Fall 2014 applications

[KWIKKI]

Hi everyone!

 

I'm from Russia and I am applying for Fall 2014. Any suggestions on PhD programs that focus on discourse analysis?

[mylime]

Hi everyone!

 

I'm from Russia and I am applying for Fall 2014. Any suggestions on PhD programs that focus on discourse analysis?

 

Georgetown is big into discourse analysis, for sure.

[ravenray]

I'm not sure if I should start a new topic or not but I'll put it here and then move it if necessary.  

 

Any recommendations on good schools for applied/second language acquisition or for anything with Native American Linguistics?  

 

I'm planning on applying to MIT and UC Santa Cruz for syntax but since I doubt I'll get in so my back up plan or my real plan depending on how you look at it is Second Language acquisition.  I'll probably apply to UC Davis since I attend there right now and my professor encouraged me to apply.  

[CawingKro]

Howdy! I'm glad I'm not the only one with an absurdly long list of schools (9). My area of interest: the revitalization of languages indigenous to the North American continent. I'll list off my schools, as well as the language I'd study there (I'd rather geographically close to a body of native-language speakers than to go to a particular university majorly far away from any such population). 

 

University of Hawai'i at Manoa (MA)

               -Hawaiian or Hawaiian Sign Language (I have a background in American Sign Language)

University of Montana (MA)

               -Apssalooke (Crow)

University of Oregon (MA)

               -Chinook Wawa, Santiam, Wasco-Wishram, or Tenino

University of Oklahoma (MA in Applied Linguistic Anthropology) 

               -Kiowa (They have a KILLER Native languages program, and you can take Kiowa for foreign language credit)

Eastern Michigan University (MA)

               -Unsure

Northeastern Illinois University (MA--though this school is sort of scraping the bottom of the barrel)

               -Unsure (Though there is an active Native community in and around Chicago)

University of California Santa Barbara (PhD)

               -Unsure (Sadly, there are dozens of endangered languages in CA, so I haven't picked on as yet)

University of Arizona (PhD)

               -Maricopa, Mohave, Jicarilla, or Acoma-Laguna

University of Wisconsin Madison (PhD)

               -Oneida or Menominee 

 

Are there any programs I should take off/add to this behemoth of a list? I'm applying straight from undergrad, so I'm a wee bit nervous (hence the neurotic preparedness)

Edited August 24, 2013 by CawingKro

[racataca]

Howdy! I'm glad I'm not the only one with an absurdly long list of schools (9). My area of interest: the revitalization of languages indigenous to the North American continent. I'll list off my schools, as well as the language I'd study there (I'd rather geographically close to a body of native-language speakers than to go to a particular university majorly far away from any such population). 

 

University of Hawai'i at Manoa (MA)

               -Hawaiian or Hawaiian Sign Language (I have a background in American Sign Language)

University of Montana (MA)

               -Apssalooke (Crow)

University of Oregon (MA)

               -Chinook Wawa, Santiam, Wasco-Wishram, or Tenino

University of Oklahoma (MA in Applied Linguistic Anthropology) 

               -Kiowa (They have a KILLER Native languages program, and you can take Kiowa for foreign language credit)

Eastern Michigan University (MA)

               -Unsure

Northeastern Illinois University (MA--though this school is sort of scraping the bottom of the barrel)

               -Unsure (Though there is an active Native community in and around Chicago)

University of California Santa Barbara (PhD)

               -Unsure (Sadly, there are dozens of endangered languages in CA, so I haven't picked on as yet)

University of Arizona (PhD)

               -Maricopa, Mohave, Jicarilla, or Acoma-Laguna

University of Wisconsin Madison (PhD)

               -Oneida or Menominee 

 

Are there any programs I should take off/add to this behemoth of a list? I'm applying straight from undergrad, so I'm a wee bit nervous (hence the neurotic preparedness)

 

Too many people discount NEIU because of its admissions requirements and fairly open admissions policy; I'm a current student there, who will probably be applying to PhD programs to study identity construction/discourse analysis, and I can say that the faculty here are some of the most supportive, knowledgeable people I know and that you truly get from the program exactly what you put into it.  As an attendee at a school that "scrapes the bottom of the barrel," I have been invited to international conferences around the country to present work I've done under the guidance of my mentors in this program.

