Fall 2016 Application

[Nicholassss]

Hi everyone! A new season is coming! guess we can talk about everything about applications here!

 

I am currently a second year undergraduate in a British university and am considering applying for linguistic programs in both American and European universities. My interest is mainly in theoretical linguistics (semantics, pragmatics and syntax) but I have been a RA in a psycholing experimental lab for 2 months, which means psycholinguistics works quite well with me My problem is "are there any other programs (besides Ahmerst, MIT, UCSC, Berkeley) in US that centres on theoretical linguistics?" 

 

Hope this is not a disturbance in your lovely summer vacation.

[fuzzylogician]

Welcome to the linguistics forum! 

 

Aside from the universities you mentioned (and I would say Berkeley is quite different from the other three in its orientation), depending on your interests, geographic preferences, and qualifications, you might want to look at: NYU, UCLA, Rutgers, University of Maryland, University of Chicago, University of Arizona (Tucson), Georgetown, Harvard, USC; In Canada: McGill University, University of Toronto, UBC; Also possibly interesting: Stanford, Brown, UPenn, Indiana.

[Nicholassss]

Welcome to the linguistics forum! 

 

Aside from the universities you mentioned (and I would say Berkeley is quite different from the other three in its orientation), depending on your interests, geographic preferences, and qualifications, you might want to look at: NYU, UCLA, Rutgers, University of Maryland, University of Chicago, University of Arizona (Tucson), Georgetown, Harvard, USC; In Canada: McGill University, University of Toronto, UBC; Also possibly interesting: Stanford, Brown, UPenn, Indiana.

Thank you fuzzylogician, I'll definitely check these

[Garyon]

Welcome!!!

 

As usual, it is difficult to add something to what fuzzy already said

 

From what I know, Berkeley is indeed really different in its approach from the other ones you listed.

 

Between those listed by Fuzzy, those are all great programs, each with its own pecularities. If I can give you an advice, start by reading through each program's faculty and concentrations. When I was writing my application last winter, I started having in mind certain programs I was sure where perfect for me, but then changed my mind completely by reading papers and research focuses of their faculty. 

For example, I think Upenn has an great psycoling program too - with Embick, Clark and Yang being there.

 

Apart from those "Big" programs, I might be slightly biased (i'm headed there this fall) in suggesting you to give a look at Stony Brook's Program. It does not have a big name but the faculty is very good and, while having a strong theoretical focus it is investing in its experimental and computational concentration. I have to say it has a strong generative orientation (but that goes for most of the programs fuzzy listed before, i think).

Also, UDelaware has a joint degree in Linguistics and Cognitive Science.

[Nicholassss]

Welcome!!!

 

As usual, it is difficult to add something to what fuzzy already said

 

From what I know, Berkeley is indeed really different in its approach from the other ones you listed.

 

Between those listed by Fuzzy, those are all great programs, each with its own pecularities. If I can give you an advice, start by reading through each program's faculty and concentrations. When I was writing my application last winter, I started having in mind certain programs I was sure where perfect for me, but then changed my mind completely by reading papers and research focuses of their faculty. 

For example, I think Upenn has an great psycoling program too - with Embick, Clark and Yang being there.

 

Apart from those "Big" programs, I might be slightly biased (i'm headed there this fall) in suggesting you to give a look at Stony Brook's Program. It does not have a big name but the faculty is very good and, while having a strong theoretical focus it is investing in its experimental and computational concentration. I have to say it has a strong generative orientation (but that goes for most of the programs fuzzy listed before, i think).

Also, UDelaware has a joint degree in Linguistics and Cognitive Science.

Thank you Garyon! I didn't know Stony Brook got a linguistic department there, it would be a nice option of course, my elder sister got a phd there last year!! 

[NoontimeDreamer]

Thanks for starting up the thread Nicholassss!

I'm a phonetician so I'm not too familiar with theoretical programs you'd be applying too, but I'll be applying to programs as well for next fall. I'm mainly interested in large-scale corpus phonetics and answering questions about variation and change, social meaning and the like. I'm looking right now at Berkeley, Penn, McGill, OSU, and maybe Stanford, but I'd love to hear what programs other people are applying to as well!

 

Cheers!

[vlf]

Thanks for starting up the thread Nicholassss!

I'm a phonetician so I'm not too familiar with theoretical programs you'd be applying too, but I'll be applying to programs as well for next fall. I'm mainly interested in large-scale corpus phonetics and answering questions about variation and change, social meaning and the like. I'm looking right now at Berkeley, Penn, McGill, OSU, and maybe Stanford, but I'd love to hear what programs other people are applying to as well!

 

Cheers!

