I think the “where” for history - honestly doesn’t matter. Find the right school.
Many schools are smaller than UCLA - but that could be 20K or 8K.
Are you seeking possibly a 1500 student population, etc.?
With a history degree, they’re either going to end up in a generic role - like an entry business type role - or grad school. And the where won’t matter - unless maybe it’s a history PhD.
History is a broad subject, so if the student has a particular subarea of interest, checking for faculty and course offerings in that subarea may be something to do.
Exactly. The “where you do it doesn’t matter” crowd doesn’t seem to distinguish between Post WWII/Cold War expertise, Colonial America scholarship, Russia from Catherine the Great to the Bolshevik revolution, and the Rise of China as a superpower.
Not every college has depth in more than three or four areas. The traditional survey courses which start with Greco/Roman and end at the dawn of the 20th century can be taught by faculty with varying skills, interests and scholarship. Once you get past that?
I was a history major - and dualed with journalism.
It’s most likely that an undergrad doesn’t have a deep focus, especially one that went to UCLA because - " think he chose UCLA because he was so excited that he got in"
So I’m interpreting the reality, not dialing in on a specificity that likely doesn’t exist - and stand by my statement.
The student chose a school based on rank, not based on a historical era to study - which is no different, than I’m guessing, 99% of history undergrads, including myself when I went to Syracuse.
Most don’t over think it.
Here are some history courses in the UCLA catalog, for example:
You’re assuming the student looked at the catalog b4 committing - and many schools have variety.
The student chose, per the OP, UCLA because it’s high ranked.
So I’m guessing they’re not thinking to this level.
Even small schools have wide offerings - this from College of Charleston.
Perhaps OP should look at not just catalogues but schedules (to make sure things of interest are offered) but most kids are choosing a school when it comes to history and not necessarily the quality of the major at the school. Hence, going to UCLA for rank/pedigree - may have a great history department, but it was secondary to why they went (at least according to OP).
Complete one of the following:
Complete one of the following:
Complete one of the following:
Complete one of the following:
Complete 9 additional credit hours from any of the above five distribution areas or the following courses:
3 credit hours in a capstone research seminar, senior paper, or bachelor’s essay (normally taken in the senior year, which requires a substantial paper).
I agree George Washington and American seem like obvious possibilities if affordable.
I also agree Pitt is worth looking into–sneaky good in History, also sneaky close to Virginia!
My concern with those two was - the student had issues due to protests that took classes off line and there’s a real chance they can come back in the fall depending on world events.
That’s why I thought - even a CNU or Salisbury or even some other more known schools but less “active” - at least thus far protest wise - might be better fits even if they don’t have the stature.
You want to get it right the 2nd time. There’s no guarantees but potentially putting yourself in the line of fire, probably not the best thing you can do…at least as I see it.
He doesn’t need to try to avoid schools where there might be protests. If everything else had been working well it wouldn’t have been a concern, it was just unfortunate timing for him amidst the struggles he was already having.
And as someone upthread mentioned, fit is the most important thing to me at this point. For all we know he’ll end up changing majors so I’m not putting too much emphasis on history.
Thank you again for all the responses.
While some of the nation’s better schools for the undergraduate study of history tend to be relatively small, Colgate and Holy Cross are examples of somewhat larger schools with excellent history programs that cross your 3,000-student threshold.
W&M was going to be my suggestion. Very different atmosphere than UCLA, strong history department, in-state tuition and closer to home, plus a very supportive program for transfer students (I knew a handful during my time there).
Thank you all again for taking the time to make suggestions.