 

If you're going straight from undergrad and want a comprehensive MA that greatly prepares you for higher levels of study, on top of the fact that it's incredibly affordable, then I would recommend NEIU easily.  I see you're interested in Native Language Preservation and it's really too bad that you missed John Boyle, who just left this semester, as he is a leader in the field. 

[pulp]

hey everyone. I'm so glad that I saw this before I applied. I also have a long list of schools. I am an undergraduate major in English in China. I have done some research work with my teachers in second language acquisition and metacognition. My writing sample is about synatic metacognitive knowledge and monitoring. My major interest is in language acquisition, and I'm also interested in computational modeling and morphology.

I've searched schools and I found that metacognition or language acquisition belongs to different department in different schools, sometimes in linguistics, sometimes in education and sometimes in psychology. One of my most fit SOP is in Columbia Psychology Department. I'm hesitating applying it because I'm afraid the competition would be fierce and I will fail.

My TOEFL is 103 and GRE V 159, Q 163. My GPA is 85/100.

John Hopkins

Northwestern

U of Massachusetts

U of Maryland

U of Pennsylvania (Education)

Purdue

Carnage Mellon (they have an independent SLA program! but master degree is encouraged to application. I think I will be considered as master application if I apply.)

Columbia

USC

Cornell

U of Chicago

I plan to email POI of each school to shorten my list. Any good advice?? Thanks so much!

[Snuffleupagus]

hey everyone. I'm so glad that I saw this before I applied. I also have a long list of schools. I am an undergraduate major in English in China. I have done some research work with my teachers in second language acquisition and metacognition. My writing sample is about synatic metacognitive knowledge and monitoring. My major interest is in language acquisition, and I'm also interested in computational modeling and morphology.

I've searched schools and I found that metacognition or language acquisition belongs to different department in different schools, sometimes in linguistics, sometimes in education and sometimes in psychology. One of my most fit SOP is in Columbia Psychology Department. I'm hesitating applying it because I'm afraid the competition would be fierce and I will fail.

My TOEFL is 103 and GRE V 159, Q 163. My GPA is 85/100.

John Hopkins

Northwestern

U of Massachusetts

U of Maryland

U of Pennsylvania (Education)

Purdue

Carnage Mellon (they have an independent SLA program! but master degree is encouraged to application. I think I will be considered as master application if I apply.)

Columbia

USC

Cornell

U of Chicago

I plan to email POI of each school to shorten my list. Any good advice?? Thanks so much!

 

 

I think if you are really interested in SLA you should try to find schools that have a department independent of Linguistics or Education.  Yes, I know that also severely limits your options.  UMD is one example, but I am not certain or how many others on your list would fit the criteria.  Good Luck! 

[ἠφανισμένος]

There are quite a few people working in SLA in the linguistics department and others at UIUC.  Might be worth a look.

[JD - (0)]

Ok, you guys seems to be tremendously supportive, and helpful to each other. Love your comments, as well as your dedication to the linguistics field. Anyhow, I am currently applying for my PhD in Linguistics, with a concentration in Lexicography. Maybe I am looking at it from the wrong perspective, however, I am not able to find any school that has this program. My current project is an monolingual agricultural lexic in Haitian Creole.

Do you guys have any suggestions.

I am currently looking at

Indiana U. Bloomington, and Uof Florida

Edited October 13, 2013 by Jodth07

[GeoLing]

University of Hawai'i at Manoa has Robert Blust and Kenneth Rehg, who have both done a lot of work on lexicography in terms of language documentation. We also have the Sato Center for Pidgin and Creole studies.

