Applied Linguistics MA decision

[rii]

I recently got accepted to MA in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition at Carnegie Mellon and MA in Second Language Studies at UH Manoa. These were my top choices and now I’m stuck between these two.

My current research interests are sociolinguistics of multilingualism, language identity, and discourse analysis. I’d like to apply for PhD after completing my masters.

I’ve heard great things about Hawaii and its variety of the faculty. I also love the location but I’m definitely worried about the living costs and rent.

On the other hand, I received a huge amount of scholarship from CMU, a wonderful school. My research interests do match with the faculty. But I don’t really know a lot about the program, and the program’s primary focus seems to be on teaching, not research. It’s also one-year, unlike most Applied Linguistic MA programs. 

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!