I am an international student, an Asian male, planning to major in history in college, possibly double major in anthropology/archaeology. I plan to pursue a PhD after graduation, probably in archaeology/museum studies. I am particularly interested in European history and cultural exchange between Europe and East Asia. My parents can afford tuition and living expenses for all the colleges I listed, but scholarships would be even better. I have been admitted by the following: Rutgers-NB, Rutgers-Newark, Rutgers-Camden (16k per year scholarship), Indiana University Bloomington, Binghamton University (6k per year scholarship), Penn State Harrisburg (2+2), University of Arizona (12.5k per year scholarship), UCSC. I think I have a chance to be accepted by UIUC and UC Davis, so please consider them as well. I do not plan to participate in Greek life, I am not a big party person, and I don’t really care about location (but prefer both coasts). Pls give me some advice! Thanks!
My advice is to go to each school’s website and look over the history courses offered to see if the course offerings match your interests.
So to me the interest in Archaeology is more of a meaningful guide than, say, European History (because I think more US universities are likely to have decent program depth in European History).
As you may know, unlike in some other countries, Archaeology is usually more of a graduate discipline in the US, and typically considered a subfield withing Anthropology, such that you don’t need to major in Archaeology as an undergrad to pursue it as a career. But still you can get some exposure to it as an undergrad, possible in some formal way such as with a concentration within an Anthropology major, or possibly as a minor. And for sure you can look to see what sort of field opportunities they offer.
So just as an example, Binghamton has an Archaeology minor offered within its Anthropology Department, so that’s good:
It also has a dedicated field school, in the village of Port Dickinson, NY:
Not surprisingly, there is a similar structure at Indiana, so here is their minor:
Their field school is in Twin Pines Village in the Gila National Forest in New Mexico:
I’m not going to do all your universities, but this is what I would be looking for to compare, and then you could evaluate which of those programs looked most interesting to you.
Thank you for information! Yes, I know about Archaeology is more of a sub-discipline of anthropology in U.S. My plan is to double major in anthropology or minor in archaeology (if offered). A big challenge is that the biological/evolutionary part of anthropology is something I have absolutely no interest in, and I have almost no relevant academic background in high school. So I’m still considering it.
Right now my first choice is Rutgers University, which has a good history department and offers a minor in archaeology, but does not offer a field school in the U.S, but in Italy.
Hi – history professor here. You can get an outstanding education in history at any of those universities. The flagships on your list will be especially well-resourced (though you should investigate any recent news about higher education to see if the humanities are vulnerable).
My recommendation, based on your long term interests, is to look at the faculty in each department to see who’s doing archaeology-adjacent work, which could be in any field of history, but probably most common among ancient historians (although I know of plenty of historians in other fields who participate in digs). See if they sponsor any study-abroad (or study-away) courses in field work that might provide opportunities for you. See if the history departments you’re interested offer internships in historical museums. Check out concentrations or minor fields in archaeology, museum studies, anthropology, and public history. Check out study abroad (for a semester or year, not a single course, as I just suggested) options to see if you might have opportunities to develop your interests that way.
But – also recognize that interests can change, so look at other aspects of these schools that might tick other boxes for you.
Thank you very very much for your advice! In fact, I am looking at the research fields of the faculty members of these colleges; since they are basically flagship state universities, they all offer multi-disciplinary and diverse research directions. About academic interests, I think my interests will not leave Europe (but it is hard to say specifically, I have vague interests in many eras and nations…), but I am also worried that as an Asian and international student, it seems that it will be extremely difficult to find a teaching position in European history/European archaeology in a college in US in the future. Therefore, I am also thinking that maybe I should find some intersections between East Asian and European history-for example, I personally find it very interesting, the spread of Christianity in the Eastern world. But I think this is all in the future, at least I don’t have to worry about these issues in the next four years, hahahaha
Then for sure an Archaeology minor seems like a better choice than a double-major in Anthropology. And you should check the requirements for the minor to see what they make you take out of Anthro.
I know you were admitted to three Rutgers campuses, but just focusing on New Brunswick . . .
