antecedent

I'm applying to Linguistics and not Literature, but I'm having a similar problem with the UMich statements. I'm trying write about the struggles of being a woman in a science discipline/moving from a humanities to a social science (whatever that means) without sounding like I have a chip on my shoulder. I do feel like it gives helpful perspective to my degree trajectory (Literature -> English Language -> Linguistics) but I'm struggling to walk the legitimate point/whinypants divide.

Ok guys I've just submitted my first application. Eek! I hope to have them all done by December 8th (though it might be more like December 15th) so it's all coming to an end soon Does anyone else get super nervous hitting the submit button? I've looked over my materials hundreds of times and I'm still worried I did something wrong!

Hi everyone, I can't find a quick answer to this, and I seem to remember there being several Alumni from Buffalo on this board. Is it generally preferable to refer to the school as SUNY Buffalo or University at Buffalo/UB? I'm having trouble figuring out how to refer to it in my SOP Thanks!

Hmm, I'm really not sure about that. That might be a rare case where full name is appropriate. Or you could say 'Instructor John Smith' maybe? Yikes. Sorry I can't be of more help there.

If they are tenured or tenure track, put Professor. If they are not, use Doctor. Don't refer to them simply by their first and last name (or even worse, only one of their names) unless you refer to them multiple times, then maybe only the last name is ok. Erring on the side of formal is better, particularly in the SOP.

I just finished my MSc in Edinburgh. The department is awesome and super interdisciplinary, and while I didn't do a psycholinguistics degree I did a psycholinguistic project for my dissertation. PM me if you have any specific questions.

Hey guys! I took my GRE in 2011 and I remember posting here about being unsure about my scores. I did a resit last week (because I'm switching disciplines, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered) and I raised my score in every section - even math! Not by a lot (my math score incresed from 145 -> 150) but still, if I can do it (me, the one who hasn't taken math since I was 17 and hated every second of quant GRE studying) you can at least squeak out a score you're comfortable with. Good luck to everyone! Make sure to take a break and relax afterwards!

Every time I worked on my SOP for the first several months I was writing it, I just opened a new document and started over. Every time. This mean that by the time I had written one that seemed like I could work with it, I could look back through the previous drafts and make sure I hadn't left out something I had thought was good/important in a previous draft. I'm not sure if it's the best/most effecient advice, but since I couldn't seem to make any edits on the drafts I was producing at first, it helped force me to be critical.

Does anyone here who has had a successful application season feel like offering some feedback on my SOP? I have a draft more or less ready that I want to send to my profs, but I'd appreciate an extra set of eyes too. Reply if you have the time/inclination and I can DM you my draft. Thanks in advance! I appreciate the help.

I'm feeling so uninspired by my SOP. Have we agreed that if an application doesn't set a limit, an SOP should be between 1 and 2 pages long? I need a kick in the SOP-pants, clearly.

To be honest, I found the rankings kind of helpful when I switched fields. I mean, you have to take them with like, an entire salt mine, but if you go down the top 20-50 schools and browse their faculty listings for people who work in your area, it could be a good start. Then start reading their work, look at what their grad students are doing, see where their co-authors/graduates/advisors were/are working now, etc. I wouldn't use any rankings as a be all and end all of your decision making process, but it's not a bad place to start.

This is pretty much my rationale too, including the numbers.

Thanks for your advice ladyling and fuzzylogician! I have a few academic service positions that I'd like to bring to the adcom's attention, as well as a conference presentation and a summer school attendance, but I feel like it would be too cumbersome to try and fit them into an SOP, so I guess I'll just upload a CV to any 'additional documents' option and hope it helps. My academic CV finally has relevant stuff on it now, and I think it might give some support to anything else I submit.

I made the decision to pursue a PhD two years ago, but I have really committed to it during this past year. I can thank my Masters degree, my course mates, the department faculty, and linguistics culture generally for encouraging me to take every opportunity I see to become a better student, researcher, and academic. I will be submitting my second round of PhD applications this Fall on yet another year off between degrees. My problem with the paradigm of 'real world' jobs is that to me they feel like the opposite - the university feels like the real world to me and the other jobs I've worked have been in-Limbo place-holders, even the ones I've enjoyed. The work* I do when I'm 'in academia' is the only work I've ever done that doesn't force me to consistently lie to myself. Every other job I've done includes lying to myself or others about my enthusiasm, passion, strengths, motivations, and qualifications. I'm passionate about my academic work, I'm highly motivated to keep learning and improving, and I'm good at it - I'm really fucking sick of apologizing for that. ...can you tell I've been job searching recently? I'm looking forward to being in a PhD program and not having to worry about this for a while. Sorry for the emo 'academia is the only place for meeeeee' post. I never thought I would be that kind of student/applicant/whatever, but in the end that's who I seem to have become. *In 'work' I am including: research, writing, reading, teaching, advising, and participating in academic culture and service.

Hi everyone, I'm starting to pull together my SOP, and I'm having trouble figuring out how to fit all the relevant info in there, particularly for schools that don't request a CV. Does anyone who has been successful in the past have a SOP they'd be willing to share? I'm struggling to figure out what is the important information to share in this particular document, specifically from a linguistics perspective. On a similar note, if a school didn't ask for a CV but you have one, did you send it along anyway as a supplementary item? Thanks!

Yeah, I had a prof call me 'enterprising' earlier this week in regards to my grad app gumption. I'm taking it as a compliment...

For some reason this thread was exactly what I needed to get my ass in gear in regards to applications next year. I overhauled my GRE strategy this weekend, registered for the test, and have started drafting my SOP. I'm glad to see everyone is alive and well ...aaaand back to my dissertation.

Hey! I don't have anything very helpful to add, I just wanted to say that I'm glad to see someone else with a sub-4.0 GPA applying to American PhD programs. I haven't tried to figure out the conversion yet, but I assume my GPA will also be somewhere around 3.5. I feel pretty good about my application other than my numbers, so I hope my grades won't damage my chances too much. I just registered to retake the GRE in the fall, so we'll see how that goes too... Anyway, good luck!

I know I need to start working on my SOP and studying for the GRE, but I'm currently too busy with my dissertation to focus much on those aspects of the application. I am in the process of emailing profs in the city I'll be living in next year to see if they need an RA, which is kind of productive. Gah. I also check by more or less daily to see if anything exciting is happening.

Yikes! So what you're saying is, my plan to apply to like 12 schools is a bit over the top? When it comes down to it, I plan on applying to as many schools with a good research fit as I can afford. If I manage to get a job in September, that really could be 10-12 because there is so much interesting work happening in North America in syntax/pragmatics/psycholinguistics and the syntax interfaces. I guess we'll see how things look in the Fall when I'm compiling the final list...

Training for a half-marathon has saved me yet again this spring. There are actually several people in my department running the same race, so we compare notes and share tips and stuff at lunch which can be fun. I also go running with a girl from an adjacent department. I'd say it's been absolutely crucial to my mental and physical health this term - I didn't have any regular activity outside of school last term and it was bad news.

I just wanted to say that after seeing this thread, I have spent the last day or so asking myself "Am I okay?" in the style of the I <3 Huckabees mantra "How am I not myself?" So far the response I keep coming up with is "I am okay" which is pretty good I guess.