<p>does anyone know such a source?</p>
<p>it's not that current but I think the Gourman report.</p>
<p>In terms of undergraduate majors, I'm unsure of such existence; however, there are rankings for departments and their graduate programs for their respective universities.</p>
<p>The debate on CC goes on about correlation of graduate programs to undergraduate programs. It depends on how you look at them.</p>
<p>Top 10 (in alphabetical order):</p>
<p>COLUMBIA</p>
<p>CORNELL</p>
<p>HARVARD</p>
<p>JOHNS HOPKINS</p>
<p>PRINCETON</p>
<p>STANFORD</p>
<p>UC- BERKELEY</p>
<p>U CHICAGO</p>
<p>U PENNSYLVANIA</p>
<p>YALE</p>
<p>
[quote]
does anyone know such a source?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I've been posting the top-50 per capita undergrad producers of PhDs, by department, in the Swarthmore forum here. [Seems like Harvard and Swarthmore fans are the only people who don't chew me out for posting them.]</p>
<p>Purely from an "academia" perspective, it's probably as good a rough comparison as any. It's primarily shows the percentage of hardcore future researcher/professor/academic types in a school or department and how successful the professors are in mentoring them. Generally, the attributes of a department that would produce a lot of future PhDs would be the academic attributes you would look for in an engaged, vibrant department.</p>
<p>I'm only posting a few at a time, but if you have a specific request, it's easy to do.</p>
<p>BarryD, you forgot a couple of top 10 or so English departments:</p>
<p>Brown University
Duke University
University of California-Los Angeles
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Virginia</p>
<p>
[quote]
[Seems like Harvard and Swarthmore fans are the only people who don't chew me out for posting them.]
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's basically because the people who want these rankings are the pre-professional students, thus they don't care about Ph.D because they aren't going to get one. The success in one of the pre-professional fields depends a lot on the school you go to, whereas someone can get into an elite graduate school from basically any institution.</p>
<p>Why do LACs not make the cut for best English programs?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Why do LACs not make the cut for best English programs?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Who said they don't? Many people believe that the inherent undergraduate focus of a LAC, combined with greater availability of seminar-style classes, makes LAC's ideal for studying English (as well as creative writing).</p>
<p>Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Vassar, Bard, Oberlin, Kenyon, Grinnell, and Pomona are considered by many to have outstanding English departments. Most, if not all, send a disproportionate amount of their graduates to the top Maters and Ph.D. programs.</p>
<p>Say, I checked out the swarthmore forums and couldn't find an anthropology one. The only rankings I've seen are the top ten from Reed College's website. I'd be interested to see the same methodology applied to ranking anthro for the top 50.</p>
<p>I just added the anthro. I stopped at 47, because there are about 20 schools with 3 per 1000. There just haven't been that many anthro PhDs.</p>
<p>Why do LACs not make the cut for best English programs?>></p>
<p>Because, with all politeness to Mr. B, the list he is quoting from is most probably only a list of top UNIVERSITY programs in English. Thus, it simply does not include LACs. This is the problem with many "rankings" of individual majors: there are so many variables involved based on who is doing the rankings, the methodology behind them, and the limitations of which schools are included, that relying too heavily on them often means missing some great schools! Not to mention the fact that the "best" program for YOU is the one you have a shot at getting into. What good is it to know that Yale is ranked number 1 or number 10 on a list somewhere if you have little or no chance of getting into Yale and, just as importantly, don't really like Yale. Wouldn't it be better to know which schools have good departments AND are a match for both your stats and what you want your college experience to be?</p>
<p>My opinion: any ranking or rating list should only be used as an extra data point, NOT the starting point in searching for the right school for you. There is so much more to picking a college than just looking at specific majors. And, you can find excellent departments in MOST majors at colleges/universities in a wide range of selectivity and "prestige" </p>
<p>So, a better approach, rather than looking for some sort of list, might be to (1) consider what you are looking for in a college or university (big? small? here? there? small classes or large? Greeks or no Greeks? preppy or not? financial aid or merit money needed/wanted? etc.) and then (2) do some research by comparing the various departments and program resources of selected schools that fit your overall needs/desires. </p>
<p>Go ahead and look at the rankings, at the number of PHd's from that program, at the fact that your next-door-neighbor's uncle's best friend says University XYZ is simply the BEST school for a major in landscape design or computer science or English (or whatever) --- but do it AFTER you have decided what you need and want in terms of where you will be studying and spending the next four years of your life.</p>
<p>If you still need reassurance that you are making the "right" choice, search for associations and organizations related to your potential major and see which schools are accredited by that organization as having met their standards for education in that field or major. (For example, the American Chemical Society lists accredited schools that have met its accreditation standards, as well as solid information about what makes a chemistry program a good one on its web site. There are similar associations for nearly every major out there.) </p>
<p>Finally, bear in mind that a very high percentage of students end up changing their major at least once. Your best bet is to always to start with schools that meet your overall needs/desires. Then, focus on finding schools with the best overall academic quality for students with your stats (GPA, test scores, etc.). Finally - and only then - narrow the list down by possible major.
There's no sense in going to a college just because it is "highly ranked in major X" if you will spend your years there being unhappy. </p>
<p>Yes, all of this sounds like a lot of work: it is. And, yes, it is more reassuring to just pick a college or university off of some ranking. But, it seems to me that the investment of four years of your time and money deserves more than a "Chinese restaurant" approach (Pick 1 off of ranking A, 1 off of ranking B): it deserves thought, research, and an understanding of the "big picture" of what is right for YOU as an individual. Good luck.</p>
<p>Carolyn:</p>
<p>You should post that again, every day, from now until applications are due next January. That is the best advice I've seen. Start with the BIG PICTURE. If you like the forest, then start looking at the trees.</p>
<p>The number of questions about this department or that department indicate that we are doing a really crappy job of explaining what college is all about and why a broad-based education is so valuable. Who has "the best" philosophy department (whatever that means) is so unimportant compared to the big picture stuff.</p>