definitelyacaravaggio

Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply! All of you make very good points. I hadn't thought of emailing faculty about this, but it makes a lot of sense, and I'm glad you pointed that out to me. I can ponder and wonder all I want about how I'd fit in with their research interests and outlooks, but unless I actually talk to them, I'll never actually know for sure. And the fact that you explicitly said that the way they will talk to me will change if I get accepted -- that was something I needed to know, because I wouldn't have reflected on that otherwise. It makes sense for them to be less open to frank discussions with someone in my current position; conversely, it makes sense for them to be more open if I get accepted. My research area is within theoretical linguistics, but it's not as "popular" as, let's say, semantics, so I already have a somewhat limited number of universities that have people working on it -- which is both good (I have fewer places to investigate in detail) and bad (same reason). I think I'll end up applying to Uni X in the end, because (1) I really don't have that many options to choose from in the first place, and (2) the faculty working on A sound very good and there is more than one POI I'm interested in (which is good, and means I'd have a backup plan if Person X doesn't work out); that should be enough to make it worth the applications fees at the very least...

I don't think anyone wants to find a "perfect" fit, really - I think that what I'm specifically wondering about is "how much" of a fit people usually look for. If someone's main interest was semantics with X framework and Y method(s), would it make sense to apply to programs that do semantics but with Z framework and W method(s)? This is not my specific case because it is my secondary interests that I'm not too sure about, but I would still like to know people's experiences and opinions on this topic.

Hi everyone! I am applying to grad school this fall, and I was wondering about how you would go about making a decision in the following case. My research interests are mainly on Area A of theoretical linguistics, and in the interaction of A with B and C. Let's say that people at University X sound like a good fit for me because they've written important papers on A and are into exploring A in a framework that appeals to me and sounds like a productive setting for what I'm interested in researching. However, when it comes to area B of theoretical linguistics, University X is less of a good fit for me in terms of research affinity. Faculty at Uni X work on B from a point of view that is less exciting to me in terms of what I want to do research on/with. Would you guys still include Uni X in your application pool? I'm a bit in a muddle because in terms of A, it sounds excellent - they work on A from experimental points of view as well, which is exactly what I would like to do. But when it comes to area B, it's less of a good fit; and I don't just want to work on A in grad school, but go beyond that and include B (and C) as well. I'm leaning towards applying to Uni X anyway, because I'm working on the assumption that I would learn things about B that I wouldn't elsewhere, and anyway I should be willing to add to my interests/research tools when I go through grad school. If they don't do area B the exact same way I've been doing it, it shouldn't be too much of a problem because they're still looking at it with a generative approach (which I dig). (And anyway I might well go to grad school and decide to focus on areas A and C, without looking at B beyond the basics! Things happen!) So basically my question is: how much of a fit did you look for when you were choosing which schools to apply to?