fuzzylogician

To my knowledge OT is the predominant theoretical approach in North America, but not in Europe. The OP is studying in the UK, and I assume therefore is not the most familiar with US schools that might be appropriate. That said, I do know some schools where OT isn't taught or used by phonology profs (e.g. UConn comes to mind), and since I'm not a phonologist myself I can't say I know what theoretical approach different profs in the US are using these days. I think it'd be easy enough to find out if you know the right schools to look at and you take the time to read their websites, hence my suggestions above.

I would spell out the full name the first time you mention it, then abbreviate.

I am not a phonologist, so the best I can do is list some schools that you should look into and decide whether they seem right for you (in no particular order): UCLA, UCSD, U of Chicago, U of Arizona, NYU, Northwestern, U of Maryland, Harvard, Yale, ... I'm sure there are others that I'm not thinking of. Re: UCSC, I'm surprised by that answer. I know they definitely have a hard time funding international students, but my understanding was that any US citizen can become a CA resident after living in CA for one year, so all US citizens end up paying in-state tuition and that's not a problem. I suppose things might have changed more recently, but that was the arrangement when I was applying.

Okay, got it. You chose a program that's not a good fit for you and you're unhappy. Since it's a one-year program it sounds like you're staying anyway. If so, I suggest you use your energy to focus on finding better fitting PhD programs and not on judging your current one. There is nothing to be gained by doing it, and I assure you that unsolicited criticism is not something your program will welcome. Some of what you describe can be made to work (e.g. some programs don't have a core required set of courses but instead a breadth requirement that can be satisfied in any number of ways, and lots of programs don't have special courses just for their MA students). I'm sure there are lots of reasons why your program is set up the way it is. I'm also sure it's not perfect--no program is. I think it's clear that it's not right for you, but that ship has sailed. Take what you've learned about what you need to be a successful student and use it to find PhD programs that would be right for you. I'm confused about the UIUC MA funding comment -- I assume that you'll already have an MA so why aren't you applying for a PhD? It's also hard to guess based on the few schools you name what your interests might be, so I'll refrain from making any more suggestions, only that you should be identifying researchers who do interesting (to you) work and schools that would give you the training you want.

I am not from Rutgers and I understand you've had some bad experiences in your current program, but for what it's worth, what you are describing sounds like a typical program in the UK. Programs in the US tend to be a lot more hands on, but if you expect not to study anything that's unrelated to your research, you are very much misguided. You will most certainly have to take courses that you don't want to, and spend time doing homework that's not going to contribute to your research, QPs, or dissertation. It's the way programs in the US are structured, so you had better adjust your expectations. Beyond that, any questions about advising that goes "beyond the minimal supervision required by departmental regulations" should be relativized to potential advisors, because there is quite a bit of variation.* And since that is the case, I don't think you will get useful responses in this public forum. I certainly wouldn't share my thoughts about individual professors' advising style here in this way. This is information that you can get from current PhD students working with your people of interest, if you email or (better yet) meet them in person. At this point, though, you are unlikely to get honest responses, as someone who hasn't even applied to the program. You can try, but I think you will just have to apply, and if/when you get in, you'll find that people will be a lot more forthcoming then. And with that said, I hope you're planning to apply to more than just one school, because Rutgers is a pretty selective program. * FWIW baseline expectations for supervision are higher in the US than in the UK. But whether they meet you needs is another question, and highly depends on the individuals involved.

You should email this department and ask. Is there any space to upload additional documents beside the ones you've listed here? Without further information and based on the list documents you can upload, I would make sure your SOP clearly specifies your research interests and the professors who best match your interests.

First off, I think this story has no place in a SOP (you didn't ask, but I'm saying it anyway). As for a diversity statement, I think there are ways of writing about it that would be appropriate, but it would depend on the content of the essay. One thing to ask yourself is how private you want this information to be. Will you be comfortable with random faculty knowing this fact about your past? Do you plan to share it with your advisor and cohort? If this is a private matter, you may choose not to share it with the entire admissions committee. If you're open to sharing it, I think you should run it by at least one trusted faculty member, but I think you could write a powerful essay based on your experiences. This all said, there is a question of what this statement will be used for. To my knowledge, the diversity statement is not used to make admissions decisions but rather to identify candidates for diversity scholarships and the like. So, that's worth finding out about and weighing into the decision when you make it.

