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For all you erudite linguists. I have been studying Spanish linguistics and am basically ignorant about English. Is there a good foundational textbook that has, for example, a complete list of English phonemes and their associated allophones? I am starting to think comparatively and this Spanish one-sidedness is starting to annoy.

Can you not talk to the PI and ask him to supply the rational in his letter? I wouldn't want that discussion wasting space in my SOP. I guess this depends on your relationship with the PI but it can be spun into a positive, "so and so left because he received multiple offers due to his hard work and one offer came in late that really fit him perfectly" There's no need for sour grapes!

I'm applying to UT Austin also, otherwise my schools are more out west than yours. Maybe someone else will share a different point of view, but in my opinion when you say "PhD program" in "Spanish", there is no such thing as a safety school. Are you a traditional student with a bachelor's or master's in Spanish?

Others may know more, but it is very common for grad students to teach foreign languages as TAs. I know that sometimes TAs in Spanish are actually students in a different department but they work something out with the Spanish department. If Arabic is her language, I wouldn't know about that specifically, it is generally a much smaller department.

This is all too common so don't think you are the only one who has this burden. Just try to stay focused on what you are about (easier said than done, I know). I also wouldn't assume your work was below par - give it some time for calm and then assess.

I'm still confused. Are you applying to a linguistics department or a Spanish department? All of your LOR writers are good. I can only offer that you should use the people who can provide the most persuasive case for you, in light of your overall application.

Scarecrow, you sound like you have all the bases covered. I think you just need to pull it all together with your SOP, writing sample, letters of recommendation. Are you a Spanish or Greek speaker? Sorry, I don't know what Spanish Linguistics is, maybe that is something in the linguistics department that doesn't involve knowing the language?

Why do you want a PhD? What does the department say? Anyway, you do not have a problem whatsoever, in my opinion. Don't give up! You are talking about mere Bs and measly grades and GPA. That is not the crux of what a PhD is all about, right? Now, I detect in your writing a certain exhaustion and frustration which is normal, it sounds like you have your plate really full. I don't know if this is practical for you, and maybe this is the situation anyway, but can you study in a country of your chosen language for a year? That will really help!

I'm a recovering engineer and happened by the forum. A2 is weak for language skills. I don't know about Germany, so keeping that in mind, in Spain most universities require B2 (if I recall correctly). But common sense should tell you that you need at least B2. Working for municipalities in Spain requires C1. I assume you like Germany and the language? If that is true then you have a great opportunity. Going from A2 to B2 is going to take some work but then while you are in Germany you will probably go to C2 if you have the interest! I think it is common in the EU and the US for the university to state what language level required for non-native speakers. In the US it's usually TOEFL and sometimes iELTS which are not scored per the harmonized EU scale. Why not just ask? You might have to actually take a certifying exam.

You are not crazy. If that is what you want to do, by all means do it. For me personally, grad school online would not be something I would like to do, that would drive me crazy because NO PEOPLE!! (But that's just me)

As has been suggested on a nearby thread, you can go to results search and search on school name and economics, or just economics, and see who has been admitted.

My program is not History but I've been saying do not contact professors, especially do not contact professors via email, unless you really have a purpose. Most posters incorrectly infer I am saying do not email or contact professors, which I am not. But I feel really good that half the posts on this thread including the dean mentioned in the first post, are against it. The more people you network with the better, but spamming people in positions of authority is a bad idea. I just checked my pending applications and only one asked about POIs - the question was not who I have talked with but who I would like to work with.

I don't think you know my background so I won't be offended by your ignorance, but I did post a disclaimer, did you notice that? At least I identified my program, unlike your anonymity. And most programs have much in common, so, yes, I think it was a helpful post. Now, can we help the OP rather than needlessly attacking others?

I said my view does not represent the common wisdom, but looking at the replies makes me wonder how carefully my post was read. There was a much broader question posed by the OP.

Hi Francophile, I think Fuzzy gave really good advice based on your post and I'm sure it was with good intent. The stuff in your second post certainly clarifies your situation considerably. I think it is really excellent that you have come to some realizations before you started a PhD. I can't speak regarding French but in Spanish it is very common to have a linguistics track and a literature track, that is pretty traditional and seems to be omnipresent. I am not a traditional student and I am not an academic but I'm not quite sure why you are asking these questions. Am I wrong in thinking that French-Linguistics and Linguistics are totally different departments? Under the auspices of a Spanish department, whether it be linguistics or literature, the emphasis is on Spanish as a foreign language, at least in the US. I've never heard of someone with a PhD in Spanish of any type getting a professorship in a linguistics department. But I am operating from ignorance, I would like to hear from other people, too. However, if you can pull this off I would think you would be uniquely qualified, a good thing. What about a #3, complete MA in French and do a PhD in linguistics? Is this impractical?

