Des Grieux

Wow, a lot has happened since my last post! Congrats to all the MIT admits! Looks like we've got some really bright linguists on this forum.

Yes, I am really grateful to have gotten this far. Berkeley is an incredibly competitive school so a rejection from them can hardly be a disappointment. In any case, I really hope you get good news from them!

Just got a rejection email from Berkeley. Oh well! Congrats to those who got in!

I initially didn't think people on this forum were interesed in non-US schools as well so in my list I didn't include the UK schools I applied to. But given that there seems to be some interest I'll confess that I applied for an M.Phil at Cambridge and got an offer this morning!

Congrats, funchaku! Seems like it's a perfect fit for your interests. I've got some good news as well: I got an invitation to the Open House at UCSD today. Can't wait to visit!

Congrats, mylime and sulphur! Suplpur, as far as UK funding goes, the admissions offers and funding offers come at two separate stages. The fact that they sent you an estimate of the costs does not mean you will not be considered for a scholarship. Generally all funding offers - whether departmental and university-wide - are made at the same time, usually sometime late in spring. If you are also applying to US schools, the trouble is - and this is an issue I'll probably have to grapple with, as I am also applying to some UK universities - that the 15th April reply deadline for US schools may come before you hear about funding from your UK school. Also, many UK scholarships cover only fees and offer no stipend, so make sure what exactly is covered by the departmental scholarship. Besides, most students need to seek funding elsewhere. I am an undergraduate at a UK university and my department is absolutely fabulous, but because I am not a British citizen I don't get all the benefits UK students get and this year is just a nightmare in terms of funding. In any case, good luck!

Thank you! I am still getting over the shock. I actually spent the past few weeks blaming myself for having spent money on application fees for schools far beyond my reach. Good luck to all of you!

This has been a good day: an acceptance from USC and an invitation to Open House from Stanford, which in practice is an interview. This is too good to be true, albeit a bit scary. Looking forward to March when I'll be visiting both schools.

Sulphur, your situation strikes me as really similar to mine! I'm an international applicant as well and I had to juggle my applications with a part-time job, grant applications and an experimental thesis. I had hardly any time to prepare for the GRE as I had to work full-time all summer (I am a self-funded student with only a partial scholarship that is actually a tuition loan...) and so my scores weren't great, although lucklily they weren't terrible either. I've also seen the interview invites from NYU which is one of the schools I applied to and they didn't contact me either. From what I read on forums from previous years, it seems that not all accepted applicants must go through an interview, so there is still some scope for hope. Personally, I interpreted their silence as a tacit rejection. The same applies to Brown which seems to have already sent all their interview invites. I've had no word from UCSD or Berkeley yet but they usually get in touch with applicants in (early) February, so there is no need to panic. I hope your UMich interview goes well, it's an amazing school!

Not necessarily, I think. If you have a closer look at the results from previous years you'll notice that some schools do not send all invites on the same day and some in fact take more than a week between the first and the last invite (at least if the dates reported on the results board are to be trusted). So don't lose hope!

I got my results by email from the admissions officer (and POI) with the official letter from the Graduate School attached in a PDF file. Hopefully you'll have some good news soon. Good luck!

Hi everyone! So...any news? So far I've got an acceptance from Northwestern. Very happy! I've seen two interview invites from NYU Linguistics on the results page. Do you know if all the invites have been sent? Best of luck to everyone!

Wow! Thank you both for your detailed replies! I've got a much clearer picture of what to expect now.

I've had a look at the results search engine and noticed that some universities organize admissions interviews, but there doesn't seem to be a single method (and even a stage of the application process) to interview candidates. I'd be curious to find out more about the interview process and to hear your stories (or expectations). 1. Do all universities interview candidates? I am particularly interested in the ones I've applied to but others might find it useful to find out about any other schools you might know of. 2. What kind of questions are asked during an interview? Which universities choose to interview candidates in person and which prefer/allow a phone/skype call? Does it make a difference? 3. What happens when you're an international applicant? These are quite a few questions but if you can answer at least one/some of them, that would still be great! Thanks in advance.

I'm sure a 25-page paper will suffice, but if your second sample allows the adcom to see you from a different angle and displays an additional set of skills and interests, then I think it can only work to your advantage! I've applied to Brown, Northwestern, NYU, Stanford, UC Berkley, UC San Diego, and USC. I'm mostly interested in phonology and psycholinguistics, but I am also quite passionate about endangered languages. Where are you all applying and what are you hoping to specialize in?