Any chance at Yale? If not, how?

[lingrussian]

Hello, everyone. I'm starting to look at graduate school possibilities, and was wondering if you could comment on my choices. First, I'll tell you about myself.

I am finishing up my sophomore year at Ohio State. I'm majoring in linguistics and Russian, and just started minoring in political science.

I have an overall 3.97 GPA.

I am currently working on 2 research projects with one of the phoneticians at OSU (segmenting vowels...nothing fancy). I've done that this past quarter, and will continue working with her next fall.

I plan to start my honors thesis next fall in phonetics, probably involving Russian.

I have kinda high hopes for grad schools (all Ph.D programs). I know I couldn't get in solely with what I listed above, but does anyone have anything specific they could recommend (like presenting research, colloquiums, etc...)?

As of now, I'm really interested in these schools:

- Yale

- M.I.T.

- Stanford

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks!

[Tiercelet]

I have an overall 3.97 GPA. . . I am currently working on 2 research projects with one of the phoneticians at OSU . . . I plan to start my honors thesis . . .

I know I couldn't get in solely with what I listed above . . .

. . . really? Geez, what do you all think it takes these days?

[natsteel]

lingrussian, here's some very general advice: Develop good relationships with multiple professors, i.e., take multiple courses with them, visit their office hours regularly, ask if they need research assistants, etc... A big part of your application will be your letters of recommendation and the better a professor knows you, the more detailed a letter they can write. Also, do as wel you as possibly can on the honors thesis since that will likely end up as your writing sample. For language studies, you might consider a study abroad, as well.

Conference presentations or publications are great, but they aren't expected even at places like Yale. I got in for history with only an undergraduate journal publication (which, in all reality, doesn't count) and no presentations. Just make sure your letters, personal statement, and writing sample are as good as they can be. Other than that, it's something of a crapshoot.

[ZeeMore21]

I really never mean to be rude, but when I come across these kinds of posts, where the OP has stellar grades/scores and other achievements, if the OP is ever being serious with this question. Sorry, just my opinion.

Hello, everyone. I'm starting to look at graduate school possibilities, and was wondering if you could comment on my choices. First, I'll tell you about myself.

I am finishing up my sophomore year at Ohio State. I'm majoring in linguistics and Russian, and just started minoring in political science.

I have an overall 3.97 GPA.

I am currently working on 2 research projects with one of the phoneticians at OSU (segmenting vowels...nothing fancy). I've done that this past quarter, and will continue working with her next fall.

I plan to start my honors thesis next fall in phonetics, probably involving Russian.

I have kinda high hopes for grad schools (all Ph.D programs). I know I couldn't get in solely with what I listed above, but does anyone have anything specific they could recommend (like presenting research, colloquiums, etc...)?

As of now, I'm really interested in these schools:

- Yale

- M.I.T.

- Stanford

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks!