linguotherobot

It really depends on what you want to do within psycholinguistics (Phonetics/Phonology? Syntax? Semantics?). However, just to throw some names out there, so that you can look at the programs and people working there, I'd say: NYU, Rochester, Johns Hopkins, USC, UCSD, Maryland..., but there's many more.

So the season's finally over... We've all had some good results, some bad ones (except our champion onzeheures!), and it's been a very daunting process (no less daunting than the one coming ahead: getting housing, moving -for some of us, abroad-, and actually starting our degrees!) I wanted to thank you all for your support during this last Spring-Summer (or your Fall-Winter), and to wish you the very best of lucks in pursuing your graduate studies (no, I did not copy this last sentence from all the rejections letters, ). Good luck! See you at conferences,

Finally rejected, as expected. I guess it's gonna be Yale after all. Good luck to you!

I would also be interested to know how it went. I had an interview in late January, but then they told me that some problem with funding international students arose, (at least, with funding as many as they would wanted to). Nonetheless, I wouldn't have been able to go... They haven't rejected me yet, so I'm probably in some sort of waitlist until everyone accepts their positions and they do.

Hi, everyone, I've been accepted at Yale, and probably I will be attending. I am an international student, so I don't understand much about cost of living, taxes, and actually, how much money will I finally be earning. I also don't know if I'll be able to have a credit card, for instance, since the first two years I will be fully-funded with a fellowship (no TA or RA, so I guess I won't have a "letter of employment" to apply for a SSN), and only since the third year I'l be TAing. I wanted to have some advise, too, about which neighbourhoods are close to Yale and/or safe, and if living with roommates (I looked up on craiglist, for instance, and it seems to be about half-price than an apartment, plus dividing utlities) is actually doable. I don't have trouble living with other people, but I've always lived with family or very close friends here... All the information I'm getting is quite overwhelming, so maybe you can give some advices about living in New Haven and some approximation to costs of living... Thanks!

Thank you, guys! I don't know why this affects us so much, but it feels pretty awesome, ha.

Accepted to Yale!!!! Finally some good news! So the last will be first! (Why am I citing the Bible?!!!!??!?!) Extremely happy. Good luck to those still waiting!

de Saussure, Chomsky... and who else? Mmm, for importance, probably Halliday and Labov or Lakoff, but if it was up to me, Zurif and Pinker or Lyn Frazier.

Not the nicest question to make, but those being rejected at Yale went to their Open House last week? I was invited, but not able to go, and haven't heard a word from them yet... I am hopeful that not being rejected now means something possitive...

That's really great! Colin Phillips' work is amazing! There's a girl that used to worked in my research team in Argentina, who is now at UMD and she seems to be doing great. Congrats again to you!

Congratulations!!!

Yeah, that's something a POI also told me, so it probably matters not only what they say, but who says it... I have talked with my professors here, and they told me some of their contacts... Everybody (and everything) kept telling me that maybe I should apply next year...; I will have a paper published, a professor they know in a top program will end his sabbathical, Northwestern will re-open their admissions (this year they shut the graduate program admissions)..., but I was stubborn enough to try! Honestly, I've been doing research for quite some time (~4 years), almost for free, and I got quite tired of having an extra (a real) job to pay the bills. I decided this was the year to try and go full into research (i.e., getting paid for what I like), but maybe I was wrong. Well, not so much, since I can do that here right now, but my expectations had become higher,

Thanks again for everyone replying to my question! Everybody has been really helpful. I still have to hear from Yale (or to decide if I pursue my PhD in my home country), but if not, there are things that I definitively will take into account when reapplying. I guess that sometimes there's also some subfields that are growing more than others, and probably more candidates in that specific subfields... And sometimes (and I can handle it), it's just admitting that there were better candidates for one's position that oneselves... Regarding the "international student status", and being one myself, I think that LoRs also play an important role... Good lettes from not-so-well-known (i.e., non-US and non-European) people might be an issue...