 

Wish I knew more!

[JD - (0)]

Thank you. I will look into that. 

I also have found that Indiana State U. has a lexicographical studies department, ( though I was not able to find much about it) but Indiana U. have many theses and papers written on Creole lexicography, however, don't have a lexicography program. 

 

Any  idea on the linguistics department at either/both of these schools?

[subkitten]

Hello! I guess I'm a little late to the game but I'm planning on applying for phd programs in the syntax of language acquisition and psycholinguistics in general.

stats:

total gpa: 3.57

major gpa: 3.63

3 years as a research assistant in an eyetracking lab

GRE

quant: 158

verbal: 161

written: 4.5

Applying to:

JHU, UMD, Cornell and UMass

 

I suppose I should have backups but I'm really picky about where I'll end up living/what research the schools are doing.  Plus SO EXPENSIVE.  Am I crazy to not apply anywhere else? I think i'll probably apply to my schools masters as a back up (ucsc) and then try again after that? Thoughts?

Edited October 17, 2013 by subkitten

[wardword]

3.6 GPA

3 years experience in a language lab

TESOL certified

Graduating a year early from an unknown, non-prestigious state university
GRE: V:170 Q:154 W: 5.5

 

I'm interested in sociolinguistics, (primarily language bias, language ideology, and legal language) and linguistics technology.

 

I'm applying to North Carolina State University, George Mason, Old Dominion University, and SUNY Buffalo. I really, really do not want to apply to any Top 15 schools because I know my low GPA and my school's name will just absolutely knock me out of every pile.

Does anyone know of any other mid-tier schools that focus on sociolinguistics?

Edited November 1, 2013 by wardword

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

3.6 GPA3 years experience in a language labTESOL certifiedGraduating a year early from an unknown, non-prestigious state universityGRE: V:170 Q:154 W: 5.5 I'm interested in sociolinguistics, (primarily language bias, language ideology, and legal language) and linguistics technology. I'm applying to North Carolina State University, George Mason, Old Dominion University, and SUNY Buffalo. I really, really do not want to apply to any Top 15 schools because I know my low GPA and my school's name will just absolutely knock me out of every pile.Does anyone know of any other mid-tier schools that focus on sociolinguistics?

I don't think you have a low GPA. Anyway, you mentioned legal language and I was just curious, have you ever heard if forensic linguistics? I have a friend who just finished her MA in it at Hofstra. I think it's the only program in the country.

[LinguisticMystic]

NCSU is far from a mid-tier sociolx program for only having an MA!

[wardword]

NCSU is far from a mid-tier sociolx program for only having an MA!

 

I'm confused what you're trying to imply. They're top-tier? They're low-tier because they only have an MA program? (They do have a Sociolinguistics concentration PhD which is why I'm asking for clarification.) I like the feel of the NCSU program a lot and they've got great professors, but I know absolutely nothing about the school and assumed it took a seat behind UNC Chapel Hill and Duke.

 

 

I don't think you have a low GPA. Anyway, you mentioned legal language and I was just curious, have you ever heard if forensic linguistics? I have a friend who just finished her MA in it at Hofstra. I think it's the only program in the country.

 

Thanks for the suggestion! I looked at Hofstra and it looks really cool. I'm emailing someone I know at Hofstra now to get more information because the forensic linguistics program looks like it has a lot of my same interests.

[LinguisticMystic]

I meant NCSU's MA program is a very good one is all. The sociolinguistics PhD is only a concentration within the sociology department and it's only been around for less than a year, so I don't really know how that will turn out. Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill don't have PhD programs anymore; only UNC-Chapel Hill still has an MA program and it's not really comparable to NCSU.

[vickysophie]

Hello Everyone,

 

I am about to start a last-minute PhD application marathon and would be grateful for your opinions on whether this makes sense at all.

