Linguistics without an MA

[Francophile1]

Hello everyone,

Could someone help me with some advice. I have decided that a General Linguistics PhD is what I want. I won't go into the many details why, but after much research, class observations etc...it is the route I want to go in. I need advice now as to how to proceed, because I want to apply to competitive programs, but am lacking an MA or any graduate courses in Linguistics.

This is my brief education background:

BA in a foreign language, minor in Linguistics

MA in foreign Language

2nd MA in another foreign language (in progress)

In order for me to be competitive, I know I probably need graduate Linguistics courses- right?

What would you advise to do? I do not particularly want to be in a Terminal MA (for financial reasons).

Maybe, it is possible to simply take a few courses at the Graduate level before applying to the PhD?

Would this be looked at favorably, if I only take a few courses and don't actually get an MA in Linguistics before applying to the Phd?

Thanks for all the input.

[fuzzylogician]

You don't necessarily need an MA in linguistics, but you do need to be able to explain why you want a degree in linguistics (and how you know that, if you haven't taken coueses in it, or done anything in linguistics recently -- guessing from the two non-ling MAs). You might consider attending a summer institute -- there are several of those in the US, Europe, and Asia. The LSA summer institute is happening this year, and there's for example ESSLLI, EGG, the summer school in St. Petersburg, the summer school in Crete, the one in the Himalayas, to name a few. That would be a way to show you're actively pursuing an education in linguistics and to get to know some linguists who teach at those venues.