Ziggyfinish

I would suggest looking up your favourite scholars on Comic Books, (or if you don't know any yet, researching prominent scholars who work on comic books). Find where they are working, which departments, and applying to those. I am guessing that you will most likely find them within English departments or maybe a few comparative literature departments. Most English departments these days offer a course or two in Comic books (or at least the four universities I've been to have) so that is probably your best bet. English and Comparative Literature departments are also likely to give you good critical theory skills that have broad applications. Look especially at departments that do cultural studies as well (i.e. McGill University). They're usually prepared to do literary analysis on larger variety of mediums including film, comics, etc., and they're also more likely to be up to date and not exclusively devoted to classics and canonical works.

Concordia University does not have a Masters program in Linguistics, although University of Montréal and UQAM do, however, those programs would be offered in French.

McGill's Linguistics graduate program has a lot of international students in it (at the moment at least), in fact I think they prefer to have a strong mix of international and domestic students. And I believe it is a two year program. (I believe U of T also offers a 1 and 2 year MA). Also its common in Canada for many of the smaller or less well known schools to offer really good funding options to attract students (everyone here just wants to live in Vancouver, Toronto, or Montreal). These schools usually have small programs of very little to no renown, BUT, at the MA level this may not be a problem if you're looking to get some research experience. Because there are few teachers and few students you could expect to get a lot of attention and individual support, and find a tight community of professors, who you'll get to know really fast at the pub. You could also expect to get a lot of teaching opportunities or TA/RAships.

Hey Garyon, if you don't mind my asking, how was your profile a bit un-orthodox and how did your "fit" work out? I ask because I have a very unorthodox profile and an even more unusual set of research interests and I am struggling to find a way to find a "fit." Hey Drewling, Preserving languages and documenting them before they vanish is a big field right now and if this is your interest I don't think you'll have too much trouble finding a good "fit" at any number of faculties. I agree with Fuzzylogician that you should broaden the number of schools you apply to. I'm not sure about Stoney Brook but I feel like you can find a closer fit to your interests if you cast a wider net. Best of luck!

Thanks beccamayworth! That helps a lot!

How are these courses structured? How big are the classes? Lecture hall or seminar style? Are these courses intended for undergrad or grad students or both?

One word. Canada. Check out McGill, University of Toronto, and University of British Columbia, I believe all three of these schools will have some of what you're looking for. (Though maybe check out other Canadian schools too; Queens, Victoria, Ottawa, McMaster, I'm less familiar with these) Canadian schools still offer programs similar in scope as American schools but still make a division between MA and PhDs, and usually it is easy to transfer from a Canadian school to an American school than transferring from a European school (this is not a rule, but something to consider). Also because of the nature of Quebec's language policies, there is a lot of interest in Canada with regards to the various dialects of French and English, and the sociolinguistics of class divisions especially in Quebec. Im pretty sure there is a specialist at McGill on English dialects. UBC seems more interested in First Nations' languages, but they may also have what you're looking for. Also at least University of Toronto and McGill will offer funding even at the MA level (UBC offers very little but encourages paid TAships). It wont be as much as American PhD programs, but American MAs in Linguistics rarely give funding. Also some Canadian schools will have 1 year MAs. One problem with a 1 year MA is that you will just be beginning your studies when the next application period roles around in the fall. You won't yet have any real grades or strong relationships with your professors for applying to PhD programs. So you might want to look at 2 year programs which will give you more research experience. On the UK side of things Edinburgh has one of the best linguistics departments and their program specifically includes English language linguistics, so they probably do some of what your interested in. Hope that helps.

By the numbers that's a pretty good looking profile! I wouldn't worry about the GRE scores, 160 should get you past any cut-offs. Where, may I ask, are you looking for funding for the Linguistics Summer Institute? I'd love to go, but I have no idea where to find funding for a summer program.

Thanks for posting this! I hadn't heard of this program. $1750 sounds like a pretty good deal. Especially if it gives students the opportunity to study under the likes of such a wide list of teachers, whom they usually wouldn't have the chance to come across. Has anyone who has done the program speak to the quality of the program, the size of the classes, what kind of hours are required, and/or who the advanced courses are intended for?

