obtain an MA in Statistics en route to their Sociology PhD.

For an overview of joint degree programs at Yale, including the J.D./Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D., see the Yale Graduate School’s page on Joint Degree Programs . Over the years, we have had many students enroll in joint programs, and the Department is happy to work with students to make special arrangements for these programs.

All accepted students are fully funded for five years and are eligible for a funded sixth year if they do not receive an external grant. Funding includes full tuition and a living stipend. In 2023-24, the 12-month stipend is $40,530. In the third, fourth, and sixth years, students are required to serve as teaching fellows to receive their stipend. Please see the Graduate Division’s website Funding for Ph.D. Students for more detail.

Students who do fieldwork outside of New Haven are encouraged to apply to external and Yale-based research funds. Some recommended institutions are listed here:

• American Council of Learned Societies
• Association of American University Professors
• National Science Foundation
• Social Science Research Council
• Spencer Foundation
• Yale MacMillan Center

How to Apply

Between six and ten new students are admitted to the Sociology program each year. Preference is given to applicants who intend to complete the Ph.D. degree. An undergraduate concentration in sociology is not a prerequisite, but preference will be given to those who demonstrate familiarity with the social sciences, either through undergraduate coursework, a master’s program, or other research experiences.

Our admissions decisions are made by a departmental committee; individual faculty do not accept individual students. We therefore do not necessarily encourage applicants to contact faculty individually, nor do faculty typically meet with prospective applicants. We do encourage you to carefully look at our department faculty pages to identify areas of overlap—methodologically, substantively, theoretically—with your own interests, among several faculty, as you develop your statement of purpose.

The application requires you submit a statement of academic purpose, transcripts from all prior colleges of universities you have attended, three letters of recommendation, a fee or fee waiver, standardized tests, a resume/cv, and a writing sample.

• Writing sample: Each applicant will be asked to provide one writing sample. (A second, supplementary writing sample of a similar length is optional.) Writing samples demonstrate the student’s academic interests and their capacity for thinking sociologically. We use writing samples to evaluate ability and intellectual fit with the strengths of our department. As a result, we strongly prefer a writing sample that is solo-authored by the applicant.   Typically, a writing sample should be 3,000-8,000 words and is usually a research paper written for a social science class, a senior thesis, or an MA thesis.
• Testing. The submission of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores is optional but strongly recommended by the department. We have made it optional, because we understand that in some cases it may be very difficult for applicants to access the test, due to distance from testing sites or the cost or other factors, but we expect that applicants will make every effort to take the test. Fee waivers and reductions can be found on the GRE website.    The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is required for international students whose native tongue is not English and who did not receive an undergraduate degree from a college or university where English is the primary language of instruction. For further information, see the Office of Graduate Admissions website .

To apply to the Yale Sociology Graduate Program, please visit the Office of Graduate Admissions website. Students with financial need may request a waiver of the application fee via the Graduate Admissions Office.

If you have specific questions about the Sociology Department or the application process, you may email Professor Jonathan Wyrtzen, Director of Graduate Studies in Sociology ( [email protected] ). You may also contact any member of the Faculty specializing in research topics in which you may be interested.   https://sociology.yale.edu/people/faculty

Application Management

• Application Fees & Fee Waivers
• PhD/Master's Application Process

The application fee for all degree-seeking applicants is US $105.00. Application fees are non-refundable.

Please pay this fee immediately upon submitting your application through the application platform. The fee must be paid, or a fee waiver must be granted, before your application will be reviewed. If you fail to pay the application fee or to obtain a fee waiver, your application will be cancelled.  

Acceptable Forms of  Payment

• Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express are the only accepted means of payment. 
• Debit cards and credit card debit authorizations are not accepted.
• Wire transfers (such as SWIFT or Fedwire) are not accepted.

Troubleshooting

If you experience an issue or error submitting payment, please confirm that you have used either a Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express card and that you entered the:

• correct card number
• correct expiration date and date format
• correct security code (found on the back of your credit card)

If that does not resolve your issue, please check with your credit card company to make sure that you have not exceeded your credit line and that no holds are on your account. You may also try using a different card.

Fee Waivers

Some PhD or Master's applicants may be eligible for a fee waiver. The eligibility requirements and process to request a waiver are below. Note: fee waiver requests are submitted separately from the application for admission and usually take 2-3 business days to process. Please plan to submit your fee waiver request in well advance of your application deadline whenever possible. The final deadline to submit a fee waiver request is January 2.

