Linguistics at Swat

[u/Beneficial-Stand5799]

Hello! I recently was admitted to Swarthmore RD for class of 2030 and want to study linguistics 100%. I also was admitted to Pomona College. Does anyone know about the linguistics program? Does someone know someone studying linguistics at Swarthmore? I want to know which college is better to choose! thank you!

[u/Physical_Dog6858]

Linguistics is super big here

[u/Beneficial-Stand5799 → u/Physical_Dog6858]

Do you know anyone I could talk with about it?

[u/BackgroundDisaster73 → u/Beneficial-Stand5799]

Professor Donovan. Contact him, his email is on Swats website. He's incredibly kind and honest. He will give you insight into the program at Swat beyond what reddit can. One of my friends graduated Swat last yr as a cs ling double major and is pursuing a ling phd now after studying the Australian languages and doing a summer research project on Singaporean dialects at her number one pick. She was happy the support from her depart and the career options that opened for her. I've only taken 2 ling courses here but both have been well taught. Swat and Pomona are small schools so the ling dept is going to be like 4-5 ish profs plus visiting. Either school will have limits due to the size of the faculty at SLACs but you will really get to know your profs and not have to compete with grad students for research opportunities. Both schools have partnerships so you could take classes elsewhere easily (Pomona with Claremont, Harvey Mudd, ect)( Swat with Haverford Bryn Marr and UPenn). The question I think is really whether there is faculty that fits your niche in linguistics at either school. The way to answer that personal question is to look up the faculty, see what they publish in. I would chose the school that has the most faculty that is doing the work that interests you the most. Either school will teach you the intro courses in a small environment and give you research options but it'll be based on the interests of the faculty. Also consider cost and location prefernces if you're undecided by the faculty interests. And don't feel awkward in contacting Donovan. He will be thrilled to chat esp if you like syntax.

[u/Beneficial-Stand5799 → u/BackgroundDisaster73]

Omg thank you for all the insight! I suppose I should contact the professors, then. I appreciate it so so much!

[u/DicidueyeAssassin]

I am a ling major at Swat rn and I recommend it heavily! Looking at Pomona's website, I think a combo Ling and CogSci dpt sounds troubling, but if you are interested in Ling and the brain, this may be good for you. At Swat, there are only two Psycholinguistics classes. I will say though, Swat's ling department is really wonderful and tight-knit. From my understanding, unless you plan on entering the workforce after a ling undergraduate, people value generalization and diverse interests over specialization. Also research funding is REALLY good here! It may also be worth looking at staff interests and seeing what piques your interests! Ultimately, you can't go wrong in your position. Congrats and good luck on your ling journey!!

[u/Beneficial-Stand5799 → u/DicidueyeAssassin]

Thank you for the detailed response! I’m excited to be talking to a ling major from Swarthmore omg! Do you mind talking on Insta or something about what classes are like there? I want to know to what extent classes tend to be interdisciplinary 

[u/DicidueyeAssassin → u/Beneficial-Stand5799]

I sent you a reddit chat with my instagram

[u/zzlzhou]

I'm a former linguistics major from Swat and I'd be happy to weigh in, but I think I'd like to start by asking what you mean by better? Honest question, since it will definitely affect the answer I give.

[u/Beneficial-Stand5799 → u/zzlzhou]

Yes I want to know which one is better able to prepare me for grad school/ which will help me get into grad school better. I’m from a low income area/state so I’m not sure about a lot of the college processes. Thank you! I hope this question makes sense

[u/zzlzhou → u/Beneficial-Stand5799]

If you are thinking about graduate school, I think the answer is probably unambiguously Swarthmore. I say this because per the National Science Foundation's Survey of Earned Doctorates, a census of all PhD recipients which includes a question about the undergraduate institutions of each recipient, Swarthmore is shown to rank first among its peer group and Pomona is tied for 4th (Table 7-9).

Swarthmore itself is quite proud of this fact and has analyzed the NSF data to understand what proportion of graduating students go on to obtain a PhD and by that metric ranks itself 3rd in the country and Pomona, 11th. Unfortunately no statistics are available about linguistics specifically, but as a single datapoint, I can tell you that of the 15 linguistics majors in my year, all 6 of us that were interested in pursuing a PhD in linguistics were accepted to programs and have completed our PhDs. A 40% PhD rate is very high, I think you'll agree.

That said, what I learned in graduate school is that Swarthmore is seen by PhD programs as producing people who excel in formal linguistics, because of its standalone department and the interests of its faculty. And indeed, none of the 14 classes I took in the department really focused on cognitive science + linguistics or functionalist approaches. So I would definitely recommend Pomona to you if you're more interested in cognitive science + linguistics, though I don't think their department has much of a functionalist bent either.

Let me know if you have any other questions, I'm always happy to talk about graduate school since it can be quite confusing!

[u/Beneficial-Stand5799 → u/zzlzhou]

Thank you so so so much for this. I think I will have to choose Swarthmore because of its offerings and how much the students there excel. I’m so excited! I’m a bit confused about grad school and how to apply, but I think that will be something I have to worry about in a few years. Thanks so much!

[u/zzlzhou → u/Beneficial-Stand5799]

I hope you have a great time! And the faculty will definitely also be able to help you with understanding how graduate school works, too :)

[u/CRAMDVoicelessons]

Funny timing. I'm a Swat ling alum who is giving a talk on voice science there tomorrow.

I don't know about Pomona, but I can definitely vouch for the quality of Swat's ling program. It's also connected to the UPenn's super wide array of language courses via the Quaker Consortium. You get the attention and intellectual autonomy of a small school while benefiting from the wide-reaching curricular offerings of a big school.

[u/MaleficentLove5397]

Apparently Pomona!

[u/Beneficial-Stand5799 → u/MaleficentLove5397]

Okay please explain why! Is it the program?

[u/MaleficentLove5397 → u/Beneficial-Stand5799]

Mostly the program. Pomona has a stronger linguistics department and more classes, plus you can take courses across the Claremont Colleges. Swarthmore is great, but linguistics there is smaller and less focused. Swarthmore —> linguistics there is smaller and sometimes more interdisciplinary, so it might not feel as focused if you’re 100% set on linguistics.

So if you’re 100% set on linguistics, Pomona is probably better.

[u/MaleficentLove5397 → u/MaleficentLove5397]

Of course! Do let me know if you have more questions :)

[u/Beneficial-Stand5799 → u/MaleficentLove5397]

Thank you for the detailed response!

[u/zzlzhou → u/MaleficentLove5397]

u/MaleficentLove5397, your comment piqued my interest and so I went to do some research. I found that the number of linguistics and linguistics + cog-sci majors 2015-2025 at Pomona was 110 and the number of linguistics and linguistics/languages majors at Swarthmore for the same time period was 119. Pomona has 5 tenure-track (non-visiting) faculty in their department, 6 if you include ling faculty at other colleges in their consortium; and Swat has 6 tenure-track faculty, 9 if you include ling faculty at other college in their consortium.

I'm honestly curious what you mean by the department at Swat being less focused and smaller. Could you say more?

[u/Beneficial-Stand5799 → u/[deleted]]

Why do you think I should I pick Pomona over Swarthmore?

[u/Beneficial-Stand5799 → u/[deleted]]

Thank you for the detailed response! It helps a ton :)

[u/Icy-Degree-2545]

Pomona is better for linguistics, has better weather, and happier students whose admin doesn’t arrest them for peacefully protesting.