3.6.1.23 University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

Focus / Concentrations:                Theoretical, Descriptive

Department / College:                   Department of Linguistics

If you have friends who have gone off to grad school already, you may already be aware that many Harvard students, across all departments, end up at Berkeley for graduate school. Perhaps they’re simply attracted to the city of Berkeley, which is a slightly more hippie, much more sunny version of Cambridge. Attending Berkeley is pretty much the closest you can get to not leaving Harvard and yet moving across the country. The Berkeley linguistics department, though located in a really horrible loading dock section of the most confusing building on campus, is full of great intellectuals and an eclectic body of students, both undergrads and grads (Berkeley is one of the few good programs with a really significant undergrad major). The department is pretty well-rounded, though lacking in sociolinguists, and recently has had a great record in training and placing phonologists. Attending Berkeley these days is something of a financial risk, since the UC system is experiencing major money issues. Often the program will admit students without being certain whether or not they can locate funding for them; if you do receive funding, it will only be guaranteed for a few years, after which you’ll need to apply for funding again. The attitude there seems to be that all grad students who really want funding will eventually find something, but whether this is actually the case or not is unclear.

UC Berkeley offers a strong linguistic documentation and theoretical innovation background given its anthropological roots.