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palm tree

[European Universities]

On 16/1/2018 at 5:34 PM, tenconmar said:

What does an American need grade wise to get into European universities(nothing big like cambridge, ecole, or delft), I want to go into business(international business, management, etc.).
what would I need for AP scores, SAT/ACT, normal class credits, and languages? 

It really depends on the country. France, Italy and Spain have most courses in the coutry's language, although you can find also programs in English. In countries like Italy you usually just enroll -don't need to have specific grades, only a valid diploma- (in statal universities), or you have to pass an entrance test (private universities). The quality between one or the other is usually not that different. I guess is more or less the same for Spain and France as well. Not sure about undergrad admissions for other countries though. 

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banana split

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fish ball

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sign language

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beer pong 

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false alarm

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space ship

[Advice needed]

5 minutes ago, khigh said:

I'm obsessed with "Real American Hotdogs" on Museumplein and frites met oorlog.  I also do like Nieuwe Haring, but I'm a fan of lutefisk too, so I don't know if I have real tastebuds, haha.

Yeah ok, the street food is good! But I'm talking about what people eat everyday and the quality of products like meat and vegetables at the supermarket. That's kinda expensive and not super good. But I guess I'm Italian and have high standards. 

[Advice needed]

46 minutes ago, Wugie said:

They did say they require at least 30 credits of undergraduate courses taken in linguistics though, do you think that would a problem for me (since I have only taken one intro course in linguistics as an undergrad), or can I prove my basic knowledge in linguistics with my writing sample and such?

Mmmm I'm note sure about that, but you can always try writing to one of the coordinators (Jeannette Schaeffer for the 2-year program or Silke Hamann for the 1-year). 

As for not knowing Dutch, that is not a problem, as they said above  Amsterdam is a very international city and they are used to non-Dutch speakers! You will learn some phrases with time,  and you're assisted with all basic stuff at the beginning (housing, bank and phone). The only difficulty I found is the correspondence with the municipality, which is only in Dutch, but I always ask some of my Dutch classmates. 

A tip: housing is VERY difficult to find, and it can take months, so start early! 

Ah, I'm sorry guys, but Dutch food is just meh for me (except for fries, those are the best)! 

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time turner 

[Any recommendations for summer institutes in linguistics in North America]

There is also the LOT summer school, that is hosted every year by a different university in the Netherlands, and it is usually at the end of June-beginning of July. It is also a nice summer school, with international professors, opportunities to present a poster etc. However, I think that Creteling is much cooler, above all for an European, because you get a much more diverse multi-cultural environment! 

[Advice needed]

On 21/12/2017 at 8:33 PM, Wugie said:

Hello Linguists,

I am an international student trying to apply to MA programs in linguistics. 

Background: BA in English (as a second language) from a no-name university in a third world country; not so impressive GPA; GRE V159Q160; TOEFL 115; one writing sample in phonetics

I am mainly looking for schools in the US and the UK because almost all the European (and Canadian) schools I looked at require a BA in linguistics or at least a certain amount of credit points taken in linguistics and I have neither of those. I do intend to go for a PhD eventually, but given my background, I don't think I'm competitive enough just yet. I also don't have an exact research interest yet, so I'm hoping to get enough exposure to different subdisciplines during my MA to help me decide what I want to pursue. Right now I'm leaning towards phonetics/phonology and also wish to maybe get into some neuro stuff, although people have been telling me comp-ling is what will get me employed. 

So, I'm still zeroing in on programs. I would probably prefer schools that

1. are in the US (because universities in the States have a better reputation in my home country than universities in the UK and Australia/New Zealand and any Asian universities, and if I need to come back to my home country to look for a job if/when I failed to get into a PhD program, a US school will look better on my CV since HRs here don't care about things like publication or research or GPA other than the name of the school) 

2. are located in a city that has a good public transportation system (because I prefer not having to buy a car as an international student on a budget)

3. will give me a boost when I apply to PhD programs

4. will give me exposure to different subdisciplines, especially neuro, hopefully

Right now I'm thinking about Boston, Georgetown, the MAPH at UChicago, and Edinburgh. Among them, UChicago and Edinburgh both have good rankings but both are one-year programs and I'm worried about having to apply to PhD programs only 2-3 months in the MA program (no good recommendations, no grades, no good paper, etc), also the MAPH sounds a bit too intimidating tbh. Does anyone have experiences with any of the schools/programs above?

*I did read Fuzzylogician's post on lists of MA programs, but I don't think they apply to my situation

** Some Canadian schools have things like a qualifying year but if I don't get admitted after the qualifying year will it look bad if I apply elsewhere?

***A friend of mine suggested applying to universities in France although my French is barely conversational. But according to them, linguistics in France is "Anglified" and I will get by before I can speak/read French at a functional level. Please verify?

Thanks for reading!

Any suggestions/advice welcome!

If you're thinking about Europe, the University of Amsterdam has one of the best programs! They have very good people on Phonetics/Phonology, and you're exposed to a lot of disciplines, including clinical (and neuro I think). It's pretty easy to get into the one year MA in Linguistics, while getting into the two-year program is more difficult. Although, if you have good grades during the first semester, you can easily switch to the two-year program. So, as for 2., 3., and 4 the UVA is perfect!

Also, not speaking Dutch is not a problem at all, as the program is entirely in English and all the Dutchies speak English anyway!