Fall 2014 applications

[antecedent]

Hi Everyone,

 

So now that the dust has settled and people are more or less committed for next year, lets start neurotically planning for the fall! 

 

What schools are you planning on applying to? MA or PhD? Do you still have to take (or, in my case, retake) the GRE?

 

General application excitement/dread/banter/questions here!

[antecedent]

I started this thread cause I'm jealous of the Lit/Rhet/Comp thread that already has like 14 pages. So I'll start:

 

Schools:

 

For sure:

Stanford

UC Santa Cruz

UC Santa Barbara

UC San Diego

University of Arizona

UT Austin

UC Davis

SFU

 

Maybe/Probably

UC Berkeley

USC

University of Washington

University of Oregon

 

I'm interested in syntax and its interfaces, with an emphasis on syntax and pragmatics and ambiguity resolution generally. I've been working a lot on ellipsis this year, and dabbling with psycholinguistics too, so we'll see where this all goes! Clearly I'm trying to stay in the Western U.S. I'll be applying for a PhD as I'm doing an MSc in Scotland right now.

[ConGrUenCy]

Oops, sorry, didn't see this was in linguistics.

Edited April 21, 2013 by ConGrUenCy

[fuzzylogician]

I'm interested in syntax and its interfaces, with an emphasis on syntax and pragmatics and ambiguity resolution generally. I've been working a lot on ellipsis this year, and dabbling with psycholinguistics too, so we'll see where this all goes! Clearly I'm trying to stay in the Western U.S. I'll be applying for a PhD as I'm doing an MSc in Scotland right now.

Not to state the obvious since you already said you want to be in the Western US, but there are great programs you are not considering that sound like they would be great at supporting your interests, including U Chicago, UMass, NYU, MIT, Rutgers.

[goldheartmountaintop]

Also, is SFU Simon Fraser? Why not UBC? UBC is very strong in both syntax and pragmatics!

[antecedent]

Not to state the obvious since you already said you want to be in the Western US, but there are great programs you are not considering that sound like they would be great at supporting your interests, including U Chicago, UMass, NYU, MIT, Rutgers.

 Yeah, unfortunately geography is playing a serious role here, otherwise those schools (plus Northwestern, UMD) would be on there. I guess I could apply to some of the programs back East and see if I get in, but for family reasons I'm not sure if I would be able to go even if I got in. 

 

 

 

Also, is SFU Simon Fraser? Why not UBC? UBC is very strong in both syntax and pragmatics!

Ok yeah, I wasn't sure about UBC! I havent' run into much work that's come out of there and I was confused by their faculty website. I keep hearing UBC is great for these things but I haven't seen much evidence online...I'll give it another look!

[goldheartmountaintop]

 Ok yeah, I wasn't sure about UBC! I havent' run into much work that's come out of there and I was confused by their faculty website. I keep hearing UBC is great for these things but I haven't seen much evidence online...I'll give it another look!

 

PM sent!

[antecedent]

Thanks goldenheartmountaintop and fuzzylogician!

 

As I compile and refine my list, I'm curious how many schools anyone is planning to apply to, or, if you were successful in a previous year, how many schools you did apply to? My perspective is definitely being skewed by studying in the UK where 4-5 applications is considered a lot.

[this_is_a_wug]

Thanks goldenheartmountaintop and fuzzylogician!

 

As I compile and refine my list, I'm curious how many schools anyone is planning to apply to, or, if you were successful in a previous year, how many schools you did apply to? My perspective is definitely being skewed by studying in the UK where 4-5 applications is considered a lot.

 

Here's my story: I applied to 5 schools. After all is said and done, I realize now I applied to too many schools. I have a very narrow topic within my subfield that I want to investigate and looking back, there are really only two or three schools where I could do my research. I didn't feel comfortable only applying to three schools (especially knowing how competitive ling programs are!), so I also added two schools from a larger pool on my list that I knew were less than ideal, but where I felt there was a vague match in terms of research interests.  I was rightfully rejected from these schools, and I realized soon after I just wasted the adcoms' time and my own money by applying. 

 

That being said, ymmv. There isn't a set number of schools you should apply to and in your case, five might be OK.  However, one of the researchers in my subfield basically told me NOT to treat grad school applications like undergrad applications and encouraged me to apply to less schools (my list then was 8 or 9). I'm glad I took his advice. 

 

Long story short: Don't feel bad about applying to a small number of grad schools. Especially on here, you get the sense that you should apply to eight or ten schools, when three might just be perfect. 

