LinguisticMystic

No, definitely don't do that. I could have done something similar and mentioned it to one of my letter-writers last year when I was writing my statements and she stared wide-eyed at me and said don't even think about it! It's not a virtue to be unable to do well in a class that bores you. Talk about positive things.

I didn't study beyond just reviewing stuff for the quant section the week beforehand (haven't had a math class aside from statistics in 7 years!) and I think I did fine for my purposes. 164v 155q 5.5aw. I don't plan on retaking it when I apply to PhD programs (doing my master's now). I've always done fine on standardized tests, so I guess I just didn't bother with worrying much about this one either. I suppose that's my perspective -- lazy maybe!

I've only ever needed to use Praat for that kind of thing (and you can of course find/write scripts to make it do other, more precise, things depending on what you need)... but if you for whatever reason needed to measure reaction times or eye-tracking, you can use E-Prime software. That's all I can think of for you!

Major: Psychology GPA: 3.39 GRE: 164V 155Q 5.5AW Writing Sample: BA thesis -- sociolinguistics Research: Presented at several undergrad conferences, one regional conference. No publications. Accepted: NC State, UW Madison, UW Seattle (withdrew app before any financial award could be made) Waitlisted: Rice U Rejected: UCSB, Georgetown U

I love it! I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing and I feel like I'm in the perfect place to be doing it. The professors are excellent teachers and welcoming and helpful advisors. One complaint is that my cohort hasn't been very receptive to socializing outside of the lab/class. Hopefully they'll warm up, but fortunately I visited the school last March and was able to meet this year's second year Master's students so I'm at least becoming close with those students.

I took a year off after my undergrad so that I had more research experience when applying to grad programs. I had worked on a couple of projects in a psychology lab, but I didn't feel i had enough (or any) experience in linguistics. I'm very glad I took a year off, as well, because I've continued linguistics research and am working on finishing up a couple of manuscripts this summer before I head off to grad school in August. In the end, I think it paid off & helped me get into a good program with funding. I was worried about applying to schools too early & maybe getting accepted to a mediocre program and just going with that as my only option. Taking an extra year helped me narrow my interests, as well, & therefore pick better-fitting programs when I did eventually apply. Really it's a totally personal decision & this is just how it played out for me. Applying this year doesn't mean you can't apply again the next if you're not satisfied with what comes of your applications. Hope this helps -- let me know if I can clarify anything.

I never looked much into the language proficiency issue while applying since I didn't need to, but can't you just take (an) additional Spanish course(s) during your Master's/PhD to meet their language competency requirements since you've already taken Spanish 1 and 2? I never got the impression that you had to have proficiency before being admitted, just that you had to pass a certification exam at some point (depending on the program). Maybe you're confusing application requirements with degree requirements? I have a friend doing a PhD in anthropology and he was in the same situation as you (only had beginner Spanish during undergrad). He just had to take an intermediate Spanish course during his first year and he was fine. It wasn't an issue for him at all during the application process. Similarly, my undergraduate advisor told me she just took a couple of semesters of Swahili during her PhD program to pass the non-Indo language requirement. Hope I'm understanding your issue correctly and that this helps! You definitely shouldn't be expected to be bilingual, that much I know.

Awesome, busbus! Hope it feels good. And congrats on your other acceptance, too! ^^

I know one person who declined their offer from Rice, but that was a a few weeks ago so I assume they already grabbed from the waitlist.

I am! Will be doing my Master's in sociolinguistics. I visited a few weeks ago & fell in love. Just need to find a place to live/people to live with...

Can't wait to hear how your visit goes, busbus! I just accepted my offer at NC State yesterday! I'm so excited. I knew it was the right decision when I had a bunch of emails from faculty this morning welcoming me to the department. Feels good! Looking forward to getting started.

Saw that Georgetown is on Easter break right now... so probably can't expect anything this week.

