MA: BU vs CU Boulder

[gramknackers]

Hi! I got accepted into both CU Boulder and BU for the Masters in Linguistics. They both have the same-ish amount of credits (30-32) but BU is one year instead of two, which I feel just makes it more intensive. 

I was wondering if anyone had information on these two departments and cities, and could help me compare them. I don't come from a Ling background and I'm using the MA as a way of diving in and also see if I want to pursue a PhD later on, so I kind of wanted to go somewhere that would a) offer a relatively global look of the field; b)allow me to get some hands-on experience with research; c) give me a leg up re:applying for programs later.

[rising_star]

If you want to really dive in, a two year program will give you time to take more classes, get more research experience, and just gain more exposure to the field. Is either program offering you funding?

[gramknackers]

8 hours ago, rising_star said:

If you want to really dive in, a two year program will give you time to take more classes, get more research experience, and just gain more exposure to the field. Is either program offering you funding?

No, neither, and the two years at CU are slightly more expensive than one at BU, including the fact that I've heard getting a job in Boulder is more difficult because there's too many people in the same situation.

[Wugie]

11 hours ago, gramknackers said:

I don't come from a Ling background and I'm using the MA as a way of diving in and also see if I want to pursue a PhD later on

Hello OP,

I'm sort of in the same situation. What are your areas of interests?

11 hours ago, gramknackers said:

They both have the same-ish amount of credits (30-32) but BU is one year instead of two,

How does this happen? If the amount of credits are similar, do you take fewer courses at CU Boulder and more courses at BU each semester? AFAIK BU doesn't seem to operate on the quarter system.  

11 hours ago, gramknackers said:

BU is one year

My impression from the BU page is that if you haven't taken some of the intro courses you'll need to make it up during your first semester/year, and if you want to write a master's thesis you're recommended to extend a half year, so that makes it about 2 years? And if CU Boulder has similar regulations, would it make it 2.5 years or 3?

 

[gramknackers]

2 hours ago, Wugie said:

What are your areas of interests?

Hey! My previous experience has been in psycholinguistics, as that's what I had access to during my undergrad, but I want to learn more about language acquisition, syntax and multilingualism. But, tbh, I am aware that I also don't know enough about other areas to just outright say I'm not interested in them. Hence the MA.

2 hours ago, Wugie said:

How does this happen? If the amount of credits are similar, do you take fewer courses at CU Boulder and more courses at BU each semester? AFAIK BU doesn't seem to operate on the quarter system

I could not tell you. I don't come from a country with a credit-based system so I have no idea how it works, but from what I understand, BU looks a little more intensive.

And yeah, that's true about make up courses (I've been offered them) but I will probably be doing them in a summer school abroad which costs significantly less than a semester at BU and is also fun! (And, which, in fact, they recommended and will be accepted in my transcript). So if I were to prolong the MA in order to write a thesis, it would end up being 1.5 years. And don't quote me on this but I don't know if at CU you'd have to extend your time if you chose the thesis option, I spoke with them and this was never mentioned.

[rising_star]

My guess (without knowing either program) is that you wouldn't have to extend your time to do a thesis at CU. You'd probably come up with a proposal in your second semester, collect and analyze data in your third semester, and do the final write-up and defense in your fourth semester. (That's a pretty standard timeline for completing a thesis in a 2 year master's.) Some of the course credits you need at CU would come from the thesis (it usually counts as a course a semester in your second year), so that would reduce the total number of graduate seminars you would be taking.

When you talk about getting a job in Boulder being more difficult, are you basing this on talking to current students in the program? Have you looked into assistantships in other areas on campus (e.g., student affairs, residence life, language departments, etc.)?

[fuzzylogician]

In addition to the 1/2 year question and the funding question, you should know that the CU approach to linguistics is completely different from the BU one. So by committing to an MA in one of those programs, you are also pre-selecting which PhD programs are likely to take you seriously. That's something to think about very carefully.