scarvesandcardigans

That is a good sign! I just had a phone interview today, and usually faculty or your POIs will ask you more about your current research, maybe tell you things that they are working on in the department, so really up to date info, ask some questions about why you want to work with someone / attend the program. It doesn't have to be super formal but it doesn't hurt to present yourself well and have questions prepared for the faculty members as well.

I'll PM you about NCSU specifically! I'll leave this for you and everyone else though - If you think that getting an MA first is the better option, I would definitely go for it. It can never hurt. I have used my time as an MA student at State to really solidify the research interests that I want to pursue in depth at the doctoral level, and work with professors to build a skill base in actually conducting quantitative (sometimes qualitative) research. If you get into a PhD program, that's awesome! Definitely something to celebrate!

Ah okay, I gotcha. Your research sounds awesome! I haven't heard a lot from Portuguese students, but in the past Spanish students have huddled together in the forums as we wait for decisions. It's more comforting for sure, I think . I applied to 6 programs this year - one of them is actually Indiana as well, but I'm looking toward Hispanic/Romance linguistics/bilingualism/SLA as (generalized) concentrations across programs. The others are Penn State, UT Austin, Georgetown, UC Berkeley, and Rutgers, from which I actually got an acceptance just a bit ago! I'll finish my MA in May here in NC and then move on to a doctoral program. I would be happy at any of these places, they are all so incredible!

Congrats! Are these all for MA or PhD or a mix of both? It must be such a great feeling to have those offers solidifies for you! Are they general programs, lit, linguistics, etc? I haven't heard anything yet but I applied to 6 programs. Currently finishing up at NCSU which is only a handful of miles from Chapel Hill, actually! (Also side note, I'm glad that language people are reaching out on here. I was beginning to feel a little lonely.)

Burger joint

Currently making my way through V.S. Ramachandran's Tell-Tale Brain. I have read his work Phantoms in the Brain and was so fascinated by the way his writing style is reflective of his thought processes and really captures his fascination with his work. What a neat thread!

Stopping in to say hey from non-English/general linguistics programs. Looking at Hispanic/Romance over here. How is everyone doing?

Hi fellow linguophiles - I am interested applying to a PhD program in Romance Linguistics. I have already secured my 3 letter writers and the deadline is 12/8, so ~3 weeks from now. This morning I was asked by my French professor (my primary speciality is Spanish) if I had all of my letters in and he was very kind in offering support of my thesis, phd work, etc. (Unsure if this means he was offering to write letters if I wanted or what, but I digress.) Due to the nature of the program, I was thinking of asking if he wanted to be a fourth writer (the online app allows max 6, program site says "three"), since he is a French professor that can speak to my abilities in French and not just Spanish, and one of my writers only knows my skills in English linguistics. Do you think it could help or hurt the application to ask? And is it within an appropriate amount of time, or even warranted after our talk? Disclosure - I read fuzzylogician's post on this in the LOR section, which was helpful for sure, but since this is more language-specific I was wondering if the suggestions were different? Thanks!

The program that I attend currently at NC State offers a lot of contemporary literature classes. The French faculty members that I know are really fantastic and all of the students studying the language seem to enjoy it a lot!

Hi all! I'm in the midst of applying to programs for fall 2017. At least one of my programs has asked me to write two statements of purpose, one in English and one in the target program language, Spanish. I have no problem with this, but I'm curious - are committees looking to see how well I write the same things in both languages or are they looking for two independent essays? What I mean to say is, should I more or less be writing the same content but in two languages, or are they looking for something else? Looking for students/scholars who have had experience with this, but anyone with any insight can offer their $.02 of course. Thanks!

Yes hi! It's going well. I can't believe how quickly time is flying. I completely understand though about there being a lot of work in the coming semesters. How are things going for you otherwise? I have to agree - I think that Hispanic linguistics programs are a lot more flexible in where they allow you to work and with whom. I talked to one of my professors today, an alumna of IU, and she said that even though she worked through Hispanic linguistics, she was able to gain experience in an SLA/psycholinguistics lab outside of the department. I have come to find that other programs seem to be more rigid in where they allow you to take courses. But this could just be information from the schools where I looked. It is definitely time to start contacting people though, I do agree with that. Thank you for your input!

