(no subject)

[hermionemalfoy]

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!

I have an interview at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign!

This is kind of huge, guys. Not only are they a top-ranked Psychology program, but my specialty matches theirs.

OMG OMG OMG

\o/!!!!!!!

Note this does not mean I'm "in" or anything, just that there is hope. OMFG.

Comments

[mad_maudlin]

I'm hoping it's not a fluke. I really don't know. E got a teaching assistantship at UMKC, but they have a big need for grad students willing to take on the required undergrad comp courses so the real professors can teach fun stuff; not so much demand for that in linguistics.

I applied for master's mainly because I don't think my undergrad, bless their little cotton socks, fully prepared me for graduate coursework--I mean, I got away without ever doing a syntax class, if you can believe that. The Ph.D. is the end target, and I think that helps get the funding for the master's, since they assume you'll stay at the school for both.

[hermionemalfoy.livejournal.com]

Woah, no syntax?? It totally makes sense that you applied for master's programs, then. You can gain a much more refined education before heading into the deeper waters. I never considered an undergrad degree could under-prepare students for graduate coursework in the field, but I guess I was just spoiled by the opportunities available to me. Linguistics in general must be tough for funding, even in doctoral programs.

[mad_maudlin]

::epic fail on replies::

Yeah, Truman's linguistics department was only five professors, and some of them taught non-ling courses in other departments; the way it worked was, they had "Topics in Linguistics" and "Advanced Linguistics" as two classes, with rotating focus, that you could take more than once. Except, of course, if you missed one semester's class--like I did with Syntax--it might be two years or more before that topic came around again. I actually brought this up at a university conference with the five profs, and they've been trying to set up at least three rotating-topic classes--which would give every student a chance to do morpholgy, syntax and phonetics/phonology--but they've had problems with turnover that makes it hard to play with the program.