NJ college for Philosophy?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm transferring from my current Community College to a 4-Year institution, and I'm having a hard time finding a college in New Jersey with a good Philosophy program. I checked out William Patterson University, and their program seemed pretty well thought-out, but then I found these boards and a lot of people said it was "One step above Community College" and I don't know if I'm really looking for something that low-rated.</p>

<p>I looked at Rutgers, but I feel like that's too big, and that a program like Philosophy would get washed-out underneath more prominent things. I'll accept PA schools too, I just need to find a decent institution for Philosophy where I can live on-campus that doesn't cost a life-threatening amount. Haha. Any ideas?</p>

2

<p>Millions:</p>

<p>Philosophy "washed out" at Rutgers. Not hardly. The Rutgers philosophy program is literally one of the best in the country, rated up there with NYU, and Princeton in the top three. <a href="http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/overall.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/overall.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Have you checked out the department's website, <a href="http://philosophy.rutgers.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://philosophy.rutgers.edu/&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p>

<p>Actaully you're lucky to have the three best philosophy departments in the country located so close to each other.</p>

<p>Do keep in mind that these are rankings for graduate programs. Also if you are interested in the program at William Patterson don't pay too much attention to the overly bright, but undereducated children on this board.</p>

3

<p>I graduated from WP, and do not think its a step above CC. If you go by the popular opinion of this board, only top schools are worth one's time. Why don't you visit the campus and see for yourself. There are a lot of great things going on there.</p>

4

<p>Yale, which isn't far from New Jersey, has a fantastic philosophy program.</p>

5

<p>And Yale is known for loving CC transfers..............Get realistic.</p>

<p>As mentioned RU has one of the top top depts in the US and the world. I don't love the place for many resaons but among NJ schools it is the best by far for this major and a realistic admit choice.</p>

6

<p>Well fine, but in my opinion the only Philosophy programs worth applying to are the strongest ones because of the nature of the course. Brown, Chicago, Dartmouth and Cornell are transfer friendly schools and all boast top philosophy departments.</p>

7

<p>Just a reminder U of C--Rutgers is better than all of them and considerably cheaper.</p>

8

<p>Check out the University of Pittsburgh, they have a top ranked (albeit graduate ranked) philosophy department and it's a relatively easy school to transfer into. Now, Pittsburgh will be a bit of a drive from NJ though (since it seems like you want to stay relatively close to home).</p>

9

<p>My English teacher teaches Philosophy at Fairleigh Dickinson and she likes it there and she's a really good teacher.</p>

<p>Also maybe take a look at Drew University. </p>

<p>Both are in Madison NJ which is a really nice, safe town.</p>

10

<p>I'd see no advantages to going to Pitt over RU.</p>

11

<p>Well the thing is: This isn't my ending school. I'm obviously going to have to get a Master's in Philosophy if I want to do anything with it. Judging from the course offerings at William Patterson, I think it might be a good B.A. choice for my first degree. I just find Rutgers to be too big, and I'd prefer a smaller school.</p>

12

<p>PRINCETON. But I hope you knew that already, although granted they don't accept transfers. So, as has been said, Rutgers has a very good program, or at least is known to have one, so you should check that and Princeton out for graduate shcool.</p>

<p>Read this. <a href="http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/undergrad.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/undergrad.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

13

<p>
[quote]
Well fine, but in my opinion the only Philosophy programs worth applying to are the strongest ones because of the nature of the course.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Really? Then why did you recommend Yale? Yale's department is not that good... at all.</p>

<p>
[quote]
worth applying to are the strongest ones because of the nature of the course.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Not at all. In fact, any school in the PGR top 40 is good enough. Recall that programs in the PGR top 40 are ranked according to the strength of their PhD programs. Are you going to be an undergrad for seven years? Are you going to be writing a dissertation? Does the strength of your advising matter in terms of job-placement? Are you working under a specific faculty member on a long-term project? For undergraduates, the answer to all those questions is "no."</p>

<p>And by the way, both Cornell's program and Brown's are going downhill. The former lost several major faculty members in the past months, and Brown lost Sosa to... you guessed it... Rutgers. Both departures were enormous blows to both departments, and you will see their rankings reflect that when they are released in November.</p>

<p>Also, Brown and Dartmouth are hardly transfer-friendly.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Just a reminder U of C--Rutgers is better than all of them and considerably cheaper.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Small warning: Rutgers high-rank-bubble will burst soon; the most prominent of their faculty are, from what I remember, visiting professors, and the more prominent of their faculty do not teach full-time at Rutgers. For instance, Parfit only teaches a quarter-semester at Rutgers, splitting his time between them, Harvard, Oxford, and another school, the name of which I cannot recall. </p>

