Which Master's Degree do you think would be better to get?

Question

A Master's Degree in Applied Linguistics or English?

I will have my BA in English soon, and I'm trying to find out which would give me the most opportunities. I know with a Master's in English, I would have opportunities for teaching English in a junior college, but with a degree in Applied Linguistics, I would be able to do ESL.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I have to be honest, I have never hears of Applied Linguistics. And unless you know specifically the type of employers you'll be targeting, and what they think of such a degree, you might stay with English (unless you really love AL a lot more). I mean, you might run into a guy like me that has no idea what your degree is--a guy who will see your resume and pass right by it thinking you got a mail-order degree or something. I don't really know though. I think you should really ask people/schools/companies you'd like to work for and ask them what they think of the degree and what they hire people with the degree for.

Here's some good advice: Grad school is different than you undergrad. I'ts like boot camp. If you don't loooove your subject, you aren't going to have much fun. You also shouldn't even consider it unless you are sure you want to teach because that's all grad school is good for 90% of the time.

Answer 2

Whichever one you would feel most passionate about studying. Don't worry so much about career options. There are jobs out there for every field of study at a college or university - otherwise they wouldn't stay in business because nobody would go.