Linguistics Major =-)

College Search & Selection
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<p>Here are the best programs depending on which area you want to focus on:</p>

<ol>
<li>SYNTAX:................................................................. MIT</li>
<li>PHONOLOGY:............................................................ UMass</li>
<li>SEMANTICS: I don't know really... I guess there is no single best program in that.</li>
<li>MORPHOLOGY: In general good syntax and good phonology means good morphology, but still there is no one dept. that excels in it.</li>
<li>LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (first or second): ...................... McGill </li>
<li>Sociolinguistics .......................................................... UPenn</li>
<li>Neurolinguistics .......................................................... McGill</li>
<li>American Indian Languages .......................................... Berkeley & UBC</li>
</ol>

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<p>I disagree with porpletransience's claim that "for undergraduate, the school itself is more important than any particular program." Obviously, if you want to study linguistics and the top ranked school doesn't have linguistics, you shouldn't go there. Furthermore, I think people do themselves a lamentable disservice if they view the university system as one big hierarchy. Where you decide to go should really reflect who you are and what you want. To this end, I would most certainly put the program before the school's general reputation, if you want the best education you can get (and not just the bragging rights for your parents). As mentioned by others here, it would help to know what your specific interests are, too. </p>

<p>Much has been made of the MIT lingusitics department. But MIT's monopology of the field is well over; in fact, a case could be made that MIT linguistics is now behind the times. In many ways, Chomsky's dominance in the field has been a detrement. He has held back a number of trends that are now pushing to the surface. Other departments now hold the cutting edge in the field. For my money, I would vote for Stanford as the best overall linguistics department in the USA. Stanford is definitely strong in syntax, sociolinguistics, and computational linguistics. It's also on the cutting edge of formalism and experimentation, two of the trends that I just alluded to. You should definitely also check out Ohio State, Northwestern, Chicago, Berkeley, and UCSC. You should still consider MIT if you're interested in syntax and semantics. But if these are your interests, also check out Stanford, UCSC, UMass Amherst, NYU, and Ohio State.</p>

<p>As for UPenn, it is well known for sociolinguistics. But again, a case could be made that it is now behind the times. Much of its reputation was based around Labov. He now has bright students active in many other universities who are taking new and exciting steps in the field. Check out Stanford, Georgetown, and NYU.</p>

<p>UMass Amherst was mentioned for phonology. Someone should really mention Rutgers, too. Since the mid-'90s, "OT" has dominated phonology in the US. And UMass and Rutgers are the places to be for OT. You should also check out UCLA and Berkeley, though. A case could be made that they are better. If you're interested in phonetics, I'd check out Ohio State, Northwestern, Berkeley, UW, UCLA, and Yale.</p>

<p>In any case, I'd recommend you look at the UC schools -- esp. Berkely, UCSC, UCLA, and UCSD. Look at Stanford. Don't pay too much attention to the past glories of MIT and UPenn. Check out Ohio State, Chicago, UMass, and Rutgers. Actually, here's my list of schools you might check out for linguistics in the USA (in alphabetical order):</p>

<p>Berkeley
Brown
Chicago
Cornell
Georgetown
Harvard
Johns Hopkins
MIT
NYU
Northwestern
Ohio State
Reed
Rutgers
Stanford
UArizona
UCLA
UCSC
UCSD
UH
UMASS Amherst
UPenn
USC
UW
Yale</p>

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<p>Oh! And Chicago ... vox suggested that it is over the hill, but this is false. It still has members of its old guard, like John Goldsmith; what else could you ask for?? It also offers some of the most exciting rising stars in linguistics, like Alan Yu. You should definitely consider Chicago for linguistics.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Chicago is not any more good at linguistics.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That sentence is just full of delightful irony. :)</p>

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<p>Great list Linguist! I've been trying to get educated on this subject. </p>

<p>A couple of questions for you:</p>

<p>UH - Hawaii?
UW - Washington or Wisconsin? </p>

<p>The following are notably missing, I was wondering if you'd care to comment?
Swarthmore
Pomona
Rochester
Michigan
Washington or Wisconsin (whichever one you didn't include)
Dartmouth
Maryland</p>

<p>Also, I was surprised to see Reed on your list. What is so special about Reed for linguistics.</p>

<p>Also, I agree that there is no point going to a school that doesn't offer serious linguistics, if you are interested in linguistics, but does it really matter for an undergraduate what the specialty of the school is (syntax, morphology, etc) if one doesn't know enough yet to know which specialty is of most interest?</p>

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<p>Don't read too much into it (it's not a quality ranking, and the numbers are very small), but Reed is among the top ten undergrad producers of future linguistics PhDs:</p>

<p>REED</a> COLLEGE PHD PRODUCTIVITY</p>

<p>Here is Reed's linguistics page:</p>

<p>REED</a> COLLEGE | Linguistics</p>

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