My chances of getting accepted into a PhD program

[jtsai2]

I'm a part-time MA student with GPA 3.67 but I've only taken 15 units so far. I only have an equivalent of a minor in Linguistics as of now since my B.A. is in Business and I had to take Ling prerequisites when I started my MA. However, I grew up in two different countries being able to speak at least three languages fluently, taught EFL in Taiwan for four years, was a research assistant for a speech annotation project for two semesters and I feel like I have a strong sample research paper on "Motivation in Acculturation and SLA" to submit with my application. I have a clear idea of what research area I'm interested in so I really want to just get into a PhD program and start doing research already. I'm planning on taking a shot at applying for PhD programs for Fall, 2018(before I finish my MA). The schools I'm considering on applying are UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis since there are currently grad students and professors doing research related to my topics of interest(also hoping not to move too far away from the bay area/Northern California). I'm open to other options as well, but just really curious on how strong my application actually look like to people in the field and if it actually makes sense to apply before I finish my MA. 

*I'm taking the GRE in September and I don't think I have to worry too much about being able to get recommendation letters.

Hope I can get some insights here, I would be really grateful.

 

 

[humidz]

Linguistics is a small field where people actually take the time to read your sample writing. So if you feel yours is strong, you are certain about your LORs, and you can make a convincing point in your SOP, the other things don't matter much. Many people in linguistics don't have a CV that clearly focused on the field from the start and that's fine. We need different research perspectives. Can't help you much regarding SLA, as that is a field that is occasionally closer to Psych than Ling, but in general, I'd recommend working on your sample writing. The rest will fall into place. Lots of people apply in the last MA year, that's quite normal.

Good luck!