wuglife427

Yeah, I got the same one. I hoped it meant something since I've taken several years of Russian and am particularly interested in the syntax of Slavic languages, but then I thought about it more and poked around GradCafe...I think it was sent to pretty much everyone :/

Linguistics deadlines are significantly later than some other programs', but that doesn't stop the graduate school from sending out general emails about it! About a month and a half before the ling deadline, I got an email that said in enormous red letters: "DON'T MISS THE DEADLINE!!" It came while I was at work, and I panicked and read through all of the ling department admissions pages to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Also, I faked out my roommate yesterday: "I was accepted--" *Roommate gets all excited* "--to present at an undergrad conference. Sorry, I should have phrased that better."

Thank you both!! It's still early, I'm sure you'll hear back from your programs

I got an email from my secondary POI at Santa Cruz asking for a phone interview. He said he wants to talk about my research interests to determine if there's a good fit. I'm worried the fit didn't come through in my SOP and that this is one of those "Why did you apply here" interviews...still, I'm glad they think it's worth their time to figure it out. Feeling better about my application overall.

Yeah, I was mostly kidding, though I do get jealous of coffee drinkers on my more sleep-deprived days. Honestly I don't even want to try tea that has caffeine, because my reactions to soda and coffee have been so bad. I guess since I've made it this far, I'll be able to make it work. Thanks for the support!

My mom had a dream that there was an error on the app to my top-choice school (something about dates not matching up), and I had to do it all over again. I haven't had any dreams about applications or admissions, but that may be because the anxiety is keeping me awake!

I don't mind the taste of coffee, but I'm just incapable of handling caffeinated beverages. I stopped drinking cola when I was 7 because it kept me up all night (and I've tried it a handful of times since then, with pretty bad results), and the one time I had coffee I had a panic attack. Grad school's going to kill me, isn't

Elissa Newport is actually at Georgetown now :/ Anyway, skatering--following from what isilya said, I would suggest looking at programs that encourage interdisciplinary work, especially with psych/cog sci departments. Look at the University of Maryland or the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Good luck!!

Wait do you hate all eras of Family Guy? Old Family Guy was great, but it's been just awful the past few years.

Alichka--yes, I'm so sick of this SoP. I'm stressing out because I considered X University to be one of my top choices, but when I added the "fit" paragraph, it couldn't get it to sound as strong as the others I had written. After writing a few different versions and reading the whole essay entirely too many times, I'm beginning to think this program is just not as good a fit as I thought. I guess it's not the worst thing to realize at this stage (I'm really jazzed about all the programs, so it's not like moving this one down the list means everything is ruined), but it's still not a great feeling since I thought I'd researched so carefully. Also I may have yelled "just BE BETTER" at my computer screen. My suggestion: If you or a friend has a fire pit, make a nice fire, throw the SoP into it, and make s'mores. You may need to wait until it's warmer out, but honestly it's the best. I did that with my AP Physics notes after the exam, and let me tell you, those marshmallows were excellent.

People who are applying/have applied to Chicago: I'm kind of confused about something on the financial data page, and I'm stupid and didn't realize I had a question until it was too late to email the department and expect a response in time (app is due Monday). Here are the instructions under "Sources of Funding": Since I'm applying to a PhD program, does that mean I only write "University support," or should I also include personal funds? I have some money, but not enough to cover my first year--and like most people, I wouldn't attend unless I got funding, so I kind of feel like my personal funds aren't relevant. I just want to see what you guys think, since funding is not something to mess around with. Thanks!

Of the school's I'm applying to, only one mentioned this. They said to put your name and the department you're applying to at the beginning of the document, but to leave 1" of margin blank at the top of each page. Looking around the forum, it seems like other schools specify the empty header, too. My guess is that when they print materials, they put your application number or whatever relevant info at the top so that everything stays organized.

Haha it's a delicate balance. We'll see how nice I am come February

I'm in the same boat, Chiki--I've submitted to Stanford, and I might be able to get another app due tonight or tomorrow, but then I have 2 others to do before finals are done and then four more over winter break. It's super-stressful, but just know you're not alone in your hell-week(s) misery! And hopefully this relatively short period of high stress will pay off in the end Good luck with everything!!

