College suggestions: Cultural Anthropology

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey all,</p>

<p>I was hoping you could suggest some colleges for me. I'm interested in anthropology, especially cultural anthropology. I would love to double major in anthropology (with a cultural track) and European Studies.</p>

<p>I live in Maryland and I would like a school in one of the following states: NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, WV, NC, SC, GA, FL, TN, LA. I would prefer PA, MD, VA or NC.</p>

<p>My school doesn't rank, but it is a private, all girls school. Most of my classes have been honors and I'm taking AP economics. My school doesn't rank, but my GPA is 3.69. My SAT scores were:
Math: 570
CR: 650
Writing: 650</p>

<p>I sing in the school chorus, chamber choir and outside choirs, as well as being part of a theatre program. I plan on continuing this in college. Outside of the school setting, I have already begun "research" for my interests. I have penpals from over 30 countries and can speak at at least a basic level of French, Spanish, Italian, Danish and Dutch. I hope to study abroad multiple times. I would go to college abroad if I could, but I don't think I have the AP requirements.</p>

<p>My dream school, I will tell you, is UNC Chapel Hill. But, you don't have to tell me - I know my scores and stats aren't good enough. I just want you to have an idea of my ideal school.</p>

<p>Thanks so much!</p>

<p>EDIT: If not a big school like UNC, I am interested in LACs. But any suggestions are welcome :)</p>

2

<p>Bryn Mawr College has strong programs in anthropology and classics (including classical archeology). It’s a women’s college (one of the traditional “Seven Sisters”) but in a consortium with nearby Haverford and Swarthmore. BMC students also can take classes at the University of Pennsylvania, which has a top anthropology program. So you’d have access to classes at four excellent schools.</p>

<p>Bryn Mawr would be a reach but not an unrealistic one. Your CR and W scores would be just about average for enrolled students; your M would be at the high edge of the lower 25th percentile. Many other factors besides scores are considered but it might help to raise them a bit.</p>

<p>Beloit College has a strong anthropology program and is a little less selective than Bryn Mawr.</p>

3

<p>This is stating the obvious, but UMD has a good mix of academics and athletics and has a decent anthro program.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for your suggestions!</p>

<p>Anyone else, perhaps? :slight_smile: Just curious.</p>

5

<p>What do you plan on doing with your anthropology degree? You should consider the financial implications of your decision. If you aspire to a career that meets your passion, great. But, if that career has modest salary potential, you need to be concerned about the cost of your education. Same is true (even more so) if you intend on grad school. </p>

<p>If you come from wealth, it may not be an issue. If not, it will be. Based on your resume, I would not expect much aid from private schools. That said, I would look at your state schools. The Maryland system has several good schools with anthropology programs, at a reasonable cost for you.</p>

6

<p>If you’re considering state schools in Maryland, and LACs have some appeal, then you are lucky to have an excellent public LAC in St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Nearby St. Mary’s City is the site of Maryland’s first permanent European settlement. The area has archaeological digs and a museum within walking distance of SMCM’s waterfront campus.
[Anthropology</a> Department: St Mary’s College of Maryland](<a href=“http://www.smcm.edu/anthropology/progam_highlight.html]Anthropology”>http://www.smcm.edu/anthropology/progam_highlight.html)</p>

7

<p>The University of Pittsburgh is strong in anthropology, languages and linguistics and would be a match with your stats. </p>

<p>Pitt Anthropology: [About[/url</a>]</p>

<p>Pitt study abroad programs: [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.abroad.pitt.edu/programs/pantherprograms.html]Panther”&gt;http://www.abroad.pitt.edu/programs/pantherprograms.html]Panther</a> Programs](<a href=“http://www.anthropology.pitt.edu/about.html]About[/url”>http://www.anthropology.pitt.edu/about.html)</p>