If you want our help, you need to give us more information. What do the prompts for each of these documents say? I assume this is a situation where one school has requested both a SOP and a "research interests" document; but if that's not the case, explain the situation.

Even though you have the space, I still think brown_eyed_girl has it right. Your own description of your character isn't something that I can trust. On the other a very short and to the point "I had failures before, but I've grown and now I have a 4.0 GPA" is a much stronger statement. I can conclude for myself that you've worked on yourself and are very passionate. Even though you may have 1000 words, you certainly aren't required to use them. Adcom members are busy people. Only say what you need to. As a young man, I was placed on academic probation at several community colleges (_______, _______, _______) due to failing grades resulting from poor attendance. At the time I was immature, unorganized and uncommitted to maintaining the academic standards demanded by these institutions. However, since that time I have redefined my character, refusing to let past failures defeat me. Both my transgressions and triumphs have served as an impetus for my recent success and when I returned to college three years ago, I did so with a fire in my belly—determined to unveil my potential as a student. This passion is reflected in the work I’ve done at ___________ College and __________ College, where over the past eight semesters and I have since maintained a 4.0 GPA. I am grateful for all of my experiences, both good and bad, which have bestowed in me the fortitude necessary to succeed as an academic.

I think it's all in your attitude. Sure, there were courses that I didn't enjoy, and ones that made me work hard on things that weren't relevant to my research. Them's the breaks. In any career you choose, lots of things you have to do aren't going to be exactly what you like or enjoy. Learning to deal with that is important. Learning to manage your time is important. I'd say the most important thing I learned from my coursework stage was how to work with others to solve problems and how to ask for help when I was stuck. That's something I needed to continue to learn and develop later on in my research stages, but that earlier experience is very relevant, even if the topics might not have been directly so. There is a choice to be made about how you want to view your grad school experience, and it'll change how you view lots of aspects of it.

I think that one is relatively straightforward: talk about how you'd involve undergraduates in your own research, and how you'd help them develop their own independent research interests and projects. Also discuss how working with/being involved in research directed by you would prepare them both for pursuing more education in your field and a job in industry, if they so choose. (In addition to talking about your research as you'd do in a standard research statement.) But can we talk about how each school has its own application system, and they ALL suck?

Can you ask the lead teacher and the director to collaborate? Basically, the lead teacher would write a draft of the letter, and the director would then take over and do the other stuff (answer the questions, add/change things in the letter, submit the letter). That said, I'm not really sure I see how the director helps, if it's the teacher who knows you best. What does the director add? If the director doesn't add anything, there isn't much of a point in getting this joint letter, as opposed to getting one directly from the teacher. Re: option 3, it may be a very positive letter, but it doesn't sound like it'll say anything relevant, so I don't think it can be a particularly strong letter.

Sure -- don't be demanding, but explain the situation. "Dear X, I wanted to let you know that I've submitted the application to ABC on my end, and now it is waiting for your letter of recommendation to be submitted. You should have received an email prompt with submission instructions on DATE. Please let me know if you haven't received this email. ABC makes admissions decisions on a rolling basis, so my application will be viewed as soon as you submit your letter. Because my admissions chances will be greater the sooner the application is looked at (because fewer spaces will be left open the more time passes), I would appreciate it if you could submit the letter as soon as you can. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you write a stronger letter on my behalf. Thank you very much, -me"

Is there a deadline for when the letter needs to be submitted, or does the department have rolling admissions? If it's the former, then depending on when the deadline is, you could send a reminder a week or two before the deadline, but I think your letter writer is completely within her rights to plan on submitting the letter closer to the deadline and not right now. If there are rolling admissions, you could email to explain how that works, and basically tell your recommender that your application will be viewed as soon as her letter is submitted, and that your chances improve the earlier that happens, so could she please do it soon.

