Vowel_Harmonizer

Well then that clears that up. I'll just keep sitting here to refresh my email every few minutes. Just in case. Thanks!

So has Chicago sent out their acceptances already? I'm assuming that the Applied Linguistics person on the results page got applied the Linguistics department... but I hope not

Linguistics deals with the study of natural language, and since natural languages are necessarily tied to the cultures of the people, I don't see anything controversial about having a particular language or group of languages as an empirical focus. Linguistics is not Chemistry, and it is not Physics. Biology is probably a better analogy, if you want a parallel discipline? One can be a primatologist, a geneticist, an ornithologist, and so on, and still be considered a biologist. As for the notion of Linguistics as a purely theoretical science, focused only on competence and never performance, that seems a bit ideological. Theoretical phenomena need to be verified in crosslinguistic studies, and linguists focused on particular languages help contribute that data. Edit: Wow, I just noticed how old the OP post is! As for advice, I would strongly advise against philology programs, at least as I understand them to be modeled as literature programs, since OP is looking for sociophonetics research. I don't think a philology program would do the type of quantitative work that would satisfy a sociophonetician. As for actual program suggestions, I can only go based on reputation since this is not my particular interest, but hopefully someone more knowledgeable can chime in. Scandinavian programs you might find interesting would be those at the University of Tromsø and Lund University. Both seem like strong centers of research with a focus on Scandinavian languages. While Tromsø seems like it's primarily focused on syntax, I think they have a few typologists, who might also do some sociophonetics. Lund is probably a better bet for that, though, and they seem like a generally strong department.

Yes, of course. I was more worried about the notions against 'part-time sidejobs' or what professors might think of as a distraction from research. But then again, if a professor sees that as a distraction, they might see choir singing as nothing more than a distraction also. That would just be cruel. Thanks again everyone.

Thank you both, those replies were helpful and reassuring. Yes, and that is why I am deliberating between Navy and CG. I would prefer to go into the Navy as an enlisted cryptolinguist, but I know that such a position is rare in the reserves, and I am uncertain about getting clearance, since I have recently traveled on a foreign passport, though I would be willing to surrender it. I would expect to have a unit, so I am guessing that training would be in summertime, but I am not sure. True, it could be any time. As long as the department wouldn't mind, and I could schedule fieldwork and such around classes, conferences, and training. It's definitely what I thought it was, which is quite a nice bonus. I wouldn't rely on it to pay for education, since I expect the departments to fund me, or to get outside funding (hence why I asked about funding eligibility). I would rather expect for it to be some nice food money towards the end of my studies. I am not joining for the money, obviously. That raises a question I hadn't thought of before. Where does this fit in on the application? I imagine that graduate schools have a military service section where you mention it, am I correct? I appreciate the anecdote very much. Yes, it does sound like are systems are extremely similar. Again, both posts have made the decision quite a bit easier for me. I know that this will be a great opportunity for me to grow and work on my long-term time management, so I'm looking forward to it more and more.

I would like to hear feedback from those of you currently in graduate programs in Linguistics. I will be applying to doctoral programs for Fall 2016. I graduated with a B.A. in Linguistics last year, and decided to take two gap years to do some soul searching. Those two years have led me to realize what I want in life. I definitely want to pursue a PhD in Linguistics and go into academia, and I want to start that as soon as possible. I had good grades, some research, a published paper, some small scholarships, and completed graduate-level coursework (about 3-4 classes) from my undergraduate career. I also realized that I want to serve in the Navy or Coast Guard Reserves. I have no prior military service, would go through basically training, etc. For those unfamiliar with the reserves, the standard gig - as I understand it - is drilling one weekend a month and two weeks in the Summer. That is the minimum requirement I would want to do that for 6 years, which would allow me some extra allowance for education (the G.I. bill). Given the apparent flexibility of the reserves, how compatible is it with pursuing a PhD program? I know that graduate level research will be more challenging and time-consuming than anything I have done before, but I am confident that I would be disciplined enough to balance everything. What I am looking for is anecdotes, hopefully from others who have tried the same thing, or who know people in their programs who did. I know that many programs forbid part-time jobs, but would this violate that? Would I be ineligible for funding from departments? Would it matter if I joined the reserves before or after entering the program? Would those two weeks in Summer really be a big deal if I planned ahead (months, semesters, years ahead...)? I think it is important to note that I have a strong interest in doing linguistic fieldwork and in working in a lab. I get the impression that a lot of that would involve Summer and Winter work, but would it be difficult to get away for two weeks? And of course, the looming spanner in the works would be the potential for deployment. While I would obviously prefer to avoid deployment until after my PhD defense, I would willing serve, were I called upon; can I predict how a program would react (maybe some schools have policies for graduate students in such a situation)? I am looking into my programs' policies in my spare time, but not much has turned up yet.

So, also got notified for Azerbaijan: I am an alternate.

That'd be great! Research for me too. I sent you a PM!

So, while we're waiting... Anyone else for Azerbaijan lurking here?

I'd be interested in sharing one of the doubles on campus. Sent you a PM.

I think the Institute is a good opportunity to take courses that would not be available at your home institution. They look like they have a fair amount of intro courses, but if you can handle more cutting edge material it would be worth it to take the opportunity to jump into any advanced courses you find interesting but would not otherwise have access to.