<p>I'm currently an econ major at a top 10 LAC who's fluent in 4 languages(Mandarin, English, French, Russian) and I'm extremely interested in linguistics, especially psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics, but my college doesn't offer a major in linguistics. Do I have any chances for top linguistics PhD programs? What should I do to prepare for my application?</p>
<p>Probably not. Linguistics isn’t just the study of languages, but the study of the structure of human language and meaning. Particularly in psycho/sociolinguistics, it goes a lot deeper than just knowing and understanding multiple languages - it’s about understanding how languages help people process and convey meaning about the worlds around them. Most linguistics PhD students have a linguistics undergrad degree, or they have taken some linguistics classes and maybe majored in psychology or sociology.</p>
<p>If you have no background - including no classes and no research experience - you are not a competitive candidate for any PhD program, let alone top ones. But here’s what you should do:</p>
<ol>
<li>Are there any linguistics-related classes at your college, or at a nearby university? Take those.</li>
<li>Take some classes in sociology and psychology. In psychology, especially relevant classes may be cognitive psychology and perception. Some psych departments have undergrad classes on language processing and related subjects.</li>
<li>Are there any psychology, sociology, or professors in other departments (biology, cognitive science, computer science, neuroscience, etc.) doing research on issues related to linguistics? Ask them if they could use a research assistant. There are a lot of suitable research areas in psychology that relate, like cognition.</li>
</ol>
<p>You may have to apply for a linguistics MA/MS to prepare for a PhD program in the field.</p>
<p>I would go farther than Juillet. It’s not that linguistics isn’t just the study of languages; it’s not at all the study of languages. Linguists often say that asking a linguist how many languages she speaks is like asking a doctor how many diseases she has. </p>
<p>The difficulty for you is in that there are almost no MA programs in the US for linguistics. There are some bachelor’s programs where you can stay an extra year and get an MA. There are PhD programs where you get an MA after a few years. But there are very few dedicated MA programs. I know that there’s one at CUNY…
If you are still not that far into your undergrad career, do the things Juillet suggests. A background in linguistics equivalent to a minor would put you much closer to being in the running for top PhD programs.
If you are close to graduating, then you should probably apply to linguistics MA programs abroad and to domestic MA/MS programs in related fields like Cognitive Science. For the domestic programs, look for one that allows a good number of classes in linguistics.</p>