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The Linguistics Department offers a Bachelor's – Accelerated Master's degree program for students with strong abilities and motivations. A student in this program begins graduate coursework as part of the BA and continues on after receiving the BA to complete the MA in one additional year.

Before You Apply

You should consult with both your undergraduate advisor and the Linguistics graduate advisor when you are considering applying to this program. Planning should generally begin while selecting the courses for the fall term (or possibly the spring term) of your junior year, and you should apply to the BAM during one of those term. Before your application to the BAM program is approved, you must have completed the following courses and done well in them:

• LING 2000 (Students with a grade lower than B+ in LING 2000 will not ordinarily be considered for admission to the Linguistics BAM program.)
• One of the three upper-division required undergraduate courses: LING 3100, 3430 or 4420
• An upper-division LING elective (See catalog for listing)

In addition, you must be enrolled in an MA course, called the qualifying course, in the semester of your junior year in which you apply to the BAM program. These courses are as follows:

• For Fall Applicants:
  • LING 5420 (if you have not already taken LING 4420)
  • LING 5030
• For Spring Applicants:
  • LING 5430

Your admission to the BAM program will not be decided until midterm grades for one of these graduate-level courses have been made available to the admissions committee. We will occasionally consider requests to use a different LING MA course as the qualifying course.

Fall applications must be received before October 25. Spring applications must be received before Spring Break.

Undergraduates cannot register for graduate courses directly. If you want to take one, you must see the Department's Graduate Advisor. If they approve your plan, the Program Assistant in the department office will register you for that course.

Applying

By the application deadline noted above, you must complete the BAM “intent application” on the Graduate School website. You must submit a 1-2 page statement of purpose with your application, in which you explain your suitability and preparedness for the program and how the program will help you advance academic and/or career goals. You must also submit two letters of recommendation; present the letter of recommendation request form to each recommender once you have signed the waiver, and ask them to send their completed letters to the Program Assistant. If your application to the BAM program is not approved, or if you decide to withdraw from the program, any graduate courses that you have completed satisfactorily will count towards the undergraduate degree as upper division electives or as replacements for the corresponding required courses (5420 for 4420, 5430 for 3430, 5030 + 5410 for 3100). Consult the Graduate Advisor for full information and advice.

Course of Study

To complete the BAM program, you will meet the requirements for the BA + the requirements for the MA. However, 12 of your graduate credits may be double-counted for both degrees.

Prior to receiving your BA, you will take:

• Fifteen undergraduate course credits. These may be from elective courses or required courses within the major. For example, if you have already taken LING 2000, LING 3100 and LING 4420 prior to entering the BAM, these can all be counted toward the 15 undergraduate credits needed.
• Five hours of upper-division language, as required for the BA (or one additional LING elective, if your non-English language proficiency is already above the third-year college level).
• Twelve graduate course credits. These will include credits from your qualifying course plus three others, which may be either required or elective courses for the MA. These credits count as upper-division Linguistics electives for the BA.

Note that only 12 graduate credits from before you receive the BA may be counted toward the MA, and only 12 credits may be double-counted for both degrees.

After completing the requirements for the BA, you will apply to graduate with the BA degree and submit a master’s continuation form.

After receiving your BA, you will take:

• The remaining required and elective courses ordinarily needed for the MA, generally 18 credits, for a total of 30 graduate hours (including an MA thesis if desired).
• The MA comprehensive examination.

Students accepted to the BAM program must consult initially with the departmental Graduate Advisor in choosing courses. You may also select an advisor in your specific area of interest with the permission of the Department Chair or the Graduate Advisor.

Your advisor will help you plan your courses to make sure that you fulfill all the BA requirements by the end of your fourth year, so that you can receive your Bachelor’s degree. Your advisor can also help you strategize to make best use of the overlap allowed between the two degrees.

Graduate Courses Required for the MA

Graduate Electives (a non-exhaustive list)

* If LING 4420 has already been taken, it can count as meeting the LING 5420 requirement, and a 3 credit elective can then be taken to replace those credits.