<p>Does anyone know what colleges are good for undergraduate studies in Philosophy? Is there anyone currently studying Philosophy at a university that can tell me the pros and cons of their program? I will be transferring next year and am planning on studying philosophy, hoping to continue on to graduate study in the field.</p>
<p>Any input would be helpful. Thank you.</p>
<p>It depends on your philosophical interests. If your interests in philosophy deal mainly with language and logic, then the “good” schools for you will be the ones that place emphasis on teaching courses in language/logic. </p>
<p>If your interests in Philosophy deal primarily with the human condition, the “good” schools for you will be the ones that offer more classes in continental philosophy, or ones that don’t place so much emphasis on logic. An alternative to this would be majoring in literature, as opposed to philosophy.</p>
<p>I switched to literature, after transferring in as a philosophy major for the reasons above. I was more interested in learning about human experiences/ideas and what can be read or interpretted about life and the human condition more so than the logic/argumentative classes offered by the philosophy department at my school. Most schools have a course catalog on their website, and by browsing it you can see what schools offer courses that appeal to you.</p>
<p>Just because a school is generally considered “good” for philosophy, does not mean that it is good for you. </p>
<p>If you’re like me, who is not using philosophy as a means for law school, and is not interested in logic/language/philosophy of science etc you should probably look at schools whose curriculum reflects a more “humanity” emphasis, or you should maybe look at literature as a major.</p>
<p>I have heard that Princeton and Rutgers constantly fight it out for #1. Odd that both are in New Jersey. However, I don’t know how true this is. Either way, don’t pay too much attention to rankings.</p>
<p>The above poster has good advice, I would listen.</p>
<p>I suggest visiting the web site of The Philosophical Gourmet. </p>
<p>The top LACs tend to have good philosophy depts. Pitt, surprisingly, has a top dept. But the web site will tell you more about assessing an undergraduate dept.</p>
<p>Pitt has been considered one of the top centers for philosophy for probably 40-50 years. It’s really not a surprise at all. It was ranked overall #2 in the last National Research Council ranking (which was back in 1995), but a new NRC ranking is coming out in a couple of days. Back then it was Princeton 1, Pitt #2, RU was 12th ([see</a> here](<a href=“NRC Rankings in Each of 41 Areas”>NRC Rankings in Each of 41 Areas)). It’s been #1 in History and Philosophy of Science since that field has been measured.</p>
<p>I know that Pitt has been a leading philosophy dept for a long time, so in that sense it certainly is not surprising. </p>
<p>I think it is surprising in terms of the rest of the school’s profile/image. Although Pitt is a good school, it doesn’t have the hyper-intellectual, humanities-oriented image one might expect of a place known for philosophy. YMMV.</p>
<p>People don’t realize Pitt was a much smaller private school until it became state-related in 1966. It doesn’t have the US News rankings, although it has other rankings, for instance, it is the top 100 of ARWU’s world rankings in the humanities, and it’s in the top 40 of US school’s in this year’s Times Higher Education rankings. For example, it is also very well regarded in creative writing (Michael Chabon came out of that program, and the novel/movie Wonderboys is somewhat based on his experience there). It is also excellent in international studies and languages, with five designated national resource centers. It’s generally solid all around, but has some real rock-star departments, although its health sciences get all the sexy press. But yeah, it doesn’t have the popular rep survey scores from places like US News, but if you look up some of the other quantitative driven ones, like the old National Research Council ones or the Center for Measuring University Performance, it lands pretty well. I guess it needs better marketing.</p>
<p>^^ I think you’re right.</p>
<p>Here’s the latest Philosophical Gourmet ranking of top philosophy GRADUATE programs, based on a broad survey of philosophy faculty:</p>
<ol>
<li>NYU</li>
<li>Rutgers</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Pittsburgh</li>
<li>Michigan</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>UC Berkeley</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
<li>UNC Chapel Hill</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>Arizona</li>
<li>CUNY Graduate Center</li>
<li>Notre Dame</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>USC</li>
<li>U Texas-Austin</li>
<li>UCSD</li>
<li>Chicago</li>
<li>Indiana</li>
<li>UC Irvine</li>
<li>Wisconsin-Madison</li>
</ol>
<p>And here’s what the Philosophical Gourmet says about UNDERGRADUATE study in philosophy:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I would only add that because most college students change their mind about their intended major at least once, it’s probably unwise to choose a college based on its reputation in a single department. Pitt and Rutgers, for example, have outstanding philosophy faculties, but are not as strong in other areas as a Princeton, Harvard, Yale, or Stanford—nor, for that matter, do they offer the kind of across-the-board strength you’ll find at top publics like Michigan or UC Berkeley.</p>