antecedent

I can't imagine already having an iPad would hurt you in anyway. I don't know how practical they are for taking notes on - if you could write them by hand or if they can handle the speed at which you'll have to type to keep up with lecture/seminar notetaking - but it would sure be portable! That's one of my main criteria, since I don't foresee myself doing any heavy programming or anything and I'm pretty sure I'll have to commute a lot.

Haha surprisingly you are not the first person to suggest that to me today Since I will be commuting likely a half an hour at least to campus, I'll probably end up going for something a little lighter. Though to be honest, I don't think I've seen one of those in person for years so they may have gotten lighter? I don't know.

I seem to just love starting topics. Here's another one that I'm curious about: 1) What kind of computers do you all use? I know some kinds of linguistics are very computation heavy, where others would rely on computers mostly for access to online corpora and journal databases an whatnot. Is there one that you find is particularly suited to your needs as a linguist? 2) Is there a computer-based note taking platform you guys like? I've been a die-hard pen and paper note taker my entire student life, but I'm opening up to the option of taking notes on my computer. I do worry about how things like IPA or sentence trees/diagrams would transfer to notetaking program... Thoughts? Anyone at all?

What kind of laptop does everyone use/prefer? I'm a Windows kind of girl myself, but I'm curious what people find the most useful and effective. I'm shopping around for a computer that is lightweight, small enough to carry to school, but not so tiny I can't watch the occasional episode of the Daily Show in it. And preferably under $1000! (There are some awesome laptops out there for like...$1400...but that's 21/2 months of rent!) So what works best for you?

I'm hoping to pick up German during my MA, though my French could use some work and my Spanish is so very sad...but so much research on the history of English is in German that I will probably end up trying to learn it over a summer too. Out of curiosity, what language are you looking to learn from scratch?

It has to do with rhotic and non-rhotic accents, but I'm not sure about the specifics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotic_and_non-rhotic_accents

I used to do stuff like that all the time, in both directions, when I was a kid. Like, I would read things and not know how to say them or hear them and totally misinterpret the sounds. I've gotten a lot better over the years but it still drives me nuts in song lyrics or very strong, unfamiliar accents. For years I thought Tolstoy wrote a book called Anna Kareninar because my mom is English.

Every time this thread is bumped to the top of the list I get really excited cause I think one of you waitlisters gets in. I have my fingers crossed for all of you!

I basically wrote that in an email to my dad yesterday, I was locked in the craziest shame/fear/self-loathing spiral. Let yourself mourn for now, and once you have wallowed sufficiently you will slowly come to realize it isn't the end of the world (you have at least one offer! You an go somewhere!). It seriously sucks though, I'm not going to lie. I had the most ridiculous day of crying when I didn't get in to UT Austin, but it had to happen. *hugs* You ARE smart and you ARE valuable. This process is just designed to strip you of your self worth.

Hey guys, I have a total noob question (I'm new to Linguistics after 5 years in the English department ). Can you use the "lx" abbreviation in any context other than "sociolx"? I've only ever seen it in sociolx but, you know, I'm just curious...

I haven't heard from UIUC or SFSU yet for an MA.

Haha yeah that's my other option! 4,000 miles away or...an hour from my childhood home

Re: tattoo sentiments I was all stoked to get this huge thigh piece, and then I planned out my budget for next year based on potential cities (SF or Edinburgh). Looks like I'll be going for something small and text based instead!

Any feed back on your experiences at SFSU? So far it seems pretty positive! They're the last school I'm waiting to hear back from...

Yeah I'm going to the applicant info session here next week! If you get in/decide to go, I think you and I would be in the same faculty (Philosophy, Psychology, and Linguistics?)

I would suck it up, cry it out, and reapply next year. I didn't get any PhD acceptances this year either, and I'm just lucky I don't have my Masters yet so I can go do that while I regroup for the next round. Someone around here was mentioning paying off their loans at like $735 a month, and I cannot imagine a point in the near (or even remote) future when I will have so much disposable income per month that I can give to loan repayment. Particularly while trying to raise a family, buy a house, or invest in anything other than my education (which I assume I will want to happen once I make it past 30). Short answer: taking on huge debt to pay for a PhD may seem like it's a decision that is only relevant to your present situation, but you are actually making a decision with a quantifiable outcome that will affect your quality of life for the rest of your life (potentially). Obviously, in the end, that's your choice to make.

I just wanted to say thanks again for the hugely detailed posts everyone has been leaving here. You all are so helpful and encouraging. I'm going to the international student orientation next week and expect to be swept off my feet with university propaganda (it happened with my undergrad too ) How did you all like the university? For those of you that did a one year masters, was it worth it for you? Oh also, I have a really weird diet for health reasons, are there plenty of health food stores in the city or is it more like Tescos and Sainsburys everywhere? If I could I would bake cookies for you all

I'm sorry I won't be seeing you there! I'm surprised your program had a deadline - most of the humanities/social science programs I've heard of there are rolling until like...June. Unless it was the PhD you were applying for this time around as well. I'm really happy to hear some positive feedback about the school! The city looks beautiful (from google maps...) and so far everyone I've communicated with at the university has been really helpful and friendly.

I'm looking at 4,388 miles for my farthest potential move. Hopefully one or more of my parents will agree to holding on to a few boxes of things for me so I don't have to sell/donate half of my things. I guess it's one way to combat any latent hoarder tendencies, eh?

Anyone planning on attending Edinburgh? I'm torn between this offer and one other, but I'm currently leaning towards Scotland. What kind of degrees and what department is everyone in? I've been accepted to a taught M.Sc. in English Language.

Holy shit, 7 years! Congrats Rupert, I'm so happy to hear you got a good offer!

Haha I've seen those! I think I'll have to be a 19th century gentleman for Halloween this October just so I can wear a septum mustache.

Yeah I would be very hesitant to do a PhD over there, just because teaching opportunities are so rare and there is very little PhD or DPhil coursework. As has been evidenced by many people in the Lit/Rhet/Comp thread, though, you can definitely get into top tier PhD programs with a British Masters (marlowe being one immediately relevant to this thread, but I know there are others). I was worried that it wouldn't be the same for Linguistics (the direction I may be heading in if I accept Edinburgh's offer) but a few people have told me it is.

Don't let it get you down, andsoitgoes. I definitely plan on reapplying in two years once I have my Masters. Nope, no one else yet. I'm pretty heavily considering Edinburgh...only one year of fees to pay, I could focus on my PhD apps the year after, and I'd get to live in the UK for a year! Could be pretty sweet. What about you? I don't even know what your tally looks like because you're mysterious and don't have a signature I hope you have at least one good offer!

I believe we had the same consideration in my AP English class. Which is funny because I read it again my first year of undergrad and I really liked it.