goldheartmountaintop

mq1, I highly doubt that you were rejected strictly because you didn't have POIs. I'm also not convinced that having POIs is what admissions committees care most about when they look through applications. Of course, fit with the department is important (and here is where it helps to have some POIs in mind), but it's also important to have a strong APPLICATION. That includes statement of interest, writing samples, letters of reference, grades, previous research/experiences, etc etc etc. These are what will convince people that you are a strong researcher with interesting questions, as well as the drive and ability to answer those questions. Also, re: getting in touch with professors, I never contacted anyone either of the times I applied (last year applying to MA programs as an undergrad, and this year applying to PhD programs as an MA student), though I mentioned them in my statements to explain why I was applying to the schools in the first place. Both years I was accepted to very good schools. Also, if you look at previous threads (Fall 2012/Decisions 2012), you will see that some people didn't even mention any POIs in their statements, and were still accepted. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that, mq1, while having POIs in mind when you apply is a good thing, it's even better to have a good, strong application altogether. I would therefore suggest that you focus on strengthening every aspect of your application. I hope this helps. Good luck!!

On the other hand, it's also important to somehow abstract away from the surrealness of the experience, and try to look at it as "a school" (which is kind of the same advice you just gave about Oxford). I too was accepted to MIT and was completely dazzled when I visited, but I tried to approach my decision by separating the "It's MIT!!!" part of it and reflecting on how I actually felt while I was there (other than excited and intimidated). I ultimately ended up accepting their offer because I genuinely had a really pleasant time interacting with the faculty and grad students, and because I knew that the school fit my own research interests really well.

Congrats Phonolog!!!!

I second Phonolog and Kwest's posts; having a published paper (or even conference proceedings) is definitely not a prerequisite for getting into PhD programs! Also, as fuzzylogician mentioned, getting published in an article takes a loooong time; given that you mentioned that you want to apply to PhD programs next Fall, you'd have like less than a year to write something publishable and get it published (which I'm not entirely sure is feasible, but that depends on your abilities, of course). There are a lot of other factors involved in getting accepted. In addition to research experience, getting accepted depends on your research interests, your statement, writing samples, GRE, grades, reference letters, etc. It might also help if you aim to apply for a Master's first. MA programs are generally easier to get into, and you'll have an extra year or two to develop your research interests, get more experience in academia (i.e. go to conferences, try to publish, etc.), and make connections with the faculty in your department (better reference letters; more research experience if there are opportunities, etc.). For instance, I am currently in a Master's program and have no publications or conference proceedings (I presented at like two undergraduate conferences last Spring, but that's it); my writing samples were two term papers I had written in the first term of my MA. However, I got into two really good PhD programs in Canada and the US. Obviously, my lack of publications/conference proceedings was not a factor; I think my getting in had to do primarily with some the other stuff I mentioned (I didn't even take the GRE). So, while having publications will obviously help you, I don't think you should despair if you don't have anything published by the time you start applying!

No problem! And yes, I was still able to apply for (in fact, required to apply for) TAships. That's because my tuition is waived as part of my MA, though, so I believe the TAships are supposed to help with that. Moreover, I had approximately the same number of TA hours allocated to me as people who don't have a SSHRC, so I guess TAships are completely independent from SSHRC.

According to the site, A-list applications are the ones sent to Ottawa for the national competition, while B-list applications are not. However, apparently they keep the first page of each B-list application in their records, I guess so that they can compare if the same applicant applies a different year?

I currently have a Master's SSHRC from Toronto (and I think McGill is the same, not sure though) and yeah, the way it is at my school is that, if you get a SSHRC, you don't receive the guaranteed department funding that you would otherwise get if you didn't get a SSHRC. However, as a sort of reward for getting a SSHRC (and saving your dept a lot of money), you'll get a top-up of a few thousand dollars. Is that what you mean by "100% clawback?"

Blargh, I'm so sorry about this Phonolog. That's really terrible! Do you think you will still try to follow up/get some sort of reason? I feel like you deserve one, or at least an apology or some acknowledgement from the dept that they basically messed up in a huge way. I hope some good news come through for you soon. Also, on another topic, to the posters who wanted to know about Georgetown Socio, my friend did end up accepting their offer (sorry this is so late).

Ah, I see. Well, I hope you hear back, and that you hear good news!

A friend of mine was accepted to Georgetown for a PhD in Linguistics about a month ago, and she works on Sociolinguistics. Sorry

Sorry, what I meant was that the offers for interviews have already been sent out, so I think that the accepted students (to be determined after the interview process) will be selected from the shortlisted (interviewed) applicants.

Maryland's conducting fly-in interviews later this week, so I believe all their offers have been sent out already!

:)! I'm currently doing my MA at University of Toronto (and used to organize the conference when I was in undergrad); I'm glad you're having a great time!!