 

 

Have you thought about Michigan? There's a lot of interest in language variation and change there, including among some of  the phoneticians/laboratory phonologists (although I'll admit, I'm not sure if it qualifies as "large-scale corpus phonetics")

[vonham]

Hey guys! I'm also looking to apply for fall 2016. I'm currently a 2nd year linguistics undergraduate student in Israel. Looking to apply for a PhD program in the states. My main focus is sociolinguistics; specifically regarding multilingualism, speech among immigrant communities and things like that. The programs I'm looking at for the moment are: CUNY, UIUC, Stanford, U of Chicago, Georgetown, U Penn and Pittsburgh U. Always open for suggestions  

[NoontimeDreamer]

Have you thought about Michigan? There's a lot of interest in language variation and change there, including among some of  the phoneticians/laboratory phonologists (although I'll admit, I'm not sure if it qualifies as "large-scale corpus phonetics")

 

You're right, it should be on my list as well! The people that I know that are affiliated with that department are sharp and I'd especially love to work with Pam Beddor or Andries Coetzee.

[Nicholassss]

Hi guys, looks like people are getting ready . I have added some programs to my choices (many thanks to fuzzylogician and Garyon!) and I would say that my main areas of interest is semantics, theoretical pragmatics and the overlapping field in philosophy of language (syntax is of relatively less interest to me ). So I think for now my choices would be: MIT, UMass, UCSC, NYU, U Chicago and McGill (pls feel free to comment if there are more). As for the chances of getting in, this is something I feel uncertain about because of my gpa (around 3.65) and lack of related research experiences (only one and that is psycholinguistics), although I feel these programs really suit what I want and what I need (teaching training etc.). What do you guys think matters the most for an application? 

[shinigamiasuka]

Shamelessly advertising the uni I'm joining this Fall: University of Michigan

[vlf]

You're right, it should be on my list as well! The people that I know that are affiliated with that department are sharp and I'd especially love to work with Pam Beddor or Andries Coetzee.

 

Not a graduate student there, but I can confirm that they are both wonderful people to work with (and just wonderful people in general).

 

Also, keep an eye on the department website... I've heard that something's happening that may be interesting for phoneticians looking at the program 

Edited July 1, 2015 by skhaao

[NoontimeDreamer]

Not a graduate student there, but I can confirm that they are both wonderful people to work with (and just wonderful people in general).

 

Also, keep an eye on the department website... I've heard that something's happening that may be interesting for phoneticians looking at the program 

 

How mysterious! Will do

[onzeheures30]

I would say that my main areas of interest is semantics, theoretical pragmatics and the overlapping field in philosophy of language (...) So I think for now my choices would be: MIT, UMass, UCSC, NYU, U Chicago and McGill

 

If you have questions concerning semantics at NYU, feel free to PM me =)

[Adera]

Hi Everyone

 

I'm applying for fall '16 and this is a summary of my CV I wanted you to check this out and tell me about my chances of admission on the unis I'm apply to.

I'm currently studying TEFL at the IKIU in Iran and applying to PhD programs in Linguistics. I have submitted two papers one in NLP (about stemming algorithms submitted to ACM transactions) and one in Applied Linguistics (ESP) and I'm currently working on Phonetics-related projects (Speech corpora). I have more less 9 month RA and have written several codes and projects in NLP and Speech recognition (Converting parameters of RFC to Tilt intonation model).

I would like to work primarily on Speech Recognition either theoretical (studying on suprasegmental) or applied (speech APIs or algorithms)

based on my resume what are my chances in these universities: 1) UCLA 2) U Chicago 3) California State U 4) UConn

[gughok]

Hey folks,

Looks like I'm a little bit late to the party, which is a disconcertingly persistent theme in my life, but alas.

I'm a fourth-year Linguistics and Philosophy major at Cornell. I started out as a Physics/Phil major, swam through Math, and have only been in Linguistics for about three semesters (I took our intro class and was sucked in with no regrets but that I hadn't found the field earlier - did I mention I'm often late to parties?). I'm debating between which of my majors I want to continue in graduate school, and more seriously faced with the problem that as a newcomer to Linguistics my available collection of writing samples is pretty sparse and, in my opinion, thoroughly unimpressive. As a result I'm not yet set on applying this cycle, but I don't know how much I'd benefit from a gap year (which I would spend, in large, working on improving my application materials).

If I apply, the subfields I'm most interested in are semantics, philosophy of language, and historical linguistics (I generally gravitate toward the theoretical, and I don't think I'd much like doing field work or running experiments - I speak from experience in the latter). I don't know which programs are strong in historical, but for the former two my list of ideal schools is topped by Rutgers, NYU, MIT, and Michigan.

Looking forward to plenty of nail-bitingly nervous conversations with everyone!

[beccamayworth]

Hi everyone! A new season is coming! guess we can talk about everything about applications here!

