Best UC for Philosophy Majors

CCstudent88 · 04-09-2008, 04:00 AM

Which UC has best in these categories:

-The most well-rounded department of Philosophy
-Helpful professors
-Greatest resources available to Philosophy students (books, funds, building)

CCstudent88 · 04-10-2008, 03:50 AM

Anybody? Any feedback would be much appreciated.

BIGTWIX · 04-10-2008, 04:30 PM

Berkeley. But really, i'm pretty sure berkeley is easily among tops in the country. UCLA i would assume is bound to have a really good program.

Berkeley for the most part dominates the ranks of everything liberal arts in the country.

Descartesz · 04-10-2008, 04:57 PM

Actually UCLA ranks a little higher in philosophy.

In truth you will be in a fine department at any of UCLA, Berkeley, UCSD, and UC-Irvine. Whether or not that will translate into a sound education for you probably depends more on factors outside department strength. If you have visited the school and the departments, I would recommend picking the one where you perceive the best overall fit.

CCstudent88 · 04-10-2008, 07:23 PM

Thanks guys.

kyledavid80 · 04-13-2008, 03:24 AM

Actually, Berkeley seems to be consistently rated above UCLA for philosophy. Gourman undergrad ranking for philosophy:

Gourman ranking for philosophy:

Princeton
U pittsburgh
Harvard
UC Berkeley
U Chicago
Stanford
U Michigan Ann Arbor
UCLA
MIT
Cornell
Yale
Brown
Columbia
Notre Dame
Boston U
UNC Chapel Hill
U Wisconsin Madison
Indiana U Bloomington
U Mass Amherst
U Minnesota
Johns Hopkins

NRC ranking:

NRC Rankings in Each of 41 Areas

I think one ranking may have placed UCLA higher, but the ranking itself is inconsistent from year to year.

Descartesz · 04-14-2008, 10:22 AM

The most up-to-date and definitive rankings in philosophy are available here:

The Philosophical Gourmet Report 2006 - 2008 :: Overall Rankings

But, again, any solid department will be a good stepping stone to graduate study.

mshaddal · 04-21-2008, 12:30 AM

anyway, rankings, for the most part, are fairly ridiculous. it's interesting to look at but definitely not going to tell you which you'd personally prefer. plus employers and grad schools are hardly going to ignore you if your particular school's department ranked 8 instead of 2 or missed the rankings by 1.