I've heard that official GREs take up to six weeks to be received. Some programs [a minority] will accept unofficial scores at the time of their deadline, and some programs will expect scores within a certain time frame after their deadline. For example John Hopkins has a deadline of January 1st and expects GRE scores within two weeks. Many schools will advise completing the GRE before November in order to receive them on time.

Hey Beanio, If you're just making this decision now to apply for the 2015/2016 year, then I suggests getting straight to work. Most of the deadlines will be between December 1st and 15th, so you've got your work cut out for you for the next two months. You're gonna want to apply to more than one program (maybe 8-10) in order to best improve your chances of getting accepted. This is both time consuming and expensive You're going to have to figure out which programs you want to apply to. Finding a good program with a good "fit" is the most important. This is a really time consuming practice since you need to look very carefully at the department page of each program you're interested in (as well as many you've never heard of). You need to figure out which area of linguistics you want to work in (preferably down to a sub-discipline). You need to look very closely at what each faculty member is working on (i.e. read a few of the articles of the ones who interest you). You need to look at funding options, deadlines, application requirements, etc. Many departments will require you to show competency in a foreign language of scholarship (by the end of the second year), some may require two languages, some may even require two languages of scholarship plus a non-indo-european language. If you think that will be a problem for you then you probably shouldn't apply to that university (personally I love languages but I'm a pretty slow learner when it comes to languages acquisition). You're going to need to write the general GRE if you intend to apply to programs in the states (preferably before November!). If you've already written it then that's great! but if you haven't written it within the last 5 years then you're going to have to do it again. And you're going to need reference letters, this might be a bit difficult for you since you've been out of school so long, but it is also imperative that you find your references immediately since you should ideally give them 6-8 weeks notice (or more) that you would like references from them. Then you're going to need to write a statement of purpose/letter of intent, maybe even a research proposal. You should talk to your references about this (and show them your drafts). There are a lot of good forums on gradcafe that can give better advice on each of these topics and more. Sorry if this is all stuff you already knew. Its a lot of work so I just hope you're prepared for that. However, also remember that most programs won't mind that you've been out of school for so long since it will indicate maturity in your decision to pursue academia. Many applicants apply right out of undergrad because they've never known anything else. Hope that helps. Best of luck!

Thanks funchaku. I have taken a look at MIT's Brain and Cognitive Sciences, as well as other programs in those interdisciplinary field (I will take a second gander though). For better or for worse, the core of my project is definitely rooted in Linguistics, which is why I'm looking for a strong linguistics department from which I can branch out into Computational Linguistics, Psycholinguistics, and Anthropology (cultural evolution). The core of my research is in diachronic linguistics, very theory heavy. Computational linguistics provides much of the experimental tools I need to actually do some of my research, while many of the key voices in my field are based in Psychology or Anthropology. Its a tall order, I know. Worse my background in programming is pretty weak. I'm studying it independently right now and possibly auditing a Comp Ling grad course this spring, but in the meantime I'm looking for a program that offers introductory courses in Comp Ling in first year. Fortunately one of the programs I've already been accepted to at Edinburgh offers this, though no funding. So worse case scenario I complete a MSc. in Scotland and then return with the requisite background (and a little extra debt) and reapply.

YES! If you are at all interested in American schools then register for the GRE, sooner rather than later. Most American programs require them, and most programs that require them also expect to have your test scores by the application deadline (usually Dec 1st - 15th) Since it can take as long as 6 weeks for your test scores to be sent to the school it is usually best to write the test before November 1st (though some schools will accept unofficial scores initially). This may be a problem for you, since you wont have much time to study for them. Moreover, as an international student (depending on your command of English) you may have trouble with the verbal component of the test.

Thanks beccamayworth. I definitely was not trying to trivialize the UC Merced's program. My impression was that the program was fresh and exciting and the professors all had ample publishing credits to their name. I would encourage others to consider it if it seems like a good fit.

I don't know how you find the time for so many great post, but your advice is very much appreciated! Thank you for you very helpful response.