<p>So I'm having a really hard time deciding...</p>
<p>I plan on studying a double major in politics and philosophy. I'm much more interested in philosophy than politics however, I plan on majoring in politics as a more "practical" major.
(I'm also gay... so... that's a factor)</p>
<p>NYU: </p>
<p>Pros:
VERY gay friendly
Excellent philosophy department - Analytical philosophy (my preference)
One of the only schools in the country to teach quantitative politics to undergrads throughout most courses (Not overly fond of math, but I'll consider this a pro)
Close to home</p>
<p>Cons:
Extremely expensive
Large class sizes</p>
<p>I visited NYU and like the campus.</p>
<p>UMich:</p>
<p>Pros:
Excellent philosophy dept, only slightly below NYU - also analytical
Somewhat less expensive than NYU
Politics dept is considered to be one of the best in the country, however to my understanding it's not as quantitative as NYU?</p>
<p>Cons:
Large class sizes
Cold
Very large/spread out campus
Not too sure about the lgbt community/friendliness at UM.</p>
<p>Emory</p>
<p>Pros:
Good LGBT
Excellent politics dept
Small class sizes
Warm (hate the cold)
Campus is small and very nice (I have visited)
Is considerably cheaper than NYU or UM</p>
<p>Cons:
Philosophy... Not analytical; continental and overall not too highly regarded (as compared to NYU and UM)
Far from home
Not sure how I felt about the "vibe" there.</p>
<p>It’s hard to say where you should go, but from what I can tell your top three priorities seem to be</p>
<ol>
<li>Quality of Philosophy Department </li>
<li>Good LGBT community</li>
<li>Closeness to home </li>
</ol>
<p>Based on these, it sounds like NYU is the place for you. Unless you would have to take out tons of loans and incur a lot of debt, I would go there. What are the specifics for your money situation?</p>
<p>NYU would be a little less than full cost. ~ TCA $45,000
UM would be about $10,000/yr cheaper ~ $35,000
Emory would be ~ $20,000</p>
<p>But my parents will be paying for everything (via loans and savings), so they’ve given me the option to go anywhere. I just don’t want to spend the money for NYU or UM if going to Emory would be just as good?</p>
<p>In terms of quality of school - Emory and Michigan easily beat out NYU. There’s no question that hands dowm Emory is the best deal and arguably the best school. You have to decide if the scene at NYU is worth it to you to pay the extra amount.</p>
<p>Why is Emory the best school? I want to study analytical philosophy. Not continental. So what makes Emory better if it’s not exactly what I want to study?</p>
<p>Also… You say Michigan and Emory are clearly better than NYU. NYU is ranked as the #1 philosophy department in the world. And many of the professors there are among the most knowledgable in the world and NYU produces some of most groundbreaking philosophical papers of modern philosophy. UM isn’t far behind in terms of philosophical quality. So… what makes Emory better?</p>
<p>Graduate departmental rankings have little impact on undergraduate quality, particularly for majors in the humanities, general sciences, and social sciences. What is much more important is the attention and access you get from professors and the amount of research you are able to do, special programs, thesis opportunities, reading courses etc. NYU is notoriously weak in this area, Emory is the strongest. If this were graduate school then NYU is the best, but Emory is the best undergraduate school.</p>
<p>After reading the rest of these posts, I would say go to Emory. It’s an exceptional school, with an excellent cost. You can always go to NYU for grad school.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say that graduate rankings have little to do with UG. I could take classes at NYU/UM from the philosophers who are some of the most well known on the department staff. And both of these schools have the type of philosophy that I’m looking to study. So my question still remains: Emory is an excellent undergraduate institution with a lot more focus on undergraduate attention. However, they teach continental philosophy and not analytical. Which is not something I’m interested in studying. So what make Emory so advantageous?</p>
<p>Going to college is not always about fulfilling your major, it is also a good time to try out things you never tried before. At Emory, you will get the same kind of liberal arts education as a LAC, but with the resources of a research university. You have the opportunity to learn subjects you weren’t familiar with, some of which you could be interested in and who knows, maybe become one of your majors later on. Emory is not only known for its excellence in education, but also for its diversity. The campus is filled with people of different background and the students are really friendly toward each other. location wise, it’s located in Atlanta, the place with the best weather. Not to mention it’s the cheapest of the three, not only the tuition, but also the living expenses. Emory is the best choice of the three.</p>
