Thomas R. Wier wrote:
> Mangiat wrote:
>
> > Er... I know I'm only a peripheric guy from Southern Europe and that the
> > thread is already going on, but could you please explain me what the
heck do
> > all those initaials mean? Since I'm in the 4th year of High School from
this
> > week and I'll have to choose my University in the next 18-20 months, I'd
be
> > interested at least to understand what you're saying (the only thing I
know
> > is the meaning of BA and BS).
>
> SAT = scholastic aptitude test: the test that all Americans have to take
to
> get into undergraduate programs.
> GRE = graduate record exam: the same, but that undergrads take to get
into
> gradschool
> AP = advanced placement, taken as tests to skip college courses if the
> college accepts them. Acceptance of the credit depends on the individual
> university. UT and most state schools accept a lot; most Ivy-League
> colleges, like Harvard, Princeton, Yale, do not. Whether they do or not
> has a lot to do with the reputation of the school, how many people attend
> that school (and thus how much they need to decrease class size), and
> school politics. They should, however, have a straightforward policy on
> what tests they accept with what scores, and what they don't (A lot of
> schools might accept the tests for credit only if you get a 4 or 5, the
top
> two scores).
Thanks a lot. Now I can understand quite a good part of the posted stuff.
> > Anyway here in Italy we can't get a degree in
> > Linguistics : ( You can get a degree in Foreign Languages and
Literatures +
> > specialization in Glottology, AFAIK.
>
> Doesn't the University of Bologna have a good program that approximates
> linguistics? I know Umberto Eco teaches there.
Yes, but I think they focus much more on the social implications of Language
(Eco here is reknown mainly for his socioliguistic works (10%) and for his
historical novel 'Nel nome della rosa' (90%)). I'd like to study the
structure of languages (language universals, to mention a subject we're
treating here in these days, or typological linguistics, or historical
linguistics).
Luca