<p>Though you have a high-powered faculty at your disposal, keep in mind that you will rarely have the kind of access you want because, first, graduate students have highest priority and, second, they are not at Rutgers for the entire year.</p>

<p>BIG WARNING: Schools like NYU, Rutgers, Pitt, and such might have the best philosophy PHD programs in the world; however, as an undergraduate student, that does not mean a student should choose them over, say, MIT or Princeton or Stanford. The latter programs, as Leiter explains in the link DRAB provided, offer a better undergraduate experience as a whole. Schools that are outstanding for graduate studies are not necessarily so for undergraduate studies. Excellent examples are Berkeley, Indiana at Bloomington, the University of Texas, and NYU. They can offer the best graduate educations in the world (and they probably do), but the undergraduate experience at, say, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, or Harvard will probably not only be BETTER, but it will leave plenty more doors open for you when you graduate.</p>

<p>Leiter explains, on the link DRAb provided, which schools provide a good undergraduate experience with a decent philosophy program – a philosophy program that is decent enough for the needs of an undergraduate, which are not nearly as high as a graduate student's needs, which means that shooting for Rutgers because it is tied for 1 on the PGR is not necessary at all, and could be detrimental.</p>

14

<p>Then what's so bad about Yale?</p>

15

<p>I am not kidding: Rutgers!!! hands down</p>

<p>Has a fabulous Philosophy dept with many well-known professors</p>

16

<p>
[quote]
Then what's so bad about Yale?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>For undergraduate education, it is outstanding, of course. I was merely trying to give Yale a less generous presentation than what UofC had provided.</p>

17

<p>Pittsburgh has one of the top philosophy programs in the country, and has been that good for decades. Rutgers seems to be doing it only lately--I'd be wary of it.</p>

<p>I'd also consider U of Scranton and Seton Hall U.</p>

<p>Philosophy is one of those subjects in which the top profs in the country are often almost impossible to understand for undergrads. So a place like Scranton, that has a surprisingly large department and a solid but not big-name faculty, would probably be better for most undergrads than a world-class place like Pittsburgh.</p>

18

<p>
[quote]
Philosophy is one of those subjects in which the top profs in the country are often almost impossible to understand for undergrads.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Eh, I don't know. How's philosophy different than other fields in this regard? I thinks it's essentially the same- like other fields, in philosophy students at the intermediate level and especially the advanced level benefit from access to top profs.</p>

19

<p>Well, for starters, in a lot of other subjects, you are building on knowledge you've been getting thrown at you your whole academic life (history, math, English, the sciences), and you see a lot of stuff about anthropology and zoology, poli-sci, and psychology on cable TV and PBS. Philosophy comes out of left field with ideas you've never heard of before, ideas that even most regular PBS viewers couldn't stay awake for. There are is a whole new vocabulary and new meanings for words you thought you already knew. You don't need a world-famous guy to guide you through this introductory phase of your studies.</p>

<p>On top of that, a lot of the top philosophers aren't exactly spellbinding speakers. Some of the most famous ones are mumbling alcoholics who spent too much time alone with books, and/or they should have been put out to pasture 20 years ago. Their fame might stem from an obscure flash of insight that even other philosphy professors (much less grad students, much much less undergrads) might have trouble getting until they've read it a dozen times. I think as an undergrad it's just as beneficial to get a solid grounding in the entire field as it is to get bogged down in a cranky famous philosogeezer's final rants. There will be plenty of time for that in grad school. And even then, there's a sort of puzzled has-he-finally-flipped-out-totally? look that philosophy grad students sometimes give each other when a professor lets down his guard and tells them what's REALLY bugging him. Like one guy who told his class that he was disturbed that the universe and everything in it might be doubling in size every few seconds, but nobody would know it. Or the prof who asked a class I was in why you couldn't feel pain in that ashtray over there.</p>

20

<p>How about I put an end to all of this speculating? :)</p>

<p>Anyway, I'm a Rutgers student double majoring in Philosophy and Molecular Bio&Biochem.</p>

<p>The professors range a lot here-- some are AMAZING and some are, like the above poster mentioned, lunatics who can't speak coherently. There are no shortage of great teachers, though. So all you have to do is choose your courses accordingly so that you get to have the amazing professors. So far I've been really pleased with the course selection and the courses that I've taken here... At Rutgers, your coursework can be as difficult or as easy as you would like. </p>

<p>So basically, if you are ready to take advantage of the best option by far for a New Jersey philosophy student, go to Rutgers.</p>