onzeheures30

I've just looked it up in my email. I was first contacted by Maryland (for a Skype interview) on Jan 17.

Did it go through eventually? If yes, then you're probably fine. Also, on a semi-relevant note, if my memory serves, MIT's application system was the only one in my experience that would allow changing things in the application (like reuploading the SOP) after submitting.

I second beccamayworth's post. You definitely should study your POIs' work (primarily for your own sake, you want to know whether they are indeed a good fit for you before even applying), but the questions are going to be about you, not them. In other words, there will be no quiz on the faculty's latest papers, but they will be probing, of course, into how you think you fit with their (current!) interests. This probing might go in different ways; some people will ask you straight-forwardly to elaborate on how your interests fit with theirs, some will just ask you to describe your interests and assess your fit themselves, and some might even lay out their current projects and ask you whether you are interested in any of those. Not everyone will go for the latter option, of course, but don't hesitate to ask them directly about their current projects and plans (you are not supposed to know everything about them, and most certainly you are not supposed to be able to read their minds and know what they are going to focus on in the future, i.e. during the period when you might be their student). Remember that an interview is a two-way street, so take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about the programs =)

MIT indeed doesn't do interviews (I think they even say so somewhere on their webpage), but I did have a Skype interview with someone from UMass last year (although that doesn't mean they always interview all the candidates they are interested in). NYU does interviews for sure. Maryland does indeed have an open-house for short-listed candidates, but I couldn't make it last year so I did Skype interviews with two faculty members instead.

I don't quite remember the entire procedure, but I think that after submitting the main application I first got a confirmation and then several days later I got an e-mail saying that I should now complete my ASF, which was basically uploading the rest of the documents online (there was a link in the email). Have you submitted the main application?

Depending on the department, I mentioned one or two in my main area (theoretical semantics), one or two in my secondary area (theoretical syntax), and I sometimes mentioned experimental people (along the lines of 'it's nice to know there will be someone to guide me should I need to do some experimental research'). I agree with fuzzy that nine is way too many; it wouldn't show that you're a better fit, but rather that you don't understand what fit is about.

Two paragraphs about the field? That's too much. Even one generic sentence is too much, if you ask me, if it does not directly link the importance of the field to why you want to pursue a degree in this field. A SOP should be about you, not the field. Don't waste your space telling the committee something they already know (they are specialists in your field, no need to preach to the choir).

I don't know what the 'proper' way is, and I doubt there is one. I can only tell you what I did: (1) I had my name and 'Statement of Purpose' on the first page; initially I had a header on each of the two pages, but one of my recommenders (a grad program director at a US linguistics department) who gave me feedback on my SOP suggested deleting the header on the second page. I don't think the name is necessary, though, either. 'Statement of Purpose' should indeed be enough. (2) I did end my SOPs with thanking the committee for considering my application (and a generic statement about how honored I would be to be able to contribute to the department X). My understanding is it's just one of the closing formulas you can use, but you don't have to, it's a matter of taste. I used it because I couldn't think of a better way to end my SOP, and ending with discussing what I am going to do after I get my Ph.D. seemed a tad abrupt. But once again, I don't think there any set-in-stone rules about that, do whatever feels right and fits the overall tone of your SOP. I suspect the committee will be more interested in your research interests than in whether you thank them or not =)

I certainly wish you at least the same admission rate! (But feel free to do better =))

I don't think they have any specific requirements. Mine was two pages, 12 pt Times New Roman, single space, and it worked just fine for them.

Do you mean co-speech gestures? To my knowledge there's been very little rigorous research in this direction. Among what I am familiar with there is this work by Ebert and Ebert: http://www.ilg.uni-stuttgart.de/mitarbeiter/ebert/GestenWS-Stuttgart/Folien/Ebert.pdf And Philippe Schlenker from my department (and Institut Jean-Nicod) has recently started looking into co-speech gestures in conjunction with his research on sign languages linguistics (the major idea is to see whether some of the grammatical devices present in sign languages but seemingly absent in spoken languages can be found in co-speech gestures); here is a very short squib outlining the direction of his current research: http://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/002158/current.pdf

When I was applying to NYU, I submitted my application on the final deadline. I don't know what the exact purpose of the 'recommended' deadline is. Maybe to spread the administrative work a little bit. It is highly unlikely, though, that the adcomm will convene between the two deadlines, and it is even less likely that there is any actual preference given to those who applied earlier. But it never hurts to ask.

I am not sure how good a fit NYU might be for your agenda, although it is true that being in NYC in general gives you access to many communities and networks. In any event, feel free to PM me for more specific comments about our dept.

I believe there is a difference between using personal anecdotes and telling your own story. I have an undergraduate background in a field other than (theoretical) linguistics; in addition, I started a graduate program in my home country in a seemingly related but essentially different field. So I did tell my story in my SOP (how I got interested in linguistics, how my specific interests developed, what kind of exposure to theoretical linguistics I obtained from various sources, etc.). While I don't feel the SOP was the strongest part of my application, I don't think telling my story hurt in any way. I wouldn't create a bona fide bibliography at the end of a SOP but rather simply refer to the relevant works in the text. However, I do not know what the existing conventions are (if any). You can certainly send your SOP to me when you have a draft, and I will provide the feedback (within the limits of my experience). But most importantly, get feedback from your professors and/or other people from the field you know (e.g. your recommenders).

