<p>Hey,
A quick question:</p>
<p>How good are U Chicago's political science and history programs? I know they have amazing economics, but are their PoliSci and history programs on a similar level? For someone interested in history and political theory, would Chicago be a good choice school?</p>
<p>^ Yes.</p>
<p>I looked up USNews 2009 grad school rankings...a good proxy for undergrad reputation at the department level:</p>
<p>HISTORY:
Sort by Rank | Name | Score<br>
1 Yale University New Haven, CT Score 4.9<br>
2 Princeton University Princeton, NJ Score 4.8<br>
2 University of California--Berkeley Berkeley, CA Score 4.8<br>
4 Harvard University Cambridge, MA Score 4.7<br>
4 Stanford University Stanford, CA Score 4.7<br>
4 University of Chicago Chicago, IL Score 4.7</p>
<p>POLITICAL SCIENCE:
Sort by Rank | Name | Score<br>
1 Harvard University Cambridge, MA Score 5.0<br>
2 Stanford University Stanford, CA Score 4.9<br>
3 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI Score 4.8<br>
4 Princeton University Princeton, NJ Score 4.7<br>
5 University of California--Berkeley Berkeley, CA Score 4.6<br>
5 Yale University New Haven, CT Score 4.6<br>
7 University of California--San Diego La Jolla, CA Score 4.4<br>
8 Duke University NA, NC Score 4.3<br>
8 University of Chicago Chicago, IL Score 4.3</p>
<p>Nothing at Chicago is as "famous" as Chicago's economics program (with the new Indiana Jones movie out, I might have to say nothing is as "famous" as the economics program AND the Oriental Institute), but our history and poly sci programs are INCREDIBLY strong, with incredibly good profs at the helms of them. (Good profs both in the research way, the teaching way and the personal attention way).</p>
<p>History's a very popular major at Chicago because the requirements are open-ended and directed towards writing your BA research paper. I've learned that history is the greatest major ever because you can study anything you want, as long as it happened, and use anything you want to help you make your argument, as long as it exists.</p>
<p>Poly sci is also very, very, very popular at Chicago, with a BA paper required or an "extended" paper that connects two of the classes you've taken as a mini-BA.</p>
<p>I'm glad to see that UCB's data corresponds to what I am saying, but I think the best way to assess a department is to talk to profs in it and visit classes. That's not a luxury everybody has, but it's the only way to really do it.</p>
<p>What about philosophy at U.Chicago?</p>
<p>a few years ago poli sci was 4th most popular major at chicago. it was econ, ?, bio, poli sci, math, physics or something</p>
<p>@ vicariousparent:</p>
<p>There are some AMAZING professors in philosophy at Chicago... actually, one of my friends was pushed to come here from her dad, who had had one of our current philosophy faculty members as a teacher a long long time ago.</p>
<p>Probably the most famous person on staff who works in the philosophy dept. (along with ten billion other depts.) is Martha Nussbaum. You can find a few of her books at the local Barnes and Noble (at least I found a few at mine). Think about how few professors can hold that claim to fame.</p>
<p>Other departmental legends in philosophy include Ted Cohen, Gabriel Lear, and Robert Pippin, who all receive wow-level course evaluations. Pippin tends to give lectures at Doc Films from time to time, and the ones I've been to have been spectacular.</p>
<p>If s or d is interested in philosophy, Chicago strikes me as the way to go, not only because of the program but because the core curriculum is quite favorable to philosophy and philosophers-- I've had exposure to Aristotle, Kant, Smith, Marx, etc. even though I'm not a philosophy major (after all, we do have a t-shirt that says, "That's all well and good in practice, but how does it work in theory?") </p>
<p>Philosophy is also, in my mind, one of the best and coolest things you can major in in college. I found this article about Rutgers's philosophy program nothing short of inspiring. (Too bad it's the economic recession that encourages liberal arts degrees):</p>
<p>Thank you unalove for the input. Yeah, Chicago may be a good match for D, but there is this reputation of Chicago being for nerdy people. Is the reputation justified? She wants to be among fun-loving people who are equally comfortable talking about 'America's next top model' and Ayn Rand. </p>
<p>Interesting article about Rutgers. Rutgers may be her safe school.</p>
<p>vicariousparent, as a math and literature nerd who TiVo's America's Next Top Model every week (not to mention those marathons on E!) and is planning on attending UChicago next year, I don't think you'll have to worry about a lack of "fun loving" nerds. At all the nerdiest places I've been-- advanced expository writing camp, anyone?-- there has been a large contingency of kids who like to watch The Hills and dry up a package of highlighters reading the text for tomorrow's class. Certainly not everyone, but I think it's pretty common for kids to know how to balance a passion for academics with time to kick back, and I've rarely been in a place where "kicking back" didn't for some involve popular culture.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yeah, Chicago may be a good match for D, but there is this reputation of Chicago being for nerdy people. Is the reputation justified?
[/quote]
Yes. Depending on what she wants to do after college, there may be a school that's just as good that would be more of a fit.</p>
<p>Just to clarify what "nerd" may or may not mean:</p>
<p>If "nerd" means a person who really likes school, who does well in it, and who is excited about learning and academic-y things in general, then yes, Chicago is filled with nerds, lots of nerds. This definition is what Chicago kids mean when they define themselves as "nerdy."</p>
<p>If "nerd" means a person who is extremely reclusive, doesn't make friends easily, and can only talk about academic concepts, then Chicago has some. But of course it's unfair to make blanket statements about a whole population of students, and you'll find that most students are pretty social. And then there are always kids whom one might write off as "nerdy" who, after they become much more comfortable in their environment, become much more socially comfortable. A lot of nerd type II's blossom over their four years-- the vast majority of them are sweet, sensitive, caring, funny people very worth having as friends.</p>
<p>There is one thing I've noticed about Chicago students as a whole-- you almost never see them wearing name-brand clothing. Some girls and guys like to wear nice clothing and look cute, but they almost always aren't wearing a Lacoste shirt or a Gucci bag. I like that brand-name clothing is almost non-existent, because not everybody can afford it, and if our campus started spouting lots of brand-name clothing, it might exclude people who want to look nice but can't afford to.</p>
<p>As far as post-graduation plans, a Chicago degree can lead you to almost anything, but a lot of students aren't interested in some of the high-competition career fields. One of my friends-- an econ major-- didn't know what a Goldman Sachs was ("A department store in New York?"). Students tend not to choose Chicago because it will "get" them a certain career, but rather because it will give them a certain kind of undergraduate education. So the future investment bankers here are not just future investment bankers; they are future investment bankers who also want to read Marx.</p>
<p>My house watches TV like it's nobody's business, and ANTM is a favorite among the girls and the guys. She'll fit riiiiiight in.</p>