noodles.galaznik

Two days before classes start, and I've already finished the lit review portion of my thesis! Maybe this summer wasn't a total bust after all. I am pleased.

Two days before classes start, and I've already finished the lit review portion of my thesis! Maybe this summer wasn't a total bust after all. I am pleased.

Two days before classes start, and I've already finished the lit review portion of my thesis! Maybe this summer wasn't a total bust after all. I am pleased.

Two days before classes start, and I've already finished the lit review portion of my thesis! Maybe this summer wasn't a total bust after all. I am pleased.

Two days before classes start, and I've already finished the lit review portion of my thesis! Maybe this summer wasn't a total bust after all. I am pleased.

My commute during the summer:





My commute during the school year:

Whenever someone asks me if I'm excited about classes starting in two weeks.



Ugh, thanks family and friends for the reminder that summer is almost over and I have done basically nothing except watch My Little Pony, play badminton, and sleep absurd amounts.

Anyone else totally unprepared for the fall semester??

Whenever someone asks me if I'm excited about classes starting in two weeks.



Ugh, thanks family and friends for the reminder that summer is almost over and I have done basically nothing except watch My Little Pony, play badminton, and sleep absurd amounts.

Anyone else totally unprepared for the fall semester??

Whenever someone asks me if I'm excited about classes starting in two weeks.



Ugh, thanks family and friends for the reminder that summer is almost over and I have done basically nothing except watch My Little Pony, play badminton, and sleep absurd amounts.

Anyone else totally unprepared for the fall semester??

Ummm, I was not referring to Africa as a whole. I simply did not specify where to protect the privacy of the individual involved. You are jumping to HUGE conclusions based on spurious assumptions about my intentions.

The electricity goes out for 4-8 hours everyday and there was threat of civil war recently. No thanks.

Grad students with significant others are much more likely to finish grad school than those without...

I find it strange how you assume that only those in grad school could understand hard work or long hours. My boyfriend certainly works hard and works long hours at his job. We're both advancing our careers and are able to support each other through it. It's really nice to be able to come home when you're really stressed out and don't have a lot of time and dinner is cooked, dishes are done and laundry is washed and folded.

I don't necessarily think it would be advisable to be in a relationship during grad school - at least not with someone who is an 'outsider' and who may not necessarily understand or accept the long hours of research, grading papers, etc. I'm a romantic like many of you, but it seems to me that there's inevitably a need to choose (at least initially) between the development of one's career and the emotional satisfaction that comes from being in a relationship. I, personally, intend to have an unabashed, passionate love affair with my statistical packages, data modeling software, and research literature.

the stories like these make me think how lucky i am. i've failed at just about everything else in life, but my girlfriend has been there for me since day one, rain or shine. i don't know how she really think about me going into academia, but she's been 100% supportive.

\

I dropped out of one high-school and got kicked out of the next.

Your joke was a piggy-back on Ladril first alleging that the profile information I suggested was only or even mostly quantitative, and then insinuating that I was "dead-wrong." Set all of that against the larger background where cross-talk between the disciplines is actively discouraged by senior scholars in both disciplines, hung up on the political/welfare/normative implications of structural models v. rational choice models, where sneering gets passed off as a scientific standard, and I missed the humor. Nothing in your comment indicated that you were trying to laugh with, and not at me.

Hey, you were just being rude. People relied to you are all from top linguistics PhD programs. We are trying to tell you the truth that it is impossible to quantify "difficulty/easiness" of Linguistics PhD programs. A university can not get lots of financial benefits from theoretical linguistics program, not like business, law program. I have to say those schools have linguistics program and fund students are no way easy to get in.

I am not trying to be judgmental. But, from your conversation with other people, I could tell you are not fit for PhD program. What do you mean by "I should be a professor" or "I am supposed to do a PhD otherwise I will lose my job". Are you sure you can get back your job after leaving the position for more than 5 years? Do you think international students can have part-time study in the U.S? Are you sure you could be a professor after 5 years' "easy" PhD training? I didn't see any passion from you about linguistics despite your repeated statements of "I love linguistics" "I want to do Phonology". My suggestion: if you do want to get in PhD Program and you do love linguistics, prepare yourself well, Do your current research in phonology, Talk to the professors you would like to work with. Prepare an excellent writing sample in your specialty, FORGET "easy", "less difficult" stuff.