 

I hold a BA in Political Science and a BA in English and American Study (a joint degree in Literature and Linguistics) from the University of Vienna - both with distinction - and now just completed an MA in Sociocultural Linguistics in London (also with distinction). As you can tell from the title of my MA, i am mostly, but not exclusively, interested in social aspects of language, used Critical Discourse and Conversation Analysis, but have also worked quantitatively with corpora.

 

In terms of tests, i scored 119 on the TOEFL, but have not taken the GRE yet. I will take it on Saturday and expect to score in the lower 160s in both parts.
 

In terms of Universities i would like to apply to I will - unfortunately - have to rule out UCSB and Boulder because their deadlines are too early. 

 

In addition to those, I would be interested in:

- Berkeley

- Georgetown

- University of Pennsylvania

- University of Michigan

- UC Davis

- CUNY grad school

- and the Sociology program with Sociolinguistics specialization at North Carolina State University
 

I would be thankful for any comments on these schools and my chances to get in with so little preparation. Also, re personal statement: how precise should one's research interest etc. be? is it enough to say, f.e.: "I would like to look into the role of language in the social construction of (gendered/disability/ethnic) identities" and possibly bring in potential methodological and theoretical frameworks?

 

Thank you!!!

Edited November 17, 2013 by vickysophie

[KWIKKI]

Hey Vickysophie! I am glad there is someone here who is interested in language and identity! I am also applying to Georgetown and university of Michigan. Where are you from?

[ravenray]

Hi Vickie! 

 

I'm an undergrad at UC Davis right now and I know Vai Rathmanathon does research in language and disabilities.  She is a fantastic professor so I would check her out.

[lzs]

Stanford has a sociophonetician who works on the construction of gender and sexuality. Also, I'm curious who you want to work with at Berkeley -- since Robin Lakoff retired their linguistics department doesn't really do much language and gender etc.

[vickysophie]

thanks for the kind replies. where i will eventually apply will also depend on the gre which i will take on saturday (fingers crossed).
Decaf you are probably right about berkeley - i basically had in on my list because it "produced" such amazing people like Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall.

And thanks for the UC Davis - tipp. I had the school on my list because of their general curriculum and agenda but hadn't looked at the staff profiles yet. so, yes, someone working on language and disability would certainly be a great plus. Since you are a student there, would you recommend the university and the department? how is the atmosphere?
 

[SpiralingSchwas]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently finalizing my submissions for a few M.A./MSc programs and am looking for a bit of last minute advice.
I am a recent graduate with a B.A. in linguistics, concentration in psycholinguistics. My research interests broadly involve lexical access, semantics, pragmatics, L1 language acquisition and, of course, psycholinguistics.
I am primarily interested in acquiring a masters degree at this time, but may consider pursuing a PhD in the future.
As of right now I am applying to McMaster University, Edinburgh and the University of York.

In my search, I found very few psycholinguistics terminal masters in the US. However, I was considering on applying to a few schools with continuing masters into PhD. Do any of you know of any schools in the US that have this sort of program? I'm certain I want a masters degree before pursuing doctoral study.

Also, do any of you know about the programs I listed above? McMaster's Cognitive Studies of Language program really caught my attention, but it appears as if few people I've talked to recognize the school? Does anyone know if it is a well respected program? Any other programs in US or abroad to check out?

Thanks in advance! Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Edited November 21, 2013 by SpiralingSchwas

[antecedent]

I just finished my MSc in Edinburgh. The department is awesome and super interdisciplinary, and while I didn't do a psycholinguistics degree I did a psycholinguistic project for my dissertation. PM me if you have any specific questions. 

[antecedent]

Ok guys I've just submitted my first application. Eek! I hope to have them all done by December 8th (though it might be more like December 15th) so it's all coming to an end soon

 

Does anyone else get super nervous hitting the submit button? I've looked over my materials hundreds of times and I'm still worried I did something wrong!