Thanks for your thorough answers! It's nice to get feedback about what you all think, =)

Hi, guys, I've been thinking about something all day..., and wanted to know your opinion. I don't know if I am being admitted anywhere, and I am already thinking about the possibilities of applying next year, and the things I should/could improve in my application package, given that situation. It has been said a thousand times that the most important thing when the adcom considers an application is "fit" with the program. I also believe that that is true to a certain degree, but I've been wondering how it is possible that there is some people that get accepted in almost every program and others who are rejected everywhere. If "fit" would be so important, it's quite weird that a person would be admitted into very different programs, right?... To what degree one's interests should be general in order to be a good "fit" to all these programs? And given that scenario, general interest would be looked as something positive? I think that we all have different backgrounds when it comes to research, so one of us could probably be a better fit than the other for a specific program, whether in another it could be the other way around... I mean, even each one of us knows (or thinks that know) where one would be a better fit (and probably that's their top choice). Perhaps it's just frustration talking right now, but I think that there must be something else than "fit" (and the way one explains that in the SOP) that is being taken into account when deciding admissions... (in top of "general conditions" that I think are almost necessary to be admitted in a good program: ~85-90% percentile GRE, <3,8 GPA, background in research, some publications/conferences, etc.).

NYU's rejection with a generic email. It was more than expected by now, but still not a nice way to start the week...

Thinking about it more thoroughly, they probably know how to google properly, and they simply add "Linguistics" to the search.

I happen to have a veeeeery common name (my name is spelled the same in Spanish, English, French, German, Dutch..., and my last name is quite usual too), so I really don't know how they found me! You made google me, and there's actually a photographer that has all the web-domains with my (well, and his) name registered, and in more academic sites, there's a well-known mathematician!

Arghhh, I had totally forgotten about academia.edu and their snitchy policy of telling who saw your profile, when suddenly: "Someone just searched for you on Google and found your page on Academia.edu. To see what country the search came from, follow the link below" New Haven, CT and New York, NY. Both searches are from today... It makes me nervous to know they're vetting me,

Regarding funding, I totally agree. Moreover, I will be fully dependent on my stipend, so I need them to make a substantial offer for me to be able to go... As for the connections, I couldn't agree more! Even if I stay in my country, doing my PhD here (I've already won a scholarship here, being co-advised by a University of Buenos Aires researcher and a McGill professor), I strongly believe that this whole application process has been very useful in terms of networking.

Thanks for your comprehensive response, fuzzylogician! It actually sucked getting that sort of explanation after two interviews with positive feedback... My POI said that he really wanted to offer me admission, but that unless "something very unlikely" happens, it would be impossible. On the other hand, Yale doesn't seem to have that issue, and I'm waiting for their final decission after being invited to their Open House... So, despite some agencies not wanting me there, it seems I'll be going nonetheless, ;P

fuzzylogician, I have a question for you... Private schools never have to take into account citizenship for funding? A professor from Rochester told me that they needed to take that into account, and that, among other things as fit, etc., they probably won't be able to make me an offer of admission since I'm an international student...

As far as I know, first you compete into your subfield. Each professor goes through the applications that are relevant to him (if you mentioned him/her in your SOP, if you contact him/her beforehand, etc.). Then, the professor comes up with probably 3/4 potential students for his lab... Then, when the adcom meets, you compete against everyone. Firstly, they chose which students are being admitted on the basis of which professor can advise new students. For instance, if they have only 5 PhD funded positions, and there are 10 subfields/labs, and last year, Dr. X from subfield Y got a new student, he's probably not getting one this year... Of course that all of this depends on another factors (for instance, if Dr.X won the NSF grant Z last year, and Dr.Y has only funds from the university to fund his research, probably Dr. X gets a student every year, while Dr. Y probably has to wait more than 1 year). And then, comes diversity, citizenship and so on...

I guess many universities don't send rejections until they actually know that the students they had made an offer to accepeted... It seems they prefer to wait until then before sending out rejections, but I would probably guess that everybody that has not received an invitation to interview/open house/acceptance from a university by now, is probably rejected, or wait-listed in the most optimistic case...