McGill (Qu

[solairne]

I'm currently a junior undergrad and am preparing my application for the 2010-2011 academic year for doctoral programs in linguistics. My number one school is McGill and I was wondering if any of you have information on their accept/reject rates and what successful (and unsuccessful) candidate profiles look like.

I'm going to be graduating with a B.A. in French language and a minor in German language from a known state university in Texas, USA. In spite of graduating with a non-ling degree, I've got a few nice things on my CV: a few prestigious scholarships/grants, department tutor for French, language excellence awards, and I've taken a smattering (maybe 21 hours?) of linguistics related courses that were offered in non-ling fields since my university doesn't have one. The classes were like Syntax of English, French phonology, History of English, Language Analysis and Bilingualism, etc.

I emailed McGill asking, and they said that in my case preparation might be an issue, and if I apply for the PhD program, they might instead offer me the qualifying program (a non-funded 1 year admittance where you take requisite undergrad courses).

I'm trying everything I know of to buff up my CV, trying to get more ling related jobs for next semester, trying to get a paper published, and I'm studying abroad in France and Germany this summer in linguistics programs.

Tl;dr : Tell me about McGill and what I should do.

Thanks...

[verazu]

So which subfield of linguistics are you interested in? And why don't you go to LSA summer school?

[ConceptualMetaphor]

I agree, going to the LSA Institute this summer might be a great idea, especially since you don't have a ling dept at your university - it'll expose you to interesting subfields that you would otherwise miss out on.

I can't say anything about McGill in particular, but linguistics depts really vary on what sort of background they expect you to have. Some do want you to come in with substantial ling training from your undergraduate degree, as you would get from a full linguistics major. Others have a list of "related majors" like anthropology, computer science, cognitive science, and foreign languages who they also encourage to apply, with the understanding that a lot of undergraduate institutions (like yours) don't offer a linguistics degree. So if McGill says that course prep is an issue for them, I would encourage you to make sure you also apply to other departments which suggest they welcome non-ling majors (sometimes more interdisciplinary programs are more "open-minded" in that regard).

Personally, my undergrad doesn't offer a ling degree either, so I did much what you're doing - I made sure to take whatever linguistics-related courses I could find throughout the school and established proof of my academic viability in the (related) fields I did major in. In my SOP I made sure to illustrate that what I lacked in formal preparation I made up for in other ways, especially my persistence in creating a linguistics-related curriculum for myself and seeking out other non-class-based opportunities (e.g., research assistant jobs with professors in ling-related fields). Another really important thing is outside research experience - this can definitely improve the strength of your applications, so if you can continue to work in a lab with the professor (I assume) you wrote your hopefully-published paper with, I would highly suggest doing that. Of course, having a published paper is also a great achievement for an undergrad too. If you can establish your ability to do good independent research, even if it's in a barely-related field, a ling dept is more likely to accept you without an actual ling degree. (My research background is primarily in robotics. Go figure!)

Quite honestly, unless you're *absolutely* dead-set on McGill, if I were you I wouldn't do the un-funded prep year. You can get into a fully funded ling PhD program without an undergrad ling degree!

[solairne]

Thanks for the responses.

LSA institute isn't an option for me since this summer is the only summer that I'd be able to go in time for applications, but I'll be in Europe from May-August with scholarships. I'm going to be studying at a "linguistics institute" in France, though. I'm hoping that will help.

I'm not 100% dead-set on McGill; if a US school gave me entrance to the doctoral program and McGill only gave me entrance to the qualifying year, I would definitely go with the PhD. I'd prefer McGill, however, since it's a fantastic school and is in a French-speaking area.

On the McGill admissions page, it says, "Applications are also invited from students with a background in other disciplines. Strong candidates who do not satisfy all requirements may be required to take additional undergraduate courses. Certain candidates may be admitted to a Qualifying Program which permits them to make up the gaps in their background by taking appropriate undergraduate courses."

So, I'm crossing my fingers and waiting on pins and needles for pretty much 12-13 months. I'm also going to apply to Stanford, Amherst, Rice, NYU, and Colorado @ Boulder. It's really crappy because unlike law school, there is next to no "statistics" for admission.

I've jotted down a few really helpful suggestions from you and other people in different threads, like mentioning my self-motivated study and in the letter of motivation write about a summer study plan and books I'm planning on reading.

I guess I'll just be waiting for a while. :-(

[psycholinguist]

They usually have about a 20% acceptance rate, though it's gone down this year. Can't tell you what they're looking for, aside from the apparent fact that I'm not it. * grins *

[solairne]

They usually have about a 20% acceptance rate, though it's gone down this year. Can't tell you what they're looking for, aside from the apparent fact that I'm not it. * grins *

By "20% going down" do you mean less than or more than 20%?

