fuzzylogician

You should mention POIs in all your statements. It may be easier when you apply to schools with a strong language acquisition program, but you still need to take the time to explain exactly how each school will support your goals. (=have clearly developed research interests, choose 2-4 professors who you want to work with, explain why and how they can support your research). Schools that don't have language acquisition researchers will ask the obvious question of why you're applying there in the first place. It's a good question, and you should be able to answer it. If your statement is vague and (1) doesn't mention clear research interests and POIs, or (2) focuses on interests that the school can't support, then you will have a hard time getting accepted. What's more, you probably don't really want to get accepted and attend a school that can't support your goals. Remember that you'll need to take classes, have a primary advisor, and eventually form a committee at your chosen school. It'll be very difficult if there are no experts there who you can work with. So what you have to reflect on is why you're applying to each school, and that's what your statement should explain.

You are also ignoring my questions. I am trying to help, but I am getting tired of this exchange.

You have a job that insists you leave it for 5 years for a PhD program abroad and will keep your position open for you when you return? That doesn't sound right. Assuming that you want the degree to better your position or salary in some future job, it'd be helpful to have more details about what you're looking for. Do you want to develop skills in education? In research? What field would you specialize in?

I don't know of any easy PhD programs in linguistics and I still don't understand why you want to do one. As it stands, I don't think you should be doing a PhD because, as I wrote above, you'll find it very difficult to finish and your job prospects at the end will likely not justify the effort.

Good luck, I hope this works out for you. It'd be nice to hear from you occasionally about how it's going - if only for us to learn if our advice was helpful or damaging. Too often people disappear without letting us know how their problems resolved themselves and it can be frustrating for us regulars. Either way, though, I do hope things turn for the better for you from now on.

I'm not sure what makes you think UCLA and UC Berkley's programs aren't hard. Any 5+ year PhD program is hard. You will find it very hard to succeed if you're not passionate about linguistics; it's hard even if you're excellent at your work and dedicated to it. Furthermore, even if you somehow make it through, there are so many good applicants applying for each job that you'll find it difficult to secure employment. Maybe if you explain why you want to study linguistics (=what your goals are) we could help more, but given what you've said I can't think of any program that fits your needs.

OP just stands for "opening post" (or poster). I don't think there is anything you could have done differently to protect yourself. This is an unusual situation, and in any normal setting what you did would have been enough. Maybe one lesson is to document these kinds of agreements and get everyone's confirmation (e.g., send a summary email following conversations about authorship, ask everyone to acknowledge receipt), and find ways to give everyone the credit they are due (e.g., have a footnote in the paper detailing what all everyone contributed). Your advisor's reasons for excluding you from the paper are absurd, as I'm sure you agree. Under no normal circumstance would such a logic lead to the exclusion of a team member from a joint project within the situation you described (your contribution being what it was, the agreement about authorship being what it was).

Factually, the story is very simple. What the advisor did in this case is far beyond unprofessional, it's illegal. If it happened to me, I couldn't just let it go. I'm surprised at how many people here have dismissed this situation as a "learning experience" that comes with doing research. Something like this should never happen! Practically, OP, you want to be careful about how you proceed. Again, I would not just let it go. This is wrong. Money aside, it's your rights to the work that matter. You want to be able to present this as your intellectual property. Since you do have a contract, things are somewhat easier. But if you hope to continue in academia, you need to be very careful. Your reputation could suffer because of this situation. Here are preliminary questions to consider: do you want to stay in academia? If so, do you want to stay in the same school? If so, are there any circumstances under which you would want to continue working with your current advisor? Depending on what you want to do, you may want to choose different tactics. Things to consider: preserving your reputation in general, finding someone else to work with at your school, getting recs that would allow you to transfer, being able to continue and graduate as soon as possible, having job prospects and supporters when you leave. You may want to start with your advisor; or you may want to start by going to your advisor's boss (probably the department chair). If you have a mentor or trusted professor in your department, you could try and get advice from them before acting (re: reputation, how to proceed, who to go to, etc.). In case you have reason to think that you won't be heard in your department (and furthermore that they will side with your advisor and "sacrifice" you to save their reputation), you could consult with your student union reps or university lawyer or whoever is knowledgeable and available at your school. There must be university-level unbiased people who you could turn to. I trust that your training will help you choose the best course of action based on the advice you receive, but you shouldn't pursue this alone. You're probably not an expert in this area, and anyway you're too involved. There is information missing about how likely your department is to take this matter seriously and address it, vs. just try to hush it up and not take care of the problem. If you trust whoever is in charge in your department, I think the best course of action is to start with that person (not your advisor). Otherwise, go outside your department to make sure the issue isn't swept under the rug and ignored. Before you take action, seek out as much advice and information as you can. Unfortunately, taking action could hurt you, even though it shouldn't.

