vivalaschwa

Haha, ArcImpulse, you are so right. I would be hacked off to take the GRE again. I walked in saying, "This is the last standardized test of my life! Woo!" Only to see my score and feel immediately flummoxed about what to do. Congrats on your acceptance to Berkeley. Are you going to attend? The program there seems to be holistic and the faulty's interests are well-balanced, both of which appeal to me. Also, some of the work coming out of the department on endangered languages, especially by Lev Michael and Alice Gaby, is fascinating. It seems like a place that encourages its students to mix sub disciplines in their work. And congrats to you, Pangor-ban. MIT, right? You'll be joining fuzzylogician?

Thanks, I really appreciate your replies. It is funny that you mentioned Penn and Berkeley, pangor-ban; both are schools I have been looking into over the last few weeks for their strength in both theoretical and sociolinguistics, and those were the very messages that have left me uncertain about the GRE. However, I do think that you and fuzzylogician are right--at this point, my scores are high enough to ensure my application is looked at, which is all that matters. I think I will take your advice and focus on the other parts of my application over the summer. After all, I'd rather be doing linguistics than practicing any more freaking antonyms!

I took the GRE recently and got a 630V/720Q. This is quite a bit lower than on my practice tests, in part because I was nervous on test day. I am trying to decide if it is worth the time and money to retake the test. Are these respectable scores? How important is the GRE for linguistics programs? By how much would I need to raise my verbal to make a retake worthwhile? Thanks for your help.

Wow, thanks for all the great replies! Cuppamerlot, I appreciate the advice to be bold. I find it difficult to talk about myself, but that is an instinct I am obviously going to have to master. Out of curiosity, what aspects of your profile made you a particularly strong applicant? I have been surprised by the results that some of the regulars on this forum have received so far, all of which seem to demonstrate that even ostensibly strong applicants cannot be certain of their outcomes. What strengths did you have that convinced you to "take the plunge"? Fuzzylogician, you've mentioned in the past that research experience is vital, and I will have at least one summer research internship before submitting my applications. I will graduating in December, one semester early, for financial reasons. Do you have any tips about how to gain research experience post-graduation? [Also, my syntax professor spent last class ardently defending the Internal Subject Hypothesis--So I know what it like to be courted for conversion!]

I've been lurking for about a month, ever since I first decided to apply for graduate school, and I've been impressed by how much helpful information this forum holds. Now that the decisions are rolling in, I was wondering if any of the current applicants had suggestions for those of us who will be applying in the fall. Were there any resources you found to be particularly useful or interesting? If given the chance to start over, is there something you would do differently? Also, what is the best way to assemble a realistic list of schools? I have found about 10 schools with more than one professor who matches my research interests, but they all seem to have very low admittance rates. I would hate to apply to too many top-tier schools and meet rejection across the board, but it is obvious now that there are no "safety" schools in the realm of graduate admissions. What is the best way to ensure that my list is well balanced to maximize my chance of admission? Thanks!