Linguistics 2012

[LinguisticMystic]

Just finished & submitted my first two applications. This feeling is definitely motivation to complete the others. So excited!

[radioalfredio]

Hooray! I just submitted my application to UC San Diego! I cut it really close (the deadline is today). One of my letter writers had her car broken into last week and her laptop stolen, so she couldn't submit the letter until yesterday.

Now on to the next set of applications!

[elizabethrose14]

Optional Diversity Statement? Si o no? I can't decide if it's really worth it- I would really just write about growing up as a Mexican American female.. which I suppose is interesting enough. But my real question is, will it really help me, or should I just skip it and focus on looking over my writing sample for the billionth time?

What are you all doing when it comes to this?

[radioalfredio]

I decided to write the essays for the San Diego Fellowship (which are essentially optional diversity statements) because I fit the requirements and there is funding attached to it. I tried to stay focused on my statement of purpose before I worried about the optional essays too much. In the end, I'm not really that happy with how my optional essays for UC San Diego turned out. Oh well. I ran out of time, and I just have a hard time writing about myself. I'll keep working on it for the other schools that ask for one.

I guess my thoughts on the subject are this: as long as the essay isn't absolutely horrible, I don't think it'll hurt your chances, and it should only help enhance your funding opportunities. If working on an optional essay is going to hurt your statement of purpose or other parts of your app., then you should put it on the back burner.

[elizabethrose14]

I feel like I should be able to write a diversity statement pretty quickly, I've talked about those types of things my whole life. But like you said, it's hard to write about oneself, so we'll see. It can't hurt funding though, and I will definitely be needing some funding. I have time today, so that will probably be what I work on.

Also, congrats on completing your first app! Having the first one done will just make the rest easier, now that you have a feel of how it was to finish one.. I have yet to turn any in. Oh well. But I'm excited for you! I'm sure it was great

[LinguisticMystic]

I left the diversity statement for last on my UCSB application because I wasn't sure how to approach it at first. But once I started writing it I figured things out & ended up being pretty satisfied with the end product. Of course it was a required essay, but I'm happy to have written it. So I say give it a shot!

[radioalfredio]

Well, I've now submitted 4 out of my 7 apps. For me, it's gotten easier after the first app. UC San Diego's Dec. 1st deadline kind of forced me to get everything done early. So now I only have Stony Brook, Cornell, UC Davis left. I have to write a personal history essay for UC Davis, so I'll probably leave that app for last. In other news, all of my letters of recommendation are in (except for UMass, which I haven't been able to check yet -- their application is a little old school, and I have to wait for an email with a code from them). Phew!

[elizabethrose14]

University of Chicago, University of Pittsburgh and NYU are finished! These deadlines have quickly approached, especially with the end of the semester in sight. My recommenders have put most of their letters in, so these are all good signs. I still have Georgetown, Yale, and Boston University to go, but I can't decide about the writing sample I want to turn in. I turned in a Cuban dialectology paper for Chicago, Pitt, and NYU, but I'll also have a paper on relative pronouns that I'm considering for the other three. Having them in is a relief, though, at least for the moment. I did have a stressful moment because my computer died a few days ago, and I wasn't sure whether or not tech support would be able to get my documents off. After a little bit of a crying session, I begged tech support to do anything to recover my docs, and they managed to get them off a few hours later. Talk about high stress levels! I'm just lucky I got everything back.

radioalfredio- Good job on getting your stuff in! Good feelings? I know I'm just a little relieved to have stuff done.

[funology]

Awe, I'm so happy to see us all submitting applications. For me UCLA kind of got my in gear with respect to finishing polishing my writing sample (Laboratory phonology thesis proposal, which in its' original draft was a little bit heavier on the laboratory (methods) and less on the phonology).

UCLA & Chicago are in, MIT, Rutgers, UBC, and uMass are left to go. All of their applications seem to have pretty straightforward requirements. UCLA's requirement of a 'list of courses' was useful to get thinking about the other places. I had a little panic attack that my GRE scores weren't sent to Chicago, but they don't start looking at the applications until January, and my scores should be in by then!

uMass is pretty funny for me, as my references haven't gotten any emails from them. I think you have to submit your application then they send out the reference emails. Anyone else have any experience with uMass?

[radioalfredio]

Yay! Good job and good luck everyone!

Funology: I'm applying to UMass too, and yes, you need to submit your application before it releases the letter of recommendation emails to your recommenders. The UMass app is also a little frustrating because you will have to wait a couple business days before they send you a link to your application status, which lists all of the credentials that they've received. Oh, and don't forget to email your writing sample directly to the department. You probably already knew that, but it's a little different than all of the other schools I've been applying too. When I sent my writing sample in, the grad admin. assistant wrote me back "got it," which was reassuring.

[elizabethrose14]

Got all my applications in minus a few recommendations, so I just have to bug my recommenders and get them to submit those things- surely they've seen the e-mails I've sent! I'll resort to phone calls here in a few days! But it's kind of a relief to get all of these in, and to just be waiting. However, now I'm nervous to hear the results! Every time I turn one in, I get discouraged about my chances, and don't feel like I did everything I could to give the best application I could, even though I did. Oh well, I'll be nervous till March.

Congrats guys! Good luck It's good to see all of us moving forward and getting all of these things finished!

[Triple Tall Cappuccino]

Hello, everyone!

