presidentialpudding

I’ll DM you about UIC - tengo novedades pero no quiero que sean públicas.

¡Ay no!

I live in a coastal area of Europe so 1/2 inch of snow leads to gridlock and chaos. Any more than that was definitely a snow day when I was in school and I only remember 2 or 3 of those haha. They also seem to be extremely efficient administratively - already have my I-20 so if I do accept I can start tackling the visa in a pandemic nightmare (especially since the embassy is partially closed). Also just saw your news about McGill - that's great news!! I'm over the moon for you!!

¡Gracias! I'm likely going to accept their offer I think - they've just hired two professors in my main area of interest (Spanish in the US) plus the linguistics faculty is generally very strong. Just going to have to brace for Midwestern winters haha

@spanishdr UIUC has just emailed me their decision (acceptance!). Looks like what JIG told you was right.

I did some digging - the GEO contract is up for renewal this year. This could potentially delay decisions at UIC. The rebargaining got very heated about 3/4 years ago at UIUC (picket lines etc) so that could very well lead to delays.

¡Gracias amigo! That's definitely later than usual - they have a VERY full PhD roster at the moment which I know is causing some headaches (some candidates are going onto their 7th year of PhD funding) so that may be causing some delays in decisions.

Interesante, lo de Illinois - ¿les has enviado un email para pedirles cuándo van a pedirnos noticias? Me he postulado a los dos (UIUC y UIC) y sigo esperando... alguien de Reddit me ha dicho que UIUC ya han enviado rechazos a algunos pero no sé nada. Creo que UIC me encajaría mejor pero que yo sepa los dos no han aceptado a nadie ya...

Congrats on the acceptances! I would agree with taking the U Michigan offer, however, mainly because it's a PhD offer. I would caveat that with really researching the faculty in the departments and thinking about your potential interests; which department is closer to those? If Davis is honestly closer, it may be better to take the Davis offer. I would also think about what your aims for the MA/PhD are. Do you want an academic job (TT or equivalent?) If so, make sure the programs are able to give you enough teaching/professional experience. Fellowships look great on the resume (I'm also up for a Fellowship at Davis which I would really like) but missing out on 3 years of teaching at the start is a lot and you'll then be teaching at the more stressful part of the degree. Plus you'll have less experience than others on the market (for example, most would have 2 years at most on Fellowship across MA/PhD). I honestly wouldn't rush your decision - I have 3 offers and am likely going to take my Davis offer but sometimes when I think about it, I think should I take one of the other offers. It's a difficult process - don't rush it! Just my $0.02.

I've applied to UIC and heard nothing. Tbh it's the only application I have left which I'm interested in now. My dream advisor works there and it would be the only school which would make me reconsider the offer I currently have from UC Davis.

It’s very cryptic. It just says they’ve evaluated my application and the DGS now wants to discuss their recommendation. No discussion of finalists or anything like that. They mention not wanting to send a long message. I’m 50/50 waitlist/acceptance - it could be a meeting to explain the waitlist and/or possibly ask for some more info that they felt was lacking or it could be an acceptance meeting and a chance for the DGS to sell the program and department to me/explain the funding. Either option would explain not wanting to send a long message.

One of my programs has just contacted me to arrange a Zoom call next week to discuss their decision with me face to face instead of sending a long message through email? It's an odd email to say the least - I don't know if it's an acceptance or not but I'm assuming it's a waitlist at worst since I doubt they would go to the trouble of meeting with rejected candidates by Zoom? That's logical thinking, right?

There are lots more programs than those you’ve listed! However, theoretical linguistics is not as in demand as applied linguistics and sociolinguistics so most programs focus on those in addition to theoretical. Almost all universities in the US will offer an MA in linguistics; I know that UIUC offers a very good linguistics program. If you are interested in pursuing a linguistics PhD, you will probably find most programs focus on both applied/sociolinguistics and theoretical.

Agreed. They had two deadlines (Dec 15 and Jan 15). I also noticed they’ve changed DGS for this semester (I’m assuming the previous one is on sabbatical) which will likely also delay decisions.

A week isn’t long since an interview! I got my offer 11 days after my interview - there’s a lot of administrative processing which needs to be done sometimes.

So you should be!! It’s the only application I have remaining which I would consider taking over my other offers. If I’m rejected from them, I’m more than happy with my Davis offer, if I get in (looking unlikely) I’m 90% certain I’m taking the Davis offer because it’s the second highest ranked of the schools I applied to and the campus looks gorgeous.

Congratulations! That’s great news! How did they contact you out of interest? They seem to have a history of phoning people or was it by email?

Gracias amigo! I’m sure you’ll hear back soon with good news - it seems like decisions are definitely delayed in general this year; there are very few decisions posted for Spanish when I looked on the main page.

I’ve not heard back from either. Georgetown historically has released results around now so I’m hoping we’ll get some decisions this week or next week. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern with UIC, however.

Woke up to my first acceptance this morning! Beyond ecstatic! Also the program which I interviewed with a couple of weeks back has sent me a request for financial info for visa processing which can’t be sent until March so I’m assuming that’s at worst a waitlist (hopefully an acceptance)

The plot thickens with the program which has sent out rejections but no apparent acceptances/waitlist notifications. Someone from the university has been looking up my parents this week on LinkedIn which seems exceedingly strange seeming as we live in another country. They already have the financial info for potential visa processing so they must have got the details from there. So I know that they've been looking at my application this week in some form...

How is everyone coping with the waiting? I found out yesterday through Reddit that one of my programs has sent out some rejections but I’ve not heard anything. No signs of acceptances on here either so I’ve no idea where I stand tbh. The program I interviewed with has told me they will let me know next week and two of my other programs are also targeting next week for decisions. I’m going to be a nervous wreck in work all week I think lol ?

This is really helpful, thank you!

¡Gracias amigo! I won't say publicly just so as to not jinx it. I'm weirdly nervous and looking forward to it as I really like the program. That's great news about the Durham acceptance! Mucha suerte with the scholarship application!!

Received my first interview invite today! Makes it all feel a bit more real and the department is absolutely lovely from the communications I have had with them.