<p>i'm thinking about majoring in linguistics, but i doubt if i can really make money after college. how's the job market for linguistics grads? is there really any job out there for those with BA degree (without more advanced degree, such as an MA or PhD)? i read somewhere that even those with bachelor's degree from top schools like harvard have hard time finding jobs in this field.</p>
<p>i'm also totally clueless about choosing the right school. is there any cheap (<$20,000 out-of-state, if that's even possible) school with strong linguistics program?</p>
<p>Enrolling in an out-of-state school is not worth the debt when you can get the same education from an in-state school. Unless you want 80k+ debt without interest.</p>
<p>Just about any BA or BSc is going to land you an insultingly tedious and impertinent job now, where you’ll make ~50k/year. You need to double major or go onto some kind of graduate/professional school if you want to develop your career. If you really do only want a Bachelors, major in engineering, nursing, or accounting.</p>
<p>I’m combining computer science with linguistics so that I can get into computational linguistics after, which is a very lucrative field. You could also teach ESL or do speech-language pathology. ESL requires some sort of teaching certificate, while the other two require a Masters. Other than that, there’s not a lot of (related) directions you can go with a BA in linguistics to make a comfortable living.</p>
<p>totalderiv, there’s no such thing as “in-state school” in my case, cause i’m an international student (on f-1 visa, not a permanent resident of any state). :(</p>
<p>iampos, are you currently attending college? which college do you go to? i’m actually thinking about a career in computational linguistics as well (which is why i’m also considering to major in cognitive science), but i totally suck at programming. lol.</p>
<p>Yes. Majoring in Linguistics is worth it. Especially if you’re into political science or computers. A linguistics major with a minor in Poli. Sci. can get a job in the CIA, defense, consultation, etc.* A linguistics major with a Comp. Sci. minor can get you a job in computer language development. In order to get the to the meat of it, you’ll need a master’s, though, so be prepared to go to grad school.
I spent some time at UMass Amherst in their linguistics program. It’s really great. There’s tons of language options as far as classes go; I think they even have Urdu and Norwegian. I’m not too sure about out-of-state tuition, but it is reasonable. Their honors college, Commonwealth College, is all seminar-based and really nice. They have their own special dorm. Also the giant library is cool. </p>
<p>*The government likes it if you’ve studied a few languages they prescribe. They regularly change it around. Arabic and Turkish are safe bets, if you want to make yourself into a good candidate for a cushy government job :)</p>
<p>Linguistics also happens to tie in well with progressive literacy programs, teaching of English to students with a different first language and the social justice of literacy education. Look at St. John’s University’s English department (New York)–a lot of interesting research is being done in the area of linguistics in terms of how best to teach reading and writing.</p>
<p>Then they wonder why the government spends so much money creating jobs and helping the unemployed find employment. Some people are just as qualified as my big toe.</p>