Zouzax

oh no!!! i wouldve been so annoyed haha

congratulations!!!!

I feel the same. If I'm not accepted, Ill take the year to do the things I wish I had time to do, like get published, present at conferences, beef up my CV, etc...

@ mrjd: thanks for that. Even that much was enough to make me think that it's worth taking a second look. I actually went to undergrad in Boston, and I agree with how expensive it is. That's my major concern if I'm accepted to any universities there. I looked into housing in Providence and wow, you're right! Its really inexpensive. Things are looking up I will certainly let you know if I'll be visiting @ OH YEAH: That's a great idea. Maybe someone can suggest that to the admins?

Just remembered something else! I wish I had taken the time to get published/ present at some conferences. Unfortunately, I worked way too much during this Master's, and I barely had time to finish the workload I was given (I am taking 5 classes a semester, one semester was 6 classes), let alone sit down and prepare a piece to be submitted to a journal/ conference. This is actually one of my biggest regrets I get so obsessed with working, once I see a paycheck I'm always thinking about how I can increase it, which means I sign up for more hours ... definitely shouldve had my priorities straight!

hahaha my father AND uncle tell me the same thing. As if it's this novel concept, and I can just DECIDE to go to Harvard, as in "You know what? I think I'll go to Harvard this year!"

mrjd, thanks a lot for offering to answer questions. I'm sure you have a really busy schedule. Brown is one of my top choices for the field I'm interested in. I haven't heard whether or not I'm accepted yet, but I'm trying to stay positive and think ahead My only reservation about the school is its location. I was considering applying to Brown for undergrad (this was 11 years ago), so my father and I took a tour of Providence. I must say, it wasn't my favorite city. If I'm accepted to Brown, this will probably be the one thing thatll hold me back from wanting to attend. Then again, a lot can change in 11 years. How do you like Providence? How is the crime rate, etc? Do most students live near campus? How often do you make trips to Boston (if ever)? I would love to hear a current student's thoughts on this. Thanks again.

wow congratulations!!! i didnt apply to UCSD, and I havent heard anything from my schools ... maybe thats a sign things will start rolling in a little earlier this year !!

one thing that's calmed my anxiety about letting my family down if I dont get accepted, is that I make it clear how normal it is for applicants to not be accepted their first round, that I'm ok with it, and that I'm formulating a plan B in case this happens. For those people from high-pressure families, making sure they understand this fact really takes the weight off your shoulders. The funny thing is, my parents (let alone my relatives) didn't even know what a Ph.D was until I announced I was going to apply for such a program. It took months of explaining to make my parents realize that no, I was not going to work in a hospital ... no, I will not be able to fix their knees "finally", nor figure out what's wrong with them mentally "finally" ... that I'd be located at a UNIVERSITY ... and now suddenly they're really into my getting accepted.

this is exactly why I refuse to look at my submitted applications ...

Love this subject .. because this is what haunts me at night! I also regret not applying for outside funding. I was planning to apply for the Ford Fellowship, but one of my profs didnt send me his LOR until wayyy past the deadline (mid-December), even though I had requested it in September. But it's also my fault, as I could have been more proactive in finding others. I regret not adding a few extra things on my application - not adding my language blog, and not mentioning some relevant courses I took (completely forgot about these until I had sent everything in and was obsessively going over the applications in my head, of course) I regret not explaining things more/ better - for example, why I chose the Master's program I did, exactly what this program is all about, what my thesis is about, and why I'm perfect for the programs to which I applied (I had great ideas in my head, but once I try to write them down on paper, meanings get lost .... especially for my dream school, I wish I had knocked it out of the ballpark with that app) Anyway, if I end up being accepted to anything, I'm sure my regrets will change .. maybe Ill take them all back But this is what's on my mind as of now ....

I'm not afraid of the tiny ones, I'm afraid of the GIANT ones like the one above!! Do you see what I mean, how they just APPEAR without warning???? Now I can't check this thread anymore, so if you write a response I won't see it, I'm afraid....