 

I am currently a second year undergraduate in a British university and am considering applying for linguistic programs in both American and European universities. My interest is mainly in theoretical linguistics (semantics, pragmatics and syntax) but I have been a RA in a psycholing experimental lab for 2 months, which means psycholinguistics works quite well with me My problem is "are there any other programs (besides Ahmerst, MIT, UCSC, Berkeley) in US that centres on theoretical linguistics?" 

 

Hope this is not a disturbance in your lovely summer vacation.

Hi Nicholassss! Based on your interests in theoretical semantics, pragmatics and syntax, as well as Psycholing, I strongly suggest you look into USC. I am, of course, biased, since that's where I go - so feel free to send any questions my way if you're interested!

[sydiamonde]

Hi everyone! Been checking this forum out for the last couple of days. I've read the entire thread for Fall 2015 applications (and I'll admit it was like binge watching a show you've just begun) and I must say I feel more discouraged than encouraged!

I'm a would-be international student from Turkey with a TEFL background. I've only graduated last June and been working as a primary-secondary school English teacher for the last month to make some money for admissions and future funding purposes (USD to TRY rates are 2.8 and GBP/TRY 4.2, which might give you an idea why). I graduated with a 3.87/4.00 GPA, and I've been considering applying to unis in the UK and the US, particularly to programs with a socio-historical linguistics and/or corpus linguistics focus. I have taken couple of classes on Linguistics like an intro, language acquisition, and sociolinguistics; but honestly most of my Linguistics training has been unofficial due to curriculum restrictions-Linguistics isn't really big in Turkey. I've taken online courses on Revivalistics, Bilingualism, and Corpus Linguistics; audited Philosophy of Language classes, took Social Psychology and Intercultural Communication as an exchange student in Poland. I have no research experience whatsoever, I was pretty much a regular straight-A student. So I'm here, trying to do some research on my own and read as many papers as I can, keeping a positive outlook... and then I bumped into Gradcafe. Reading the 2015 thread made me realize how far behind I am from most of the applicants! Honestly I started to think even booking a seat for GRE and TOEFL was a waste of time (Oh well, at least they will be valid for a couple more years). My GRE and TOEFL scores aren't in yet. I like to think I have three strong letters of recommendation and although I could go for 4-5 I feel like that would be an overkill. 

The only positive side to my applications would be that I have a full scholarship by Turkish government, which would cover all my tuition expenses and most of my living costs for 5 to 6 years so I don't need to be funded at all, although some extra work like TA or RA would be nice. I was wondering if this would make any difference at all for my applications? Do the universities offer places without funding? I honestly would like to aim (or rather, dream) high and apply to UCB, UPenn, U of Chicago and maybe Ohio State; but honestly I don't know if it's worth my money anymore. I am feeling pretty pessimistic at this rate! I would have applied to Masters only programs had there been anything like that, but I guess most universities prefer their students go for the full package. Would appling for an MA at UPenn instead of PhD be wiser? Would applying be wise at all? Or should I just give up on the U.S. entirely and try to do an MA in the U.K., then reapply? Does anyone have any suggestions on anything?

Sorry for the long post & thanks a gazillion in advance!

Edited November 3, 2015 by sydiamonde

[sande570]

On 6/26/2015, 6:59:08, Nicholassss said:

Hi everyone! A new season is coming! guess we can talk about everything about applications here!

 

I am currently a second year undergraduate in a British university and am considering applying for linguistic programs in both American and European universities. My interest is mainly in theoretical linguistics (semantics, pragmatics and syntax) but I have been a RA in a psycholing experimental lab for 2 months, which means psycholinguistics works quite well with me My problem is "are there any other programs (besides Ahmerst, MIT, UCSC, Berkeley) in US that centres on theoretical linguistics?" 

 

Hope this is not a disturbance in your lovely summer vacation.

Hi Nicholassss,

I am a graduate student at UC Berkeley, and while I agree with others on this thread the Berkeley is different from the other universities on your list, I am happy to tell you more about those differences in a private email. Feel free to ask me specific questions here, or to email me at my username at berkeley.edu.

As for your specific areas of interest (semantics, pragmatics, syntax), we have some phenomenal syntax professors, namely Line Mikkelsen and Peter Jenks, who are both great teachers and excellent to work with. We also recently hired Amy Rose Deal, who does syntax and semantics, and is an enormous asset to our department. All three combine fieldwork and theoretical linguistics, and Line Mikkelsen also does a lot of corpus work. As for psycholinguistics, Professors Suzanne Gahl and Keith Johnson co-teach a brilliant psycholinguistics course and advise many students in that area. 

I'm happy to answer questions about any of the other subfields or professors at Berkeley as well!

[wine-ing]

It's that time of year, I'm thinking about applications yet again. I think I'm doing UCLA, UMichigan, UBC, Simon Fraser, and Toronto. I have no idea how I'm going to deal with waiting until February/March. 

