College Search

Hi everybody, I’ve lurked this board for some time now and finally have a good reason to post. I am currently a junior in highschool attending a small private school in Houston, Tx and I have my first meeting with the college counselor next week. My instructions are to come to the meeting with a short list of colleges I am interested in, but I have yet to come up with any. I am really interested in pursuing an undergraduate degree in philosophy, so I am most interested in the strength of the philosophy department at the school. Naturally, I thought this would be a good place to come.

I want to apply to a widerange of competitive schools and my credentials should allow that (1450 board scores, 3.5 GPA (that’s a B+ to an A- at a pretty competitive highschool). Please offer me some names and even links if you have some!

Thanks,
Jon

I have heard that UT Austin has a good philosophy program…

utexas.edu/cola/depts/philosophy/

utexas.edu/cola/depts/philos … _the_dept/

-Imp

Where you should go depends a lot on who will accept you and what you can afford.

Probably the best thing to do is recognize how philosophy departments differ, and decide what it is that interests you.

Most American universities tend to distinguish between Analytic and Continental philosophy. The former tends towards logic and computational linguistics, and the best professors will be doing research related to AI and/or cognitive science. The latter tends towards more purely academic subjects, and will give you a more thorough and in-depth introduction to the history of Western philosophy (Ancient Greece, Medieval philosophy, Modern Philosophy, German Idealism, Phenomenology, Existentialism, Deconstructionism, and Pragmatism, to name some of the most common themes.)

Basically, pick whichever aspect of philosophy interests you, and choose the best school you can get into and afford.

I must warn you, however, that if you are just going to study Continental philosophy, a degree in philosophy will not help you. That is, unless you want to go on to teach philosophy, or you want to go to law school. The degree will give you a lot of things to think about, and you will learn some nifty and impressive intellectual tricks. However, when all is said and done, the degree won’t amount to much. You’ll eventually realize that you didn’t need to go to school to learn what you were taught, and you’ll resent the fact that you wasted your time and now can’t get a good job. This could be one of those rare times that I’m wrong, of course.

edit: oh, and since you’re a TX resident, UT Austin is a great idea. It’s the best you’ll get for your dollar. The only problem is that it’s a huge school. The largest in the nation, I think. Austin has a lot to offer. I live there, as a matter of fact–though I’m currently out of state for the year. (Actually, now that I think of it, I don’t miss Austin at all, and I’m not really looking forward to going back . . . not that this is relevant to your predicament, of course.)

Is there a person you want to study or a type of philosophy that interests you? a time period? everthing?
why do you want to study philosophy? what questions to you want to address?

I am interested in both Analytic and Continental philosophy, and the two professions I see in my future are lawyer and teacher. My family is well enough off that price is not a real concern, but Im a longshot to get into a top 15 university. Location is also not a real concern. As long as the philosophy department is good enough, I will travel anywhere, maybe even overseas. UTA is a good school but is way too big for me, seeing as I have been raised in a small private school with a graduating class of 65 students. Maybe I’ll just walk into the meeting with a list of Ivy League schools and let the counselor cut me down to size herself.

to be honest, i think this source is crap, but i could be of use to you:
the philosophical gourmet

go to a search site (lets face it: google) and type this into your search: philosophical gourmet. they rank every department in the country and many abroad as well.

many good schools are, however, not represented. especially in the continental area. continental philosophy is hard to find in the US. i hear villanova, u of pitt, columbia university, and new school university are excellent in continental too.