Sora

I think what you describe is a typical Oxbridge thing! (So in a sense the truly traditional way maybe lol). They refer to those exams as papers if I remember correctly? Most other programs now use a mix of assessments (coursework, essay, presentation, exam, etc.).

That's what I thought when I selected my writing sample - term papers tend to not have the kind of originality expected for PhD app (especially a typical UK style term paper? I don't know much about how they're supposed to look like in the states). So in the end I decided to only submit my MA thesis which was 30 pages in total but only 5 pages were background and lit review stuff and the rest was an artificial grammar learning Exp. I did plus results and discussion. I guess it would be much harder if it's pure theoretical stuff so I've always admired those. I was also wondering a lot about the proper way to approach SOP after I had some time reflecting on my application this time. One thing I'm most confused about is the degree to which you specify your research interests and plan. In my SOP I tried really hard to be specific about what kind of topics I'd like to pursue, using which methods, within which theoretical framework, etc. I guess it worked quite well if that school's indeed a fit but I did worry about by doing so some schools would perceived me as an applicant who's only comfortable with doing A, B and C but not others. Especially after I found out my friend's SOP was in contrast sort of vague (open) about she'd be interested in doing and she did manage to get interview and waitlist at schools I got rej (she's from my MA cohort with quite similar background as mine).

I will second this. GRE is probably one of the least of your concerns so don't invest too much on it unless you don't have to compromise on other things. My friend form my MA cohort had far worse GRE scores (literally devastating) but she seems doing great this application season. I would recommend taking some serious efforts this time researching on schools (it actually doesn't take that much time compared to preparing writing sample, etc.) and email some POIs if you're honestly unsure about the fit. Good luck!

A few days ago and my POIs are phonology/acquisition people. (Just to clarify I meant decisions on open house invites and tonedeaf's post may be more accurately since it's from faculty)

Yes I was quite surprised as well cos he's perfectly fine with other schools I've proposed (like UCLA, UMass) and I know he wrote me good letters for those schools...I guess it had something to do with the fact he actually went to MIT

Someone from Maryland told me the decisions have been made...I don't know if it's just my specialization tho..

Congrats to folks got into MIT!! My application to MIT was nipped in the bud when one of my referees actually refused to write me LOR for MIT lol...

Have you emailed the department to ask? I'm sure they'll be happy to give you an answer if that's for making your travel plan (especially from abroad).

Thx! My friend got her wait-list email half hour later after mine, so I guess they're probably just sending WL today. The wording of the email sounds like they've already made all the decisions tho...

Just when I kinda assumed rejection form UCLA...got an email saying I'm wait listed I never thought I could be this thrilled just be on the wait list!

My top choice as well T T oh dear... Just few days ago when my POI at NYU asking if I'm waiting to hear back from any other schools so that they can coordinate the arrangement for open house, I almost wanted to tell her unfortunately not like many other admits who's gonna visit you to choose between programs, I'm most likely just gonna be there knowing I'm gonna be there next fall lol. Well, don't get too disappointed. It's supposed to be one of the most competitive programs so in the end it's not really about how great every component of your app is cos that's the case for everyone who made it to the final pool...

Congrats! As a former student at UCL, I would say the MA here definitely helps your academic career (PhD program, research position, etc.) if that's what you want and you work reasonably hard. Also it's particularly ideal if you're interested in phonetics/phonology side of research and prefer doing your PhD in America, since UCL phonetics/phonology faculty members are mainly hired from the states (MIT, UCLA, etc.) and therefore the teaching, tutoring, and research here are quite North-American style (I don't really know much about Dublin so maybe there is no difference with regard to this). I did find the sense of community missing sometimes, partly because it's quite a large program (40-50 students during my year) so people tend to hang out as smaller groups (or just because I already stayed in London for some years so I didn't live in a student hall nor try very hard socializing within the program). But I wouldn't worry too much about this at UCL--even I made some great friends here sharing similar interests in linguistics lol, if that's what you mean by "joining a tight-knit community". Do PM me if you have any specific questions about UCL!

I think at least for NYU, if you look at the 2015 thread, you have to be interviewed to get further. But apparently different subfields have very different timetables for this (as long as they finish interviewing before the faculty meeting), so I guess no need to panic yet! By the way I just had my interview with three faculty members at NYU. They told me they're aiming for 6 new students this year and the results would be out around early-mid February. Well, fingers crossed...

Hi that would be me. My subfield is phonology.