... :-(

As a denied applicant, do you mind giving me a run down of your qualifications so I can see where I stand in relation?

[psycholinguist]

Apologies. I meant that the acceptance rate is going down; it's getting more selective.

Undergrad college: Top-tier American school

GPA: 3.68

Major: Linguistics (Honours)

Minors: Cognitive Science, Music

Lab-experience: Not a lot. Two semesters of data-organisation at a language-acquisition lab, and one semester of a cognition lab-course.

[solairne]

Apologies. I meant that the acceptance rate is going down; it's getting more selective.

Undergrad college: Top-tier American school

GPA: 3.68

Major: Linguistics (Honours)

Minors: Cognitive Science, Music

Lab-experience: Not a lot. Two semesters of data-organisation at a language-acquisition lab, and one semester of a cognition lab-course.

Hmmm

I'll be looking at about a 3.65 GPA with language degrees from a middle tier American school. I have a lot of scholarships and foreign language related jobs and service, but no real "lab experience."

[ogopogo]

I'm not sure how encouraging this will be, but I've been accepted to the McGill program twice now, so I figured you might want to know what my applications looked like. I don't think you need all this to get in - it's more important that you fit in well with the research agendas of the profs than anything else - but this is what I did:

2002 application: Degree in Ling (4.0 GPA) from a top Canadian school, with one year on exchange at McGill (so I knew some of the profs). I had a couple of (co-authored) conference presentations and published abstracts and 2 years of lab/research assistant work (with national granting council funding in the summers).

2009 application: the above qualifications plus an MA in Ling from a top Canadian school (4.0 GPA) funded by a national granting council. 4 peer-reviewed papers in major publications, one as first author, a bunch of conference presentations, and several years of fieldwork plus teaching at the university level in Canada (language classes) and abroad (linguistics classes). Also, I got in touch with the people I was interested in working with the summer before I applied to remind them that I existed and to sound out the types of research proposals they would support. (This is a very good idea no matter where you are applying!)

Just to note, I think one reason that it's so difficult to get in is that they guarantee a minimum level of funding for all their students for 5 years, so they can only admit as many students as they have the $$ for. The letter I got from them made reference to 'dozens of highly qualified people' and I've noticed that they cap the grad level classes at 10 people on the course listings site so that gives you some idea of acceptance rates. I'd say don't wait around, start reading papers published by McGill faculty and then communicate your enthusiasm for their research to them directly. And honestly, if it were me, I might be okay with taking the qualifying year courses since I can't begin to imagine how difficult the first year would be without that background. Regardless, it is a fantastic place to study, and I wish you the best of luck in your applications.

[solairne]

. Also, I got in touch with the people I was interested in working with the summer before I applied to remind them that I existed and to sound out the types of research proposals they would support. (This is a very good idea no matter where you are applying!)

Thanks for all the advice. I'll definitely start reading articles published by faculty members and start up a conversation over email.

The above quote from you, "sound outresearch proposals they would support," does that mean like finding out what research fields they'd take interest in?

Again, thanks (to everybody) for the good insight!

[ogopogo]

Yeah, that's basically what I meant. I have a bunch of different research interests, they have a bunch of research going on, so I wanted to know which of the things I was considering proposing were things that they thought would complement their research programs. That makes it easy for the graduate admissions committee considering your application to figure out who would be your supervisor, find a good fit for RA work for you, and you can be more confident that that potential supervisor will give you the thumbs up if the committee asks (or if they are on the committee). If your proposal is good, but not related to the things that people are working on and know about, then it would be a lot harder for them to advise you.

[solairne]

Yeah, that's basically what I meant. I have a bunch of different research interests, they have a bunch of research going on, so I wanted to know which of the things I was considering proposing were things that they thought would complement their research programs. That makes it easy for the graduate admissions committee considering your application to figure out who would be your supervisor, find a good fit for RA work for you, and you can be more confident that that potential supervisor will give you the thumbs up if the committee asks (or if they are on the committee). If your proposal is good, but not related to the things that people are working on and know about, then it would be a lot harder for them to advise you.

That's a really really smart idea. How exactly did you get into contact with them? Just send them an email?

I live a few thousand miles away, so I can't really set up an in-person meeting...

[ogopogo]

I went in person, since I was planning on visiting Montreal anyway, but I set up the meeting by just e-mailing the people to tell them that I was considering applying to their department (again), that I was interested in their research, and that I'd like to discuss potential projects with them. I really wanted to do that early in the summer because the big scholarship deadlines are in the fall and it helps your application to have already applied for funding independently. If you are cold calling/e-mailing, then it might be a good idea to include a small amount of background info about yourself, as well as something that demonstrates specific knowledge of their work. Let them know that you have already talked to the graduate advisor too, otherwise they'll probably try to just refer you to her - they are busy people, after all.