Linguistics 2010!

[fuzzylogician]

I'm curious, is there anyone around here applying to linguistics programs for fall 2010?

[psycholinguist]

I am! w00t! Anyone want to join me? * grins *

[pangur-ban]

I am going in for a second round.

How are you finding MIT and living in the Boston area, fuzzylogician?

[fuzzylogician]

Hey, good(?) to see you again!

How are you finding MIT and living in the Boston area, fuzzylogician?

Well, school is exhausting, but in a good way. So far I'm pleased that my ug was apparently very thorough, because I've seen everything we've covered so far at least once before. That makes my life considerably better than some of my cohort, who haven't had as extensive of an exposure as I have. Still, we go deeper and faster than we did at my ug and I'm grateful for the possibility to have some very smart people tell me what they think about current theories in syntax/semantics/phonology (well, maybe not phonology *sighs*). I think my cohort is great, both as people and as linguists. If you remember my posts from last year, the social environment was what worried me most about going to MIT. Never believe evil rumors people at other schools tell you!

The transition from writing papers, which is pretty much all I've been doing for the past three and a half years, to solving problem sets that come at a rate of at least one a week per subject hasn't been easy. I'm looking forward to going back to doing actual research. They tell me that starts in the second semester of 1st year, which I guess is not that long a time to wait. On the upside, I've been accepted to NELS this year and I'm working on an article I've been invited to write before I started MIT, so life is overall good.

Cambridge is a great city to live in, I'm very happy with my choice. Boston? uh, the airport and bus station seemed nice... the first weeks here I was busy getting my life moved over from overseas and didn't have time to explore my surroundings. As I start getting visitors, though, I start going out with them and seeing parts of the city. So far, I like what I see. The weather right now is what I would almost call "winter", but here they insist on calling it "autumn" and saying it's going to get much colder...not looking forward to that (or to the money I'll have to spend on boots/clothes/coats to keep myself from freezing). But, I have it on good authority that it's possible to survive the winter even if you're not used to it. I guess we'll see soon enough

[psycholinguist]

I am going in for a second round.

How are you finding MIT and living in the Boston area, fuzzylogician?

Hey, welcome back! Those programs had better watch out for us now that we'll have an extra degree each. Heh heh heh.

The weather right now is what I would almost call "winter", but here they insist on calling it "autumn" and saying it's going to get much colder...not looking forward to that (or to the money I'll have to spend on boots/clothes/coats to keep myself from freezing). But, I have it on good authority that it's possible to survive the winter even if you're not used to it. I guess we'll see soon enough

Yeah, I survived my first real winter in 2005-06!* You definitely have to invest in some warm layers, but once you do, being outside really isn't that bad. And snow can be really pretty, at least before the annual point at which you get totally sick of it. * grins *

* I also survived a few in later years, but that was reportedly considered somewhat less impressive.

[fuzzylogician]

Yeah, I survived my first real winter in 2005-06!* You definitely have to invest in some warm layers, but once you do, being outside really isn't that bad. And snow can be really pretty, at least before the annual point at which you get totally sick of it. * grins *

* I also survived a few in later years, but that was reportedly considered somewhat less impressive.

I still get excited every time I see snow...they assure me that'll pass soon enough too

[pangur-ban]

fuzzylogician: I'm glad to hear it's going well! I was just in Cambridge over the weekend for a Celtic conference at Harvard and I thought of you (which is funny, as we are only barely acquainted even as people on forums go, but all your posts and your being at MIT help you stick in the memory, I'm sure. ) It is hard to do problem sets again. I was at the LSA summer institute and had to do some. They seem so easy and annoying that I don't take them very seriously, and then I'm upset if I don't get perfect marks. *sigh*

My sister lives in Boston and she says the winters are disgustingly mushy, rather than the snowy ones we're used to here in Wisconsin. Definitely spring for a good pair of waterproof, highish boots, even if you get a cheaper coat and clothes. (Or, better yet: stock up on layers of longsleeved shirts, sweaters, and maybe long-underwear, which you can use in spring and autumn too, then just get a plain wool coat or something for the worst part of winter.)

psycholinguist: Yeah! I'm going into this much better prepared this time, on every level (at least, the ones I can help...) so I'm hoping for better results. I'm in the middle of contacting programs and narrowing down my list now.

