University of Massachusetts Amherst ranked 2nd in the WORLD 2018 for Linguistics!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Massachusetts - Amherst
1

https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2018/linguistics

Latest ranking brings Umass Amherst up to second in the world in Linguistics, behind only MIT (and my kid says that MIT’s undergrad Linguistics is not that great, so for undergrad Linguistics, UMass Amherst is now tops in the world).

Beautiful campus, five college consortium, best dining plan in the country, brand new gorgeous honors campus, and they give pretty generous merit scholarships to out of state students, bringing annual cost down to about 30K/year total.

This is definitely the right place for Linguistics-obsessed students!

2

Umass amherst is currently my daughter’s first choice. (Not for linguistics). It has such a vibrant, friendly, exciting feel to it. She was totally taken with every aspect. We are OOS and very much hoping for honors college but from what I have read here on CC, its insanely hard to get.

3

No, it’s NOT! My kid had good SAT’s ( I think best were like 780 English, 710 math), but was only in top quarter of HS class (did take a lot of AP, honors, college, and even a grad school class). Got max OOS merit and honors college. But they do admit to honors by the major, I think, in order to have a good mix in honors. You can apply to honors while there, too, and get in, with good grades there.

4

Interesting that you place value on the UMass ranking at #2 yet dismiss MIT somewhat based on your kid’s opinion, despite the fact MIT is ranked #1 in the same table. I am sure they are both fine departments. I would also imagine there are not really significant differences between the quality of the linguistics departments of the top 20 or so schools listed. Congratulations to your kid, it’s a fascinating subject. I’m still somewhat unclear as to the potential career path of a linguistics major. My daughter is also very interested in this subject.

5

My kid wouldn’t have gotten into MIT. Most kids won’t get into MIT! And my kid was not interested in doing all the advanced math and engineering that any MIT student has to do, even if the kid could have done it. Even had they taken her, we would have had to pay list price (we’re in that upper middle class demographic that would have to pay full fare, but can’t afford full fare). Yes, some schools are better at the graduate level than at the undergraduate level for certain subjects. In this case, the kid who looked at all the schools and departments, and hears what people in the field have to say about the programs, says that UMass Amherst is better at the undergrad level for Linguistics. But even if it’s not, there’s no question that with the merit money they’re offering, the honors college giving students the living environment with other high achieving students, and all the other things UMass has going for it, if you’re a student who wants to study Linguistics, it’s clearly a fantastic option.

6

Jon, I’m assuming that your daughter is currently a senior waiting to hear about acceptances. Also, from the statistics you listed, her credentials were similar to my kid’s. There are jobs with this major, but you have to combine it with something, such as computer science, or plan to go for a master’s in speech pathology afterwards. Of course, if you’re hoping to go into research, there are so many fascinating subfields - neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, cognitive linguistics, sociolinguistics, etc, but it certainly would be more difficult to find a job right out of your bachelor’s with those.

For her, it sounds as if UMass Amherst would have been a good fit: good price, in the Northeast. She probably would have also gotten max merit aid, for an annual cost of about 30K OOS. The problem with Linguistics is that not many schools have it at all, let alone comprehensive departments and the opportunity to do research.

If she’s currently a junior, I think it should definitely be on her list. And if she is unhappy where she is accepted, she could consider transferring. I don’t think that she should take a gap year to buff up her application. Better to get started somewhere, establish further credentials at the college level, and transfer. After all, what’s she going to do during that gap year that would improve her credentials? Retake the SAT/ACT yet again? Do more volunteer work? Work a menial job? In general, gap years are recommended for kids who’ve been killing themselves to get that perfect record that gets them into a dream school, then need a year to go do other things, like travel, volunteer abroad, whatever, to clear their heads, mature, and enter college with renewed enthusiasm for school. Or they’re for kids who haven’t worked hard in high school, and need some time to grow up, to the point that they value education and are willing to work hard in school to get something out of it. They’re not appropriate for focused, goal oriented students who aren’t burnt out, and who want to learn, nor are they appropriate for students who want to make another attempt to get into that dream school, rather than moving on with their lives.

7

Thanks. I take it you have read my badly worded hypothetical question ref transferring? It was/is a scenario that came out of a conversation with her guidance counselor. I cannot really see it working but, likely due to my poor choice of words, it appears, from the replies, some people took it that this was a plan of attack we were considering. Yes she is a senior waiting for April 1st to roll around.
I think the size of UMass was somewhat off putting for her. Her high school is very, very small.
I have heard her mention speech pathology and cognitive linguistics.
I am constantly amazed that an 18 year old knows, or thinks they know, what they want to do in life. I’m 50 and still haven’t figured that one out.