I second everything TakeruK says and I just to elaborate on this bit: For me this was actually a part of how I made my decision where to attend. At some schools when a professor would ask about the competitors and I would say that I'm also visiting schools X and Y, they would say "those are great choices. Profs A,B, and C would be great advisors." At others, they would say "school X? meh, they're not that good at all, and did you know that school Y [just had this bad thing happen]?" That was a major turnoff, and those people and the schools they represented were crossed off my list.

Maybe someone here will be willing to assist, but unfortunately my assessment is that this piece requires quite a bit of work on practically every individual sentence and on how they connect as a whole. Maybe you have access to help through a writing center at your university. Maybe one of your professors is able to take this on, or maybe you can find a local English tutor to help you. Otherwise, you need to look into paid editing services.

You are not required to list every accomplishment you've ever had. Sometimes you want to be selective so your best achievements are showcased and easy to find, instead of being drowned out by small/trivial things. My goal is always that each line makes me look stronger and more suited for whatever I'm applying for. Especially as the CV gets longer, some parts will get skimmed, at best. I want each line the reader happens to skim to be an important one. I don't want them to land on things that waste their time, and ignore important lines. It also depends on the stage of one's career, what the application is for, and what other documents are submitted with the application. At some (early, in my opinion) point, graduate students shouldn't list their GPA on their CV, unless of course the application asks for it. It's not like listing the GPA is a big misstep, just makes you look a bit out of touch or young. If languages and computer skills aren't relevant for the current application or degree the person is pursuing, they can easily look like padding. So, as a linguist I definitely have a 'languages' section, but most linguists do not have a 'computer skills' section, and that's perfectly fine. But again, if you want to say you are proficient at Word or whatever, go for it. That's probably not what's going to (not) get you the job/grant, because it's most likely just not relevant either way. I think the chance that they would see your self-report and ask for an official one is exactly 0. That said, I would probably not include it, but I don't think much will happen if you do. They don't want to see the scores because they apparently don't think they are a good indication of success in their program. Therefore, having a good score is not an indication of anything they care about. If you want to report something they don't care about, you could. They will just go ahead and ignore it. Some might be secretly impressed, others might wonder why you think it matters when they told you it doesn't -- both reactions seem equally likely to me, and both will likely not have a meaningful effect on your admissions chances.

Two main things. First, you devote paragraphs 1 and 4 to Amadeus, and I found that confusing. Why are you circling back to something you already discussed at length before? This makes the structure of your SOP a bit odd. Second, it's very important that you get a native English speaker to read and edit your SOP. There are many problems with your word choices and grammar that make the whole hard to read and a bit incoherent.

It sounds like the professor gets to select a student. The positive tone is good news, but it doesn't guarantee anything. You'll have to just wait and see.

I think in general you get an MA (or MSc) for professional growth, not personal growth. The programs will be designed to treat you and train you as a professional, not as someone who is in need of personal support. You can seek ways to grow as a person and activist without getting an MA, but it sounds like you can't pursue your professional goal without getting the MSc. If so, I think it's pretty obvious which way you should go.

Look up some first year grad students in the programs you are targeting and look at their CVs. That should give you an idea of content, rough layout, and what would be expected of a successful applicant to those programs. When I applied, mine had education, honors and awards, publications, presentations, research experience, and teaching experience. (I had 2 presentations at ok conferences and 1 conference proceedings at the time, plus some TA experience and a few RAships). The whole thing was 1.5 pages. If you've done any service to your department or university, add that too. I don't think there is any need to add technical skills unless you have "real" experience (I don't think it matters much if you include it, but I personally find it redundant when people list Word, LaTeX or even SPSS/R as technical skills, but actual coding skills can't hurt). In some fields, languages are useful. Extracurriculars probably don't need to be there unless they are somehow relevant, but it would depend on the particular case. You don't want to seem like you're padding your CV.

Also, "Hi there" and "Hello Professor." Seriously, how hard is it to use my name?

It's fine to just choose 1-2 projects and expand on them, and leave the others for your CV or a very brief mention. I think it's much better than only giving shallow details about many projects.

This calls for a PhD comics: