Financial Safeties & Matches for Philosophy Major?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I could really use some help in developing a list of colleges for my son. We live in one of those under represented states, and just don't have the knowledge of colleges that so many on the board have. </p>

<p>He wants to major in Philosophy. He has two most important criteria in picking schools. First are strength in that department and overall academics. Second is the ability to be part of a close-knit community within the school. The school itself doesn't have to be small. He would be happy with a larger school with residential colleges or honors housing where you establish close ties. He would love late night discussions with other students, and wants to avoid party or jock schools. </p>

<p>He has had an extremely well-rounded background in high school, and feels he has benefited from courses that aren't his "favorites." If a school doesn't have a core curriculum, he will build his own. </p>

<p>Other considerations are surrounding community size and weather. He would like the surrounding community to be at least 20,000 so there are some alternatives to partying for activities. He spent about a month in Washington, DC, this summer and experienced heat coupled with humidity for the first time. He would like to avoid places which have weather like that during the school year.</p>

<p>His Stats:</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 UW (His school doesn't weight.)
Rank: 1/530
Curriculum: Most rigorous
School: Public, sends some kids to top schools each year. Stanford knows his school, but I don't know how familiar other colleges are with it.
Teacher recs: These should be great. He has close relationships with the teachers. His love of learning, sense of humor, speaking ability and ability to explain things to other students will shine through, I think.<br>
Counselor rec: Average, I'm guessing. The counselor who previously worked with seniors left the department so this counselor is new to the college recommendation process. Given the workload of students, it is quite an accomplishment that he knows my son on sight and really likes his sense of humor.
ECs:
Four years of varsity swimming, lettered each year, 11th at State. He has also done club swimming for about 10 years.
Four years of speech, lettered each year, 4th at State. High school swimming and speech seasons overlap, so managing both is quite a challenge. He gets up at 5 a.m. for swimming practice and gets home from speech at 5 p.m.<br>
Theater: Various plays over the years. He has a lot of fun with this.
Other: Boys State, received full rides to attend speech camp and a Washington, DC workshop.
Test Scores:
SAT IIs: 800s in Lit, Math IIC and World History.
SAT I: Oops, here is where our unfamiliarity with the college process shows. He was originally going to take it in June, then we learned about the need for SAT IIs. The May deadline had passed so now he will take the SAT I in October. His SAT II scores are all from taking the tests once in June.</p>

<p>We would really appreciate suggestions of schools! He is going to apply to Stanford as the SLE program is right up his alley. He will also apply to University of Pittsburgh which has a strong philosophy program and honors college. He should have a shot at merit money there. He will apply to State U which, while not the greatest fit, may be necessary due to financial constraints. What would be other places to add to the list? Where might he receive preferential aid offers?</p>

2

<p>University of Chicago, considered to be one of the top 10 Universities in the world, sounds like a perfect match for you son. Statistically it is much easier to get into, because application- "The Uncommon App" weeds out a lot of students who don't want to take the time to figure out the kind of student Chicago is looking for- very intellegent, with a passion for learning. It also has a core curriculum.</p>

3

<p>Thanks, menloparkmom. He will apply to Chicago. With the donation they received, it may work financially whereas a year ago I think it would have been out of the question.</p>

4

<p>I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. My son is going to Chicago this year, after spending his freshman year at a U where he got the nice financial $$, but wasn't the right fit for him. He can't wait to start next week. He was turned down by Stanford , much to the suprise of his school, which sends lots of kids there each year- so it just shows that you can't count on acceptance at any reach school, no matter how well qualified the student.</p>

5

<p>I don't know anything about their philosophy program, but I know that Rice has an awesome residential house system.</p>

6

<p>I don't know that much about philosophy departments, but suggest that he check out LACs. Being a male is a big plus at LACs, including for merit aid consideration. Being a prospective humanities major also is a big plus at many schools, not just LACs.</p>

<p>While the Deep South wouldn't fit his needs because of the heat and humidity, your S should keep in mind that in places like D.C., the high heat and humidity is during the summer, not typically during the school year.</p>

<p>LACs in cities that he could check out are: Swarthmore, Haverford, and Macalester.</p>

7

<p>A lot of my favorite schools: Oberlin, Kenyon, Carleton, Grinnell, Bates, Bowdoin, etc. are pretty rural. Of these schools, Bates (Lewiston, Maine), and Bowdoin (Brunswick, Maine) are in towns with more than 20,000 residents.</p>

