charlemagne88

Grades need not be inflated for everyone to get As -- especially in grad school. If everyone works hard and learns the material, they should all be rewarded with the As their hard work earned. In grad school, especially, where students are already supposed to be among the best, what is wrong with everyone doing well? If they could not succeed in grad school, they should have never been admitted. Don't hand out As like Halloween candy, but don't be afraid to give them either.

I would really agree with what @charlemagne88 said about personal statements - get started ASAP on some drafts and get lots of feedback on them. It is such an important part of your application that most people tend to overlook or underestimate the importance of. After the numbers game is over, I feel like SOP's make the biggest difference. I've got some posts on my blog about what I think should go into an SOP, and you'll be able to find lots of other resources out there too. 
Also, start planning your LOR's strategically (more posts on my blog about this). This about which professors can comment on which things and try to get a diverse perspective. You wouldn't want all 3 LORs talking about your great clinical experiences. You'd ideally want one focused on clinic, one on academics, and one on research or something. They don't have to be those 3 categories, but you want to diversify. 
Also, prep hard for the GRE. It is too expensive to just say "I'll try it and see." I recommend doing at least one full practice test (better 2) before taking the exam. I used Magoosh and loved it (there's a full review on my blog), and even if you don't pay for it they offer a lot of really good free resources like their vocab builder app or their blog. 

I'm always surprised when I get this one. That's pretty presumptuous of people, but they don't seem to think so. Don't we all want supportive spouses?

perhaps you are right that I could've used better words to convey my opinion. Also, true I don't know the particulars but the person did post asking peoples opinion and my opinion will be the same regardless of the particulars. 

I'm sorry but throwing all that away to be closer to your significant other is just ridiculous. It would still be ridiculous if you were in undergrad, and it's even more insane to be contemplating this now that you're in the home stretch of your PhD. 
Cat guy is right. You can't simply "transfer." you'll lose everything you've worked hard for. The only options at this point is to either stick it out (best), Try to work remotely if possible (ok), or give up on your dream (just plain dumb). 
If it's meant to be, he'll wait. Seriously, don't throw away your career. 

perhaps you are right that I could've used better words to convey my opinion. Also, true I don't know the particulars but the person did post asking peoples opinion and my opinion will be the same regardless of the particulars. 

perhaps you are right that I could've used better words to convey my opinion. Also, true I don't know the particulars but the person did post asking peoples opinion and my opinion will be the same regardless of the particulars. 

I'm sorry but throwing all that away to be closer to your significant other is just ridiculous. It would still be ridiculous if you were in undergrad, and it's even more insane to be contemplating this now that you're in the home stretch of your PhD. 
Cat guy is right. You can't simply "transfer." you'll lose everything you've worked hard for. The only options at this point is to either stick it out (best), Try to work remotely if possible (ok), or give up on your dream (just plain dumb). 
If it's meant to be, he'll wait. Seriously, don't throw away your career. 

perhaps you are right that I could've used better words to convey my opinion. Also, true I don't know the particulars but the person did post asking peoples opinion and my opinion will be the same regardless of the particulars. 

I am of a similar mind, but I feel you could have come up with a way to say this without being a raging asshole. 

I'm sorry but throwing all that away to be closer to your significant other is just ridiculous. It would still be ridiculous if you were in undergrad, and it's even more insane to be contemplating this now that you're in the home stretch of your PhD. 
Cat guy is right. You can't simply "transfer." you'll lose everything you've worked hard for. The only options at this point is to either stick it out (best), Try to work remotely if possible (ok), or give up on your dream (just plain dumb). 
If it's meant to be, he'll wait. Seriously, don't throw away your career. 

perhaps you are right that I could've used better words to convey my opinion. Also, true I don't know the particulars but the person did post asking peoples opinion and my opinion will be the same regardless of the particulars. 

I'm sorry but throwing all that away to be closer to your significant other is just ridiculous. It would still be ridiculous if you were in undergrad, and it's even more insane to be contemplating this now that you're in the home stretch of your PhD. 
Cat guy is right. You can't simply "transfer." you'll lose everything you've worked hard for. The only options at this point is to either stick it out (best), Try to work remotely if possible (ok), or give up on your dream (just plain dumb). 
If it's meant to be, he'll wait. Seriously, don't throw away your career. 