[embeddedV2]

Hello everyone,

I'm a current third year undergrad in Linguistics in the UK, applying to UCLA, MIT, Harvard, NYU, Yale, UPenn and UChicago (not in order of preference. not even sure I have an order of preference). Came across the gradcafé around a week ago, which made me realise things will be far more difficult than what my recommenders made it sound like ("Just apply, it's going to be great!") haha.

Oh and I'm interested in syntax, semantics and pragmatics (and the relevant interfaces), including the experimental side of things.

Edited November 29, 2015 by embeddedV2

[vonham]

3 hours ago, embeddedV2 said:

Hello everyone,

I'm a current third year undergrad in Linguistics in the UK, applying to UCLA, MIT, Harvard, NYU, Yale, UPenn and UChicago (not in order of preference. not even sure I have an order of preference). Came across the gradcafé around a week ago, which made me realise things will be far more difficult than what my recommenders made it sound like ("Just apply, it's going to be great!") haha.

Oh and I'm interested in syntax, semantics and pragmatics (and the relevant interfaces), including the experimental side of things.

Hey there! I'm also applying from abroad from a 3 year undergrad program :). 

Yeah one of my professors said "I can't think of any reason why you wouldn't get in to all of the places you apply"......because reality?! hah! She just wanted to be really encouraging, and I actually really appreciated it even though I knew that she wasn't exactly saying that based on knowing how strong I am as an applicant. 

Anyways, I've posted here before, but here's my updated list (sort of in terms of preference? definitely top two, after that...not sure): UCSB (due on Tuesday! Waiting for one recommender to come through and then hit submit!), University of Arizona (joint Anthropology and linguistics), UIUC, CUNY, University of Pittsburgh, Tulane. 

My interests are in sociolinguistics/linguistic anthropology. Specifically language choice in multilingualism, socially meaningful variation in language contact. Stuff like that. 

Good luck to everyone!! ^-^ 

[wine-ing]

7 hours ago, embeddedV2 said:

Came across the gradcafé around a week ago, which made me realise things will be far more difficult than what my recommenders made it sound like ("Just apply, it's going to be great!") haha.

 

4 hours ago, vonham said:

Yeah one of my professors said "I can't think of any reason why you wouldn't get in to all of the places you apply"......because reality?! hah! She just wanted to be really encouraging, and I actually really appreciated it even though I knew that she wasn't exactly saying that based on knowing how strong I am as an applicant. 

Haha, don't freak yourself out about it too soon. (I know it's hard, when I applied for my MA, I checked my email every day at least 10 times in Feb.)

And, I mean, think about it this way- your recommenders have recommended people before. They know you and they know what makes for a good applicant. If they have faith in you, that's a good sign. 

 

[embeddedV2]

On 2015. 11. 29., vonham said:

Hey there! I'm also applying from abroad from a 3 year undergrad program :). 

I'm glad to find someone in the same boat!  I still don't understand how they compare applicants with vastly different backgrounds who've all had different lengths of time/opportunities to do research, etc. But I'm assuming if they say having a BA is enough then they know how to do this.

 

20 hours ago, wine-ing said:

And, I mean, think about it this way- your recommenders have recommended people before. They know you and they know what makes for a good applicant. If they have faith in you, that's a good sign. 

Thanks, this is an encouraging way to think about this!  Are now you applying from an MA then? Can I ask, was there a specific reason why you didn't go straight into a PhD? (Mainly asking cos I've been debating this myself haha.)

[wine-ing]

49 minutes ago, embeddedV2 said:

Thanks, this is an encouraging way to think about this!  Are now you applying from an MA then? Can I ask, was there a specific reason why you didn't go straight into a PhD? (Mainly asking cos I've been debating this myself haha.)

Oh, well, for one: I'm Canadian. If I wanted to do a PhD (which I may) in Canada, I need the MA. Additionally, I went straight from high school to undergrad, meaning that I finished my classwork for my BA at 21 years old.Though I had a relatively strong application coming out of my BA, there were a lot of gaps in terms of my exposure to theory and I wanted an extra year to strengthen my application by taking extra year of graduate studies before starting the PhD. (It's actually helped a lot!) Also, I didn't do an undergrad senior/honours thesis, which many of my classmates have. This way, I have a MA thesis and some graduate coursework to make up for that.

This being said, I probably could have applied in the states for a PhD. One of my references suggested it to me. But, then we talked about it and he helped me realize that an extra year of studies after my four-year BA would help me mature as a student. I don't regret it at all. I'm funded for the MA and loving my research. The coursework is filling in some major theoretical gaps too, which is great. I'm also building some great academic connections and getting teaching experience. 

I think my first choice is a certain school in the states and my second is in Canada, so I'm hoping that my choice to do the MA will help. (Hopefully it doesn't make me look bad for taking longer to get to the PhD for the states.)