I don’t know the specialties of various philosophy departments, so I can’t help you very much there. But philosophy is a major that is not universally popular, so going to an institution where there’s a critical mass is important both in terms of making sure the program continues (i.e. doesn’t get cut when there are budget shortfalls) and also allowing for greater variety in electives offered. At no school, however, would I expect the same number of philosophy electives as biology or psychology electives, as those majors tend to be much more popular, allowing for more faculty members and elective offerings.
With all that being said, I looked at schools with acceptance rates above 20% (as you already seem to have found plenty of reaches) that were in the approximate regions that you showed an interest in (the northeastern quadrant of the U.S.) that had fewer than 10k students, as (apart from Rutgers) that seemed to align more closely to your preferred schools. In the beginning, I looked for at least 5 students who had philosophy as their first major (IPEDS data doesn’t list double/triple majors) and who graduated in the most recent year. (FYI: the most common number of grads for schools that offer the major is 0 or 1.) So for an off-the-cuff guess, I would multiply the number of grads by four to make a guesstimate about the size of the undergrad program. As I went on, I found sufficient numbers of schools that the number of grads increased, unless it was a smaller school.
Most of the schools on this list do not offer graduate degrees in philosophy. Those that do have graduate programs have the number of Master’s degrees granted in the most recent year (the first or only number) and then the number of PhDs granted (the second number, if there is one). (Brandeis, Duquesne, Marquette, U. of Rochester, Villanova, American, and Case Western were the only ones with grad programs.)
This list is sorted by schools with the highest concentrations of philosophy majors, done as a ratio dividing the number of first philosophy majors in the most recent year by the current number of undergrads, with all info pulled from College Navigator, the feds’ website. If you’re competitive for a school like Yale, then the schools on this list could range anywhere from safeties to targets or even low reaches. If you’re more interested in particular schools, I’m sure members of the board would be happy to provide additional info.
| School | # of Undergrads | # of Philosophy Majors | Grad available? | Majors to Undergrads Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wabash (IN) - Men’s school | 835 | 9 | No | 0.01078 |
| Kalamazoo (MI) | 1210 | 11 | No | 0.00909 |
| Wheaton (IL) | 2163 | 19 | No | 0.00878 |
| Lake Forest (IL) | 1727 | 10 | No | 0.00579 |
| The College of Wooster | 1967 | 11 | No | 0.00559 |
| Mount Holyoke (MA)-Women’s school | 2193 | 12 | No | 0.00547 |
| Kenyon (OH) | 1885 | 10 | No | 0.00531 |
| Washington & Jefferson (PA ) | 1149 | 6 | No | 0.00522 |
| Brandeis (MA) | 3687 | 19 | 4 | 0.00515 |
| Connecticut College | 1948 | 10 | No | 0.00513 |
| St. Lawrence (NY) | 2145 | 11 | No | 0.00513 |
| St. Mary’s College of Maryland | 1497 | 7 | No | 0.00468 |
| Drew (NJ) | 1513 | 7 | No | 0.00463 |
| Hobart William Smith (NY) | 1559 | 7 | No | 0.00449 |
| Centre (KY) | 1357 | 6 | No | 0.00442 |
| Union (NY) | 2107 | 9 | No | 0.00427 |
| Wheaton (MA) | 1667 | 7 | No | 0.00420 |
| John Carroll (OH) | 2417 | 10 | No | 0.00414 |
| Oberlin (OH) | 2986 | 12 | No | 0.00402 |
| Allegheny (PA ) | 1353 | 5 | No | 0.00370 |
| Gettysburg (PA ) | 2241 | 8 | No | 0.00357 |
| Lawrence (WI) | 1426 | 5 | No | 0.00351 |
| DePauw (IN) | 1752 | 6 | No | 0.00342 |
| William & Mary (VA) | 6797 | 20 | No | 0.00294 |
| Skidmore (NY) | 2758 | 8 | No | 0.00290 |
| Emmanuel (MA) | 1947 | 5 | No | 0.00257 |
| Lafayette (PA ) | 2729 | 7 | No | 0.00257 |
| Christopher Newport (VA) | 4449 | 11 | No | 0.00247 |
| Dickinson (PA ) | 2125 | 5 | No | 0.00235 |
| SUNY New Paltz (NY) | 6090 | 14 | No | 0.00230 |
| SUNY at Purchase | 3107 | 7 | No | 0.00225 |
| Augustana (IL) | 2318 | 5 | No | 0.00216 |
| Bucknell (PA ) | 3747 | 8 | No | 0.00214 |
| Clark (MA) | 2389 | 5 | No | 0.00209 |
| Smith (MA) - Women’s school | 2523 | 5 | No | 0.00198 |
| College of the Holy Cross (MA) | 3083 | 6 | No | 0.00195 |
| SUNY Geneseo | 4110 | 6 | No | 0.00146 |
| Duquesne (PA ) | 5095 | 7 | 13, 0 | 0.00137 |
| Marquette (WI) | 7528 | 10 | 3, 4 | 0.00133 |
| U. of Rochester (NY) | 6767 | 8 | 1, 4 | 0.00118 |
| Villanova (PA ) | 6989 | 8 | 7, 2 | 0.00114 |
| American (D.C.) | 7917 | 9 | 2 | 0.00114 |
| The College of New Jersey | 7,039 | 6 | No | 0.00085 |
| Case Western (OH) | 6017 | 5 | 2 (Applied & Professional Ethics) | 0.00083 |
ETA: I consider this list the more “accessible” version of @merc81’s list in terms of admissions rates, though both lists do feature Oberlin. 