anthro, size

<p>i heard from a friend that the anthro dpt is good at uchicago. is that true? also, how big is the school...are classes very large (i normally prefer smaller class sizes)?</p>

<p>Yes, the Anthropology Department is well-known and highly respected. There are approximately 4,000 undergraduates, although it varies from year to year. Class size varies a lot, but by the time you've moved past the Common Core I'd say your class size will probably be no more than 10-15 people. In some departments, e.g., Chemistry, this will not be the case, because everyone is by-and-large taking the same classes.</p>

<p>I agree with the above. You can take grad classes early, in archeology and such, and those classes will also obviously be small.</p>

<p>Two out of 4 of my S's first year courses were < 15 students. The others were science & Math had larger lectures 35 - 50, with smaller discussion sections for the science courses.</p>

<p>Less than 15, that's sweet...</p>

<p>As of the most recent survey, UChicago and UMichigan had the two most highly respected anthro faculties in the nation by a pretty wide margin according to the national research counsel surveys. Both got 4.77/5.00 compared to #3 Berkeley's 4.51.</p>

<p>This could have changed in ten years though. I'm sure that even if UChicago's slipped it still has a top department.</p>

<p>It's still ranked as the best for faculty quality and teaching effectiveness by the National Research Council. Make sure you check out the Intensive Study of a Culture classes. The topics range from Louisiana to tribes in Kenya to the modern Middle East.</p>

<p>Not that we care about rankings.</p>

<p>nice cover..........lol</p>

<p>Be aware, however, that for those who care about rankings, most departmental rankings are for graduate programs. It will vary from school to school the degree this reflects on the undergraduate education. There are schools with no graduate programs, and hence not ranked at all in some cases, that have excellent undergrad programs in a particular area or another. Reed College is but one example.</p>

<p>The NRC rankings are of faculty quality, which applies to both undergrads and graduate students in the department since they share professors and undergrads can take some grad classes. Also, any classes taught by graduate students will be taught by the top anthropology graduate students in the country, which is the major reason that rankings of graduate programs apply to undergraduate studies as well.</p>

<p>Reed is amazing.</p>

<p>It still does not reflect the consistency of effort put into the undergraduate program. As I said, there will be a great deal of variation between schools as to how well the rankings reflect undergraduate quality. Also, high quality graduate focused faculty are not always the best to teach undergrads.</p>

<p>Add "necessarily" between "does not" and "reflect and I agree.</p>

<p>Done. I felt that was implied by "great deal of variation."</p>