I'm so glad I found this section! I am applying to 8 schools in all, specifically for Applied Linguistics and Hispanic Linguistics. I am applying to the following schools:

Georgetown (applied and hispanic)

University of Maryland SLA

UIUC SIP

Carnegie Mellon SLA

CUNY SIP

Harvard

University of Utah

Congrats to everyone on completing their applications! I only have one more. Yaaaay! LOL

Any fellowships you guys are applying to?

Happy new year!

[elizabethrose14]

So, on a scale of 1 to 10, how stressed out should I be if my recommenders don't get my LORs in? I've called them, e-mailed them multiple times, talked to them, they've said they'd submit, but my Georgetown app's due at midnight tonight, and Yale at midnight tomorrow, and still no confirmation e-mails. Ideas/opinions?

[elizabethrose14]

Crisis averted! The colleges sent e-mails to tell the recommenders that they have a few days to submit!

[radioalfredio]

Oh, good! I'm glad to hear that you're no longer in crisis mode, Elizabeth!

I now have one more app to submit. It's for UC Davis, and I'm still trying to iron out the personal history statement, and the sop, as always. Jan. 15th seems very soon. Speaking of which, according to the results page, people started hearing back from UC San Diego about interviews around then last year. Eek!

I also haven't received any confirmation emails from universities, other than the automated emails and online status check pages. One school that I'm applying to says that they will email me, but so far they haven't, so I wrote to their admin. assistant. When I emailed her before with general application questions, she never responded, so I'm thinking that I'll have to get in touch with her on the phone. It's not ideal, because I like to get important information such as "yes, we have all of your transcripts" in writing.

The "waiting it out" phase has almost begun! Good luck, everyone!

[Athenrein]

Hi, fellow aspiring linguists!

I'm interested in morphology, endangered language documentation, and sociolinguistics (esp. language and gender).

I finished applying a couple weeks ago and at first I was just relieved to be done, but now the waiting nerves have set in big time. And I still need one professor to send in letters - all but one of them will be late, but better late than never. I'm so worried that the missing letter will be the cause of a rejection. It was hard for me to get recommenders because I've been out of school for a while, so it's really important that he sends them in - I'm panicking a bit, but trying not to worry too much.

[elizabethrose14]

Hi Triple Tall Cappuccino and Athenrein! Welcome

radioalfredio- I only received confirmation from NYU, they were the only ones who told me stuff was printing etc. Other than that it's all been automated :/ And it's hard for me to believe that people are already beginning to hear back, but I guess that's how it goes! Good luck to you getting everything in

And good luck to everyone! Excited to hear the results!

[Triple Tall Cappuccino]

Thanks!

I know... it's a bit frustrating to see all of these people get their acceptance/rejection letters, and here we are. Waiting. LOL.

Tonight, my heart stopped a little because I received an email from Georgetown (my dream school). Then I saw it was just an automated email saying that I could check my application status online (whether it was complete or not). Mind you, the deadline was over 3 weeks ago. >.<

[elizabethrose14]

Oh you scared me. I was like "THREE WEEKS AGO!?" I'm applying to the Masters program there. The deadline was the 1st haha. I got the same e-mail today.. even though I knew there was no way I would have heard 3 days after the deadline. My dream school too. Maybe we'll see each other there!

[Armadilla]

Guys!I am not applying to linguistics, but I thought I would ask your advice about the Ivy League applications (I presume the deadlines are the same for my field and linguistics, December 31, January 1, January 2). How do you guys know that they received your transcripts and GRE scores?

[wlkwih2]

Hello there

Just wanted to say hi!

I've applied to Harvard, Cornell, MIT, Stanford and Yale (historical linguistics). Let the waiting begin! -.-

:nail biting:

[elizabethrose14]

Armadilla: The only ivy I'm applying to is Yale, but if you log into your application, the first page at the bottom should say what they've gotten. For example, mine says "Application Status: Completed, Application Fee: Received, Recommendations: Complete, Transcripts: (list of transcripts), GRE Scores: Received (official)" hope this helps!

And welcome wlkwih2! Good luck to you!

[wlkwih2]

Yeah, Yale is great, you can see the application status right away. However, there's no chance of doing that in Harvard's application (and Stanford's, I think). MIT's is a bit fuzzy as well. Cornell's like Yale.

Good luck to you all as well. I believe we all deserve it, however it's mostly a game of chance. So, don't let your hopes down!

Also, I sympathize with your mini heart-attacks when you check your e-mail. I cannot function normally anymore.

Edited January 5, 2012 by wlkwih2

[PhDreaming]

Hello!

I'm new to this forum. Took me way to long to figure out how to find it again after my browser suddenly quit but IM BACK!

I will be finishing my M.A. at University of Colorado, Boulder in the Spring and have just submitted my three apps for PhD work. I feel like three is so few compared to some people but there just really isn't anywhere else I want to go at the moment and worst case scenario I can still apply next year (unless the world really does end ).

My school are:

Stanford (to work with Penny Eckert, Rob Podesva and/or Meg Sumner)

Ohio State University (to work with Kathryn Campbell-Kibler)

University of Colorado, Boulder (to work with Kira Hall and Rebecca Scarborough - my current advisors)

Athenrein - looks like we are applying to at least a couple of the same schools!

[radioalfredio]

Hey everyone! This thread has really taken off (at least by Linguistics sub-forum standards).

I've finally submitted all of my applications! Of course, some of the schools still list my apps as incomplete (but other universities have received all of my docs, so I think it might just be a failure to update their website). I'm still nervous though!

I guess it's out of my hands now, so I should just sit back and wait... I hope we all hear some good news soon!