I haven't been getting much sleep lately due to finals, apps, and insomnia. Last night I was really hoping to get ~7 hours and have a mostly-clear head for finishing my next application. I didn't actually manage to fall asleep until around 4am (having gone to bed at 2:30)...and then my drunk roommate sat on me. I wake up terrified and confused, and I see her scurrying away. My heart was pounding and it took me another hour or so to fall back asleep. I pretty much feel awful this morning. My roommate is one of my best friends and we've never had any kind of problem in ~2 years of living together, but I'm really upset about this. I don't know if I should bring it up, though, because it's not like this is something she does regularly, there's not really anything she can do besides apologize, and I'm honestly not sure she remembers it.

Dear coworker I barely know: How fast I eat is not an appropriate topic of conversation at a holiday luncheon. You don't know what my relationship with food is like, and I'm self-conscious enough without you pointing stuff like this out to the whole lab. Please work on that brain-mouth filter.

I don't know how recently you took classes with your letter-writers, but if a couple of semesters have gone by, it could be good to include a copy of something you wrote for their class, like a final paper or other larger project. While I don't think they need to address specific projects of yours in the letter, it will serve as a reminder of your specific skills, how you approach problems, and other positive things about your work that may jump out at them.

If there's a "submit" button on the page they should go out immediately, but some schools don't send recommender emails until you submit your entire application. Read all application pages carefully. I would also suggest sending your recommenders a simple spreadsheet, listing the school names and deadlines, with empty columns titled "Info received?" and "LoR submitted?" to help your recommenders keep track. They're busy people with a lot of deadlines to keep in mind, so you want to make it as easy as possible to notice when a school hasn't sent something or when a deadline is approaching. Hopefully at least one of them would use it and let you know if any of the expected emails was missing.

Hey I'm working on this today, too! I went with their university address (so like, what they include in their email signatures, or what is entered in the university directory as their "location"), and for "title/position" I said "Assistant Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies" or "Professor" or whatever the directory lists them as. Definitely look in the directory, as some people have fancy titles you might not know about (e.g., "Smith Family Distinguished Professor"). Hope this helps!

If you're looking to stay in the DC area, you might want to look at GW. My sister just started the MPH program there and really seems to like it. They set it up so that classes are at night and you can intern during the day, which is great because experience is such a big part of employability. Given the location, there are great opportunities with government organizations like NIH or NIMH. She had a 4.0 undergrad, average GRE scores, and several years of biochem research experience. (She was a biochem major, so her concentration is epidemiology...I'm guessing you're going for policy? She is required to take policy classes, and it sounds like that side of their program is strong, too). Good luck with applications!

Thanks everyone for your advice! TakeruK, that is something I did not consider, and it is an excellent point. I've mentioned it to her, and we are going to talk to the professor about our arrangement and any topics to be covered so that no one can point fingers. Also, our entire grade for this class is based on a final paper, with the homeworks and midterms serving as "insurance"--they can help us if we don't do as well on the paper, but they cannot bring our grade down. There is no curve, and thus no conflict of interest. The topics I would need to cover with her is basically material from a prerequisite that she didn't actually take (not sure how she signed up for the class, but that's not my business). She really does need tutoring just to have to have a chance of understanding the course material. I think it's worth mentioning that she approached me to ask for tutoring and said she would pay me. If the professor says I should not be compensated, I will not take compensation, although that means I may not be able to make as much time for it. That sounds pretty selfish typed out, but I have a lot on my plate and can't spend all my free time on what would basically be a favor to someone I barely know. Reinhard: Again, she brought up payment. Had she not brought it up, I wouldn't have either; however, based on her suggestion as well as my understanding of the type and amount of help she needs/wants, I don't think it's unreasonable to charge so long as the professor approves the arrangement. We're also on very different tracks (she's an Applied ling grad student going into language teaching, I'm a theoretical-focused undergrad hoping for academia), so I probably won't run into her much after this class ends, or at all once I graduate. Even if our paths were to cross again in a professional setting, I feel like we would be mature enough to handle a different type of working relationship. I could see how your comment would apply to people who are in the same program and on the same general track, but I honestly don't think our situation has as much potential to cause professional problems. Thanks anyway for your input.

I'm a senior taking a few grad-level classes, one of which requires some knowledge of syntax and bit of phonology. There is a grad student in the class who does not have this background (coming from applied linguistics) who has asked me to tutor her in the basic stuff that the professor assumes we know. I think $15/hour is reasonable, but I wanted to get the opinion of people with more experience in tutoring. I haven't tutored since high school, when it was the parents paying. I don't want to be greedy or screw her over by pricing her out, but I also want to be sure I'm getting the full value of my time. What do you think?