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hi, did anyone gain admission to the DEALL at OSU? any information on funding packages?

Actually, I don't think Canadian application fees aren't more expensive than American ones, as my application fees to American universities all ranged from $90-105 a piece. I'm Canadian and therefore had to pay the international application fee for American universities, which was often posted as higher than the fee for domestic applicants. For example, UCLA charges Americans $70, whereas I had to pay $90. I'm assuming that most of the posters here are American, and therefore paid around $70 for American apps, and a $100 fee (following the figure from above posts) for applications to Canadian universities. So, really, the situation is the same.

Hi all, I'm wondering if you think it's worth doing an unfunded MA in EALL. It seems that many people here have completed or are applying to MA programs, so I'm interested to know what you think. My academic goal is to earn a PhD and teach, but I didn't get into a PhD program this year. My only option at the moment is to go with an unfunded MA, which means I'm looking at the mind-boggling amount of about $100,000 for the two years. I have no money myself, so I'm going to have to ask my parents to take out a line of credit on their house. Moreover, realistically speaking, an MA in EALL has little marketability in and outside of academia. And as there are no guarantees that I'll be accepted into a PhD program afterwards, I'm worried that in two years, I'll be that much older, saddled with $100,000 in debt, and with no improved career marketability in or outside of academia. I don't what to do.

nurye, tenshi, happy elephant: thanks for your insights. it's helpful to know that other people went through a similar situation of getting shut out of PhD programs straight out of undergrad/pre-MA and that things turned out okay in the end. it gives me hope that i have a shot in the future at a PhD program, as i've been wondering whether i should take the rejections as a sign that i should drop my academic dreams. unfortunately, i've been set on getting into a PhD program, so i didn't really bother much with researching and applying for master's programs, only applying to two. hindsight is 20/20, i suppose. but at least i did get into the master's programs (although i'm still waiting on funding details). so i guess i'll go with a master's first and try my luck again in the future.

I didn't realize this was a common problem. I recently encountered this issue myself for a master's program. My POI called me, first asking me some general questions. It finally became apparent that they were looking to admit me, and I asked, "are you saying there's a spot for me if I'd like to attend?" and she replied in the affirmative. She also repeatedly emphasized that I would get full funding as a top-ranked candidate. She then asked me for a commitment, apparently because there was a meeting coming up in three weeks to bid for funding and they need to know which candidates to bid for. But it was the first program I had heard from and I quite reasonably couldn't commit on the spot. I expressed strong interest, but asked her for a firm deadline to give her an answer. I said I would try to speak with other schools to expedite their decisions process and she agreed that I should do so, saying that schools will often hurry things up if you have leverage. She promised to contact me in a few days with a firm deadline, but I never heard from her. I sent a nice follow-up e-mail right after the call, reiterating what was said on the phone and thanking her, but she never responded. I e-mailed the POI a week later to follow-up and it turns out that I was bumped down their list of preferred candidates, from being top-ranked and having a "guaranteed place" to merely being on the list without the guarantee of a place or funding. So in essence, because I didn't make a commitment right on the spot, I lost the offer immediately, despite being led to believe that I at least had two weeks or so to decide. Moreover, when I contacted another professor in the department, I was told that I was never actually extended an offer at that stage. This is despite being told that there was a spot for me, with full funding, and that I should leverage all this to try to get other schools to hurry up. And if I had a "guaranteed place", isn't that an offer? Looks like an offer, smells like an offer, but somehow isn't an offer because it's no longer convenient for them to package it as such. The purpose of the phone call seems like it was to suss out whether I would go or not. I suppose I can see it from the department's persepctive, as they finally told me, similar to what one of the other posters wrote, that if someone doesn't come, they lose the spot and the funding. However, their behaviour is pretty unprofessional and unfair on their part. And frankly, even if I somehow still manage to get a place/funding although it's highly unlikely now, it makes me not want to attend that program any longer, as I don't want to be studying with and putting my academic career in the hands of people who operate like this.

thanks very much for your reply. it's very helpful to hear about your background. congratulations on your acceptance-- it sounds like you're a great candidate. as for my stats, i'm also an international student, with a BA from the US (an ivy league university). i have high intermediate proficiency in my two relevant research languages and am currently doing intensive language study to strengthen one of them. i don't have a MA, which seems like it might have been a strike against me from what you're saying (i guess the implication is lack of coursework and heavier requirement for funding, given that i wouldn't "just" be doing a PhD?) i have close to three years of experience being abroad in asia. i had a high GPA similar to yours and graduated phi beta kappa, although despite this, i also feel my application could have been weakened by irregularities in my coursework, as well as lack of grounding in literature and critical theory. i had high GRE scores and three LORs from very well-known professors in my fields of interest. i thought i had a pretty strong and focused SOP as well. i don't think i'm a flawless candidate, but i thought my application was strong and interesting. but it looks like i'm likely shut out of all PhD programs this year. sigh.

thanks. it turns out that i didn't get in as i feared...sigh. may i ask what your stats are? do you have a master's degree already? just wondering in the interest of improving my application in future years.

UCLA ALC decisions are out it seems-- a couple acceptances in the results section. I didn't hear anything, so I guess I didn't get in-- really upsetting as it was my first choice. For those who did get in, would you mind sharing your stats or any info you have on the acceptance stats? I'd like to think about how I can improve my application for the future...

thanks for the info-- the wait is agonizing now that decisions have started to come out. i guess you are feeling secure though, since you were accepted at yale and columbia already (congratulations). may i ask if you know any details about the yale decisions (# of students accepted, dept. funding situation etc.)? i applied to yale as well, but haven't heard anything. i'm expecting the worst, as i imagine that even if i'm somehow on the waitlist, the chances of being bumped up aren't that great, but it would still be nice to have a better idea of the situation.

Anyone applying to UCLA?

I got an acceptance for OSU. They don't directly admit students into the PhD program, so I've been admitted into the MA and can apply for the PhD at the end of the first year of my MA if so I wish.

I also applied to the Harvard EALC PhD program, but haven't received a response yet. Should I take this to mean that I didn't get in? Is it at all possible I might be on a wait-list or is that simply wishful thinking? I received an acceptance to the OSU DEALL MA program, although funding is not finalized yet. I'm also wondering: is it common practice for schools to send out admissions offers, but without finalized funding details? (This is what I've observed for OSU and Harvard so far.) Is the point of this to secure their first-choice students? I would think that the lack of finalized funding would be an obstacle to students committing to a program, however.