Phonolog

Whoever might care, from UMass: We are reading the applications and considering who to accept. No decisions have yet been made, and we do not have a firm date by which they will be made. Probably decisions will be available in a week to ten days.

I am going through similar emotions. Santa Cruz was my number one, I wanted it the most. But my rejections still hurt, like I should have gotten in everywhere if I was good enough ...

And NYU's private, but mostly international ...

As far as the US goes, it goes by state/provincial residency. I'm a Quebec resident, so they have to spend far less money financing me. But going over the Dept of Ed data, UCSC linguistics is 6% international, while NYU's is very high. As for me, I'm not very competitive outside of my writing samples, conferences, and LORs, my grades and GREs are horrific (3.45 with multiple F's, 161V, 153Q, no HS diploma). So schools with large amounts of applicants that can throw out lots of applications through simple numerical measures can easily ignore me. Which is why I believe my UCLA and OSU rejects were quick. But I would have thought the NYU reject would be quick, but nothing yet.

NYU has been mute for me, and Rutgers still says no decision ... I saw one NYU rejection but that was all. You would think they would have created the cohort all at once. And the famously late MIT and UMass ... It would have been nice of them to release decisions early; many people would accept off the bat and clear up other schools waitlists. Odd question: has anyone noticed that some schools acceptances are pretty much all internationals, while others are clearly biased towards Americans? Do you think this reflects the type of people who applied or do you think there is some kind of policy there? I know I am going to step on toes here, but I feel the only reason I am seriously considered at McGill is because I am Canadian and take some of my classes there, while NYU clearly has an international bias (and I'm a triple American-Canadian-South African citizen, making me probably not too international). Any thoughts here?

Depends on the fit really. I was accepted to top programs phd with a 153 quant, 3.2 gpa, and 6 F's; also a high school dropout.

UCSC called me around midnight last night (EST) you too? I saw someone else was accepted

I think a lot of what I said earlIer still stands. What is your nationality? Depending on your background the university culture might be a major, difficult adjustment effecting your success. If you're US, the system is rather singular. Having studied and degreed US, British-style (South Africa) and continental (France) systems, you must be very clear on what exactly you are looking for, what you want to work in, and where you want to work. US (and the Canadian-type UK-US hybrid, becoming more US-type): You will be very integrated into your community and cohort. You're supervisors will be likely hands-on, and you will be expected to debate. Your professors can be your mentors/colleagues/friends. You'll be divorced from mainstream society and generally cultivated towards professorships. UK: You will be autonomous, generally writing with supervision varying upon the type of professor/researcher you are under. Your dissertation will often be longer than a US (but this is so variable). If you want more support and career grooming, MA and MRes are better and they often can give you a lead-in into non-academic positions as a fall-back career. Furthermore, MA's often get academic positions. You won't be teaching as much as in the US; you can probably occupy a near-full time job, depending in your organizational and time-management skills. At OxCam, UCL, Edinburgh, or Mamchester, you won't have very many employment barriers. The smaller universities remain unknown outside the UK (perhaps York, or any campus of the University of London sound good). UK and Europe are smaller and easy to travel around, you can get to more conferences. And you probably should be publishing before graduation in the Uk, while this is not necessarily the case in the US. Failing a thesis defense is very common in the UK, while Defense is often just a formality in the US - in the US you've been vetted for 5 years, they know if you're good or not. But your autonomy in the Uk means you could get all the way to the end even if you are not ready to move on. Don't expect to have a ton of time toxic this, and settle for an MPhil if necessary. Continental (as well as some Australian & New Zealand systems): you'll be joining a pre-existing project, either headed by a big personality researcher or an organization (get ready for long acronyms). You're thesis topic will be tightly bound to the work. You get very nice salaries; you obtain your degree while establishing yourself as a professional in your field. You are already employable and known by graduation. You collaborate and your salary is often 200% more than a US stipend; these phd's are often similar to post-docs and great preparation, US university training at the BA level is probably not adequate preparation. Do a UK-style MA/MSc/MRes first. Hope this helps!

Awesome ... and coincdentally I just saw Bakovic`s (UCSD) book got published about feeding and counterfeeding ... I saw him give a presentation about a year ago on it. It was incredibly confusing ... he's a really smart guy. Don't know if you're into phonology but I hope you get accepted and get to work with him.

Seeing as three people posted acceptances yesterday, I'm not holding out much hope for UCLA, personally. Especially since it doesn't appear that the letters were personalized - they would have just automatically sent them.

I'll add (because I have though about this ALOT): US Plus'es: Full funding Worldwide employability Some top-of-the line programs UK Plus'es: Worldwide employabilty Some top-of-the-line programs Many are in interesting, student-friendly cities and towns 3-years US minus'es: You're there for at least 5 years (if not 6, 7, or 8+) Busy-work classes for two years, tests, the anxiety of advancing to candidacy Many are in the god-awfulest boring towns that exist UK minus'es: You're gonna need $150,000 for those three years ($250,000 for ten-year US loan repayment + interest, $360,000 for 30-year) Un-structured research, complete independence (supervisors, as government employees, though they mean well, are often bogged with administrative duties foreign to the US system; get ready for absentee emeriti, and a very different research culture) Since 2012, NO avenue for obtaining right of abode post-graduation unless you get a job right away. You will have established a life over three years which you will most likely have to then abandon.

UK universities are quite different. There's no automatic funding; MOST would have required an acceptance by Dec 15 to apply for HIGHLY competitive full funding + stipend (usually, perhaps 10 for the whole of an Arts and Science dept. reserved for overseas students). As an (American? Canadian? Australian? South African?) don't expect any funding whatsoever. Full funding is nearly impossible for non-UK'ers and tuition waivers usually only for EU students. You're best bet is to down to line make it known within your department you're interested in so-in-so in the UK's work and would like to do a research stay. OxCam just MIGHT have other things available, but once again, holding an offer and applying by Dec 15 is near universal. Changing research cultures is very difficult; look forward to a UK post-doc! Don't do your PhD there

It seems most of us are applying to similar schools. I know we're all going to be updating our pages obsessively, but the wait *might* be almost over ... looking at 2012, the bulk of schools are releasing final decisions Feb 5-Feb 15; exceptions seem to be UMich ... I'm not sure what to read into NYU either - someone just got their interview this week and I know people from previous years admitted without interviews (but this season could be completely different, or the same). As far as interviews, did anyone have embarassing questions? I did ...