solairne

I am in the same boat as the OP. I keep getting emails from my UG university that start with like 'University of' or 'Dr. such and such' and I pretty much go into cardiac arrest until I realize it's nothing special. I also have avoided posting status updates on Facebook and sending emails to people so that I don't get emails as often, so there is a higher chance that when one hits it is legit. Wow, that sounds all kinds of crazy once I typed that out... haha

UMass Amherst is done with their acceptances and rejections to the Ling PhD program.

Granted I have not been accepted to this school yet, but I got some very very positive feedback from 2 professors and pretty good feedback from a third. The application due date was January 15th, and I made contact with one in July of 2009, and the other two in December and January (09 and 10, respectively). I'm hoping that this becomes a formal acceptance in the next few days, but we'll see. I'd say that now is too late to contact professors, but you should do so regardless because it can only help you. If you weren't going to be accepted anyway and you send an email that ticks them off irrationally, it really doesn't matter in the long run. Don't despair totally, if the schools you applied to are good fits, it might not be 100% about professor preference. You might get a surprise. You shouldn't give into depression until you have solid rejections from all 4.

Thank you all for the opinions. I'd rep all of you up, but I've apparently hit the limit. I'll try to remember to come back tomorrow to do so. I will wait it out. I didn't think of it from that angle of coming off desperate and that is the last thing I'd want. Thanks again

Yes, I'm aware that if I have to ask that question it is a good indicator that it is, in fact, a bad idea... but(!) here goes anyway. So after having been turned down by 3 of my 4 schools that I applied to, I'm considering sending an email to a professor at the one remaining school. The one that remains is my top choice. I applied to the other 3 more out of a sense of not wanting to apply to only one school and was aware that they would most likely be rejections as I was not a very good fit. However, having 3 rejections come in before an acceptance has sort of put this sense of panic in me. I'm a wonderful fit at my top choice and I've spoken with 3 professors there who seem genuinely interested in me, but one in particular I had a pretty good conversation with. So what I am thinking of is sending this professor an email (mind you, not disclosing the other rejections) and saying something along the lines of if I were offered admissions I would definitely take it. I figure that has to be something they consider when they send out admissions - considering who may actually take them up on it. Is this a good idea, bad idea, meddling, me being neurotic? The school guarantees funding, so I'm not worried that they'd use this information to accept me but offer me less of a funding package. Should I just wait it out or does this sound like a good plan?

Texas? Toronto?

I'm so sorry to hear! It seems like none of us, Pangoban notwithstanding, have heard very much good lately.

Has anybody heard anything or know any information? It seems that we're in the time period where decisions are likely to be made / go out.

I sent my applications in Sept. 29th... lol

To back up Tarski's point, McGill does not require an MA for entrance to the PhD program in Linguistics. Their website says: This could also be different as Linguistics is a very small field and most schools don't offer terminal MA degrees for it. I know Toronto does still require an MA for admissions to the PhD program, however.

Like everyone else out there I'd like to get a professorship. I have a little bit of a leg up because I'm open to (and sort of want to) moving anywhere in North America or Europe and would be ok working in a francophone university. So that opens a few more doors for me. Honestly, getting in somewhere is my first hurtle. I'll worry about the abysmal job prospects further down the line. While I would love to be a professor, I'm open to any position that would pay me well enough (reasonably so) and would allow me to do research in my field.

I've read some conflicting reports which leads me to believe this is going to be one of those 'depends on department/school' things, but do departments/universities in general send out emails at a certain time? Maybe like end of the day or end of the work week, regardless of decision? Do people often get acceptance or rejection emails at unusual hours like 9pm local time or 4am?

It really is quiet... the whole forum seems to be standing still. Anybody have any good news?

I generally go to the gym 4-5 times per week for weight lifting, but I haven't been at all in the past 2 weeks because I've either been checking my email or sleeping. The way I see it, if you spend your idle time sleeping, you're not worrying about your email... I have put on a few extra lbs since Christmas, but being a 6'4 male, it really isn't that big of a deal. I look pretty much the same at 180 as I do at 200 (with clothes on, mind you). So help me if I get across the board rejections, Ben and Jerry's won't know what hit them... haha

You know, it really has been (Pangor ban's good news aside) a pretty lackluster week in terms of forum posts and result data bank entries. Only a few trickle in each day. Maybe this is the week when a lot of schools are finalizing decisions. If that's true we might be getting some emails towards the end of the day today or Monday morning. One can only hope. It is February 12th, after all.