<p>Which is best of the three: U of MI, UNC Chapel Hill and U Pitt in terms of schools for english/history/social sciences?</p>
<p>I’ve gotten into U of MI but it’s pretty expensive so I was wondering if UNC Chapel Hill and U Pitt had good reputations in those areas for a lesser price.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Michigan is the strongest of the three in those areas. Whether it’s worth the difference in cost is up to you.</p>
<p>UPitt has an excellent reputation in english/history/social sciences</p>
<p>Quoted from admissions website:
"In its most recent review, The National Research Council (NRC), the most respected evaluator of academic programs in the United States, has ranked a number of Pitt’s programs in the top of their fields. The University’s Department of Philosophy ranks second nationally and its Department of History and Philosophy of Science, fifth. According to NRC, departments such as Chemistry, Economics, English, History, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, and Physiology are also among the best in their disciplines. "</p>
<p>it depends also what state you live in, if you can get in-state tuition at one of those schools, you should probably go to the in-state school since all are very good schools.</p>
<p>Chapel Hill has a well-deserved national reputation in creative writing; whether that carries over to the English department, I don’t know.</p>
<p>The order for english and social sciences;</p>
<ol>
<li>Michigan
2, UNC</li>
<li>Pitt</li>
</ol>
<p>Where do you live? If you’re an OOS, Michigan would definitely cost more.</p>
<p>Pitt is amazingly prominent in philosophy.</p>
<p>^ Pitt is outstanding for philosophy, but so is Michigan. The Philosophical Gourmet, based on a survey of about 300 leading philosophers in the English-speaking world, currently ranks Michigan #3 (tied with Princeton) and Pitt #5. For the record, it ranks NYU and Rutgers #1 and #2.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the OP asked about English, history, and social sciences—not philosophy. FWIW, US News ranks their grad programs this way, based largely on faculty reputation:</p>
<p>ENGLISH
Michigan #12
UNC #19
Pitt #36</p>
<p>HISTORY
Michigan #7
UNC #13
Pitt #42</p>
<p>ECON
Michigan #11
UNC #28
Pitt #44</p>
<p>POLI SCI
Michigan #3
UNC #13
Pitt #41</p>
<p>PSYCHOLOGY
Michigan #2
UNC #22
Pitt #55</p>
<p>SOCIOLOGY
Michigan #3
UNC #4
Pitt #49</p>
<p>US News doesn’t do rankings in Anthropology, but Michigan is perenially #1 or #2 in that field as well. Bottom line, I think there’s a pretty clear pecking order here, based strictly on academic reputation:</p>
<ol>
<li>Michigan</li>
<li>UNC
(a distant) 3. Pitt</li>
</ol>
<p>University of Michigan- Ann Arbor</p>
<p>If you are in state at either UNC-Chapel Hill or UMich, that campus would be much cheaper and you should go there. </p>
<p>If cost is no issue, the two universities have generally comparable academic reputations but Michigan’s is arguably slightly stronger.</p>
<p>For students who are out-of-state in both Michigan and North Carolina, UNC-Chapel Hill will likely be significantly cheaper and provide very similar (and comparably strong) undergraduate education relative to Michigan.</p>
<p>Most of the departmental rankings available, including some of those posted above, apply mostly to graduate programs. For undergrad, there are many more factors to consider than departmental rankings at the graduate level.</p>
<p>^ Right. But these are all big schools with similar student-faculty ratios. The biggest differences are going to be atmospherics and the quality of the faculty—and the latter is what the graduate program rankings reflect, as there’s really no other basis on which to rank graduate programs. If these are your choices, you should try to visit each school and go with the one that feels right. There’s no question that Michigan’s faculty is going to be somewhat stronger than UNC’s in every area the OP mentioned, and much stronger than Pitt’s. But other factors, including cost and subjective “fit,” could outweigh that.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone! I realize that Pitt doesn’t have the same standards as the others but I think i could get some pretty good financial aid from U Pitt. U MI only gave me $1,200 merit aid, so I’ll see what I can get from the others before I make my choice although U MI’s reputation and great staff weighs heavily in my mind.</p>