I second @sarabethke in paying attention to programs that require your application to be sent before the letters of recommendation can be submitted!! 3 of the 7 I applied to had this configuration, so I had to finish those applications by early/mid December so that my professors could submit their letters before they started break. It worked out because this kinda forced me to finish all the January deadline ones early, too, but it was added stress.
Here's a rough sketch of my timeline (I will elaborate more on it afterwsrds):
Summer before: lined up letter writers (informally - more of, "hey, will you write me one later?"), polished up CV's layout/design, dabbled with SoP
September - scheduled GRE, nothing else really. My classes were intense 
October - formally asked for letters, worked minimally on SoP, researched the heck out of schools (the hardest part!), started applications at schools (this is when I finalized my list) 
November - took GRE (ugh! Should have studied!), tackled SoP head-on with a prof and writing center folks (still didn't feel good with it, though), checked in with letter writers (and kept track with who submitted what where), met with prof and revised/expanded on writing sample (the hardest month!)
December - finished SoP at last possible moment for all applications (I still feel that I rushed all these because I was so exhausted and overwhelmed and wanted to get the apps in), tied bow on writing sample, cried, sent panicked emails to letter writers who had gone MIA, cried again, submitted all apps, cried again.
Generally speaking, I'd say that I procrastinated waaaay too much on my SoP and writing sample. Work on those ASAP and have anyone who can spare 5 minutes look them over. These are the most important things, and you want to make them perfect, especially when tailoring them to specific programs (and people in the programs).
Sometimes MA deadlines are set after PhD deadlines, so that might help you here. However, do double check, and plan to submit them earlier any way. I was at least happy I got them all in by 12/17 (I think), so I could enjoy the holidays without them looming over me.
Good luck!
 
ETA: This was for MA applications in comp/rhet
 
 

I began my SOP in the summer before my application season -- about in early July, I think? It was a solid week's work to produce a document that I thought was pretty good, and then months of redrafting and tweaking after my readers saw it and went "lol nope." (Which is precisely the reaction you want them to have.) It went through multiple drafts with multiple readers, incorporating feedback from each and then starting the cycle over again. It never felt finished, really -- I think I probably made tweaks to it here and there for different programs, especially in terms of talking about fit (when I did, which wasn't always), right up until a couple deadlines -- but it had reached what would become its final form by, say, September/October or so. It is never too early to ask your referees for letters, and so if you know who it is you'll be using, you might as well send them an email today. If they aren't already helping you prepare your materials, they'll eventually want to see copies of your SOP and sample (perhaps in addition to other things), and they'll want to know about your list of programs -- a couple of my letter writers wrote different letters for different places, so it's nice to give them at least a ballpark idea of what sort of ones you're thinking. (Although, again, they might be the same people helping you decide that!) I applied to ten schools. The top, say, 7-8 of those were set by the spring of my junior year, in part just because there's a limited number of programs that are strong in OE, and because my advisers were very clear about what places warranted applications and what ones didn't. The last 2-3 were settled on by September. I didn't reach out to POI at all. Some people do, and if that's the sort of thing you're interested in, go for it! But it is most definitely not the norm in the humanities (none of the people I've talked to about it in my cohort did), not expected, and depending on how the process is set up in the department, has few benefits in terms of admissions. Where it might be useful is knowing if a prof you're interested in working with is retiring soon or something like that, but that's also the sort of thing your advisors/referees should be able to help you with, if they're as plugged into their/your field as they (ideally!) should be. But again, if that's you're thing, knock yourself out. My sample was a paper I wrote for a class the end of my Junior year, and I applied in the fall of my Senior year. I began revising it midsummer, and it went through three rounds of research/writing/revision with my advisor before all was said and done. It was finished by September, but I didn't do some of the length editing (*cough* and margin/spacing-playing) required for programs with different length limits until I started applying in the fall. Hope that helps!

I just thought I would share my findings with anyone who may find this useful. Also, if anyone has any additional information I would appreciate it. I'm interested in enrolling in a MS/MA program in comp ling. I searched 155 schools in the US that offer any sort of linguistics and narrowed it down to programs with comp ling. Some only accept PhD applicants, some only award certificates, and only a small few (8 to be exact) offer an MS/MA. Here is what I found: 
 
MS programs: 
1. U of Washington (Seattle campus): very good looking program, only takes one year to complete, is a professional MS in comp ling degree, the most detailed website by far out of any school, it seems they may offer a one-third tuition scholarship, some computer programming knowledge required, easily my top choice. 
 
2. Syracuse: nice looking program, a few math/logic classes that I find interesting, two years to complete, I talked to a faculty member and was told there is no funding. 
 
3. Georgetown: looks like one of the best programs out, offers a PhD or MS, very good course listings, website says they do not fund MS students. 
 
