Cambridge Linguistics Students and Applicants

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Topics here: http://www.mml.cam.ac.uk/ling/courses/ugrad/lingtripos_new.html
You could write your dissertation on sign language if that interests you.

Reply 141

EWS

danwells92

So, I've applied for the new three-year Linguistics course, and received an offer from Cambridge (at Selwyn College), with UCL looking to be my back-up. Thing is, the choice doesn't feel as obvious to me as it perhaps should - I really don't know if Cam is the best choice for me.

The problem lies in what the course offers at Cambridge, as opposed to UCL. UCL seems, to me, to offer so much more variety in its optional modules than Cambridge does, and some of them interest me a great deal more than what is on offer at Cam. The only thing that's stopping me from choosing UCL outright is the fact that, well, who says no to Cambridge? :P

So, I'm looking for input from anybody at Cambridge who has switched onto the Linguistics tripos in their second or third years, or from anybody who's managed to find more information that I've somehow managed to gloss over completely :P

I'd just like to know how much freedom there is as far as what you study is concerned - is there going to be provision from various tutors etc, no matter what you want to look at? A major thing for me is the fact that UCL offers a module concerned with how sign language works, something which I've always been intrigued about. Try as I might, I can find no mention of anything similar amongst Cambridge's modules. Obviously it's more than a single module holding me back, but that's the best example I can think of at this ungodly hour :P

If anybody could give me some insight into the range of topics available at Cambridge, then, I'd be extreeemely grateful :smile:

Congratulations on your offer!

Regarding your question: Cambridge is Cambridge and it's got the best linguistics department in the UK. Don't be silly! Besides, the bachelor's degree shouldn't be about ‘optional modules’ and doing things that interest you. Before you specialise, e.g. in sign language, you need a firm foundation on which to build whatever comes next.

Reply 142

Daniel4389

I do Linguistics and have found there's pretty much the opportunity to study whatever you like (within reason) - for the Syntax paper I wrote quite a bit about sign languages for one of my essays, even though the paper's not obviously solely about that. And in your final year you do a "Linguistic Theory" paper which encourages broad reading about anything you like really - again, I've written quite a bit about sign languages in my essays for that. (I'm not even that interesed in sign languages...I just seem to end up writing about them a lot :p:

) I guess if you wanted to really go into depth about things like that then you might find it difficult, but they can certainly be brought into the other papers.

Also it's worth nothing that the first year papers are all completely new (as far as I know), so nobody doing Linguistics at the moment has any experience of what they're like...

Reply 143

TheUnbeliever

I disagree with EWS. If you don't think you'd enjoy the course, I think you'd be mad to still go for it. Firstly, you guarantee 3 years of utter hell as you work under high pressure on material that doesn't interest you. Secondly, and as a corollary, you're likely to perform more poorly because you're not as engaged. Whilst you're building a foundation for anything you choose to learn later as part of a job, further study or research, you do want to keep your motivation and being able to take optional courses that interest you to remind you of why you chose to study your subject in the first place is a good way of going about that.

It's also quite possible to cover the basics in a number of fields whilst pursuing greater interest in narrower areas, and I think that the Bachelor's degree is exactly the place to do that. You don't want to discover 3 months into your Master's or a year into your PhD that you aren't terribly interested in [subfield] after all.

UCL is an excellent university. I can't say whether your feelings about the course are misplaced, but if you think you'd have a better time there, go for it.

Reply 144

EWS

It seems I didn't make myself clear. The premise of my previous post is that danwells92 is passionately interested in linguistics—and seeing as he got into the Cambridge course, he definitely should be and probably is (and he will have to be at UCL too if he is to enjoy all the topics that aren't sign language). What I was trying to convey is that I think an undergraduate degree in any one subject should primarily focus on giving the student an excellent footing in the topics the subject consists of.

If you were to find out during your degree, for instance, that you're terribly fond of phonetics but loathe syntax and semantics (you probably won't if your aim is to be a linguist), then you should be perfectly able to conclude that sign language is a field of linguistic enquiry that you probably will not find terribly interesting after all, without taking a single ‘module’ of sign language. If you want to pursue sign language after all, then the chance that you'll be able to do so competently and insightfully is higher if you spent your undergraduate years absorbing everything you should know about syntax, semantics, phonology, etc., rather than going into narrower fields too early on.