Their version of an Archaeology Minor strikes me as pretty good for your purposes:
The only required course is specifically an Intro to Archaeology course, and then there is a lot of flexibility in the elective courses. It looks to me like you could easily design it around your interests, although presumably you would be getting input from a faculty advisor. They could also tell you things like whether you actually needed to do a major in Anthro to do Archaeology in grad school (my guess is no, as long as you took enough relevant courses, but that is for the advisor to actually say).
From that Minor page it appears they also have a relationship with the Turkana Basin school in Africa.
But given your interest in Europe, Italy sounds pretty good, no?
https://sasn.rutgers.edu/field-school
Long story short, seems like Rutgers could be an excellent choice.
U Arizona is the best of your options for anthropology and archaeology, and quite frankly it’s not even close.
It’s up there with Berkeley, Michigan, Penn, etc. as one of the top archaeology schools in the US.
Cannot speak to the history/anthropology aspects of your questions. But as an international student, I would avoid any campuses that are commuter campuses (most people live well off-campus and just come to campus for classes) or suitcase campuses (students stay at the dorms Sunday night through Thursday night and then go home on the weekends), if you are hoping for a traditional/stereotypical residential college experience.
IU, Binghamton, Arizona, and Rutgers-New Brunswick should be fine in this respect. I would investigate this at the other acceptances on your list. Perhaps @DadOfJerseyGirl or @Mjkacmom can comment on the NJ schools, @MYOS1634 on the PA ones, and @Gumbymom on UCSC and UCD?
Based on your criteria, I agree that Binghamton and Rutgers NB sound like the best fit, followed by AZ and IU.
When comparing offers, don’t look at the scholarship amount but rather 1) at the final costs and 2) criteria for renewal (3.0 or 3.2 is fine).
Wrt PSU, check “reconsideration*” in your portal or email Admissions and ask for this:
“I would like to be reconsidered for Anthropological Sciences/Archeology, UP, Fall and Summer.”
(Summer only if you can start in July instead of August but it’d greatly increase your odds). If they reply you need to apply to another college (just this cycle and inconsistently, some applicants have had this reply) replace “Anthropological Sciences/Archeology” in that exact request with “DUS”.
NO guarantees but it’s worth trying. If you get into UP you can then request to be a Paterno Fellow Aspirant which allows you to take your classes alongside Schreyer Scholars, and if you do well you are admitted to Schreyer which is very helpful for grad school (support, opportunities, etc.)
I know you said you weren’t interested in the biological aspect of anthropology but fewer students apply to the specific major I listed for the same reasons as yours and the first year is common for both BS and BA - the sole difference being that the BA students would take Introduction to Statistics and the BS students would take Elementary Statistics.
You could also try the same request (“reconsideration” is the exact term you must use) for CAMS which is often paired with Archeology.
*Reconsideration is when you don’t want to attend a branch campus and only want to attend UP. 2+2 for international students is to be turned down, absolutely not worth it.
Both UCSC and UC Davis offer little to no financial aid for International students so unless you are awarded any merit scholarships at either campus, your costs to attend will be around $76K+/year.
I cannot address the specific History major curriculum’s at either school, that is something you will need to research but it looks like you have some great options already with some scholarship money to help make these schools affordable.
Both campuses have the History abroad program: History Abroad | UCEAP?
Best of luck.
Yes, I do know about that. Unfortunately, as an international student, I have to consider returning to my home country and looking for a job after graduation. Outside of the United States, the main source of information about American universities is the U.S. News and QS university rankings; the University of Arizona does not perform well in this regard compared to other options.
In fact, I have already done that and was rejected… 
So I guess PSU can’t be one of my top choices.
You asked for reconsideration in those terms and they gave you 2+2 anyway?
In that case, that’s a simple one : cross it out
(Same for the Rutgers offers beside NB, the only valuable one for an international).
Wrt UCs, I’d pick UC Davis because there’s more campus life at UCD and Santa Cruz housing is absolutely horrendous, which would be even harder for an international.