It's usually better to do the interview in your home country. There may be exceptions, but as far as I know US embassies don't really like to issue visas for people who are not from that country. If you're going for a PhD, it's understood that it'll be difficult for you to show strong ties to your home country (after all, you're leaving for 5+ years) and it's not going to be required. Usually, once you're admitted into a good program with funding, that should be enough. They may ask you a question or two about your research, but that's generally it.

I am in a situation like you describe, working with a new faculty member (long story short - he was tenured just a week ago (phew!), after 2.5 years at our institution. He came from an undergrad-only institution so he has very limited experience advising graduate students. I am the main person who works with him, along with one other student who is graduating this year). It's been a learning experience for both of us. I learned that I need to be more active than I might have otherwise been about the status of my projects and where they are headed. When I ask him for advice, I usually present a problem and solicit ideas. He always has interesting things to say. Then I tell him what my thoughts were and we talk about how/why they are different. Usually we end up with a plan that combines some of my ideas and some of his, and I think that's a great way to work. This is the case both for work-issues and more general life issues, because I do consider him one of my mentors. For life issues I also have a second mentor who is one of the more established professors in my department. I find it useful to talk to him about many issues - not to compare advice but to get another perspective. Of course, it's also useful to have a balanced committee and to talk to as many people as will listen to you, to get advice and criticism on your work. I also think it's important to present your work in local venues (in your department, in the area), though I know not everyone agrees on this. I like to present work in progress, or even just ideas I think are wrong but in an interesting way, to get more feedback. The more people, the more fresh perspectives. A good way to learn if a project is interesting and feasible is to talk about it with people. Talk about the data, talk about your ideas, talk about future plans. If people are excited about the data, understand the ideas and think the future plans make sense, you're probably doing alright.

Realistically, a good project is one you don't hate and for which you can have an advisor and committee who you like. Think about it this way: your dissertation project needs to do several things for you. It's going to be the main project you talk about in your research statement and job talks when you apply for your first academic job. Its topic will be the thing you become an expert on - you'll be the "topic"-person. The advisor and committee members you choose to work with on this project will be your references for future jobs; their reputations and connections are what will open doors for you. So, it's important to have a project you at least don't hate (preferably, like or even love). Personally, I don't think it's crucial for it to be the thing you absolutely LOVE - as long as you work on something related and reasonable, the thing you love can become your next goal and you can explain your passion in your research statement when you apply for jobs. It's usually good to have more than just one interest anyway. I think it's much more important to have a well-defined project that will "sell" when you go on the job market (and also when you apply for external fellowships/funding, btw). Similarly, I think the people you work with matter more than the narrow topic of your project. I'd choose a great working relationship with a less-interesting topic over a bad working relationship with a topic I am very passionate about -- as long as it's something I don't *hate*. They say that whatever topic you choose, by the time you're ready to defend, you'll hate it even if you absolutely loved it when you started.

