pearls

Thanks, Zouzax Hope your interview went well! Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of that when applying. Thanks Dilly-dallier and Psycholinguist; I really like their program. The research they do sounds great. The bad reputation of College Park worries me, though.

Ok, it seems this app season is over for me. I'm still expecting the official rejection from UCSC, but it's completely safe to assume they'd rejected me some time ago as they had their Open House last Friday-Saturday. I was accepted by Maryland today, so I've come here to beg for any advice on UConn vs. UMich vs. UMd. As you know, I'm a pretty clueless international applicant, so any help is appreciated... (primary interest: theoretical syntax; secondary: child acquisition, sentence processing)

That's what I've been hoping! Btw, if anybody's willing to offer any advice on UConn vs. UMich for syntax, I'm more than willing to hear it!

Well, I liked the visit more than I thought I could like any interview-related event. Both the faculty and the students were super nice. The atmosphere in the department is in general very friendly and not competitive at all, or at least that was my impression. On the other hand, we were constantly busy (I had six interviews) and the stress level was pretty high. And, sure, I occasionally acted out of character and might have said quite a few really stupid things (though I wasn't as talkative as usual), but - all in all - I'm really glad I had that experience. The only downside is that the visit has made my decision-making uber-difficult. (Btw, I think Typologaster mentioned a friend who goes there, and I think I met him.)

Thanks No, I'm still torn between Connecticut and Michigan. (Any advice, anyone?) Btw, I asked my potential advisor about the workload and he said that first-year students mostly just do stuff like xeroxing (lol; I don't even know how to do that) and some grading. This. Itaal, congrats on your acceptances! (I can't give you any advice, though...)

Gradschoolplease, good luck! Dilly-dallier, do you think you'll be going to UConn? I've been accepted there too, so we might end up in the same program. Zouzax, best of luck with your interview! (It's great you found a one-year program in Europe, most of them last two years.)

Zouzax, don't give up!

I cannot believe something that terrible could have happened. I was speechless when I first read Avitamin's post, and I still do not know what to say.

Can I just sign this? Seriously. This whole application/waiting thing is driving me crazy and I'm beginning to wonder how I'm going to survive grad school (supposing someone accepts me) if I'm so stressed out just waiting on the results.

Congrats Hopeful, Spitz and Vaaarr!! Hopeful, this is "a new approach to the architecture of grammar." To be honest, I don't know too much about it (I've been planning to catch up once my apps are sent, but I can't concentrate on anything (including a project due Feb 12) and I don't want to spend too much time online because then I check my inbox every two seconds). I think syntacticians on Grad Cafe might find it interesting. I'm working on a plan B, too. But I'm still telling myself it's still early... One of my schools is traditionally sending decisions on Feb 9, at least according to Grad Cafe. Still, I don't want Wednesday to come too soon because that would mean that the dreaded interview with Md is close, too... I profoundly hate this application season. (The only good thing is that I've been in touch with a prof. from one of the schools who turned to be really great.) And to quote Spitz, "May God bless every linguistic student here!"

Thanks for the jet lag tip! I've never left good ol' Europe so far. I just know I'll be too nervous to think straight during the interview. I can only hope I'll sound semi-dumb and not totally dumb... Oops, you're right; I should be more careful with terms/labels. Due to the situation in my department, I often say "syntactician" when I mean "syntactician working within the Minimalist framework." Anyway, I just read that Hopeful is a DM fan, so never mind... I'm a Minimalist through and through, though, so admit me, Maryland! Admit me, anyone! Pretty please? Yeah, this whole application thing is making me crazy and I'm procrastinating more than ever. I wish I could fall asleep and wake up on April 15 (and have at least a half of my MA thesis written and all my exams passed by that time). Yeah, I know I'll have to wait. I just can see myself obsessing over the interview until I hear from them two months afterwards. lol Congrats again! Those are some great acceptances! I don't think you've been rejected by Maryland. It's still early. I suppose you withdrew your app from UMich because of all the acceptances you received. Btw, if I'd had more money, I would have applied to more places, too. I still think all this is tough.

Bureaucracy is one of my biggest nightmares. And next week I'll have to wait at least an hour to get something stamped at school... Hey, there's still chance for UCLA. I wish you luck with Santa Cruz and I do think you're pretty high on their list as you had an interview a few weeks ago! I crossed them off my list - even though I love their program, I shouldn't have applied. I wish I had known about their financial issues before applying. I don't think they'd admit me anyway - judging from Grad Cafe, who knows how many applications they received if Maryland got 140. Anyway, best of luck at San Diego, too! Thanks for all the info on your Maryland interviews! I thought you were a syntactician. Is Maryland really such a bad fit? (Ok, stupid question - it obviously is if you withdrew your application.) Lasnik is going to interview me next week and I'm incredibly nervous. Had I known there were going to be (phone) interviews, I might have never applied...

A lot has happened here since I last visited... First, thanks again for all the info regarding US visas, Dilly-dallier and Billy! My visa was approved a couple of days ago. Billy, was the campus visit really packed with events? I'm afraid that my jet lag is going to be really awful and combined with the interview stress... I don't even want to think much about it. Dilly-dallier and Jason, congrats on your acceptances!! Also congrats to the people who posted in the Results section. Everybody else, I hope we all have good news soon!! Hopeful, you've really been doing great this app season (I'm sure that some of those "anonymous" acceptances are yours)! Can you tell me who from U of Maryland interviewed you? Was the interview long? Test-like or more relaxed?

Thanks so much, everyone! Being short-listed really encouraged me. I don't have my hopes too high, though, as the results page here says they invited 14 people last year and only admitted 5 of them. (And as I can be pretty awkward sometimes.) I'm still happy I'll get to meet the faculty - especially Epstein and Pires - and other ling students. Well, I hope I'll get to meet them - I'm still not sure I'll get a tourist visa. Thanks for all the info, Fuzzylogician and Dilly-dallier! It seems I'll be able to get an interview soon, but I'm not really sure what supporting documents I need (I mean, do they really need the birth certificates of my entire family ?; I'll call as soon as my pin code for their call center's active and ask them everything) and how much money I need to have in my bank account (can't wait for that pin code to be activated!). edit: Hopefulapplicant, unfortunately, February's usually freezing where I'm from, too. I wish summer could last all year long...

Glad if I could help! And since you're into psycholinguistics, I don't really think you should be worried that your sample deals with an issue in psychology. EDIT: OMG, I just checked my mail - I'm shortlisted at Michigan!! I'm sooo happy! But I'm also sad 'cause I probably won't be able to visit due to financial issues - the plane ticket would be more than $1k. It's night here, so I'll have to discuss things with my parents tomorrow evening (yeah, I have lectures on Saturday )... EDIT #2: Oh, the mail says the department will pay up to $500 for airfare, so money stops being a problem. But what about the fact I don't have a US visa? I don't think I can get it in three weeks...