Hi everyone / hola a todos, This might be better suited for linguistics, but I also want to post it here to see if anyone in languages has insight. I am a current MA student and I'll be applying to doctoral programs this fall, for fall 2017. I currently study Hispanic linguistics, which I love, but I am also interested in English (native language) as well as other Romance languages and their linguistic structures. My overarching research interests are bilingualism and language acquisition, with emphasis on cognitive processes of bilinguals of these languages in the changing linguistic landscape. This is a lot of information to fit into one doctoral degree, but I have narrowed down my list of schools that I'm applying to and have some big questions before I actually start the process. The schools that I am looking at right now are: Georgetown, Penn State, Rutgers, Indiana, and UC Berkeley. Indiana offers a PhD in Second Language Studies which allows for the studying of multiple languages from the SLA/TESOL lens, and Berkeley has a doctoral degree in Romance Linguistics (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French). I love Hispanic linguistics, and I would love to teach it or primarily research in this field for my continuing study, but I want to additionally study other languages and SLA. I'm not sure if I should apply to Hispanic Linguistics programs, or look more into general programs like the ones I have mentioned. If anyone has any experience with these schools or their programs, a program I haven't mentioned, or anyone from the linguistics thread can chime in, any insight would be great. Thanks!

Chiming in here to add that I received a TAship as an MA student. Many of the students at my university receive TA/RA/GAships of some kind. It is possible and, in my experience, normally the department to which you are applying will state on their website what kind of assistantships are available and normally awarded to MA students.

Agreed with PP on a lot of points. If there are public transport options those might be things to consider, especially since 1hr20 is a long time during which you could definitely be doing other things. Also, since that's quite a commute just one way, what are upkeep expenses looking like for your car? I think that it can work if you maximize your time and resources in other areas so that, if commuting by car is the only option, then you aren't worrying about what you could be doing and what you already have done. (Side note: This is one of the times when I wish audio-textbooks were a regular thing.) Good luck!!

Congrats everyone! I graduated from App State as an undergrad so if you have any questions about App or Boone life, please let me know! I'd be happy to help!

Hey everyone! I am getting geared up to apply for doctoral programs this coming fall, and this afternoon I have an informal Skype interview with a current candidate in my top program. Does anyone have any good suggestions for useful questions or topics about which we can discuss? Thanks!

También chicos no sé si ya lo conocen pero he usado este sitio web fenomenal para buscar programas: http://www.spanishacademic.com/spanish-graduate-programs/spanish-literature.aspx http://www.spanishacademic.com/spanish-graduate-programs/spanish-linguistics.aspx

Sé que el programa de UNC es muy bueno - asisto a NC State en Raleigh, he vivido en "the Triangle" por veinte años y tengo muchos amigos que asistieron a UNC y que estudiaron las lenguas, unos para el programa posgrado. También he oído buenas cosas de South Carolina. Buena suerte y espero que reciba buenas noticias de los programas pronto.

I'm a little late (returning) to the game, but I really liked this particular post when I read it. Regarding the person I discussed in previous posts on this thread, we broke up in September. We didn't speak for four months, rekindling recently through an afternoon of talking on the phone about what is going in our lives. We both found that while we were not speaking, we went through similar processes. We pushed the feelings aside, tried to move forward, and found that we were still thinking about each other and holding on to some unresolved feelings about each other, deciding that dating other people at that/this time wasn't quite the right thing to do. We have discussed trying to be friends, not forgetting the past but rather intending to remember the good things about why we worked so well as interacting human beings. I mentioned this post during our conversation. We will see how it goes. Thank you for sharing.

