Considering Linguistics Master’s in China after CS Master’s — bad idea?
Hi everyone, I’m currently a 4th-year CS undergrad in the U.S. and already on track to complete an accelerated Master’s in CS (likely focusing on analytics or HCI, with some NLP coursework/research as elective).
Recently, I’ve realized I’m really passionate about linguistics and learning Chinese (I’m minoring in Chinese and have studied abroad 2 years ago). Because of that, I’ve been seriously considering doing a second Master’s in Linguistics in China after I finish my CS degree.
My goals would be:
- Improve my Chinese through immersion
- Study linguistics more formally (I’ve really enjoyed my Human Language Processing class)
Right now, I’m looking at English-taught programs in mainland China (mainly for CSC scholarship eligibility), and the Applied Linguistics Master’s at Zhejiang University seems like a strong option.
My main concern is whether this is a good long-term decision or just me chasing an interest:
- Would doing a second Master’s in linguistics (after CS) hurt or help my career prospects?
- Has anyone here done something similar (pivoting fields or doing a second degree in China)?
- How is the job market afterward, especially if I want to return to tech?
- How competitive is the CSC scholarship for programs like this?
For context, I’m still figuring out my career direction (SWE, data, product, etc.), so part of me feels like I should just go straight into industry. But I also don’t want to miss the chance to seriously pursue something I’m genuinely interested in. Perhaps it'll open up doors I haven't thought of.
Would really appreciate any advice or experiences!
谢谢大家 !
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