 

PS: I also had a list of "definites" and "maybes" at this stage and I ended up not even applying to some on my definite list. If you're anything like me, there is a possibility your list may change as well. 

[busbus]

I'm interested in syntax and its interfaces, with an emphasis on syntax and pragmatics and ambiguity resolution generally. I've been working a lot on ellipsis this year, and dabbling with psycholinguistics too, so we'll see where this all goes! Clearly I'm trying to stay in the Western U.S. I'll be applying for a PhD as I'm doing an MSc in Scotland right now.

 

I know you're trying to stay out west - and I don't blame you, I'm from the west and I miss it terribly - but here at Cornell, the're very much into interfaces. Just putting it out there. :-D

[antecedent]

I know you're trying to stay out west - and I don't blame you, I'm from the west and I miss it terribly - but here at Cornell, the're very much into interfaces. Just putting it out there. :-D

 

Thanks! As I mentioned to fuzzylogician in a PM, I've gotten such an overwhelming amount of encouragement to apply out East (both here and from folks in my current department), I'm hoping to be able to apply to some of them. I will definitely take a closer look at Cornell! 

[LinguisticMystic]

I have the pleasure of looking forward to applying to PhD programs again in the fall as I begin the second year of my MA. I think I'll be much better prepared this time around. Hopefully attending the linguistic institute this summer will help even more, especially in the way of networking. 

[Snuffleupagus]

Thanks goldenheartmountaintop and fuzzylogician!

 

As I compile and refine my list, I'm curious how many schools anyone is planning to apply to, or, if you were successful in a previous year, how many schools you did apply to? My perspective is definitely being skewed by studying in the UK where 4-5 applications is considered a lot.

 

I applied to 3, which I now realize is probably not enough.  I was lucky to have one rejection, one acceptance and one WL. I'd say 4-5 is a good amount. 

[goldheartmountaintop]

I second 4-5. I applied to only two (partly out of sheer laziness) and waiting was TERRIBLE.

[antecedent]

Yikes! So what you're saying is, my plan to apply to like 12 schools is a bit over the top?

 

When it comes down to it, I plan on applying to as many schools with a good research fit as I can afford. If I manage to get a job in September, that really could be 10-12 because there is so much interesting work happening in North America in syntax/pragmatics/psycholinguistics and the syntax interfaces. I guess we'll see how things look in the Fall when I'm compiling the final list...

[goldheartmountaintop]

Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I have found that, both times I applied, I applied to way fewer schools than I had originally planned to. Both times it was some combination of money, effort, time, early application deadlines, school getting in the way, second thoughts on research fit, etc. So I don't think there's really anything wrong with planning to apply to 10-12 schools (and in fact it's a good thing because you'll have done research on all these schools), but you might find once you start writing your applications that certain schools on your list just don't appeal to you anymore, or you just don't want to go through the application process 10-12 times (it's a lot of work!).

[Arezoo]

I have a BA in English Translation and an MA in General linguistics. As there was no Bachelors degree in linguistics at the time i decided to attend the university, and i didn't know i'm a lover of linguistics, I chose English. the minute i started masters, i realize i'm in the right track. I have always had an interest in grammar of my own language (Persian), Arabic, English, and even French. That being said, syntax was my first priority even though i found semantics as being interesting and somehow related to syntax. MY GPAs aren't that stellar (3.8 for BA, and 3.5 for MA without considering two Fs), and my recent TOEFL score is 109. I'm now preparing myself for the GRE, and i will apply for Fall 2014 to at least 10 universities. My area of interest is cognitive linguistics, and i have written my thesis in grammatical voice in the framework of Langacker's cognitive grammar. I will apply to these universities:

 

for PHD:

Johns Hopkins (a long shot, i know)

UCSD

UCSB

Michigan State

Delaware

Rice

SUNY at Buffalo

New Mexico

 

for MA:

UNC-CH 

Colorado at Boulder

UC Davis

 

I would appreciate your helpful comments.