After one semester in the books I am feeling a little bit discouraged with the research routes that are in front of me right now. I am enjoying my classes and TAship, but feeling discouraged that I am one of a number of students that has no research coming up in a local conference and generally feel behind in research gains, which is discouraging as someone looking toward PhD applications next fall and as someone in a non-thesis program. Last semester, I got dumped, and I'm still not 100% over it, if even at all, and it's sometimes distracting from my work. Additionally, I'm seeing the "it's livable, but you won't get rich" comment coming to life with my stipend, but I am most of the time very thankful for it. That's a lot of kvetching, but day-to-day I'm very happy to be where I am. I hope for everyone here that things are going exactly as they need to go.

This is definitely a unique situation. I agree with both previous posters, to certain degrees. juilletmercredi makes a good case for the amount of time that you will spend as a graduate student actually performing graduate work. I can't speak to the degree of experience that MBA programs require, though. I'm also all for taking advantage of eligibility if you have it. Regarding the eligibility/workload/experience situation, have you spoken to an advisor in your program about this? They may be able to give you more information. But to answer your original question - if you have enough time management skill from your experiences as an athlete and a student, and if you don't feel that you will have any burnout, then I say see where you can go with it. Plenty of people go straight to graduate school after undergrad. Best of luck!

I agree with @Nolagirl. Some schools may have interviews and make decisions to accept students after those interview dates. And some schools have close notifications. That happened to a friend of mine from her top choice school. And some students might be sitting on acceptances that they will later decline, opening up other spots. There are a lot of possibilities. Sending good vibes for you! Good luck!

I would make the choice to file it under the Teaching section. When I think "Occupational," my first thought is "non-related employment," but of course that could vary for everyone. I think the job that you mentioned requires a knowledge of how to work with students in a "teacher-style" role, as well as a mastery of the concept you are assisting with, which are both of course valuable for teachers. I hope that helps!

This is awesome. My current understanding is that visiting is not required or as common as with other fields. Contact with a current POI in my program was (in my opinion) not beneficial for acceptance, but I'd like to think it was helpful in funding decisions. I'll definitely consider furthering the relationships that I have with my professors. Thank you! Very true. I agree with you as well. Having gone through the rejection process has given me more motivation to better myself. I'm definitely feeling out more specific research interests at this point, and I like it. I think my time during this MA program will be oriented toward consuming and producing in line with my areas of interest - and improving those research techniques. I'm not decided yet on retaking the GRE, but that might be something to sit down and discuss, among other things, with a faculty member or potential LOR writer. Thank you! Thank you! All of this was excellent. I would like to be able to save money on visits for sure. Your suggestions about looking for opportunities to speak with potential POIs at conferences, etc. is something that I wouldn't have thought about otherwise. One reason for being rejected from my program of choice was due to the fact that they weren't accepting as many students during that cycle, which I found out afterward. One of my professors now (and one from undergrad, actually) is a graduate of my top program, so I think that discussing contact via these professors would be great, if possible. The grand takeaway here is that I will absolutely be seeking out the advice of my professors on more than just potential programs. I think their advice on application strength and improvements would carry immense benefits. I feel a lot better and feel more directed in making decisions and moves toward applying again soon. Thanks everyone!

Hi friends! I am a current first-year MA student and loving my program. My program is only two years, and the current plan is to pursue a doctoral degree after graduating, starting August 2017. Since PhD app cycles will be opening in the fall, I want to get a better start on my application process than what I did last year. (Background: I started looking lightly in March, had a set list in July and started the application process in August.) I didn't do any visits and feel as though I should have better researched programs before starting the official process of applying. Some of the schools that I'm applying to for this upcoming cycle are schools that I applied to for my MA, and I was rejected by both of them. I am apprehensive about applying again for fear of second rejection, and one is my top choice program. I know that schools receive many applications and probably wouldn't remember me in a sea of other applicants, but I'm still nervous. Do any seasoned applicants have any advice or helpful words? What should I do differently? Some of my regrets include not having more contact with individuals in the program, not visiting or contacting POIs, things like that. Anything is welcome. And if this topic has already been brought up already, please direct me to it! Thanks!