In my opinion, I'd much rather sit around waiting for application responses than teach. I don't even teach at the university level; I work at a private school. Let me tell you - trying to write a fun syllabus so that 10 or more people can be entertained for 3 hours is nerve-wracking. Then standing in front of the class, waving your arms around and trying to keep them from falling asleep at their desks is a whole other battle. I wish I could sit at my computer, constantly refreshing my inbox and praying for a response! It's what I do during my off hours, anyway.

I actually went to Northeastern as an undergrad and I really enjoyed the co-op program (I ended up only doing it once, though - I decided to graduate early). Most of the people I knew had found really great jobs out of it, and came out of college with a clear idea of what they wanted to do because they had so much work experience. Not to mention, it looks great on your resume. If you like everything else about NU, Id say go for it.

I applied to 6 schools .... application fees: about 625$ sending GRE scores: 115 $ grad school transcripts: 20 $ sending grad school transcripts: 100 $ Total: 860$ I had 800$ put away just for grad school applications. I foolishly imagined that it would be plenty enough to apply to a bunch of schools. silly me!

I was on the fence about this one, too. I had contacted a few profs before sending in my applications, and 2 gave me really nice responses, one gave a decent one, and the other 2 were so-so. I was thinking to update the 2 positive responses once I mailed in the app but I decided against it, thinking it'd look a bit weird/desperate. I'm banking on the fact that they'll all remember me from when I contacted them in October ...

haha welcome to international programs, right? I was told that my MA program was only 1 year, too when I accepted the offer of admission ... well, once I started I quickly found out that most people take 3 years, and some even FOUR years to complete their thesis! Im in the middle of my second year and I'm cramming to finish everything in 2 years, it's quite obvious that I could easily take another year to finish everything. In terms of your lack of formal semantics training, I think a lot of us are in the same boat. In school I've done some syntax, pragmatics, cognitive linguistics, and psycho/neurolinguistics (and that's only because it's my thesis topic), but a lot of historical, syntax, phonology, Chomsky-an linguistics I've had to learn on my own. I always try to read textbooks and articles to keep on top of the current research. But I'm thinking, if so many of us on here are in the same situation, it must not be an uncommon thing Let's see how the admissions results are ....

I like GoodReader as well, but I sometimes use Quick Office, which allows you to view .doc, .pdf., .xls and .ppt files (I think the excel and powerpoint options are a little lacking, however). I also really like the Things application. If you're into making crazy To Do lists like I am , you'd love this .. I use it all the time. I also use CourseNotes (I wasnt too into the handwriting option) - this one you type your notes, but you can organize them according to subject, etc. I also would NOT recommend Sally's Salon or Sally's Spa if you value your time .... or Diner Dash.

In terms of distraction, I'm a little lucky because I'm in finals until February 1st ... so right now I'm insanely busy. Between writing papers and working almost full-time, I don't have THAT much time to sit and obsess over my emails (but somehow, I still manage to squeeze in an hour or so of obsessing daily). In terms of updates, I haven't received anything important. Just an general email from the Dean at Brown University saying the review process is beginning, and that any offers of admission must be responded to by April 15. Haven't heard anything from any other school. Yes, my background is a big worry for me. My undergrad didn't offer any linguistics classes, and when it came time for me to apply to a Master's program, I could've chosen Linguistics but I went for Translation Theory instead. The only reason was because I really, really wanted to learn and study in Turkish, and the Linguistics program was entirely in English. In addition, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go for my Ph.D at that time. Of course, now I regret it slightly, because I probably would've been more competitive now. But in the end, I really liked my program, and it offered me the chance to learn the language fluently. I'm just crossing my fingers that at least one adcom will appreciate the decision ...

I actually did the opposite- I stayed somewhere because I was in a long-term relationship. About 7 years ago, I received an offer to study in Paris for a year. At the time, I was in a long-term relationship with my then-boyfriend. I decided to turn down the offer and stay with him. We have since broken up. Can I tell you, I STILL regret the decision I made not to go. If a relationship is worth it, and if it's meant to be, it'll work out in the end .... trust me.