Post-bac, post-rejection?

[linggeek]

I graduate in June, but I am considering the possibilty of taking a couple of classes as a post-bac to make myself a more attractive applicant (didn't get in this year).

By the time I graduate, I will have taken over a dozen linguistics courses in addition to independent research, an honors thesis.

The classes I am considering would be semantics, an advanced phonetics course, and an advanced phonology course.

What are you thoughts on it? Is it worth it? I ask because I know some linguistics students in grad school who have never taken a linguistics course as an undergrad.

[lettuchi]

I did a post-bac/5th year in BCS and Linguistics. I just got accepted to a Ph.D. program, and I only had 4 Linguistics classes(and 3 BCS classes, some were cross listed.)

So, it can be done. Maybe it was some other aspect of your application that needs improvement other than course work?

[psycholinguist]

Just finishing your degree, having a finished honours-thesis in hand, and having more up-to-date letters-of-reference can make a big difference to your application. Taking additional classes can certainly bolster your application, though. See how it goes!

[fuzzylogician]

What are your areas of interest? Some background in semantics (along with syntax and phonology) will be useful regardless of concentration, but you may not need phonetics if you're not interested in phonology/phonetics.

More classes will not hurt, but what will probably be more helpful would be to acquire more research experience. Is any of the work you did in your independent study or in your thesis (potentially) publishable? Working closely with a faculty member and presenting/publishing somewhere will be a great boost for your application, and will also get you a strong LOR in the process. Likewise a new project with a new prof will have a similar effect. Part of what adcoms like to see is that you have a coherent concentration or interest in some subfield and that you've spend some time familiarizing yourself with that field and the main topics in it. Research experience will also help you make your SOP more focused and convincing. More classes will not hurt, but as you transition from being an undergrad who mostly takes classes to a grad student who mostly concentrates on research, taking the latter direction more seriously will help show the adcoms that you know what you are getting yourself into and that you have the skills it takes to make it through a graduate program.

[snarky]

I graduate in June, but I am considering the possibilty of taking a couple of classes as a post-bac to make myself a more attractive applicant (didn't get in this year).

By the time I graduate, I will have taken over a dozen linguistics courses in addition to independent research, an honors thesis.

The classes I am considering would be semantics, an advanced phonetics course, and an advanced phonology course.

What are you thoughts on it? Is it worth it? I ask because I know some linguistics students in grad school who have never taken a linguistics course as an undergrad.

I agree completely with fuzzy... I don't think more courses will have a substantial impact on your applications if you already have taken so many, particularly if you have a good foundation in the fundamental theoretical areas, phonology, syntax and semantics. More likely, you need to find programs that are a better fit with your interests (very impt, even strong candidates are rejected if research interests don't align well), get better LORs (preferably from well-known researchers in your area of interest) or beef up your research experience with presentations or publications. I think adcoms particularly seek applicants who are well-versed enough in linguistics to identify theoretically interesting research topics and faculty members who would want to work on that area... but I don't think they necessarily expect applicants to have taken tons of linguistics courses (though of course, it depends on the program and particular adcom).