<p>Which schools around the country are known for a strong reputation in their history departments? My son is looking for a place where students and professors are passionate about history and the classics.</p>
<p>He is strongly considering St. John's in Annapolis. His SAT scores are at the high end of the St. John's posted range, and he is an excellent writer and loves participating in spirited class discussions. He's a good fit for St. John's, but he's at the point where he's considering the pros and cons of pursuing his education at a traditional (but history loving) university vs. the unique educational style of St. John's.</p>
<p>Can you tell us a bit more about him? Would he prefer only small schools or is he open to larger schools too? Any parts of the country where he wouldn't go? How would you describe his personality (i.e., preppy, artsy, intellectual, etc.) and are there any types of campus cultures he wouldn't like (i.e., very conservative or very liberal). Would he consider religiously affiliated schools? Do you need financial aid or is he hoping for merit money? It would also help if you could give us an idea of his grades and test scores so we don't recommend schools that wouldn't be realistic choices for him.</p>
<p>For history, if one believes the baccalaureate origins of Ph.d.s in history, you'd find all the usual suspects, plus Earlham and Kalamazoo Colleges, with a heavier emphasis on the liberal arts colleges (with Wesleyan at the top, for what it's worth). This is not surprising, really, as the faculty at most of these colleges are essentially interchangeable, and which one teaches where will have more to do with what openings happened to exist in the years they were hired than anything else. You could basically throw darts at the top 35 LACs and Uni's, add in Earlham and Kalamazoo, and you wouldn't go wrong.</p>
<p>Classics is much more specialized. Departments at some places can be quite small (which can be a plus or minus - but it's a difference), and language requirements differ as well. Well-known programs include Brown, Yale, UChicago, Bryn Mawr (I know he doesn't qualify), as well as some of the state universities such as Wisconsin. Some of the state honors colleges are likely to provide an experience in history and the classics every bit as strong as to be found among many of the private colleges.</p>
<p>There are also schools with strong "core curricula". The core at each school is different, so you need to check them out one by one. Columbia and Chicago are reasonable examples; there is also "Directed Studies" at Yale; and my favorite, and I think the most innovative, is that at Scripps (but again he doesn't qualify.)</p>
<p>There are several universities with strong history and classics departments. These include some that have been mentioned by mini (Chicago, Columbia) but I would add the University of Michigan to that list.</p>
<p>If your son is interested in St. John's then he may also wish to consider Reed, which has something of the same approach as St. John's, and while it doesn't claim to be a "Great Books"-based curriculum it has very strong classics and history programs. And it focuses heavily on student-teacher interactions and on student research. (Truth in packaging: it's also my alma mater.)</p>
<p>Has your son sat in on classes at St. John's and at other schools? Mine attended a couple of classes--I know one was a classics class at a top university and just thought the way the classes were held at St. John's was so much more engaging and interesting. Comparing them really helped him make up his mind. I don't think he thinks he's missed anything important by not attending a normal college. He's become very involved in intramural sports even though he wasn't into them in high school. He's really loved his time at the school and feels as if he's got a very strong and integrated educational foundation for whatever comes next.</p>
<p>My son is an unusually well-read intellectual type from a small private school in the South. He had an excellent teacher in high school that graduated in the late 90's from St. John's. My son scored 5's on Eng Lang, Eng Lit, APUSH, and Euro History. He had a 4 in AP BIO. SAT 1450 (V780, M670). He's going to travel and check out St. John's at Annapolis- talk to "tutors" and visit classes etc. I hope he can handle the math and science sections of the program at St. John's. SJMOM, can someone without a strong math gene do OK there? I don't know much about it, but he does love talking about the theoretical science stuff- space/time, chaos theory, etc., but he doesn't particularly enjoy rotely crunching numbers. He's taken honor's math through calculus, and he's not too concerned about it, so I guess I shouldn't be either. I think he would otherwise thrive in the SJ community, but if for some reason it's not for him, we'll check out some of the schools that you folks have kindly recommended. California folks- I don't know anything about Fresno State, but I've heard that they have a great classics department, thanks to the incredible Dr. Victor Davis Hanson. Anyway, thanks for everyone's interest and advice.</p>
<p>Not to take away from 50something's spotlight, but I have a friend looking to transfer out of Syracuse; she was quite detered by the heavy drinking scene (she lives on frat row) and easy classes. The connection to this thread is that she's looking at classics.</p>
<p>She is looking at NYU, BC, and Villanova. (There's another, but the name slips by me...). However, there's a fin aid need, so NYU seems unreasonable. BC seems like a stretch stat-wise to transfer into. And Villanova she claims would be an extension of high school. And she has no real knowledge of the strength of each school's classics department, although she does know she wants a larger classics depart. - meaning largely than a few profs. And she wants a city nearby...</p>
<p>Anyways, I am having difficulty advising her beyond the stick-it-out-and-see as well as the you-can-change-dorms-after-semester-one typicals. I am hoping for good suggestions...</p>
<p>50something--St. John's SAT profile is very similar to your son's. Very high verbal and more average math. My sons scores were in the 1500's, pretty even between math and verbal. He worried that the math might not be tough enough because there isn't really any rote number crunching. Instead he found it very interesting to see the development of math and how it built from the Greeks onward. It's much more theoretical. I think a lot of kids who didn't especially like math in high school (although my son did) like this approach. I think you gain an appreciation for the subject, whether you want to pursue it further or not. I think that your son's high school teacher would be a great source for any questions about St. John's. The Johnnies I've met all seem to love the place.</p>
<p>My son is a classics major at Georgetown. Their department is small but the professors are awesome. His first classics classes were at his Jesuit high school, and we have found that the Jesuits generally place a strong emphasis on classics so I would expect you would find a decent classics department at most Jesuit schools. </p>
<p>I know University of Pennsylvania has a good department, and BU and Holy Cross (both of which offer merit money for classics students).</p>
<p>Definitey look into LACs for history departments unless he's looking to specialize (kind of too soon really...). I'm at Colgate right now and I LOVE the history department to pieces. I am in a workshop seminar now (required for major/minor) that strongly focuses on teaching you how to write and research a history paper. The profes here are pretty good and are dedicated to help students. I feel sooo nutured here that I can't stop thinking about history. I'd say that the department has a pretty good balance between US and European with one or two professors each for Latin America, Africa, and Asia.</p>
<p>All I need is.... TIME to devour my passion!!! :)</p>
<p>Classics here are supposedly be pretty good- there's a couple of extended study trips to Greece and Italy for those who finished Greek or Latin in their first year of the language. But he'd probably get quite a kick out of one of the CORE courses- Western Traditions, which focuses on classical philosophy and literature like Aristole and Plato and Homer.</p>