[psycholinguist]

fuzzylogician: I'm glad to hear it's going well! I was just in Cambridge over the weekend for a Celtic conference at Harvard and I thought of you (which is funny, as we are only barely acquainted even as people on forums go, but all your posts and your being at MIT help you stick in the memory, I'm sure. ) It is hard to do problem sets again. I was at the LSA summer institute and had to do some. They seem so easy and annoying that I don't take them very seriously, and then I'm upset if I don't get perfect marks. *sigh*

Heh. If it's any consolation, when I learned that I'm set to go to Boston in November for Psychonomics, I thought of fuzzylogician immediately. * grins *

psycholinguist: Yeah! I'm going into this much better prepared this time, on every level (at least, the ones I can help...) so I'm hoping for better results. I'm in the middle of contacting programs and narrowing down my list now.

Yep, same here! I mean, I actually know which field I want to go into now! That should help, right? * laughs * And I'm now aware that I want to specialise in language-change. The only problem is that, having narrowed things down so much, I can only think of three (maybe four) schools that I really, really want to apply to. But then, with better statistics (my senior year pulled my GPA up a bit), a completed undergrad thesis, more time to devote to applications, and a way better idea of what the absolute heck I'm doing this year (and hence immeasurably stronger SOPs), I'm hoping my chances will be much improved. We'll see.

How's Wisconsin been, incidentally?

[pangur-ban]

Language change, eh? I wonder if we're applying to any of the same places then. I'm realizing I want to do a mix of historical and theoretical linguistics, so I'm adjusting my list appropriately. I'm also less interested in traditional Indo-European linguistics, and am trying to work Japanese back into things.

Wisconsin is good. It's just beginning to get cold, so it's prime apple season. School is going well too. I'm trying to do a 2-year MA in one year, so it may get crazy, but it seems achievable, overall. I'm learning a lot of the basics that I would know if I'd majored in linguistics in undergrad, so that is very worthwhile, as much as I might prefer to be focusing on my own research interests already. Plus there is this research methods course here that is basically a "start your thesis" course and it covers all sorts of things like how to submit to conferences, how to present, and so on, that I'd rather learn about here than by messing up horribly at my first attempt.

You're at Waterloo, was it? How's that going?

[psycholinguist]

Yeah. I'd call myself a sociolinguist, except I'm more interested in looking at language-change from a historical/theoretical perspective than a social or sociological one. I'm very interested in syntactic and semantic shifts in present-day English (and, to a lesser extent, French), but I'd much rather look at them thinking about the theoretical underpinnings and historical precedents (if any) than what they might imply about social groups and identities and stigmas, or what people are trying to express by saying this or that.

Waterloo is fine, thanks! To my surprise, last year's dilemma of which field I wanted to do my Ph.D. in was resolved within four days of starting the psychology MA: I immediately started missing linguistics like crazy. I'm sticking around to finish the MA, since I want the background in statistics and experimental design in case I still ever decide to do any psycholinguistic-y things over the course of my career (probable), but I'm also completing it in a year (there's not much coursework, and, more importantly, I'm feeling a bit impatient...heh). Yes, I'm very interested in perception and cognition, but I'm finding I'm not all that fond of doing research in it, whereas working on my undergrad thesis was so exciting that it was what persuaded me to go into academia. However, I've figured out from my BA that I love linguistics, and from this MA that I love the grad-student experience. And now I can't wait to combine them! * grins *

I totally hear you about the learning-the-basics here! I like that I'm making all of the clueless-first-time-TA mistakes (such as going out and buying the textbook, unaware that there was already a copy put aside for me) here, so I'll know better from now on, once it's more important.

I'm applying primarily to Canadian schools, since a) my top choice is in Canada, and it makes my life a bit easier. I did my BA in the States and had a fantastic time, but things such as banking and payroll and taxes and sending packages across the border were a pain in the rear-end.

[pangur-ban]

Ooh, your research interests sound really awesome. Who is working on that kind of thing now? I think I'm going to stay in the US, for similar reasons to yours for staying in Canada, though I do get tempted by Cambridge, and to a lesser degree, by Concordia (all for Mark Hale).

Heh, I've never been a TA, so I don't think I would've known about the textbook thing. It makes sense though -- I'd be pretty annoyed if I had to buy a book for a course I was TAing. It sounds like you're having a good time then.

[psycholinguist]

Thanks! I've mainly been looking at Charles Boberg at McGill, Sali Tagliamonte and J. K. Chambers at the University of Toronto, and Jeff Tennant at the University of Western Ontario.

Heh, I always forget that Mark Hale is in Canada! Montr

[pangur-ban]

Hmm, cool. I've been poking around McGill and Toronto a bit as well, and I may have to look up some papers by those people, if I need a break from reading papers by other people. My main concern with Concordia is that the rest of the department doesn't look that exciting (?) and I'm not sure I can justify applying just because I like Mark Hale. I took his course at the LSA over the summer though, and he changed the way I look at historical linguistics.

Cornell is totally one of my top choices for those very reasons. I'm very interested in Santa Cruz and Berkeley as well.

