iamblinguist

Thanks guys! I've also been reaching out to grad students and faculty, hopefully that will be enough to go off of. Hope we all end up in the programs that are best for us!

cropop is right that it is university specific. Sometimes it's at the department's discretion, sometimes it has to go through the university for approval. When I got my acceptances I wanted to defer for a Fulbright ETA, and some departments told me yes but the fellowship couldn't be deferred, another was willing to be very flexible. Having a student who gets grants from an organization like Fulbright looks good for a department, so that also might have helped. The best you can do is just ask the department. Every field might be different, but all of my schools were extremely helpful and looked into the options for me.

Hi Everyone, My last open house visit got cancelled as more places take precautionary measures to halt the spread of the coronavirus. I was really counting on this visit to help me make a decision between this program and one other, and now unfortunately that won't be possible. Does anyone have any advice about how to make a decision without actually seeing the department and getting a sense of the vibe there? Information about the program and city is easy enough to come by, but it doesn't really tell you what life is like there as a student IMO. Has anyone had to make a "blind" decision and can share their experience? Anyone else in the same boat with open house cancellations? Probably not relevant, but I'm in linguistics (PhD programs).

Hi everyone! I'm currently working on my SOP for applications to linguistics PhD programs. I've been advised to include more information about the direction I want to head and the questions I want to ask than about my previous research experience. That being said, I think I may have too much info about my past experience and not a clear enough idea about the direction I want to head. Any thoughts on this? Should I include all relevant research experience and conference presentations and elaborate on them in my statement, or spend more ink on my future plans? Also, if anyone has a successful SOP that they would be willing to share so that I can get a sense of the format I would very much appreciate it!