Strongest programs at Yale

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<li><p>What is Yale best at? What are Yale’s strongest programs?</p></li>
<li><p>I’m particularly interested in Yale’s English program – how good is it? </p></li>
<li><p>How is Yale’s History program as well? I’m also interested in History, aside from English.</p></li>
<li><p>What are the most popular majors at Yale?</p></li>
<li><p>For current Yalies, of any year, what major are you pursuing (or plan to pursue) and how well do you like it? Has it met or exceeded or failed your expectations? </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>I would like to know more about this too. If someone could please post what they think.</p>

3

<p>jeffersonian--English and History have traditionally been among Yale's strongest departments. History used to be the most popular major year in, year out. A current Yalie can answer better, but the Psychology and Biology departments have also had very strong national reputations. Ditto Art History and Classics.</p>

4

<p>Their Classics is THE BEST.....Harvard can go suck a fat one.....(and as a consequence, their comparative linguistics/language programs....well, at least for classical languages..are also top notch)</p>

5

<p>In terms of PhD productivity, Yale ranks in the top 10 in the nation for Humanities, Social Sciences, History, and English Literature according to the standard Reed college link:</p>

<p>REED</a> COLLEGE PHD PRODUCTIVITY</p>

<p>My guess is that there's a strong correlation between these rankings and the quality of the program and student investment in program of study, but you can't capture either of these statistics directly. Also, if you wish to pursue graduate work in either English or History, Yale's a good place to be.</p>

6

<p>I think a much more useful question would ask which departments aren't excellent. The NRC rankings may give you some idea:</p>

<p>Comparative Literature #1
English #1
French #1
History #1
Political Science #3
Psychology #3
Art History #5
Classics #5
German #5
Music Theory #5
Molecular Biology #6
Economics #6
Math #7
Anthropology #8
Chemistry #12
Physics #13
Computer Science #14
Astronomy #15
Ecology/Evolutionary Biology #17
Sociology #19
Linguistics #30
Electrical Engineering #30
Chemical Engineering #32
Philosophy #58 (ouch)</p>

<p>Yale also has superb programs in interdisciplinary departments like American Studies, East Asian Studies, Medieval/Renaissance Studies, and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations.</p>

<p>The six most popular majors are history, economics, English, political science, biology, and psychology (roughly in order).</p>

7

<p>Why is philosophy so low? That doesn't make any sense considering the rankings of history, poli sci, and comp lit.</p>

8

<p>i've heard yale is the best school for the arts?</p>

9

<p>^ I second miles' question!</p>

<p>Philosophy is a "humanities" department, much more closely related to History, Classics, and English (Yale's bread and butter) than to hard science. Odd.</p>

<p>Plus, the "Ethics" part of the EPE major (another staple dept. and one that I will consider) is pretty much "Philosophy" haha</p>

10

<p>The most recent NRC rankings came out in 1995, close on the heels of the implosion of Yale's philosophy department due to infighting. Since then, there's been major improvement. It's still one of Yale's weaker departments in the humanities, but at least according to Brian Leiter, the main expert on rankings in philosophy, it's a top-10 department now.</p>

11

<p>^ hahaha by "infighting" do you mean.....</p>

<p>"Eff you, man! Euthanasia is effing WRONG, and you KNOW it!!"</p>

<p>"Screw you! Utilitarianism for LIFE! Represent!"</p>

<p>"Guys, guys, cool down. Life is pointless anyway"</p>

<p>lmao</p>

12

<p>More on the lines of analytic vs. continental philosophy.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
Why is philosophy so low?

[/quote]

As was already said, the NRC report is 15 years old. The Philosophical Gourmet puts Yale at #16.</p>

<p>The</a> Philosophical Gourmet Report 2006 - 2008 :: Overall Rankings</p>

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<p>@Hookem:</p>

<p>And then everyone stares at the nihilist and tell him to stop being so goddamn emo.</p>

15

<p>They're actually going to be 8th in the 2009 Philosophical Gourmet Report. See Leiter</a> Reports: A Philosophy Blog: Preview of the Overall Survey Results for the New PGR: Breadth Has Rewards!</p>

16

<p>Engineering!</p>

<p>STANFORD '13</p>

17

<p>When not compared to art schools, how does Yale's art (namely, fine arts) program compare with other schools?</p>

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<p>^ me wonder same. Grrrr, Chair2, you are applying for my potential-art-major spot!</p>

<p>(Just kidding. Best of luck to us both!)</p>

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<p>oh I'm just a prospective junior, haha. unless you are too... but anyways from what I've heard Yale doesn't really care what your prospective major is unless it's some department that they need and even then it doesn't matter that much (I'm not sure if art majors are obscure though)</p>