(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]

::waves pompoms for you::

[hermionemalfoy.livejournal.com]

\o/ We shall see. A professor emailed me specifically about how the department paperwork was taking a long time but that she wanted me to hold the weekend because I should be getting good news. w00t.

Dare I ask how your app process is going? Are you applying for PhDs or for masters? I have been in a definite Dark Place about this stuff due to the silence I've been experiencing. Nine (9) schools: (1) accepted without funding; (1) funding but waiting on acceptance; (1) proactive professor pushing a visit with details pending; (1) straight rejection (UPenn).

I guess getting hits from a third is a pretty good rate...

[mad_maudlin]

I applied mostly for master's, and I got one acceptance without funding (yet; though it's in the UK so I have no idea if funding works the same way) and one acceptance with a note that the department head is working on funding, but no specific offers yet. Radio silence from three other schools so far.

[hermionemalfoy.livejournal.com]

Well, master's don't usually include funding, do they? I figure PhD programs only do because they want to use you for your research skillz. Two schools is good because it means it's not a fluke. Right?

I myself have radio silence from five schools, but I can infer two rejections (MIT & Carnegie Mellon) from the silence. CMU had their interviews this past weekend and MIT said that if you hadn't heard from them by mid to late January then you're not getting in. It's pretty stressful. Everyone I talk to says that I should call the departments and the professors to pester them with my ENTHUSIASM AND EXCITEMENT for their school, but I am too chicken to do so.

[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.