<p>I would go for Emory is money is a factor and for Michigan if it isn’t. NYU, as many have suggested, is a great graduate school destination but lacks the campus culture and environment to make it a truly complete undergraduate experience.</p>
<p>Money/cost isn’t really a factor and I’m not looking for a complete “undergraduate experience”. I simply want the best education possible. As I said, philosophy is my main major and I want to pursue a degree in it and I would like to go to school best available to me at which I can receive the best education in philosophy, fist and foremost and secondly the best education in politics possible.</p>
<p>Since money is not an issue, and NYU has the best philosophy/politics department, what’s so hard to choose? The consensus here is Emory is the best choice, but if you are so bent on going to NYU, good for you.</p>
<p>Since money is not an issue, and NYU has the best philosophy/politics department, what’s so hard to choose? </p>
<p>Who says NYU has the best political science department? Since we’re basing our opinions on the quality of graduate programs…:</p>
<p>USNWR </p>
<p>Political Science
Ranked in 2009</p>
<p>Political Science Rankings </p>
<p>College name
Score</p>
<p>#1 Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
4.8<br> #1 Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
4.8<br> #1 Stanford University
Stanford, CA
4.8<br> #4 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
4.7<br> #5 Yale University
New Haven, CT
4.6<br> #6 University of California–Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
4.5<br> #7 Columbia University
New York, NY
4.4<br> #7 University of California–San Diego
La Jolla, CA
4.4<br> #9 Duke University
Durham, NC
4.2<br> #9 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
4.2<br> #11 University of California–Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
4.1<br> #11 University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
4.1<br> #13 University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill , NC
4.0<br> #13 Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO
4.0<br> #15 University of Rochester
Rochester, NY
3.9<br> #15 University of Wisconsin–Madison
Madison, WI
3.9<br> #17 New York University
New York, NY
3.8</p>
<p>Why should US News be the ultimate arbiter of quality here anyway? Aren’t there publications that better deal with the things that actually matter like faculty publication, department reputation etc? For example, take a look at the Shanghai Jintao world universities rankings, based on faculty output:</p>
<p>NYU is 1, Michigan is 5, and Emory isn’t even ranked.</p>
<p>Also, the way that U.S. News weights certain things is irrelevant to academics. For example, they take into account things like square foot per student. NYU obviously isn’t going to provide as much space as Michigan or Emory because it’s in lower Manhattan, not the middle of a field with infinite room for expansion. </p>
<p>If you think things like square footage and alumni donation rates will matter for your undergraduate education, pick based on U.S. News alone and go to Emory. But if you think that maybe U.S. News has its flaws and might not be reflective of what you think is important, it sounds like your choices are NYU and Michigan.</p>
<p>I’m not sure I understand the argument posited earlier that graduate program rankings “don’t matter for undergrad.” How else are you going to get any idea of what different universities offer? The U.S. News ranking of undergraduate teaching, based on what high school counselors say?</p>
<p>Rofl, are suggesting the ranking from Shanghai Jiaotong (please at least spell the name correctly) is more credible? According to that ranking no one should be interested in going to Dartmouth because it is not even in the top 150 even though it’s one of the best schools in the US according to USNEWS. ARWU is a ranking of research universities in the eyes of Chinese academics and it’s not even reproducible by independent sources.</p>
<p>I think what was meant that in the case of statistical approach/quantitative analysis/game-theory based politics, NYU is better than Michigan for undergrads. Michigan has a better all-around program but, to my knowledge lacks the more mathematically based approach that NYU uses when teaching its’ undergrads?</p>