How do I find the Good School for Particular Major?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I tried to find schools that has a highly ranked program for the major I want, but I ended up not being able to find them easily. Googling did not work. There seems to be no 'set' ranking for undergraduate majors. I can find the set Major ranking for Graduate school, but... not for undergraduate.</p>

<p>Now, my college is more likely decided. I am heading as a videographer for Univ. of Houston football team with Business major. But... I still want to look for schools that I can possibly apply (because I may just go to math major anyways) And I want to ask this question for some of my friends, and later CC users, who are unable to find schools that has the well-ranked major that they are looking for.</p>

<p>So, how do I look for the highly ranked undergraduate programs?</p>

2

<p>just google around for the specialty of each school</p>

3

<p>You can take a look at the course listings in the major to compare various schools’ offerings in that major.</p>

4

<p>Rugg’s Guide - the only book I know that lists good schools for each major. See if your guidance counselor has it or check your public library or buy the latest edition online at his website.</p>

5

<p>The best source is to ask people who are knowledgeable in the field, ideally someone who does some hiring of people in that field. I’ve heard people say “We like to hire grads from x university, because they come out of college prepared to start working in the field right away.”</p>

<p>Another source is to look at the number of professors in the dept. Check to see how many are full-time staff and how many are part-time. Keep in mind that sometimes part-time people can make great teachers, if they have years of practical experience and are teaching because they enjoy it. However, if there are too many adjuncts who are running from college to college trying to earn a living, that can be a negative. Those teachers often won’t have time to get involved with students, and may not even have office hours.</p>

<p>If a college has recently hired profs for a dept., that is a good sign. If the dept. is shrinking through attrition (or layoffs), that can be bad.</p>

<p>Also, look at the courses that are ACTUALLY offered in a recent semester - NOT the full book of courses. Many colleges have books of courses that are authorized, but are never actually offered because of a shortage of teachers. You want to make sure that sufficient numbers of courses are offered so you have some choices and so you can graduate on time. Ask students whether they have trouble getting registered for classes. At many universities, freshman have trouble registering for popular classes, which is OK, but if upper classman can’t get in, that is bad.</p>

<p>You might also learn something by the building in which the dept. is housed. If a dept. is a modern building or an extensively renovated one, it tells you that the college values that dept. If the dept. is in the run down basement, that tells you something else.</p>

<p>You can google the “common data set” for most colleges. It will tell you the number of people who graduate each year with various majors.</p>

<p>Some majors may have a great reputation, but they are hard to get into. This is particularly an issue when a student picks a college for a major, but they require students to apply to enter that major after a year or two, and most people don’t get in.</p>

6

<p>Seconding the advice about speaking with people who are working in the industry that you want to enter, or in the kind of job that is your target. They will have ideas about what places are good. Do remember that certain fields are local. For example teachers often find their first jobs in the school districts where they did their student teaching. Likewise some industries rely more heavily on networking than do others. Happykid and her theater techie pals are turning down work while they are in college because they have already built sturdy networks in the area where they study. If they move to a new area, they most likely will have to start all over again.</p>

7

<p>

</p>

<p>Not necessarily if the courses in question are important prerequisites for later courses in their intended majors. Community colleges may be most vulnerable to this problem due to lack of control on enrollment (since they are open admission).</p>

8

<p>One thing you can do is Google a school name along with “most popular majors.” If you see a school where the top five majors are econ, poli sci, history, English, and psych, you get a pretty good idea of where that school’s strengths lie.</p>

<p>Fair warning, you’ll usually see bio and psych in every list, and you’ll almost never see physics or math unless you’re at an Institute of Technology, but the most popular major list can often give you an idea of the strengths of a school.</p>

9

<p>Re: #8</p>

<p>Considering the raw popularity of majors is not that effective, since, as noted, some majors like biology, psychology, business, economics, and English tend to be popular in most colleges (if offered). There may be a slightly better correlation if the popularity of majors is compared to the popularity of the majors across all colleges (e.g. is economics more or less popular at this college than at colleges overall?).</p>

<p>But some majors may be popular at a given school for reasons other than academic strength. Indeed, if the school tends to have students who party harder than normal, the strongest majors, which may have the most rigorous courses, may be less popular than typical, while the weakest majors with the least rigorous courses may be the most popular among the partiers.</p>

10

<p>College professors are likely to be among the most knowledgeable about the best departments in liberal arts and science fields. Their opinions are captured in “Peer Assessment” surveys that inform the USNWR graduate department rankings and the NRC rankings. As far as I know, there are no such PA rankings for individual undergraduate programs (with a few exceptions such as CS and engineering). If a school has a high PA ranking in your intended major (and in other respects seems to be a good fit) that’s probably a good sign. It’s not an infallible indicator by any means, because it may not be a school with very strong focus on undergraduates (and because there’s a limit to how many schools a professor can rank knowledgably). Look at average class sizes and the undergraduate course offerings.</p>