Also: what pgl said.

Rejecting Cambridge is a perfectly legitimate choice and UCL is admittedly great too—but I would not advise anyone to do so without being fully aware of what they're rejecting and what they're accepting instead. Cambridge does have the best linguistics department in the UK (at least according to http://bit.ly/ab0awU) and is generally known for its academic excellence.

Reply 145

ily_em

danwells92, if you reject Cambridge for UCL, I will hate you forever. I'll be at UCL too, so it won't be that hard to make you life a misery :p:

.

That is all.

(Shhh I don't mean it really.... go where you feel you will be happiest. The Cambridge course looks quite flexible to me... ) :smile:

Switch offers! : D

EWS

Switch offers! : D

Yes please! Maybe we look the same (well I'm assuming the danwells person is a guy, but I could cut my hair short...) :holmes:

Reply 148

EWS

Oh, linguistics! I'm starting to get really excited about this.

What are your plans after Cambridge? I have already started looking into graduate studies at various universities. The Cambridge MPhil naturally looks alluring, but I don't know if I can justify the expenses incurred (not an EU national).

Reply 149

Sapientia

EWS

I'm getting more and more excited too :biggrin:

I haven't even considered things like MPhil, I guess I'll have to see how well I get on with the undergraduate degree, but at this point in time I would love to go into teaching in Asia. :yep:

Reply 150

Kobie

Hi everyone :smile:

i'm applying for linguistics at cambridge, 2011 start (providing my AS results are alright)... you all seem to have ucl as a second choice but why not york/wherever else does it? ucl was gonna be my 2nd pick but i've heard bad things about the cost/ value/ accomodation being shared by students from all london unis etc etc.
opinions please!!?
thanks xx

Reply 151

EWS

UCL was not my second choice and there are several British universities that excel in linguistics, so go ahead and pick one you like. Some sort of quantitative ranking might be of some assistance in doing so, e.g. http://bit.ly/U1DSA.

Reply 152

CeiriosII

I didn't want to comment on here before I got my results... but now I know I've definitely got my place, I can say hello to all the other linguistics people I'll be studying with.... so hello *waves*

Reply 153

Sapientia

CeiriosII

I didn't want to comment on here before I got my results... but now I know I've definitely got my place, I can say hello to all the other linguistics people I'll be studying with.... so hello *waves*

Hello! Well done. :smile:

What college? Linguistics is gonna be a small course

Reply 154

CeiriosII

Sapientia

Hello! Well done. :smile:

What college? Linguistics is gonna be a small course

Thanks

I'll be at Emma... and yeah, seems like it but I think I'm looking forward to that :smile:

Reply 155

Ranimbac

Well done to those who've got in... I hope you're looking forward to taking a brand new Cambridge course! I'm a current MML'er and I'll be borrowing at least one of the new linguistics papers this year, so I'll be at some of the same lectures.

Reply 156

Supergrunch

Well done guys, I'll no doubt see you around next year.

Reply 157

Sapientia

CeiriosII

Thanks

I'll be at Emma... and yeah, seems like it but I think I'm looking forward to that :smile:

Do you know how many people will be entering first year Linguistics at Emma? My future DoS tells me I'll be the only one at Queens'... :unsure:

inb4 I fail and completely show the college up.

Really looking forward to October now! Need to look at that reading list though.

Supergrunch

Well done guys, I'll no doubt see you around next year.

Am I right in thinking that you're third year? Will most likely see you around, closer to the time I may have some course-related questions, which I hope you don't mind if I fire at you...

Reply 158

Supergrunch

Sapientia

Am I right in thinking that you're third year? Will most likely see you around, closer to the time I may have some course-related questions, which I hope you don't mind if I fire at you...

I'm a postgrad now, but finished the old two-year part II this June. So I'll hopefully be able to help out with your questions, as I've done several of the papers by now, but of course none of the ones you'll be taking this year as they're all new.