I have not been accepted and am not in Psychology but I will answer because I have spent a great deal of time on my application. Rabbit has good advice. I have done little in the way of research but my SOP is presented in a way that shows my unique situation reflects the equivalent of research, at least at the experiential and primary source level. I can't emphasize the SOP enough. I must have revised mine at least 20 times over several months, often working full time on it. Once I found my voice and my message I felt better that it was ready. That was very difficult for me to achieve. In my opinion you should not contact POI professors because it is a waste of their time and rude, unless you really know what you are doing! I also have not done much customization of the SOP because my message does not change that much, I am who I am. This is contrary to the common wisdom. One comment about the ubiquitous department admin, who often has a title indicating they will facilitate and help you. They sometimes are not really qualified to do this so be careful. They are unfailingly helpful at the mechanics of applying. In my case I have spent 2 years preparing because I went back to the classroom and self funded two years of study. This activity is providing my LOR writers and it also has provided my mentor who is more valuable to me than gold, diamonds, and platinum. The feudal university system is both good and bad, but one thing is certain, personal relationships are a lot of it, just like in any field, and I'm not sure I could readily suggest a better system. Take care of your relationships. The GRE is a quaint test and a lot of fun but for languages is not very important, but as luck would have it I scored in the 98th percentile on verbal so don't have too much reason to worry (I am prone to being a worry wart). Otherwise, I would be obsessing on it.

I don't think we disagree, just the opposite.

I don't think your age or absence from school should be feared - that will only precipitate that which you fear. Under NO circumstances should you discuss yourself from point of view of age, time out of school, etc. (Please see my first point). In my opinion, subject to being very wrong, time is working against you for F15. I will have spent 2 years getting ready to apply to grad school by the end of academic 2014-2015. It was a cultural shock to go back to school but while racking up some credits I also really improved myself, met some incredible people, and also have some great LOR writers, but, not to be a downer, it took 2 years to accomplish this. You only have a few months to write your SOP which for me would be very little time. But I don't see why you can't do what you state. I have the same issue of MA vs. PhD and I am mostly applying to MA programs but have a couple of PhD programs in the mix. The problem is in Spanish departments, especially in California, the admit rate in top programs can be as low as 10%, very competitive and severely budget limited (in my opinion). For example, at UCLA for the last year data is available (I don't remember the exact year) there were 30 applicants and 2 admits. So I don't know if I'm being overly cautious or not but have opted mostly for MA apps for now.

Hey Wyatt, My theory is that you know too much vocabulary and English. You're overshooting the mark. Don't take it so seriously and you'll score up around the maximum. Just my opinion. I felt the same way as you when I didn't score how I wanted to - it just bugged me no end.

Well, I took an oral Spanish test to get a TA and it was computer scored between 20-80. So I took it two times. The first time I scored 73. ugh! The second time I almost cancelled the test because I messed it up, but my score was 77! And now that I think about this it is really weird. Exactly what are they grading? A speaker from the streets of Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Madrid? Those sound pretty different.

Well that's wonderful if you know what you want to say and good for you. For me it wasn't so easy to decide what I wanted to say. I had some unusual, non-traditional experiences from which I told a unique story, but that was a lot of work! And it is hard for me to tell a good tale. I think it ended up orders of magnitude better than even 2-3 revisions back. Now I'm afraid to touch it.

Wyatt, my first verbal was 163, so I'm thinking over 160 or so and it is just sort of luck what you score. Bummer that you went to all that effort for naught. I just hope it's the last time I ever need to take the GRE. Thank God it's not too important. I'm thinking 50-60 years ago it was more important, if it existed back then. Look at the ETS explanation of computer scoring, the human reader scores the essay holistically (ie, heuristically, ie, a quick impression) The computer is the safety net and arbiter! Welcome to the new world.

I'm really concerned about getting my LORs in time, especially for those 1 Dec deadlines (I've got a couple of those). I know my mentor will step up for me, but what about the professors I don't even know until this fall? yikes. And I can't believe the SOP writers that write out their SOPs in a week, I spent months writing mine and it was stressful, I feel very satisfied with the end result though.

I'm glad the GRE is behind me. I took the thing and got a 4 on the writing. This really hurt my pride so I re-took it and got a 5. So you can improve your score with a retake. Main difference is I studied for about 10 hours but also thought about what my strategy would be for time management, etc. My math score suffered because of the time constraint. I'm really pretty good at math but I do things 'my way' and it takes longer. Anyway, one surprise, without really spending a huge effort studying I got a 168V which was a nice ego boost. But I don't think you can study for the verbal, at least not in my case, or at least because I wouldn't spend months studying. That would be boring beyond words. The time constraint is really severe, I just 'felt' my way through the answers. But I'm glad to be done with the GRE, it really isn't the most important part of the application in my opinion. One thing about writing length. The writing is partially computer scored. Computers are pretty illiterate but they can tabulate transitions, connecting phrases, vocabulary, count words, etc. So I'm thinking the scoring is aided by increased number of words.

I'm adding up all the time it takes to get a LOR from a professor and the process takes a lot of time. Must LORs be on file by the app deadline? In other words, should I send out the request for LORs well before the app deadline even if it is before I submit the application?