Re: bidding, there's this thread here: Also, the impression that I have from my university, after having discussed it (hypothetically) with people (including profs), is that, if a school really wants you they might actually offer to fund you a bit more if they hear that you're considering another school, but it is generally not okay to actually try to get schools to bid on you. So the department can take the initiative, but you can't.

One thing I've found helpful is reading dissertation acknowledgments, which are often openly available on the department's website. It's kind of creepy to do because you're reading about real people, but if you ignore that aspect, I think it's a good way to gauge the writer's overall experiences in the program. In my field, the dissertations usually start off with a page or two of acknowledgments to faculty, fellow students, etc. Reading them can really give you an idea of the atmosphere of the program, the sense of rapport among students, and the supervisory styles of the professors you want to work with. Obviously, the dissertation acknowledgments are always positive, so you won't really be able to find out about the bad stuff about the program, but I think that you can count on them being more genuine (and more detailed) than emails from people trying to recruit you.

I agree with what everyone said about going to all the open houses you can for the reasons mentioned above! It's definitely good to start setting up professional relationships and also just get a sense of what it's like at the schools, even if they're not on your radar for PhD studies right now. I also agree with moody and misskira, though; I don't think trying to negotiate more funding would leave a very good impression at all, even if you are a highly sought-after student.

Wow, that is actually the best idea! When I was waiting for results, I was checking this site like once an hour or something ridiculous. Good luck to those who are still waiting! I agree; I think it's better to be waiting than flat-out rejected. A spot might open up for you anytime!

Unfortunately, I didn't think to ask either question. I do know, though, that twelve students were admitted in total out of 199 applicants.

Just heard back from MIT!!!! :) Best of luck to the other MIT applicants; hope you guys hear back too!

Oh right, my main point, which I forgot to make, was that even if NYU does let in a lot of international students, I can't see that as being, at least from a financial point of view, more attractive than letting in domestic students (whose applications are just as strong), if they guarantee funding and tuition waivers to all their students. At my school (a large Canadian university), the MA cohort has like one international student and same with the PhD1 cohort for precisely that reason. So I guess I've always viewed accepting almost all internationals as a sign of their university/department being able to afford to, not an international bias per se. I could be completely wrong, though! In any case, I echo funchaku's sentiment that you were probably interviewed at McGill because you're a strong applicant, not because of your citizenship!

Hmm, I was kind of under the impression that 'international' had to do with your citizenship (i.e. how much it costs for you to go to school somewhere), not where you go to school. I would think that you would pay domestic fees in both Canada and the U.S. on account of your triple-citizenship? We MIT-ers should hold a waiting party of our own, oh man. The anxiety is building! I'm also glad to hear (well, not GLAD, but you know) that their application website is simply just that way, as I remember also being taken aback by their lack of info. Congrats to funchaku on Rutgers, and best of luck to everyone still waiting!

I definitely wouldn't look outside of my department for jobs, as I'm not sure doing so would make you a stronger candidate for research-based PhD programs. I'd probably continue my current research assistantship (or get a new one), and maybe get some TA-ships too if possible. The MA program I'm in is thesis-based and a lot of the MA students are encouraged to rework their theses so that they could get published, so I'd aim for that, and meanwhile I'd try to go to a lot of conferences and maybe continue working on my thesis topic. Essentially, I'd be looking to bulk up my CV more than anything else (ie grades).

I know someone who was rejected from the MA program at their school on the sole basis that the faculty wasn't accepting any students who did their BAs at that school; all of these students were strongly encouraged to apply again (and return) for their PhDs though. That school is in the top three in my country. So, at least in my friend's case, doing her BA and PhD at one place but MA at another place was encouraged. Personally, I don't think it'll matter in the long run if you do your MA at a different school and then return for your PhD, especially since you're switching departments between your BA and MA. I think the only thing might be that you should probably have an apparent academic reason to return to your original school for your PhD, and that this reason is clear to your future employers.

Thank you to both fuzzylogician and uromastyx for your replies!! I decided in the end to just stick with the two I had submitted; the third one, while I think strong, is generally irrelevant to my statement and also follows a framework of phonology most worked within at my current school.

Hi everyone, First post after months of lurking! I was wondering whether there's a maximum number of writing samples that one *should* send to a school? Specifically, I'm referring to MIT, who seem to still let applicants edit and upload documents. I had submitted two on syntax much earlier this month, but am now considering sending a third one (on phonology). The application page lets you upload three, but is actually doing so total overkill? Also on the topic of MIT, does anyone know when they'll no longer let us edit our applications? The deadline was early January but the application site says that we can still modify parts of our application, such as our supporting documents. I'm hella paranoid, so I've tweaked my supporting documents several times since (I don't even know if it makes any difference; maybe they downloaded everyone's documents ages ago)! Here's hoping there isn't some sort of log that tells them how often an applicant has made changes to their application, or else I will look like a crazy person. Any insights would be highly appreciated!