Will a regional school affect my academic reputation?

[wubwubwood]

I've been accepted to a regional school in my area for an MA program in Linguistics, but I'm wondering if going there will negatively affect my CV, since I plan on going into academia and teaching/researching at a university. It's not a well-known linguistics school by any means, but they do have a program I'm interested in, and its closeby. Any advice? (I'm asking this because I was warned it would be a bad choice, and I just wanna get some more opinions)

Edited September 16, 2014 by wubwubwood

[iphi]

If academia is your goal then you should aim to attend the best school you get into (within reason, don't go if there's no funding, etc).

 

I'll put it like this, since you're from California. People who get their PhD from Berkeley go teach at places like Merced. People who get their PhDs from Merced go teach at CSU. And people who attend CSU teach at.... Boise State?

 

Now that may be an exaggeration or it may not. Basically everyone moves down a tier, and that's if they're lucky! Jobs in academia are becoming increasingly rare. Give yourself the best chance you can and go somewhere else. That being said, it would be foolish not to have a backup plan. And if you think you'd be just as happy doing something other than academia then maybe staying near home would be worth it. It depends on you and your life and goals.

 

edit: I just saw that you said an MA program. Not really sure how you're going into academia with an MA? If you plan to go on to your PhD you can pretty much go wherever for your MA. But with your goals I would suggest PhD because 1) you need it to be a professor, and 2) you'd (probably) get funding.

Edited September 16, 2014 by iphi

[wubwubwood]

Right, an MA is just my first step. I do plan on getting my PhD afterwards from a different institution. I just wanted to know if it mattered that my MA was from a regional school.

[moody]

No.  It doesn't matter for linguistics, because almost all stand alone masters programs are at regional schools.  Just make sure that you work hard on research and form good relationships with the faculty.

[juilletmercredi]

No, it doesn't matter at the MA level.  It will matter at the PhD level, but if this is a stepping stone to the next step then it won't.