[Statement of Purpose]

I saw your post yesterday and came back to write a reply, but frankly I'm not much into passive-aggressive and definitely not into people not appreciating the time it takes to write here. 

 

So, the shortest reply this deserves: Assuming you're applying in the US (which you didn't tell us), you don't need to have a dissertation topic in mind. What is useful to have is a broad question, or alternatively be able to articulate a specific interest in a subfield. You can give more than one example of particular questions that are derivatives of the more general interest. If your interests sound very broad or if you say you are interested in unrelated subfields or questions, there is a risk of sounding unfocused or unprepared. It'd be better to tie your interests together, for example through a broad research question that can be attacked from different angles. Demonstrate how the different aspects of what you are interested in come together. This will help you address fit with the schools, which is hard to do if you don't have a good idea of what you want to go to grad school for. 

Why bother responding at all if you're "so against passive aggresion" (jesus a fucking sarcastic joke) calm yourself.

[Statement of Purpose]

Jesus, calm yourself. Can't take some sarcasm?

[Statement of Purpose]

Kool.

[Statement of Purpose]

Okay, who can advise on the statement of purpose and it's specificity?

 

Do you need to have your thesis subject ready to go, or is there wiggle room? Honestly, there is so much that I love about linguistics, I feel as though I could go in so many directions, or hone in on so many different language families, I don't have one topic I am hellbent on exploring. Do I just need to have a general subfield I am interested in, and go from there? Am I allowed to say I have a few different ideas? Or do I more or less need the topic of the dissertation ready to go?

[Letters of Rec for Fall 2016]

What difference does that make? I graduated with honors and have the capability. I imagine that I will be going into the program with others who only have a bachelors as well, so we are all equally equipped, and from my research, there are very few terminal Masters degrees, and the majority of PhD degrees require you to put in the 5 years and gain the masters en route.

[Letters of Rec for Fall 2016]

I am eight years out of college and thousands of miles from my professors at this point. It just seems like undergrads aren't able to develop relationships with two of three professors enough to garner these LORs. I wasn't thinking about grad school as an undergrad, but eight years later I am and I feel a little SOL.

[The Death of Linguistics]

I did linguistics undergrad in the US and thought it was a bit bizarre that we had grad students in the same courses, enrolled through a different call number. Not sure if they were taking it to refresh their memory, but it was like there wasn't anything more advanced. I think the difference in grad-level linguistics comes through the novelty of research.

[Letters of Rec for Fall 2016]

Thinking about applying for a PhD for fall 2016. My undergrad was in Linguistics and I have been loosely in and out of the field for the past seven years.

 

It seems pretty standard that PhD applications require 3 LOR, and I just don't know how to wrangle up three strong letters. Am I the only one in this position? I mean, I'm not in the PhD program yet, how many people have 3 scholars or professors they could really get these from?

 

Any suggestions or advice?