I’m transferring from a California community college to a UC next semester and I have no idea what college I’m going to. The truth is, I’m the first in my immediate family to go to college so my parents aren’t very helpful.
I am studying Linguistics and will be getting a Master’s afterwards. I got accepted into UC Santa Cruz, UC Los Angeles and UC Santa Barbara. I am appealing UC Berkeley’s decision because I had a technical issue with my application. I am not considering UCSB. If my appeal is successful, I am going to Cal. I do not want to move from the Bay Area.
The biggest drawback of going to UCLA would be moving to Southern California. I live in the Bay Area. My question is: is it worth it to do my BA at UCLA? UCLA’s Linguistics department is ranked second in the world but does that really matter? I’ve heard that these ranking are only based on the graduate programs. Tell me if I’m wrong here.
At UCSC, I can graduate earlier (I speak French fluently so I will not have to take the required language courses) and they have a BA/MA program that would allow me to get my MA in a year.
At UCLA, I could try the major that I am considering getting a MA in, Computational Linguistics, because they have an actual Linguistics with Computer Science Major (Computational Linguistics) instead of the usual duo of a Linguistics major with a Computer Science minor.
You are right the rankings pertain to the graduate program, but it means there is a lot of activity and resources in the dept and that will greatly benefit the undergrad program and opportunities. I would pick UCLA. Your are not moving from the Bay Area. Your home base is there, you will return there summer or at least part of the summer and breaks. It is easy to get back and forth on the megabus or just carpooling for any weekend or break. You are not establishing a home in LA or getting a car, I presume. I just don’t see that you are moving. I don’t think my kid considered that she moved to Providence to go to school there so this is a strange concept to me. You are just getting the best education you can and immersing yourself in your school community wherever it happens to be. Once you start a career you can pick whatever you like to live presuming there are jobs. Are you very young transfer that two years is a long time to you?
I think the Computational Linguistics major is a huge bonus as you can be specific to that field in technical applications. But you have no wrong choices here.
Is the MA offered at UCLA a recent program? I ask because my niece went out of state (to University of Washington) to get her MS in Computational Linguistics as the only degrees offered in California were doctorates at UCLA, UCSB and UCSD. This was just three years ago.
I don’t know what people with an MA in Linguistics or Computational Linguistics do, but you (or anyone else) should have a clear plan in mind for how to use their Master degree since any MA/MS is a more narrowed study of a field. As a xfer you have until June 1st to make a decision where to enroll. I suggest you contact the graduate advisor at UCLA and UCSC to see how recent grads have fared in pursuing your goals.
Furthermore @Yomama12 has a valid point, which makes me concerned you haven’t looked into this near enough. For many majors your degree choices at a UC are bachelors or PhD. The Masters is a consolation prize given to those bounced out of the PhD program. And UCLA Linguistics sounds like this.
From what you’ve written you haven’t had a lot of advising with regards to this major. Since you live in the Bay Area I suggest you contact the undergrad advisor at Cal or UCSC to set up an appointment to talk. At UCSC the page is Getting Advice and Guidance and Cal is Advisors and office hours | Linguistics Setting up an appt would be better than drop-in. Now is not the time to be intimidated about contacting them (not that I know that you are) even though you are not a current student. A friend was interested in transferring to Cal or UCI a few years ago and as a sophomore was able to set up meeting with the advisors at those schools.
I am only 21 so 2 years isn’t a long time for me. The problem is that I wouldn’t be coming home during breaks if I found a job or if I decide to not live on campus (I’m assuming I will have a lease and will have to continue paying rent even if decide to go home in the summer and the winter). So I would be moving there for two years. I could fix this problem by living on campus and not working but I’m paying my way though college so living on campus and not working just equates to more debt for me.
I suppose I saved loads of cash by going to a CC though.
I am not applying to any of these schools for my MA because I am already aware that none of those schools, except UCSC, have an MA program. My question may have seemed confusing or like I had a lack of knowledge in my field of study. I am solely looking into if it is worth it for me to move to LA because of its ranking. After my BA, I am either attempting to go into a doctorate program or a MA somewhere out of state because the MA programs for Computational Linguistics are slim.
UCLA!! The acceptance rate is incredibly low now and to be accepted is an attribute to your hard work! UCSB is a major party school…not the best environment for learning. UCSC is a great school too, but not as high up there as UCLA.