8

<p>Take a look at Emory’s program. And University of New Mexico.</p>

9

<p>NRC Rankings (Top 50)</p>

<p>Anthropology</p>

<p>1 Michigan 4.77
2 Chicago 4.77
3 Cal Berkeley 4.51
4 Harvard 4.43
5 Arizona 4.11
6 Penn 3.94
7 Stanford 3.71
8 Yale 3.67
9 UCLA 3.67
10 Cal San Diego 3.67
11 Florida 3.65
12 Texas 3.62
13 NYU 3.60
14 Illinois 3.59
15 Cal Davis 3.51
16 Columbia 3.49
17 Washington (St. Louis) 3.42
18 Wisconsin 3.41
19 Duke 3.41
20 Cal Santa Barbara 3.40
21 Johns Hopkins 3.39
22 CUNY 3.39
23 Virginia 3.38
24 Rutgers 3.38
25 Pittsburgh 3.34
26 Arizona State 3.31
27 Princeton 3.30
28 Washington 3.24
29 North Carolina 3.24
30 Indiana 3.24
31 Cornell 3.21
32 Penn State 3.18
33 Southern Methodist 3.10
34 Northwestern 3.09
35 Massachusetts 3.04
36 SUNY Binghamton 3.02
37 SUNY Buffalo 3.01
38 SUNY Stony Brook 2.97
39 SUNY Albany 2.82
40 Connecticut 2.80
41 Hawaii Manoa 2.78
42 Southern Illinois 2.76
43 Iowa 2.73
44 Brown 2.73
45 Oregon 2.66
46 Michigan State 2.58
47 Utah 2.56
48 Tulane 2.56
49 Kentucky 2.51
50 Minnesota 2.49</p>

<p>Gourman Report ranking for undergraduate anthropology:</p>

<p>Michigan
Chicago
Berkeley
Penn
Arizona
Stanford
Yale
UCLA
Harvard
Northwestern
Texas Austin
New Mexico
Cornell
Illinois UC
Columbia
UC SB
U Washington
U Mass Amherst
Wisconsin
U Fla
Penn St
Pitt
Duke
Rutgers NB
Indiana Bloom
Hawaii Manoa
UC Irvine
UNC CH
UVA
SUNY Buffalo
Arizona St
Brandeis
UC Davis
Colorado Boulder
Tulane
NYU
Princeton
Washington St Louis
U Conn
Bryn Mawr
U Oregon
UC Riverside
U Minnesota
Brown
Southern Methodist
U Kansas
Missouri Columbia</p>

<p>I provided the rankings just as a starting point for your college search. Do not dwell over the rankings.</p>

10

<p>Have you visited the website of the American Anthropological Society at aaanet dot org?</p>

11

<p>Forget about your proposed major in picking a school. There are a number of reasons I say this, but the top 3 are 1) 70% of students change their major at least once after entering college. This makes sense, you will be exposed to things you might not even know exist at this point; 2) As collegebiomed said, don’t dwell on the rankings. NRC ranks graduate programs, which have virtually no relationship to undergraduate programs, and the Gourman report has been completely discredited, as was discussed at length in another thread. Trying to rank undergraduate programs is a total waste of time; 3) Programs in the majors you are considering are very good at any of the USNWR top 100 schools and no doubt many others. I use the USNWR top 100 not because I believe in rankings but because I do know the schools on that section of the list have good programs in a broad array of subjects.</p>

<p>It is far more important to find a school that fits you academically, financially, and meets other preferences such as size, location, sports scene, Greek scene, etc.</p>

<p>You have a really interesting resume and there are any number of fine schools available to you with your current stats. Any chance you could get your math SAT up if you practiced a lot and took it again? It might hold you back at some schools. But you will still get into a lot of good ones. Assuming UNC CH is off the table, which right now I agree with you it is probably not possible, what size school would you like best? What other features would be ideal, if you could just make it happen? Then it will be easier to narrow things down.</p>

<p>The other critical factor is finances. Is money an issue?</p>

12

<p>Thank you everyone for your suggestions!</p>

<p>fallenchemist - I agree with what you are saying. Maybe I should look for schools that fit my ideal, disregarding academics at first, and then narrowing it down from there. And good to know about the rankings - I didn’t know that NRC was graduate level rankings.</p>

<p>I can try to increase my math score. I studied only for math, though, and only brought it up 10 or 20 points from my first SAT to my second. It’s definitely not a subject that I excel in.</p>

<p>Money is somewhat of an issue. Anything above 25,000 we could have issues with. My mom works in the MD state school system, so I get tuition cuts on all Maryland state schools.</p>

13

<p>Don’t bypass St. Mary’s College, Maryland’s outstanding public LAC. It’s not a catholic girls schools-St. Mary’s was the name of the colonial settlement on the original site. The school’s setting is lovely-right on the Chesapeake. Good academics, good food, study abroad opportunities, all the usual stuff that goes with LACs in terms of class size, mentoring, etc…-and only slightly more expensive than UMD.</p>

14

<p>Have to third SMCM. If you haven’t visited yet, definitely do. It’s gorgeous.</p>