<p>Amherst College might do the trick-- the college town has 35,000 residents. Plus, the school is known for committing itself to sending low-income students to its school. From your description of your son, he sounds very much like one of my good friends who is at Amherst on a full scholarship. Though my friend did not have quite as spectacular a profile as your son, he was in an unusual financial situation. Amherst was more than happy to pitch in. </p>

<p>Your son might try his hand at a few other schools that might want him, from the sounds of his profile: Vassar, Wesleyan, WashU, Tufts, Brandeis, Northwestern (I would add Rice, too, but it sounds like it's a no-go because of the weather). These are not sure bets by any means, but they are worth a try, if he's interested.</p>

<p>I would also suggest looking into some schools with strong school spirit and solid academics, where he will meet students of all stripes-- University of Michigan and Notre Dame, and University of Maryland come to mind. Maryland is lesser-recognized by OOS students, but it has more than its pull. However, OOS tuition without any merit scholarships whatsoever puts it at the same price as a private school.</p>

<p>For more financial safeties, I would suggest Beloit College, Lawrence College, and SUNY-Binghamton . Bing attracts some of New York's brightest kids, and both campuses have always felt quite comfortable to me. Bing is consistently written up as one of the best college values... tuition at Bing is $10,000 for out of state students.</p>

8

<p>Holy Cross is a very good LAC located in a mid-size city 1 hour from Boston. School has good size endowment and offers a great school spirit environment.</p>

9

<p>As a former philosophy major (as part of a double major with English) who also occasionally teaches philosophy at the college level I want to take the thinking in another direction.</p>

<p>Philosophy is a strange subject because philosophy departments are not all created equal, even when they are excellent programs. The type of philosophy your son is interested in is very important when choosing a school. I didn't know this when I went to college; I just lucked out at found myself at a school tbat taught exactly what I wanted to learn.</p>

<p>Simply put: American philosophy departments are divided between those that stress Continental philosophy and those that stress Anglo-American philosophy. The first involves phenomenology, existentialism, deconstruction, etc., and the second language analysis. The first is more humanities like, the second more scientific in orientation. Of course history of philosophy courses, Greek philosophy, Kant, Hegel etc. may be fairly consistent, other course will be very different based on the orientation of the school. I was very lucky to study the former with some wonderful people. If there are philosophy professors on this thread they may find my categories dated; they probably are, but the point about the orientation of the department is still relevant.</p>

<p>Binghamton has been suggested; actually Stony Brook had and may still have a strong Continental philosophy program. Yale did, and I'm sure does. Princeton, on the other hand, has always been strong in Anglo-American philosophy. Some may argue that these distinctions matter only for graduate students, but I would disagree.</p>

<p>Will you qualify for need based aid? This changes the meaning of financial safety.</p>

<p>We got a wonderful package from UChicago, but DS chose not to attend.</p>

<p>Also, take the ACT as well. It is always offered a different weekend from SAT so you do have time to schedule it. My S did very well on SAT but did spectacularly on ACT. I'm not sure if this effected admissions decisions or not. (SAT 1450 old; ACT equivalent of 1520.)</p>

10

<p>Thanks for the input, everyone. You've given us lots of food for thought! </p>

<p>Financially, we would qualify for need based aid. We do have an uncommon situation which would require professional judgment in determining the level of need based aid provided. I looked at the financial aid supplement of one of the mentioned LACs and felt that after it was filled out the FA officer would have a clear understanding of our situation. Exactly how it would treated would vary, of course, which is why my son would like to apply to more schools than he would otherwise.</p>

<p>He is more interested in the Continental end of the spectrum, although he also is interested in philosophy of the mind. (This is the kid that grapples with life's important questions, and also analyzes arguments. The next kid will probably be looking for physics/philosophy concentrations.) He wants a good grounding in all areas. I found a couple of good articles regarding departments.</p>

<p>This link <a href="http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/27/specialization-and-status-in-philosophy%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/27/specialization-and-status-in-philosophy&lt;/a>
had an overview of what areas the top 50 departments are strongest in. It is probably a bit dated, as we're also learning there seems to be quite bit of hiring going on. </p>

<p>The Philosophical Gourmet had a good article on undergraduate education in Philosophy at <a href="http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/undergrad.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/undergrad.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>After delving more into things, we're feeling better educated-- and more confused about putting together a list.</p>