What are the best colleges for anthropology and undergraduate research? I plan on entering a dual md/phd program after my bachelor’s degree and will need lots of undergraduate research. I want to do research in medical anthropology, global health, and international development.
For my undergraduate degree, I will probably concentrate in either cultural or physical/biological anthropology.
What are your stats? What can you afford, and what else are you looking for in a college?
An obvious choice for medical anthropology is Case Western, which is less selective than some of the elite schools and has an excellent program. BU, Iowa, U Conn, and U Mass-Amherst are also quite good. Among more selective schools, you have Yale, Tulane, Emory, UNC, GWU, Penn, and probably a few others I’m forgetting.
A good biological anthropology program is much more difficult to find than decent cultural anth programs, which are a dime a dozen. Even schools known for anthropology are often quite weak in the field. Chicago, for example, has a single scholar working in biological anthropology, whereas NYU has 7. The overwhelming majority of liberal arts colleges have no biological anthropologists on faculty, and very, very few have more than one – I would stick with universities if bioanth seriously interests you.
Unlike cultural or linguistic anthropology, which often require little to no specialized technology, good research in biological anthropology frequently necessitates lab equipment befitting a science department – anatomy labs, computer modeling technology, primate (living) and/or osteology (dead) collections, etc. It is therefore prudent to look for colleges with at least a halfhearted emphasis on the subfield.
Unfortunately, many of the best bio anth programs are extremely selective (Harvard, Yale, Duke, Emory, etc.). Slightly less selective but very good programs include but are not limited to:
Arizona
GWU
Michigan
NYU
Penn State
Stony Brook
UCLA
Wisconsin
There are many other colleges that provide at least a decent background in all areas of anthropology and offer plenty of research opportunities – UCSD and Pitt, for example. If you expand your search to include majors in global health and/or public health, your list could include options like Johns Hopkins and Georgetown.
1 Like
I’m currently an 8th grader, so I have plenty of time to do well in high school. I normally do very well in school. Thanks for the detailed reply.