<p>First off, I'm new to the site, so if this is in the wrong forums section I'm sorry.
Now that that is out of the way, onto what the title is about. I am only mid-way through my sophomore year in high school, and lately I have been extremely interested in two fields in particular: physics and philosophy. My interest tends to lean to one or another every now and then and at the moment my main interest is in philosophy, more specifically, moral/ethical philosophy (Kant-esque), metaphysical philosophy (Descartes-esque), and epistemology (again more Kant-esque). I have been searching for undergraduate programs that are pretty strong in these departments, and have come across universities such as NYU and Columbia, and probably more I can't really think of.
My uncle is currently a professor of philosophy at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, and my father is attending school to attain his Masters in Theology, so the Kant and Descartes work really stuck out to me, as I have been attempting to apply the two philosophers' works and ideas to my current knowledge of Christianity (it's also just plain interesting). But at the same time I am thoroughly interested in the work of Frederich Neitzche, David Hume, Karl Marx, etc. (I'm also interested in the social ideals of authors such as Aldous Huxley if that has any relevance).
Well it seems I went off topic... anyway, I would be greatly appreciative if anyone could give some information on universities with strong undergraduate programs in the aforementioned fields of philosophy. </p>
<p>Since you have several interests, you can’t be sure where those interests will lead. You should consider schools that are strong in those several areas. Ultimately, it will come down to what school are the best fit in terms of your ability to gain admission, your finances, and your personal preferences (size, location, etc.)</p>
<p>There are no undergraduate rankings in philosophy. Graduate rankings can give you an idea of which departments are strong in particular areas, but don’t tell you much about the quality of undergraduate teaching. The best source of graduate rankings in philosophy is the Philosophical Gourmet: [The</a> Philosophical Gourmet Report 2011 :: Breakdown of Programs by Specialties](<a href=“http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/breakdown.asp]The”>http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/breakdown.asp)</p>
<p>Since you also have an interest in physics, and your interests tend to alternate between the two disciplines, you should consider schools that are strong in both fields. Some schools offer joint majors in Philosophy and Physics, though these tend to be geared to students with interests in the philosophy of science. Your stated philosophical interests don’t suggest that’s where your interests lie. If you did have an interest in the philosophy of science, you also might consider schools that had departments of the history & philosophy of science (e.g., Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Indiana, Pittsburgh, among others). </p>
<p>For your interests in applying certain philosophical ideas to your knowledge of Christianity, you might consider schools with departments that would be friendly to that endeavor. These would include Calvin College or Notre Dame. Departments at some Jesuit schools might fall into this category, too, e.g., Boston College, Georgetown. For that interest, you might want to consider schools that have strong theology or religion departments. [A</a> 2012 Ranking of Graduate Programs in Theology by R.R. Reno | First Things](<a href=“A 2012 Ranking of Graduate Programs in Theology | R. R. Reno | First Things”>A 2012 Ranking of Graduate Programs in Theology | R. R. Reno | First Things)</p>
<p>first, congratulations on finding these philosophers so early in high school. I hope you’re able to continue reading them, even if it’s not in high school courses. there are local college courses in the subject that you can check out. Learning to love wisdom can lead you to the good life. second, I’m so glad to see you went off topic. That indicates the kind of passion you have for this pursuit. Good luck with it. It’s a field of study that’s important to so many other fields of study, and so many careers.</p>
<p>In your interests, you listed all of the major branches of philosophy except for logic (which I recommend you look into if you haven’t. Propositional, predicate, modal, and meta-logic are all fascinating imo.)</p>
<p>The problem you’ll find with most departments (except the very best ones) is that they’ll likely only be focused on one of the subjects as opposed to all of them. Even Rutgers, which ranks very highly, has a strong philosophy of language focus among its faculty; MIT has a strong focus on metaphysics; UCLA has a strong focus on philosophy of language; Duke on philosophy of biology, etc.</p>
<p>Also be careful since there’s a lot of philosophy out there that people (including professors) get flat out wrong. Especially with translated text, you need to ensure that the translation you’re reading is from a respectable source, like Guyer for Kant. You don’t just ‘read Kant’ what you read is someone’s translation of what they believe Kant was trying to say. So getting it from a respectable source is very important.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in philosophy at this early an age, my advice is try to take some classes at a community college, and also look into podcasts online from respectable universities (e.g. Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, etc.)</p>
<p>Among small schools, Reed has a better physics department than most (some other small schools offer upper division physics courses only once every two years or less frequently, while Reed offers most every year) and has an on-campus [nuclear</a> reactor](<a href=“http://reactor.reed.edu/]nuclear”>http://reactor.reed.edu/) if atomic physics is of interest.</p>
<p>I’d say Reed, UChicago, and William&Mary would all likely be colleges you should explore at this stage.
I second the idea of taking philosophy classes in dual-enrollment, either through summer classes or during the year. Check out what’s on Coursera also.</p>
<p>I liked what the Reed webpage rec’d by vonlost had to say about being aware of the way other departments like math and political science teach courses that are important to philosophy. Let me add then two other academic fields interested in philosophy but lacking department titles in most cases: the history of ideas or intellectual history, and, since you are interested in physics, the history of science. Both have much to contribute to our understanding of philosophy and the way we live now. both have provided some of the most interesting recent popular nonfiction–i.e., there’s a market for people who understand and write well about the philosophy behind histories and history behind philosophies.</p>
<p>NYU is also very expensive, and provides very little financial aid. While it would provide an excellent education for an undergraduate student, so would a number of other less expensive universities. Rutgers might be a better option, or perhaps Pittsburg, Michigan, etc.</p>
<p>I know of two NYU grads who graduated from NYU’s philosophy department, and neither ended up in a top five graduate program: one ended up at UMass-Amherst (24), and the other at UCLA (11.) Both are fine departments, but neither of these graduates ended up at Princeton, Rutgers, or one of the other top programs. I imagine that it also holds more generally for most NYU students as well.</p>
<p>Your argument is ridiculous. I am sure could find two students who graduated from Princeton’s, or Rutgers, philosophy departments who also did not end up in a top graduate program. Not everyone graduating from a(ny) top program is outstanding, or has a guaranteed place at the top, period. And as for what you “imagine” about “most NYU students”, it’s simply a wild extrapolation from two data points.</p>
<p>There’s also the fact it’s often considered better to do your PHD elsewhere than where you did your undergrad.
In addition, LACs often serve as grad school incubators yet don’t appear in those rankings.
Checking out the number of students in first year seminars/lectures would also be a good idea.
Finally, we don’t know whether OP will need financial aid. NYU isn’t very good with aid although OP should certainly apply since NYU can be good to applicants it’s interested in; public universities such as Rutgers, Michigan, etc, are likely to be unaffordable except if the university’s in-state for OP (meaning all other publics will not be). If OP’s parents have $55,000 per year for his/her education, the matter is different.</p>
<p>From my experience with applying to NYU last year, I was surprised to find that their financial aid was more generous than I expected. I heard about NYU being notorious for stingy financial aid only after I applied, but when I received the offer, I got around 37-40,000 per year, which cut the cost for me significantly (but still too expensive for me to afford). I think other applicants for the Class of 2017 also received generous offers last year as well. So definitely apply especially if the philosophy department is that good–you never know what could happen.</p>