<p>Hello! Does anyone know what it takes to become an archaeologist? Actually I'd like to dabble in archaeology and journalism--so a double in English and archaeology. Any school recommendations? I'm looking for an upper tier in the city without a lot of greek life. I'm currently interested in NYU, Brown, Stanford, Rice, and Columbia.</p>
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<p>Archaeologost are usually PhDs who are also college professors. I know someone who is working on one now. She says it's a very slow process. The science of archaeology is very low tech. Thus, your background in sciences needs to be very strong because you will depend more on your own mind/knowledge than on computers. </p>
<p>Aside from the presence of Greek like, Penn has a very strong archaeology/anthropology program that attracts serious anthropology students. The U Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (or, "Mummy Museum", as Philadelphians call it) is a unique draw.....<a href="http://www.museum.upenn.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.museum.upenn.edu/</a> .</p>
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<p>Ive heard about that, thanks. Strong in sciences huh? Like biological or social sciences? Hmm..I guess I have more to look into than I thought..</p>
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<p>Try Tufts or Yale (which has an Egyptology programme).</p>
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<p>At Harvard and other schools you can major in archaeology through the Anthropology Department:
<a href="http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/handbooks/student/chapter3/anthropology.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/handbooks/student/chapter3/anthropology.html</a></p>
<p>If your specific interest is Greek or Roman achaeology, you can often study that as a subspecialty of the Classics Department</p>
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<p>Some of the better publics - Michigan, Berkeley, UCLA- have top archeo grad schools, which is important when looking for an undergrad degree in archeo, as they draw top talent in the various specialties. You want a school where the faculty is be involved in interesting projects that undergrads can participate in.</p>
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<p>I second the mention of Penn's program.....very well respected.</p>
<p>You'll want to look at the research of your prospective schools to see if it interests you. For instance, some schools may do much in South American or Middle Eastern arch, but Univ Colorado probably does quite a bit more on Native American arch....what interests you?</p>
<p>Plan on getting a PhD. Practicing field archaeologists are reknowned for living out of their pickup trucks during a dig....part of the culture I think.....be forwarned .......this is generally not a lucrative field. I do have one very good friend who's a PhD arch........has his own consulting practice so he does well finacially & lives a good life......works for pipeline companies that are required to dig potential sites before pipe is installed. This is not a huge industry, and there are many more single-proprietors than firms that hire teams of archaeologists.</p>
<p>Here's one major firm, though, that has a national archaeology practice:
<a href="http://www.culturalresourcegroup.com/core.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.culturalresourcegroup.com/core.htm</a></p>
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<p>My husband's a pre-historic archaeologist ....UMaryland and UHawaii also have good anthro programs with very active archaeology sub-fields.</p>
<p>Several liberal arts colleges (LAC's) have top-notch anthropology programs, including Bryn Mawr, Reed, Beloit, Pomona, Grinnell, Haverford, and Wesleyan, among others. See here: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=61341%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=61341</a></p>
<p>My interests are mostly Egyptology/biology, but archaeology in general...
Yale
Brown
U Penn
University of Chicago
UC Berkeley
UCLA
Johns Hopkins
Michigan
Columbia
Tufts
Boston University
Bryn Mawr
Duke/UNC (classical archaeology)
UVa
Cornell
WUStL
UT Austin
U of Arizona</p>
<p>In the UK: Cambridge, Oxford, University College London, Liverpool, Durham</p>
<p>I second the UChicago recommendation.</p>
<p>Me, too. Overall great anthro. dept.</p>
<p>Chicago has large & distinguished (relatively speaking) Egyptian history group. Besides, what could be better than a school that produced Indiana Jones!</p>