The thing with the super competitive programs is that they make offers to a lot of super competitive applicants who likely receive multiple offers from which to choose. Which means it's still a definite possibility to get in off a wait list at a competitive school. At least that's what I'm thinking! Good luck! I can't believe it's April & I'm still waiting on 3 schools (2 waitlists). Yuck.

Antecedent, Edinburgh is such a wonderful city, too! Congrats on your decision. You'll love it.

Just got back from visiting NC State's sociolinguistics program & wow, it was really impressive. I'll probably end up deciding to go there to work with some really great faculty. (Still technically waiting on Georgetown & my waitlist, though.)

Well, I can try to answer some of your questions since I applied to programs coming from a non-linguistics background. Hah, I guess I'm a bit shocked that you'd say a "non-linguist" wouldn't likely be able to come up with a "profound/workable research proposal" because that's just not true at all. Not much more to say than that! I mean, I consider myself a scientist & I /know/ I know a lot more about research methodology & statistics than students graduating with linguistics degrees from my undergraduate institution & that's a significant asset. What they're looking for is potential to succeed, not that you've taken some linguistics classes & gotten As. I've presented research I've done in psychology at several conferences across the US & worked in a lab for 3 years. I think the programs that I've applied to acknowledge that I have a capacity to carry out original research. So what I'm saying is, don't be confused by this. As far as your statement & how in-depth you make your research proposal, well that depends on a lot of factors, not the least of which is how well defined your research goals are in actuality. I mean, of course you might want to tailor them to the school/your POI in particular, but you will still be telling them what it is you want to do while complementing it with a demonstration of your ability to carry out that plan. And you can't really make up something that's not there (i.e., don't bullshit a research proposal), so I would just be as descriptive as the space allows. Also, why not apply to both MA & PhD programs? tl;dr -- Just because you don't have a linguistics background doesn't mean you have no idea what you're doing. And WRT a research proposal within a statement of purpose, describe to them your plan & your ability/qualifications to carry out said plan.

You could probably contact the schools you're interested in about what it might take to strengthen your background in linguistics. I have only taken 2 linguistics courses, & I only got 1 flat out rejection among my applications. But I also majored in psychology which is I suppose typically seen as a related field. Anyway, for an MA program, I think it's less critical. But you would of course need to exhibit your potential to do well in a linguistics program in other ways (writing sample, statement, letters). Also, two out of three of the MA programs I applied to are in English departments -- they might be more accustom to seeing applicants without backgrounds in linguistics. Though one program I'm considering (NC State) boasts some of the best sociolinguistics faculty within their English department.

Not to me, no. I was waitlisted at my top-choice program. If they're able to extend me an offer, I'll gladly accept & I wouldn't foresee giving them a reason to be disappointed in me. Being waitlisted isn't making me feel less confident in my abilities. And that's that. I guess I'm not shocked that other people were top picks before me. Not that I suck, of course, but why shouldn't there be applicants more ideal than me? If I did think I were perfect, maybe I'd be a little more worked up over it. Then again, I'm switching fields & have a mediocre GPA. Hah, so I'm far from being the "perfect candidate" (on paper).

Congrats, Funology! Exciting. I see some Georgetown results coming through... ahh. Still waiting. I will probably get an email from them at some awkward time during my visit to NC State this week.

I applied to the socioling concentration, too. Still haven't heard back! I wish they'd let us know if we were waitlisted... :/

I just emailed the graduate division & sorted it out. It was only a couple of weeks after the deadline, though, that they informed me of my incomplete application, so I wasn't under a huge time crunch. I would call if I were in your position.

Check with the graduate school, too. One school couldn't find my scores because I used my middle initial on my GRE scores but not on their application. I have an uncommon last name. Once they figured this out, they had them the next day. x__x

@Robertpt -- I'll send you a PM here.

Are you waiting on Rice as well? I just got an encouraging email from my POI so I'm not giving up hope yet!

Rice's funding would be better if I got in. I guess I just didn't want to admit to myself how disappointing it will be if I don't get off of their waitlist. Dammit!