You wrote: "In my department, as it is interdisciplinary, it is not uncommon for students to be co-supervised, and have the duties/responsibilities/work of a PhD student delegated between two people." Have you tried to talk to some of these students and ask them about the procedure they went through? You could also ask your Director of Graduate Studies (or other administrative person who is familiar with the process). If it's common practice in your department, the way it probably works is that a student who develops a project that is outside the area of expertise of their advisor will simply start working with a second professor, and after establishing a working relationship, ask them to become co-supervisor. You should probably do the same - start by scheduling a meeting with the person you would like to be your co-advisor, try and establish a working relationship by having recurring meetings and making sure you can work together, then ask your current supervisor about adding this person and finally approach them. You can ask older students about any politics (do X and Y get along), but all things being equal it should work fine.

Call admissions and ask. If you've already done that, contact the administrative staff at the prospective department. Someone there will know if all decisions have been made or if they are still deliberating about some cases. It's strange that the professor isn't giving you a straight answer but if the other two options don't work you should just contact her again and straightforwardly ask about your status. Keep it brief and don't bring up any other issue, so she has to reply to this question (if she replies at all). Your concern is entirely legitimate, they shouldn't be stringing you along for this long.

Congrats!!

There are several issues here that it'd be good to separate out. First, yes, the advisor should care about the advisee. But. First of all, not all students want an advisor who is involved in their lives (some are very happy meeting infrequently, only when there are relevant work-issues to discuss). Second, there are advisors who become mentors and care about you as a person, but more often your advisor will want you to succeed in your education/research and nothing more. In that respect, there are many ways to interpret "care." You and your advisor may have different interpretations. Second, following up on the previous point, it appears that you and your advisor have different goals for your education. If I understand the situation correctly, you haven't been able to clearly communicate with your advisor about this issue (perhaps because she refuses to let go of the option that you'll change your mind and want to continue on to the PhD. She might therefore continue to require of you everything that you would need to become a successful PhD student). Since this is the case and it doesn't look like you'll resolve this problem any time soon, I think you need to actively design your work with your own goals in mind, and keep in mind that some of the advice your advisor gives you and/or some of her requirements of you may not serve these goals. This failure in communication is, I think, your biggest problem. It's not that she doesn't care, but she can't listen to what you're saying, for whatever reason. Third, what work you should do next year. Since you want to go into adjuncting, I think it's important for you to get the teaching job. As you say, the experience is invaluable. It'll be crucial when you'll be looking for jobs. Maybe this not something that advisors think about if they see themselves as training *researchers* who go into academia and the industry, not *teachers*, but here I think your advisor's expectations of you may be getting in the way and you need to look out for yourself. Fourth, the payment issue. This is somewhat separate from the other issues. There should be administration people who you could ask about finances and about promises which are not being kept. From everything you write it really doesn't seem to me like your advisor has malicious intent, so I think you should be very careful when trying to resolve this. Bring this up with your advisor and confront her with her promises; only if she doesn't give satisfactory answers, go above her head to whoever the go-to person in your department is in this case (the chair, I presume).

How about 1. Not quitting before you even try? (you might very well still get an internship, and no one in your program will benefit from your failing) 2. Changing your professor's opinions of you by turning things in on time, and getting better references ? (is it always really just minutes late? Learn to start working on your projects earlier and finish on time. This is a valid concern.)

I've lived with a fellow grad student staring my first year (she was second year) and it worked out fine. We didnt know each other ahead of time but we met when I visited and then talked a few times and decided we have a similar view of how roommate situations should be. We have similar schedules, though we don't take the same classes, but we understand each other's concerns and time constraints and we both try to accommodate each other's deadlines. It hasn't been all that different from other roommate situations I had in the past where I lived with working people and students from other departments.

People who are the same [gender/skin color/nationality/religion/sexual orientation/height/eye color/other] as me always do stereotypical (or otherwise unwelcome) things that don't represent who I am. I don't worry about it. [but there are MUCH easier ways to look for husbands than attend a top school for a 5-year PhD. Just sayin']

You will have free time if you will make yourself free time. It's very easy to get sucked into work and completely lose the balance in graduate school. There will always be more things to do than time to do them in; and yes, sometimes there are important deadlines that require you to work late. But for the most part, you should be able to have time to devote to hobbies, family and friends, household responsibilities, and relaxation. Schedule the things that are important in your calendar, and block off time for rest - that way there are sure to happen. (yes, it's easier said than done. It's one of the things you'll have to master when you start your program.)