Edited June 2, 2013 by Arezoo

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I'm applying to master's programs in computational linguistics in the U.S. I only found 7 programs that definitely accept master's applicants. Linguistics BA with computer science minor, 4.0 GPA, need to take the GRE.I'm looking at: Washington Brandeis Texas-Austin Indiana Syracuse CUNY Graduate School Georgetown

[antecedent]

I have a BA in English Translation and an MA in General linguistics. As there was no Bachelors degree in linguistics at the time i decided to attend the university, and i didn't know i'm a lover of linguistics, I chose English. the minute i started masters, i realize i'm in the right track. I have always had an interest in grammar of my own language (Persian), Arabic, English, and even French. That being said, syntax was my first priority even though i found semantics as being interesting and somehow related to syntax. MY GPAs aren't that stellar (3.8 for BA, and 3.5 for MA without considering two Fs), and my recent TOEFL score is 109. I'm now preparing myself for the GRE, and i will apply for Fall 2014 to at least 10 universities. My area of interest is cognitive linguistics, and i have written my thesis in grammatical voice in the framework of Langacker's cognitive grammar. I will apply to these universities:

 

for PHD:

Johns Hopkins (a long shot, i know)

UCSD

UCSB

Michigan State

Delaware

Rice

SUNY at Buffalo

New Mexico

 

for MA:

UNC-CH 

Colorado at Boulder

UC Davis

 

I would appreciate your helpful comments.

 

Hey! I don't have anything very helpful to add, I just wanted to say that I'm glad to see someone else with a sub-4.0 GPA applying to American PhD programs. I haven't tried to figure out the conversion yet, but I assume my GPA will also be somewhere around 3.5. I feel pretty good about my application other than my numbers, so I hope my grades won't damage my chances too much. I just registered to retake the GRE in the fall, so we'll see how that goes too...

 

Anyway, good luck!

[NoontimeDreamer]

Hi all!

I'm an undergraduate studying Spanish with a minor in Linguistics (my school does not have a Linguistics BA) and I'll be applying this fall for PhD programs starting in Fall 2014. I'm in the process of finding the schools that best fit my research interests and honestly it seems like the hardest part of the whole process so far!

I'm definitely looking for a strong sociolinguistic program, because the research that I have done and would like to continue working on deals with the intersection of language and sexuality, looking mainly at sociophonetics and perceptions of speaker identity. As part of an undergraduate research project I did some work with the effect of pitch and voice onset time of voiceless stops on the perceptions of male sexuality which I presented at an undergraduate poster symposium. I submitted the research to NWAV on the off chance that I might get accepted to present (I would die of excitement/nerves/giddiness).

So far the programs I'm looking at are Stanford, NYU, and Ohio State. I really like the work that is coming from the faculty there and would love to work with any of them. I am, however, looking to expand my list to probably about 5 or so schools.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for strong US PhD programs in the area of Language and Gender/Sexuality?

 

 

Much Appreciated!

[ligocap]

Hello MoontimeDreamer! I don't know that much about specific sociolinguistics programs, but you could check out the linguistics dept in CU Boulder. They seem to be strong in the area of linguistics and sexuality/gender, too!

[ladyling]

Hi NoontimeDreamer,

 

You might check out the University of Minnesota, too. Ben Munson is in their speech and hearing department and does work that might interest you, but they also have a good linguistics program. I think if you want to expand your list, you might look at programs with a good sociophonetics component more generally, and not *just* ones with an emphasis on language and gender/sexuality.

 

G'luck!

[NoontimeDreamer]

Ligocap- Thanks for the suggestion! I was looking at the work done by Kira Hall and Rebecca Scarborough and it's definitely interesting! In fact, I'm 90% sure I've read something written by Hall before, but I can't seem to find what it was. 

 

ladyling- Thank you for the advice! I definitely agree, I've read a lot of Munson's stuff and I'm really interested in what he does, but I'm not really sure if the linguistics department would be the best fit for me, as I'm leaning towards experimental phonetics/sociophonetics. Would you happen to have any suggestions of other strong sociophonetic programs? I've heard good things about Rice and UCSB.

[ladyling]

Hmm, I don't know much about either of those programs, but then again I'm a theoretical syntactician/semanticist. I have a friend who just went through this application process. He was interested in experimental phonetics/sociophonetics, too, and is ending up at Northwestern (they don't really do socio, but do a LOT of great experimental p-side work). I don't recall everywhere he applied, but I know the other school he was looking at most seriously was UC Berkeley. I think he might've applied to UBC as well. There's a lot of p-side experimental work where I go (UCSC), and *some* sociophonetics thanks to Grant McGuire, but it's not a main focus here. I recommend getting in touch with individuals whose work you like and asking them about how integrated their work is into the programs they're a part of.

[GeoLing]

You might want to look up Katie Drager at the U of Hawaii Manoa. She's done sexuality/gender and runs the sociolinguistics lab at UHM.