<p>One is a great liberal arts college and the other is a high ranking university. Which one has a better anthro/archae program?</p>
<p>PENN has the Penn Museum
[Penn</a> Museum - Penn Museum](<a href=“http://www.penn.museum%5DPenn”>http://www.penn.museum)
You might want to check it out as it may help with your decision.
In my opinion the answer to your question would be UPenn - larger school, own museum, urban area close to far more resources (NYC is not too far away if Philadelphia does not have what you need)</p>
<p>You will have to work a little harder at Penn to get a good general education in the liberal arts. Davidson is better here. However, if you are serious about anthropology and archeology Penn is your place. Penn is exceptionally strong in those disciplines as well as related ones (e.g. folklore, linguistics).</p>
<p>Is Penn strong in physical anthropology or bioarchaeology?</p>
<p>These are two almost completely different schools in terms of size, social structure, location etc. That has to be a factor. </p>
<p>Generally, graduate schools look at undergraduate education as well as extracurricular experiences (including research, grant funding, publications/presentations). In terms of rigor/quality of just the undergraduate education in general, I think these two would be roughly equivalent (with differences included). However, I think you’ll find many more opportunities outside of the classroom at Penn.</p>
<p>Edit: You also have to think about the experiences/backgrounds of professors at Davidson vs. Penn. At Davidson, you might be more limited seeing as the department only has 5 faculty members. Compare that to 34 affiliated professors at Penn - chances are you’ll know/meet someone doing work that you would be interested in and be able to network you with potential graduate mentors in your field.</p>
<p>I think the answer is Dartmouth. One of my majors was anthro - its absolutely amazing at Dartmouth and you get the benefit of an incredibly well endowed department. Dartmouth offers the Claire Goodman grant which will fund your international thesis research, so after a reading class (1-1 with a professor where you set up your trip and research) your sophomore or junior year, Dartmouth will fund your research anywhere in the world. My classmates went on 3 month (100% Dartmouth funded - they even fund the gifts you give to the people helping you in the country you choose) research trips to study Tlingit culture in Alaska, archaeology in Peru, medical anthropology in Africa, comparative research on small island communities in the pacific, etc. After this you have thesis advising (again 1-1) with a tenured professor of your choosing. Outside of this the classes are small, and the department is very close knit so you will end up having dinner at your favorite professors house more than once. </p>
<p>In the end almost all of the majors pursuing anthro in my class for grad school went to places like Harvard and UChicago for grad school. Those choosing other paths often end up at highly elite grad schools such as the top 5 medical and law schools. </p>
<p>Anthro is one of the majors where having a foot in undergrad liberal arts, with a well-funded department, really helps and the experience at Dartmouth seems to surpass that of any other school I’ve heard of.</p>
<p>Totally amazing experience and I think very indicative of Dartmouth’s undergraduate emphasis.</p>