Best of luck

I am telling you the truth.

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.

Please, anybody, correct me if I'm wrong, but I doubt you will find anything like an easy PhD program. A PhD program requires lots of work and effort. As @fuzzylogician said, it is very hard to succeed in a PhD program. Many students who are very passionate about what they do end up burnt out after years studying, researching and working on their thesis. And, again, those are students who really love what they do. From your post I understand you see getting a PhD as an obligation, rather than something you want to do (if it's not the case, please, tell me), which will make the task of getting a PhD even harder.
I'm sorry if this sounded very blunt, but I think it's better to know the reality before starting any program. Don't get me wrong, it is not impossible, but it's not easy, either.

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.

I meant UC Berkley and UCLA programs are difficult so I can't go to those places because they are difficult. I don't want a 5+ program because that is difficult. Is not there like a linguistics program that is not difficult i.e. a somehow moderate linguistics program? Thanks a lot

Hey guys
I am international. I am supposed to do a PhD in linguistics. I have an MA with thesis in Linguistics but I still need to do a PhD. Does anyone recommend a linguistics department that is not so difficult like UC Berkley and UCLA etc.? I actually need an easy one not a tough one. Lord bless you.
Please don't judge me, instead help me.
MQ

I read Sigaba's post differently.

It's not so much about the fact that you can get in trouble following protocol, but rather that the "written rules" for protocol are not always in sync with the unwritten culture of the institution. So even if you're technically "OK" in doing something, it's worth taking the extra time to find out if it's really considered OK or not.

Learning the "unwritten rules" of academia, just like any other profession, is exceptionally important to future success.

Similarly, while there's probably always going to be someone waiting to "ding" you for any opinion or action, it's better to know who that person is and what you're doing that ticked them off. It's better to be in the position of making an informed decision to do something knowing the consequences, rather than to do something and unwittingly blunder across an institutional more.

I respectfully disagree with this generalization. One can be in full compliance with the policies of one's academic institution and one's department but still make a professional gaffe. Tenured professors, not policies, are the guardians of the professions we want to join. They can help, hinder, and outright screw you a thousand ways to Sunday's roast chicken dinner without you ever learning how or why. Consider a hypothetical professor that has a specific vision of how graduate students should NOT fraternize with undergraduates. This vision could be rooted in tradition or theory or prejudice or bitterness or the wisdom of hard won experience. So while you might not be doing anything wrong--the relationship is within policy--such a professor could plant a seed in a departmental meeting that bears bittersweet fruit for you down the line. You will likely never know.

Consequently, I urge graduate students to manage carefully their risk when considering all social relationships with undergraduates (and, for that matter, with fellow graduate students as well as professors). Make sure you know your department's and your parent institution's policies as well as the underlying sensibilities--especially if you're attending a public institution in a state that takes an aggressive stance on issues of sexual harassment. (If you go through any harassment training, you'll get the sense that you basically can't say anything to anybody--not just because they might take exception, but a third party might as well.)

Figure out who (if anyone) in your department could make a stink about such a tryst. While sensibilities have changed greatly the last few decades, there are still professors who are "Old School." Moreover, there are a number of intellectual traditions that ask fundamental questions about the dynamics of power in all social relations.

Do what you can to see if there are any bodies buried in shallow graves so that you don't inadvertently unearth a corpse. Professors can get--surly--when things aren't going well at home, who is to stop a grumpy pumpkin from using you as a chew toy because your relationship reminds a professor of something/someone s/he doesn't like?

Also, please do your best to balance your short term desires with your over-the-horizon needs. You may find that more and more, you are what you're studying and that time is an increasingly valuable resource. When this realization hits, on which side of the divide would you want to be?

HTH.

Good thing Im in STEM field....gotta look for ladies in business department then, they surely know how to dress "properly"!