<p>I got accepted to NYU, Oberlin, and Occidental College and I'm having a hard time deciding. I think I've eliminated Occidental, but I still find it appealing. I intend to major in Anthropology and will likely focus on cultural anthropology, but dabble a bit in the linguistic areas of study. I'm looking at the websites, and it seems like Occidental's program isn't quite as good as it appears to focus just on cultural anthropology, and if I decided that my passion was more for linguistic anthro, I think I'd be screwed. It's hard to judge whether the Oberlin or NYU one would be better than the other, though. I don't think there are really rankings about this kind of thing, but what would you say is more prestigious or at least more successful at getting their students into good Masters/Ph.d programs? I think that I really can't go wrong with either one, but I'm just looking for advice. This decision is very difficult. Oberlin offered me much better aid, by the way, so that's a big factor. And I'm in NYU College of Arts and Sciences, but through the GSP, which I hear makes course selection difficult, so that's another one that makes me lean toward Oberlin. On the other hand, if the quality of education will really be much better, it might be worth an extra $30,000 to go to NYU. I'd just like to know what you think.</p>
<p>To the best of my knowledge Oberlin offers one course in linguistics. It is in their Hispanic Studies department. If this is relevant please follow up with them.</p>
<p>I am familiar with NYU, though not undergrad, and from what I've seen I personally find it lacking in what anyone would consider a college experience. There is little bonding among students or close connection to the school. The administration red tape was hideous.</p>
<p>But others may have a more recent, different perspective on this.</p>
<p>I know the Linguistics courses are lacking at Oberlin (It doesn't even seem to be available as a minor). But the ability to focus on linguistic anthro is there (from the dept. website)
"The following courses offered by the department are compatible with a focus in Linguistic Anthropology:</p>
<ol>
<li>Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology.</li>
<li>Art, Language and Society.</li>
<li>Language in Culture and Society.</li>
<li>Language, Gender and Sexual Identity.</li>
<li>Language and Cognition."</li>
</ol>
<p>They don't appear to be raw linguistics courses as they seem to be in anthropological/sociological contexts, but at least the option is there if I want to pursue linguistic anthropology in grad school and have to fill certain requirements. NYU has pretty much any course/area of study imaginable. Their anthropology dept website claims: "The Department of Anthropology at New York University is one of the country's leading undergraduate centers for Cultural Anthropology, Archaeological Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology, and Physical Anthropology." I need to find some evidence to substantiate that. Occidental still looks good too, but it doesn't seem like they offer much other than straight up cultural anthro because the department seems really small. I'll look more into it. There seem to be some really good study abroad options with Occidental. And their are summer internships with archaeologists and stuff. But all I know about these programs is what they have available on their own websites. I haven't seen a third party's input, just the schools'. I was hoping someone could offer a different perspective.</p>
<p>I thought about Occidental, but their linguistics options are severely lacking. If that's what you want, no matter the internships or abroad options available, it's not for you.</p>
<p>Given NYU's size, their course offerings are extensive (I checked - it's cool), but is it worth that extra $30 000?</p>
<p>I, personally, don't believe so. You'll get a quality education at Oberlin, and since you want an anthropology degree, anyway, you don't need a huge number of linguistics courses. Now, I don't profess to know a great deal about the academics at Oberlin, but given its prestige, I doubt their anthropology department could be too bad.</p>
<p>Those are my thoughts. I don't know how good the specific departments are (except what sites say); you should definitely find out if it'll make a huge effect on your decision.</p>
<p>Yeah, I really don't think NYU is worth the extra money. I'm having an appeal done to see if they can match the other schools, but even then I might still choose Oberlin. It really is good and they've treated me well. NYU is nice, but they don't give me that much attention. They're nice when they have time to get in touch with you, but they don't seem to care all that much. I'm just trying to be a bit extra picky because I know this decision will affect the next 4 years of my life and probably more. There are pluses to every school, but I think Oberlin is a win-win here.</p>
<p>Why not email or call the head of the anthropology departments at both Oberlin and NYU and ask your questions directly? If they won't talk to a prospective student, that will tell you something.</p>