<p>Hello everyone,
Out of these colleges which one would you encourage for an aspiring philosophy undergraduate student? I know NYU has a top-notch graduate reputation, but i'm still unsure on how that reflects on the UG education. </p>
<p>Could any of you offer me any insight on this and help me choose the best suited universities from this list?</p>
<p>Philosophy Major - NYU, Chicago, UVA, Cornell, Yale or Georgetown?</p>
<p>Since most good colleges and universities have solid undergrad philosophy departments and since most students change their anticipated major at least one, I would suggest that other factors should be much higher on your list of priorities when evaluating colleges.</p>
<p>NYU doesnt fit on that list. IMO its basically renowned for its business and performing arts schools (stern and tisch)</p>
<p>Depends really on what you want, they all have differences that set them aside. </p>
<p>For example, NYU is very big and the class sizes can be intimidating. But its in NYC which is always a plus. But you want to do philosophy so the NYC area wont mean too much.
Chicago is very rigorous and the area around campus can be intimidating, but because it is rigorous and tough you know you'll have competition to keep you on track
UVA i hear is very southern...thats all i've heard.
Cornell is HUGE and its easy to get lost, but its still ivy
Georgetown is nice, its a jesuit school and the jesuits are very big on education. I doubt that they'd mix too much religion into their curriculums.
Yale-its ivy, world renowned and have very intelligent students.</p>
<p>Just limit that list down by knocking down a few and then flip a coin, you cant really lose in any of them. It's win win</p>
<p>tired_student- the OP was right. NYU has an AMAZING, AMAZING philosophy program for grad school. NYU and Rutgers have two of the best philosophy grad school programs in the world. Yes, better than several Ivies. </p>
<p>However, undergrad, it could use some work.</p>
<p>Yup, I'm no big NYU fan but it's #1 for Philosophy</p>
<p>Tired_student : Are you saying NYU doesn't fit on that list in spite of having, at least according to the philosopher's gormet rankings, the top stop for graduate philosophy? Its faculty has to surely be one of the very best. </p>
<p>I'm intrigued as to why you think NYU is at a disadvantage against the others as far as a philosophy major would go if its rep on the subject is held on such high esteem.</p>
<p>Georgetown philosophy is pretty good. It better be, considering part of the general ed. requirements is a year of philosophy,lol. There is a good number of phil majors here, and one of my friends is actually switching from being a bio major to a philosophy major w/ a bio minor, hoping to get into bioethics. I took Intro to Philosophy: Freedom last semester and it was AMAZING. It was a class of around 200+, but the professor easily could get our attention, the subject was great, and it was a really challenging class. Of course we divided into sections/discussion sections to actually "do philosophy" according to him. Many see philosophy as a boring subject, but the professors really make it enjoyable. My Freedom professor even has a facebook group,lol. I took Bioethics this semester, and that was also enjoyable. Remember, it'll be a lot of reading, but i'd say Georgetown is a great place to study philosophy, combined with the strong theology department as well(not just focusing on catholic theology, as there's a separate catholic studies department for that anyway).</p>
<p>Thanks for the helpful advise Jason!</p>
<p>For grad school, UC Berkeley also has one of the top philosophy departments in the nation. My father received his doctorate from Berkeley (he studied Buddhist/East Asian philosophy) and -- not to brag or anything, but he IS my daddy ;) -- is now quite well known in the academic community and one of the top scholars of his field you can find!</p>
<p>Well, I have already applied to the universities I mentioned, so i'm basically deciding on where to go from these choices. Anyone care to give some more comparative feedback?</p>
<p>I'd greatly appreciate it, thanks!</p>
<p>NYU probably has the best philosophy program in the country, according to the NRC research council rankings. Besides Art History, it's the best program in the College of Arts and Sciences.</p>
<p>And that applies to its UG program as well? The philosopher's gourmet states that its rankings are based on the graduate program only, and it instructs that it might be advisable to pursue UG education in a university which emphasizes it AND has a strong philosophy department. </p>
<p>So I guess its looking for a balance between a great philosophy department and also a great UG program. Other members have mentioned NYU's UG program to be in 'need of some work'. Can anyone elaborate on this? Its a pretty tough choice.</p>
<p>Graduate and Undergraduate is VERY different. Its not just the names that are different. I've had many friends go to NYU and I'm not specifically commenting on the philosphy major but on the overall school. They all tell me that NO ONE cares about them, they feel like its them versus the world and thats no way to go through college. The most common lines I hear is, they love you for your money, once they get it then you're on your own.</p>
<p>I am starting to get confused. So, basically, NYU is no good for UG, whatever major you might be pursuing because of its enormous classes that render the individual oblivious? </p>
<p>I'd still appreciate some feedback on the other universities.</p>
<p>What about UVA UG and its major philosophy program? I've heard lots of mixed feelings about it. Too many 'jocks', too 'close minded'.... i'd like to learn more. I live in Peru, so its hard for me to gather this information by myself.</p>
<p>Also consider Oxford - history of philosophy (esp ancient/medieval), philosophy of mind, joint undergrad courses in Physics/Phil, Phil & Modern Languages, Philosophy/Politics/Econ, Mathematics/Phil, Phil/Theology, and Psych/Phil/Physiology (emphasis neuroscience, Phil Mind, experimental Psych - this is the course my son will read in the fall). Large faculty, tutorial instruction (unparalleled instructional method for philosophy), constant dialogue at dinner, in pubs, etc.</p>
<p>You have time to research further. My best advice would be to look at the online course descriptions to see what courses interest you, then look at where the professors went to school and how many of them there are in your primary areas of interest. IMO, bigger department is usually better (more choices, more than one prof in similar areas).</p>
<p>I started at St. John's College (for two years, a marvelous experience), which leads me to recommend that wherever you go, try to make sure that you have a good grounding in the history of philosophy - it is essential - otherwise the foundations for your philosophical journey are weak, like a pie chart with missing sections. Looking back, I also loved "Philosophy of......." courses - mind, math, science, art, and religion. You can spend your entire academic career, and for that matter, all of your adult life, entertaining The Question (the Problem of Evil, that is, which is more than half of The Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything).</p>
<p>I don't know anything about the philosophy classes at NYU, but the average class size there is 23 students, so I wouldn't call the classes enormous...</p>
<p>Jwblue, on the NYU board who's an alumnus, has said good things about philosophy at NYU (I think that was his major)...you should talk to him</p>
<p>Yulsie, as I pointed out on my previous post, these are the universities I have already applied to for transfer for the fall 2005 term. I'm trying to see where would I go if given the choice between more than one.</p>
<p>So far i've been accepted by UVA. The others have not yet answered.</p>
<p>As an undergrad NYU alumnus that's not really the feeling I received. I had tons of research opportunities, wrote a great honors thesis with an advisor who was enthusiastic about mentoring undergrads and was awarded a fellowship to graduate school in the department. I'm not sure how it is at other schools, but I found my undergrad NYU experience to be well worth it.</p>
<p>Jon</p>
<p>jon i just turned down Cooper Union for a full scholarship and spot in the Scholars Program at NYU, do you think i made a mistake( i am studying art) Please elaborate</p>
<p>Thanks jonw222</p>
<p>Still no feedback on the other institutions though. What about Chicago, UVA, Cornell.... how do they measure up for an aspiring phil major student?</p>
<p>I need to make a choice real soon, that's why i'm so nervous. I thank everyone contributing to this thread again.</p>