Which of these schools has the best undergrad philosophy program?

[user49653]

<p>I have to research schools for the Posse LA Scholarship, and these are the partner schools I have to choose from:</p>

<p>Bucknell
Dickinson
Grinnell
Kalamazoo
Northwestern
Syracuse
Tulane
UC Berkeley
UCLA
University of Wisconsin, Madison</p>

<p>I know UC Berkeley has a highly ranked philosophy program, as well as UCLA, but I don't know a whole lot about these other schools.
Thanks :)</p>

[M_s_Mom]

<p>Can’t speak specifically to the philosophy dept at Grinnell, but here’s info on the school generally:<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/438138-why-grinnell.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/438138-why-grinnell.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Spouse attend UC Berkeley as a grad student. His observation is that it’s a great place to attend grad school. Not a great place to be an undergrad-huge lecture classes and very impersonal. But fit is important, so you’ll need to figure out whether a small town LAC like Grinnell would be of interest to you. It could not possibly be more different than UC Berkeley or UCLA.</p>

[warblersrule]

<p>(1) UCLA - [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/members/beyphy-401300.html]beyphy[/url”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/members/beyphy-401300.html]beyphy[/url</a>] majored in philosophy at UCLA, and if he doesn’t weigh in on this thread, send him a PM. </p>

<p>(2) Northwestern - [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/members/arbiter213-78847.html]Arbiter213[/url”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/members/arbiter213-78847.html]Arbiter213[/url</a>] majored in philosophy at Northwestern. Again, send a PM for info if he doesn’t weigh in.</p>

<p>(3) Berkeley - [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/members/drab-32725.html]DRab[/url”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/members/drab-32725.html]DRab[/url</a>] studied philosophy at Berkeley. He doesn’t post anymore, but searching through his past posts would turn up a lot of helpful info:

@DRab

Well, the department is freaking amazing. It is of a medium size as far as Berkeley goes, not nearly as large as physics or English, both stellar department. But so is philosophy. You have some huge names in the field, and many strong ones, as well as top graduate students. Professor to student relationships, like most department at Berkeley, have to be fostered. Not every teacher wants to spend countless hours with people he or she does not happen to have chemistry with. They are helpful if you need help. All teachers are required to have office hours. I was going to go visit some non-profs of mine, but I didn’t, for lack of time, or courage, a bit of laziness. But I could have been talking to one of the biggest names in philosophy in a few minutes. Heck, my profs office was next to Searles, i was feet from the guy. The grading, like most phil departments compared to other departments, is tough. UCB phil is known to have tough grading relative to the other humanities majors, amongst the harder ones like English, and rhetoric. If you do your work, if you really do the readings, you will be fine. The readings aren’t anything that out there, as far as a bachelors in phil is concerned. They are still amazing. Sometimes you will be reading your professor’s books, which is cool.

@DRab

The professors tend to be okay to good. The GSIs vary from eh to good. The grading is pretty tough. You can work hard and get a B. Few As are given, some A-s. The classes are, in general, too big for my tastes.</p>

<p>You will have to read a lot of dense material, ideally rereading it. You will have to write a lot, too. Not as much as some majors, but it will be more dense and difficult.</p>

<p>If you really excel, the professors and graduate seminars are there to take you to the highest levels. The top applicants get into the top programs for philosophy every year.

</p>

<p>(4) & (5) Dickinson and Kalamazoo - Glancing only at faculty (I know nothing about philosophy), Dickinson and K-Zoo seem to be the weakest, with only 2-3 philosophers on staff.</p>

<p>As I said in another thread recently, it would be helpful to know what you plan to do with philosophy, if you know yet. Someone planning to get a PhD in philosophy needs to examine programs much more carefully than someone who wants to go into law or something else. Program strength isn’t everything – as M’s Mom pointed out, I REALLY can’t imagine two schools more different than UCLA and Grinnell!</p>

<p>If you’re from LA, I wouldn’t pick UCLA. Too many kids here have never escaped the LA bubble and are totally clueless about other parts of the country.</p>

[user49653]

<p>The thing is, I’m in a full tuition scholarship program (Posse) and these are the schools I have to choose from.
In terms of where I want to go with my degree in philosophy, I’m unsure. I definitely do not want to go into law, and where am I supposed to go with a PhD in philosophy? If I major in philosophy, I will minor in Politics.
I know that UC Berkeley and UCLA both have fantastic philosophy and politics programs, so they are my top two choices as of now.
Also, I really could care less about the “fit.” That kind of thing doesn’t really matter to me - I just want the best, most practical education I can get. Thanks :)</p>

[NYU2013]

<p>Ranking of the best philosophy departments in the US/English-speaking world:
[The</a> Philosophical Gourmet Report 2011 :: Overall Rankings](<a href=“http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/overall.asp]The”>http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/overall.asp)</p>

<p>As far as what do you do with a philosophy degree? Graduate school for philosophy or law school. </p>

<p>I would recommend, if you could, doing a double major if you want to do philosophy.</p>

[user49653]

<p>Thanks, that list is great.
I am really thinking about a double major, philosophy and politics.
And basically I have to choose 3 schools to apply to for the scholarship. At this point, I’m basically looking at UCB, UCLA, Univ. Wisconsin/ Madison and Northwestern. Also, I’m really stuck on Tulane for some reason. Anyway, it pretty much comes down to Madison and Northwestern now, any input?</p>