ylsun136

Thanks! My UIUC invite email says please RSVP by 9 Feb, so I assume by now they'd have contacted all invitees? As MelRel said they do seem to mostly take Comp, SLA and P/P people. Personally I feel the department also veers quite a bit into speech technology - UIUC as a school is strong on computer science, and industry-oriented at that, and it kind of seeps into linguistics. But tbh I'm much more excited about Arizona coz we get to hike in the desert

Hi there, I was one of those! Thanks for answering my question about 5th year funding, and see you at the visit weekend

Hi, that was me! For some reason I wasn't able to post in the forums nor add results for weeks - thought it was the flash player or something, but updating various plug-ins didn't help..then it just works again *ohwell*. I think I got the UIUC notice very early because the department is nominating me for a fellowship. The funding webpage says nomination is due on 15 Jan and requires 'evidence of active recruitment efforts' And congrats on your Arizona acceptance! I'm accepted by Arizona as well! Super excited. Hope to see you at the visit weekend?

Thank you very much! Really reassuring

SLA/Applied Linguistics may not be the same as Linguistics in many schools, so better check with both Linguistics and Education departments. I know Michigan and UCLA linguistics departments do not require GRE scores. Maryland does not 'absolutely' require GRE scores for admission but you're encouraged to send high scores for securing financial aid. I've seen Ohio State's explicit GRE requirements for fellowships so I think it's better to have those scores. Some departments with deadlines in Jan: Rutgers, MIT, Harvard, Illinois, Stony Brook, Maryland, Cornell, UMass Amherst. Again all are linguistics departments. And I think MIT is the only department I've seen that does not promise funding for admitted students.. All the best

I'm from the UK so speaking from personal experience only.. If you're doing an undergrad in linguistics and the curriculum has a thesis option you can take that I guess? If not then see if your department allows independent study modules or research extensions? I did an independent study module for a term. It was short but very good experience because I got to write my own study plan and research outline for it. Otherwise, talk to your supervisor and express interest in finding research-related projects. And also, subscribe to your department's mailing list if you do not already..the one where phd students and faculty members post stuff like talks, conference call for papers, and project openings. All the best!

I'm marking this for hopefully not-so-future reference..many thanks for the pragmatic and extremely useful answer!

Ahhh, sorry and thanks! Was worried that I was over-worrying (...) about things five years down the road, but yes I would email and ask. I see! Thanks so much and all the best!!

I'm applying to about 7 linguistics departments in the US and kinda just assumed that linguistics PhDs will generally be funded for 5 years. Just found out that Arizona only guarantees funding for 4 years, so I'd like to know what happens in that case for the 5th year - are students expected to apply for extra funding, or work, or something else, and do people usually get through without much of a problem? Thanks for any comment!