What helped me most during the application process was talking to experienced people from the field. I am not exactly used to asking for advice, but throughout this particular endeavor I was ready to absorb as much advice as I could get, from choosing the universities to apply to to making the final decision about the offer to accept. Thus, I am incredibly grateful to all these people who were there for me. As for the outcome, I think that the key factors that helped me suceed were (in no particular order): (1) good writing sample; (2) excellent letters of recommendation; (3) it was clear from my personal story that the decision to apply for a grad program in Linguistics was a well-thought one; (4) while my undergraduate background wasn't in Linguistics, I managed to learn a lot myself (via summer schools and courses at a dept other than my home one) and conduct some independent research, which showed my commitment (this bit was pointed out to me by one of my recommenders, who also got to read my other LORs and said that this point was emphasized by all of my recommenders).

I was in a bar with my best friend killing time before her train to another city (I was seeing her off), when an e-mail from one of my POIs at my top choice dept came in saying that she wanted to communicate some good news to me via Skype. Despite the crappy wi-fi connection in that bar, we somehow managed to have this talk straight away. This is also how my best friend was the first to know. The next things I did were (1) calling my Mum, (2) writing an e-mail to my other POI from the same dept who wasn't a part of the admission process.

Not my subfield either, but check out John F. Bailyn from Stony Brook, he's very fond of music cognition (apart from being an excellent syntactician), and he can also provide further references. As for evolution of language, I know even less. However, this year there will be a seminar on this topic within the summer school that I attend on a yearly basis. The seminar will be taught by James Hurford from University of Edinburgh (whom I don't know personally), and it will be based on his recently published book. I am unlikely to be attending this particular seminar, but I will have access to the materials and I can forward them to you when they become available (in July most likely). Anyway, feel free to PM me if you need further info.

Ppl from UCLA have finally informed me that they've waitlisted me. A bit late, but it's nice to know that I have no straight-out rejections at the end of the day.

Hi! No, I wasn't there. I left one day before it. I knew as soon as I had my other offers that I wouldn't be attending SBU, and they knew it too. (But feel free to PM me anyways about whatever =))

OK, so I've made my final decision, I am going to NYU. All things considered, I think it was a fairly easy one. I probably knew from the very start they were the best fit for me, and their Open House confirmed my resolve. The reasons that shaped my decision are as follows: (1) they have several people I could work with on different aspects of my core interests; (2) they have one specific person I know I am an absolutely perfect fit with (although he's a part-time professor, but he's super available and helpful); (3) I will have lots of opportunities to explore my secondary interests; (4) their current grad students (4th and 5th year, in particular) seem very knowledgeable and determined; (5) all of their current grad students seem happy; (6) they have a consortium with other unis, so if I find I'm lacking smth at the home dept, I'll be able to get it somewhere else; (7) I have talked to non-NYU ppl from the field, and they all think NYU is an excellent place for me; (8) they offer a good financial package (their flexibility about teaching is particularly appealing); (9) I fell in love with NYC; (10) closer to the end of my stay in NYC, when discussing NYU with my Russian-speaking friends I started saying something like 'у нас в NYU' (at us.GEN at NYU; 'at ours at NYU') instead of 'у них в NYU' (at them.GEN at NYU; 'at theirs at NYU'); I took it as a telling sign of where my heart was.

I've always paid for my 'amateur' independent research myself (a video camera, RSL courses, consultants - I never paid them cash, but there were other expenses involved). One of the reasons I decided to apply to a grad school in the US: I am sick and tired of paying for everything myself, and then again, I can only afford that much (and I want to grow).

I did all kind of mental gymnastics to choose between two schools that seemed an equally good fit for me. It's a well known trick that while flipping a coin itself doesn't help, gauging your reaction to the result does. While I really wanted to go both to schools X and Y, I tried imagining not going to them. Not going to X hurt, but not going to Y hurt so much more. Asking for advice from experienced people in the field also helped. Eventually, I decided not to attend the Open House at school X even, since I wouldn't want them to waste their money and effort on me considering that I won't be taking the offer (I would have visited them, though, if I had disliked something significant during my visit to school Y).

I wrote yesterday to Maryland letting them know I won't be attending their program. My heart is bleeding, but it needed be done.

Hi, I'll send you a personal message answering your questions.

Fit, indeed, seems to be of utmost importance. All my interactions with the depts were centered around the notion of fit, and all my acceptances emphasized that the dept is admitting me not (only) because of the excellence of my application, but because they think I'll be a good fit with the program. In my case there is a bunch of interests I could pursue, so I mentioned all of them in my SOPs (with a different emphasis here and there). So now when it comes to choices, it's more about which interests I want to pursue more than the others. I know that depending on which school I choose I might end up doing rather different things (within the syntax/semantics subfield, of course). I should note, however, that these were very specific interests; it wasn't just 'I want to do semantics under professors X and Y', but rather 'I want to further pursue my interest in attitudes and indexicality under professor X who has done (some / a lot of) work on it'. For the record: my undergraduate background isn't in linguistics and was probably of no interest to the depts; my research experience in linguistics is limited (although the fact that I've done some work on Russian Sign Language with basically no supervision was probably looked upon favorably, 'cause (i.) it takes some effort and dedication to get into the Deaf community, (ii.) the ability to do independent research, even if not so stellar in quality maybe, is also a good thing); my GRE scores are average (or slightly above average, but I'm 99% sure that unless they are very low or absent, they are irrelevant); my recommendations were all very strong, however, and my writing samples (while probably being somewhat sloppy in the theoretical sense) were evidence of my current interests and how I want to go about them. Another example. My best friend got into her top choice program mostly because of fit. Her undergraduate background is also in a different area (although she got an additional degree in a field related to her subfield of interest), her research experience in the field is virtually non-existent (not her fault, she simply never had access to the proper facilities), her GRE is below average (mildly put). Her recommendations were strong, though, she knew exactly what she wanted, and she knew which program could give her just that.