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New York University

Focus / Concentrations:                Theoretical

Department / College:                   Department of Linguistics

NYU is a department that’s risen in popularity and prestige over the past few years. They’ve made a bunch of new hires and are the closest any grad program comes to a school that actively recruits students. If you are admitted to NYU, you will immediately be assigned to a grad student whose job it is to call you constantly and tell you how great NYU is. This can be kind of freaky, but it’s definitely an indication of how enthusiastic they are about improving their department. Due to its location, NYU is an ideal institution in which to conduct sociolinguistic research. The department works with the anthropology department in the area of urban sociolinguistics, which is a major research focus there. Another focus at NYU is cognitive science, though they’ve made a bunch of hires in recent years in all core areas of linguistics. Another major point about NYU is that the grad students there are unionized. This matters because the union has been responsible for a huge increase in the stipend (that’s the money you get after tuition) from something like $13,000 to $18,000, and there’s a high likelihood that this stipend will continue to rise in the future. Of course, that may seem like a lot of money, but in New York it doesn’t go very far — you’re still going to have to live like a grad student.