Fee Waiver Eligibility 

You must be applying for a PhD or Master's degree. Non-degree applicants are not eligible for fee waivers. US citizens, permanent residents, and non-US citizens are all eligible to request a fee waiver.

Fee waivers may be granted on the basis of:

• participation in a special program, event, fellowship, or status (see below)
• documented financial hardship

Special Program, Event, Fellowship, or Status

If you are a member of one of the groups listed here, please provide documentation of your participation/affiliation and dates of participation on your fee waiver request form.

• AfroTech Conference
• American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)
• American Physical Society Division of Nuclear Physics Conference Experience for Undergraduates (APS DNP CEU)
• American Political Science Association - Diversity Fellowship Program/Minority Fellowship Program
• American Political Science Association - Minority Student Recruitment Program
• American Political Science Association - Ralph Bunche Summer Institute (RBSI)
• Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS)
• Black in AI
• BP-Endure Program
• Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Initiative
• Central American-Caribbean Bridge in Astrophysics Program
• Científico Latino Graduate School Mentorship Program (GSMI)
• Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP)
• COMPASS Workshop in Philosophy
• Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics
• Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference
• Fisk-Vanderbilt Master's to PhD Bridge Program
• Gates Millennium Scholars
• GEM Fellow/National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science
• Grace Hopper Celebration Attendees (vGHC)
• Henry Roe Cloud Dissertation Fellowship
• Institute for Recruitment of Teachers (IRT)
• Jack Kent Cooke Scholars
• Laureates & Leaders (MIT)
• Leadership Alliance
• LEDA Scholars
• Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP)
• McNair Fellowship
• Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF)
• Meyerhoff Scholars Program - University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Minority Access to Research Centers (MARC)
• Minority Biomedical Research Support Program (MBRS) / Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE)
• National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChe)
• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
• National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP)
• National Society of Hispanic Physicists (NSHP)
• NIH Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP)
• NSF CSGrad4uS Fellows
• NSF REU Site (at Yale University): Interdisciplinary Research Training Across Biology, Physics, and Engineering
• Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE)
• Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM)
• Peace Corps
• Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institute (PIKSI)
• Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship/Rangel Program
• Pittsburgh Summer Program 1 in Philosophy
• Public Policy & International Affairs (PPIA)
• QuestBridge Scholars
• Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference (TAPIA)
• Rutgers Summer Institute for Diversity in Philosophy
• Sally Casanova Scholars Program
• Sarah Pettit Fellowship
• Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)
• Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
• Stony Brook Simons STEM Scholars
• Summer Immersion Program in Philosophy at Brown University (SIPP)
• Summer Program for Women in Philosophy (SPWP) at UCSD
• The National Name Exchange
• The PhD Project
• The Sadie Collective
• The Women+ of Color Project
• US Federal Pell Grant Recipient
• US Veterans with Honorable Discharge or Active Duty in US Armed Forces
• Yale Bouchet Graduate School Bootcamp (2019 or 2020)
• Yale Ciencia Initiative
• Yale Diversity Preview Days Attendee
• Yale Office for Graduate Student Development and Diversity (OGSDD) 
• Yale Psychology Sneak Peek

Documented Financial Hardship

If the application fee presents a financial hardship for you, you may request an application fee waiver by following the instructions below. The Fee Waiver Request Form will ask for detailed financial information and documentation to support your request. Acceptable documentation may include one or more of the following:

• a letter from your undergraduate university financial aid officer
• a statement of liabilities, including prior education loans
• a statement describing your economic circumstances, including income and assets

How to Request a Fee Waiver

Please follow the instructions below to submit a fee waiver request. A request for a fee waiver should be submitted in well in advance of the application deadline for your program and is separate from your application for admission.

• Create an application account by starting your PhD or Master's application.
• Complete the Fee Waiver Request Form . Note: If you started your PhD/Master's application very recently, it may take a few minutes for the system to register your new application and grant you access to the Fee Waiver Request Form.
• Submit the Fee Waiver Request Form well in advance of your application deadline. The Fee Waiver Request form will not be available after January 2.
• Once you have submitted your fee waiver request, you will receive an email within 2-3 business days indicating whether you have been granted a waiver. If you are not granted a fee waiver, you will need to pay the application fee when you submit your application. 

Do not submit your application fee until your fee waiver request has been processed and you have received a reply. Paid application fees will not be refunded.