I use my iPad for reading papers and taking notes in classes and meetings, as well as watching movies and playing games on flights. It's been my only electronic device at a number of recent conferences and short trips, and it's been great! I wouldn't want to write anything serious on it, though, that wouldn't be very convenient. I like to have multiple screens and a real keyboard when I write papers.

Maybe this is a good time to talk to your advisor, or to older students or postdocs in your lab. Explain to them why you are interested in the topic you chose and ask for advice how to proceed. Maybe they can point you to other papers, or point out open issues that they find interesting or have thought about in the past. One way to find a more concrete topic without talking to anyone is to look for recent conference/workshop presentation on your topic. Look at abstracts that were accepted to get an idea of what people are currently working on. It's good to try and question what you read - be critical of the actual question being asked, the methodology pursued in trying to answer the questions, the interpretation of the data. Try and sketch that out in details for the papers you think are good and convincing, and ask yourself why that is. That may get you somewhere too. Re: number of papers, I don't know. For my field it's not a lot - but do you mean actually read in detail (understand everything from design to interpretation of results and everything in between) or skim for the general ideas and arguments? For your stage in your grad program, I imagine you skimmed a lot of paper and read in detail only the few you found exciting -- which is what I think you should be doing. But then, you could spend some more time digging up both seminal work and the most current work to see if you can find a more detailed question that you are interested in.

I used to think I didn't want to date anyone I worked with. But realistically, grad school is where I spend most of my time and where I meet the most people. Blocking that option for dating has made my life very difficult in the past. I mean, random dating does work for some people, but it's much easier to find like-minded individuals among your fellow students. Dating a fellow student lead to complications, just like any situation where you date someone who you work with. You have to take into account that things may not work out, and you'll still have to see each other every day until one of you graduates (or leaves). But if you and the person you are dating are reasonable and talk about this eventuality right from the get go, it can work and it can be wonderful. There are a number of couples in my department and there are also some former couples who broke up, but so far in all those cases, it seems to have worked out fine (including the ones who broke up). Our field also has a large proportion of linguists who are married to other linguists, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if that is the case in other fields as well.

I got an iPad2 last year and I'm very happy with it. It's very light so I can carry it around with me to all my classes and meetings, which allows me quick access to all my papers and materials. I've recently also started taking notes during meetings on my iPad, so I have access to a summary of everything we said in previous meetings. I've also been taking only my iPad to conferences and short trips recently, and it's been very convenient. The long battery life allows me to watch videos/listen to music/read during the entire flight and during whole conference days, which is great. It doesn't do anything my laptop doesn't do, and really it's more for leisure than for serious work - I certainly wouldn't write a paper on it - but I'm still happy with mine.

I opened an account with our university's credit union before I even arrived in the US. No local address was required; I can't remember what was but I'm pretty sure that if you have your visa documents and (maybe) lease with you, you'll be fine. Re: TD bank - if your credit history will transfer then it's worth opening an account there. If not, you could go anywhere and I don't have any relevant advice for that.

It probably depends on the resources that are available at the university that you will be attending. Some ideas that come to mind: (i) start from informal obligations: get involved in some education initiatives at your university, get to know the people there. Some of them may be people who also research education. Once they know you, you could try to get involved in formal research through them. (ii) The semi-formal way: try to get a job (paid/unpaid) as an RA on someone's project. Get started in education research that way. (iii) Seek out someone who would be willing to support you in doing your own independent research [personally I think it may be difficult to do this in your situation and without someone already knowing you as a serious and dedicated student, but maybe it's worth a shot]. I would not recommend trying to obtain a second degree while doing your main degree - at least not in the first couple of years. Taking a double load of courses sounds extremely difficult and will probably make your work in both fields less successful than it could be if you just concentrate on one field. If one area is where you see your future and the other is only a side interest, I think you should balance your time and obligations in a similar way.