I have been accepted at SUNY Geneseo and Rutgers New Brunswick. One is small the other is huge. My goal is to study History and Anthropology and then go on to study archaeology. Only the Ivys in my area offer Archaeology as a major and I did not get into Cornell, Brown or Columbia. Which school will carry more weight should I choose to transfer or remain and apply to graduate. Geneseo is/was more selective, but does that matter as much as attending/graduating from a big university that seems to offer more? assuming I continue to do well. Has anyone heard of Geneseo’s reputation outside of NY?
I’m from NJ and have heard of SUNY Geneseo but obviously I’ve heard of Rutgers too. If you want to go on to grad school to study archaeology, it’s important to go to an affordable school where you can succeed. It doesn’t matter about the prestige of undergrad schools when you go onto grad school; go where you like and where you can afford. Have you visited either school yet? What are the relative costs? What can you afford?
If the history and anthro departments are good in both places, I usually think a smaller school is nice for UG. You get to know the professors and they can help you with recommendations along the way.
If you do decide to transfer and you are female, consider Bryn Mawr. It has a very solid archeology dept.
SUNY Geneseo is approximately 23K and Rutgers is 40K. I would not be able to obtain NJ resident status.
In New York, SUNY Geneseo has a good reputation, for what that’s worth. But I have no idea if it has a good history or anthro department.
Geneseo is rural, Rutgers is suburban/urban. I like Rutgers but it is so large. I think I have a prejudice against SUNY schools.
There are much better SUNY options than Geneseo for archaeology, most notably Stony Brook, Buffalo, and Albany. Did you apply anywhere else?
That said, it would not be impossible to get into graduate school in anthro/arch from Geneseo. Glancing over the website, it seems to have two archaeologists on faculty, which is not unusual for liberal arts colleges and other small colleges. Expect to go above and beyond what’s available on campus – you’d definitely need at least a couple of years of archaeological fieldwork, and I highly recommend spending a year abroad at a place with proper archaeology offerings (e.g. UCL or Leiden).
Unless you’re interested in the archaeology of regions without writing, you’ll need language preparation for a good shot at graduate school (e.g. Latin for medieval archaeology, Arabic for Islamic archaeology, Greek and/or Latin for classical archaeology, Chinese for East Asian archaeology, etc.), so keep that in mind as well when comparing schools.
Would you consider Rutgers to offer more opportunities? I have been looking and I am becoming saturated.
at either you can do a study abroad, a summer program abroad and/or apply for REUs
note: preference will be given to students enrolled in community colleges and four-year, non-research institutions
http://www.caa-archeology.org/programs/reu/
Based on the above, it seems that Geneseo would be better since you’d get more personal attention and would get preference for the reu program in archeology. You’d have to start on the foreign language asap and you’d need to do extremely well though thoughout your first semesters in order to apply.
Thanks. These comments have been very helpful. There are not a lot of archaeologists around to learn about these details. The REU information was great. I looked it up and had never heard of it. I was always looking at the AIA fieldwork site.
Oh no! Union College just accepted me off the wait list. Now what? Any suggestions out there of Geneseo vs. Union for a History Anthropology major intending to go to grad school for archaeology?
That’s excellent news. You should give Union serious, serious consideration. As long as both Geneseo and Union have a geology department to supplement your academic foundation – and unless I’m mistaken, they do – you can reasonably decide between these schools based on overall academic reputation, fit and cost. Union has a fine academic reputation that I wouldn’t overlook (though I’m not saying Geneseo doesn’t).
Ideally, communication with a Union College anthropology professor could help you determine how their program could ultimately align with your interests. The admissions office would likely assist you with this. It would not be impolite to tell the professor that you are also considering Geneseo.
Which one is the cheapest?
Is participating in Greek life very important to you?
Union is 42K (they awarded me a scholarship) and Geneseo is 23K. Fraternities are not an issue for me. I plan to attend Graduate school and pursue a Doctorate in Archaeology. I confess that the campus is prettier at Union and I still feel that a SUNY is not as impressive as a private school to some. I know this is just immaturity. I was all settled. Deposit submitted. Then this news. I have visited both. I am afraid or choosing a school for the wrong reasons. Be it financial or impression.
Start by thinking what you would have done a month ago if you had been accepted to both schools. Some of your thoughts now may be related to the plans you had begun to make to attend Geneseo. You must put those thoughts aside for a few days and think about this newly.
If you are headed into a PhD program in your field, then what matters is the placement for graduates of a given department into PhD programs in that field. What your high school pals and adults who aren’t expert in that particular field think doesn’t matter at all.
Compare the course offerings at the two universities. If possible, have a chat with the two departments about their grad school placement. And in the case of an archaeology major, find out where their students go for field school.
Unless your family has a lot of money, provided Geneseo has a decent program, I’d say go there. Archaeology is not a particularly well-paid field, and if you don’t spend every cent your family has on your college tuition, you will have some left over to pay for field school and/or your living expenses when you do a season as a volunteer or very poorly paid trainee.
Would you need to borrow money to pay for the difference is n costs?
Yes. $20K more for Union would have to be borrowed for each year.