4. Arizona (Tucson campus): MS in Human Language Technology, PhD in comp ling. 
 
MA programs: 
1. Stanford: I'm not positive if they accept MA students but it appears they do, they offer a PhD as well, very good looking program, still waiting on word about funding. 
 
2. CUNY Graduate School (Manhattan): looks like a pretty good program, they also offer a PhD it seems, no computer science background needed, I talked to a faculty member and was told they do not offer funding to MA students. 
 
3. Indiana (Bloomington campus): PhD and MA, it appears they accept MA applicants, I still don't know about funding, I just found out about them yesterday. 
 
4. Texas (Austin campus): PhD and MA, they accept MA students, not positive about funding but I remember seeing something on their website mentioning assistantships. 
 
5. Brandeis (about 10 years from Boston): looks like a really good program, I think the highest degree they offer in comp ling is an MA, their website says the average funding per student is 50%. 
 
Certificates only: 
1. San Jose State: Offer a comp ling grad certificate that can be paired with an MA in linguistics. 
 
2. San Diego State: Comp ling grad cert can be paired with linguistics MA, certificate is four 3-credit classes. 
 
3. Montclair State (Montclair, New Jersey): Comp ling certificate can be paired with linguistics MA, but the classes must be taken in addition to the required classes for the linguistics MA. 
 
4. Colorado (Boulder campus): Certificate in Human Language Technology can be paired with linguistics MA or other MS/MAs, such as computer science. 
 
5. Eastern Michigan (in Detroit): Certificate in Language Technology can be paired with linguistics MA. 
 
PhDs only: 
1. UCLA
2. UC San Diego
3. UC Santa Barbara
4. Delaware (also have MA in cognitive science) 
5. Maryland-College Park
6. Michigan-Ann Arbor 
7. Minnesota-Twin Cities (seems to have a number of comp ling classes) 
8. Cornell
9. NYU (a good amount of comp ling classes) 
10. Ohio State 
11. Penn 
 
Other schools have a few comp ling classes but not a significant enough amount for me to mention. Schools like Carnegie-Mellon and USC have a lot of computer science degrees related to human language but not specifically comp ling degrees. 
 
 

I'll have to read the book. This hasn't been my experience.  
Probably the highest hurdle for non-US applicants is translating their GPAs and institutional reputation.  

To that I'll add my two cents. It's probably in your best interest to wait until December to submit your applications -solely because you might end up tweaking your interest during the semester, especially if you are taking more classes to increase your exposure. In addition to that, you might also want to submit coursework you completed in the most recent semester. Also, I utilized my professors office hours during fall semester to get advice/editing help with my personal statement/SOP, and to secure great LORs from them. 

My school didn't even have a "prospective students weekend" until like March/April so, it might be best to wait for something like that? 

Are BA and MA applicants to the PHD program evaluated differently? Do you prefer straight from undergrad applicants or do you prefer them to have a MA? What's the ratio of BAs to MAs?

Spending money on visits before you've been accepted isn't a good use of your financial resources unless you're independently wealthy or have a trust fund. Similarly, I would skip the open house. To make a connection, you could send emails and arrange a Skype or phone conversation to further discuss your interests (assuming the POI is interested in that). Once you've been admitted, there's usually funding to assist with a visit where you could meet the POI in person, tour the lab, etc.
Also, why are you applying in September if the applications don't close until December? There's no benefit to applying early when it comes to PhD program admissions. Applications are reviewed at the same time and that review won't begin until after the application deadline. Moreover, in September, labs may not know about the status of pending grants, which can change whether or not they're even accepting new students. 

I wouldn't worry too much about the GRE scores. They are mostly only used to supplement the rest of your application and maybe be used to distinguish applicants in a "tie breaker" scenario. Your total score is already above the magic "300." This semester, your main goal should be securing awesome LORs and writing a great personal statement/statement of purpose

I agree, your scores are probably fine (most programs don't really care about the quant score anyways), plus you have a pretty high GPA. I'd say as long as your statement of purpose and LOR's are outstanding, you'll have a pretty good shot at getting in somewhere. Apply to a lot of places though. I applied to 8 programs this year and only got accepted into 2. 

I think you're fine.  Those quant and verbal score are amazing!  I'd work on other aspects of your application instead of trying to "fix" an already great GRE. 

See if there is someone from your time in college who will advise you. You're going to need LOR.

There's no need to try to improve beyond 164V and 158Q. Maybe you could benefit from getting above 160Q if you plan on going into a field that uses a lot of math, but 164v/158q is not "just good." I'm pretty sure that's almost 90th percentile for both tests..