[psycholinguist]

Concordia's department is kind of decentralised, as I understand it. And yeah, not particularly well-known aside from Hale, although that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Aha. Well, if you need any advice about the Cornell linguistics-department (or Ithaca in general), let me know; I just spent three and a half years in it, after all! * grins *

I know three people at Santa Cruz. They're all really enjoying the program, though I get the impression that it's pretty syntax-heavy. Heh.

[fuzzylogician]

awww, it's so nice you guys thought of me!

[pangur-ban]

Oh dear god, they've changed the layout. My first thought upon seeing it was that the site had been hacked. Looks snazzy though.

I didn't realize you'd been at Cornell, psycholinguist! I will definitely keep you in mind for any questions I may have. I hung out with a handful of Cornell grad students at the LSA institute, so I heard all sorts of things about the program from them, but I'm sure more questions will come up.

Santa Cruz does seem very syntax and semantics heavy, but I think I can deal with it since they have such awesome phonologists. Plus, there's a chance it'd have more Irish syntax than most programs, and I do enjoy that. And Japanese syntax, and any language that isn't English, really... Plus, if I continue to be interested in clitics, as I am now, it gets to be a phonology/morphology/syntax interface problem, so it would be good to have a strong background across the board.

I suppose an answer to the Concordia question would be to email Hale and ask him. I'd feel better about that if my final paper for his class hadn't been so boring and pointless.

Fuzzylogician: We are fantastically nice human beings. Surprising there aren't more of us here yet. There was a good group last year, but maybe it's just still early.

[psycholinguist]

I didn't realize you'd been at Cornell, psycholinguist! I will definitely keep you in mind for any questions I may have. I hung out with a handful of Cornell grad students at the LSA institute, so I heard all sorts of things about the program from them, but I'm sure more questions will come up.

Ah, well then, you've got plenty of contacts! And ones who actually know something about their graduate program, as I don't. * grins * The LSA institute sounded really fun, but I needed the summer off after my ridiculously intense senior year. Am vaguely hoping to make it to the next one, though; we'll see.

Santa Cruz does seem very syntax and semantics heavy, but I think I can deal with it since they have such awesome phonologists. Plus, there's a chance it'd have more Irish syntax than most programs, and I do enjoy that. And Japanese syntax, and any language that isn't English, really... Plus, if I continue to be interested in clitics, as I am now, it gets to be a phonology/morphology/syntax interface problem, so it would be good to have a strong background across the board.

Heh. If you like clitics, you're probably just fine! (There are some times when I love being a linguist simply because we can say things such as 'I like clitics'. * laughs *)

Fuzzylogician: We are fantastically nice human beings. Surprising there aren't more of us here yet. There was a good group last year, but maybe it's just still early.

w00t. Since happiness is being a linguist, we're so happy that we just exude friendliness. And then get all excited when we use words such as 'exude'.

[pangur-ban]

And now I've killed the linguistics forum by not responding... Oops.

The LSA institute sounded really fun, but I needed the summer off after my ridiculously intense senior year. Am vaguely hoping to make it to the next one, though; we'll see.

It was really fun. I hope to go next time as well, but apparently fellowships are harder to get if you've been before, and who knows if I'll have money in two years. Though it'll be in Colorado or someplace, so it should be cheaper than the bay area, at least. And less distracting. >_>

Heh. If you like clitics, you're probably just fine! (There are some times when I love being a linguist simply because we can say things such as 'I like clitics'. * laughs *)

I know, right? Several of my LSA buddies made me join Twitter, so now I read every pervy sentence they come across in their linguistics readings.

[ColorlessGreen]

Hello, this is my first year applying! I'm interested in phonetics and phonology, and I'm applying to Indiana, Iowa, UMass, and Stanford (I'm not hopeful about getting into either UMass or Stanford, but it seems worth a try regardless). I'm glad to meet you all, and good luck to everyone applying this year!

[psycholinguist]

Welcome!

[pangur-ban]

Hi! Yay phonetics and phonology! (Well, more yay phonology. )

[ColorlessGreen]

Hi, guys! I'm really excited to be applying this year. Hopefully we'll all get into the schools we want!

[LinguistK]

I'm applying too! Only at Ohio State. I'm into dialectology and am hoping to study African American Vernacular English in Columbus and possibly Cleveland.

[ColorlessGreen]

I'm applying too! Only at Ohio State. I'm into dialectology and am hoping to study African American Vernacular English in Columbus and possibly Cleveland.

Awesome! Best of luck to you.

[Smaudge]

Hello everyone!

I'm applying to all Boston-area programs. Does anyone know if the top schools expect students to already have Master's degrees or published research?