college lists

Best Undergraduate Schools for Film

If you want to work in film, pack your bags baby, because you are going to Hollywood! Well, at least you are in 4 years after you learn the ropes by getting a film degree. There are top film programs across the US, but you will most likely end up in California, New York, or surprisingly enough, Boston. When looking for a film degree, it’s important to think about what made you interested in film as well as what kind of school you want to go to. From big universities to art schools, to liberal arts colleges, many have film programs that have specific specializations. If you don’t know where to start, we suggest these top 10 undergrad programs for film:

Best Undergraduate Schools for Classics

So you like the classics? No, we aren’t talking about the Beatles, think more Latin. One could argue that Classics is one of the oldest college majors. When you envision the study of classics, you might think of old brick libraries with creeping ivy, tomes housed in luxurious rooms, fine lecture halls with intricate woodwork, and at a lot of schools, you wouldn’t be wrong. Many classics departments look like they are being pulled right off of a dark academia-inspired Tumblr page. However, they don’t have to be. Classics programs come in all shapes and sizes and at many top schools. Our list could be as long as the Iliad, but we decided to keep it to our top ten choices.

Best Undergraduate Schools for Cognitive Science

Cognitive science is an exciting field that blends a wide range of topics. Cognitive science students can study everything from psychology to neuroscience to computer programming. It’s kind of the triple threat of science degrees, it has a little bit of everything. If you are thinking about jumping into the exciting world of cognitive science, be sure to check out these 10 top-tier schools with great cognitive science programs.

10 Best Undergraduate Schools for Accounting

Maybe you want to be an accountant (and we are talking actually an accountant, don’t let TikTok fool you) or maybe you just are interested in accounting. Many students who concentrate in accounting go on to jobs outside of the accounting field. Jobs like Budget or Financial Analyst, Business and Financial Consultant, Finance Manager, Personal Financial Advisor, and many more. Whatever you want to do with your accounting degree, here are 10 top-tier programs that are perfect for that pursuing accounting:

10 Best Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship

Universities are creating more opportunities for students to get excited about entrepreneurship both in and outside of the classroom. While most entrepreneurship programs are a part of business schools, many universities offer entrepreneurship classes and minors to non-business students, making it one of the most interdisciplinary business tracks there is. If you love entrepreneurship it’s worth it to check out these ten top programs:

10 Best Undergraduate Schools for Management

Getting a degree in management opens some exciting doors in the business world. If your dream is to be an executive, management is probably the degree for you. While many people go back to school for an MBA in management, many top schools also offer it to undergrads. Management majors learn a broad set of business, finance, and marketing skills as well as about economics and the practical leadership skills it takes to help run an organization. If this sounds like what you want to learn as an undergrad, we highly suggest you look into these ten top programs:

10 Best Undergraduate Schools for Public Policy

If you care about affecting the issues in the United States (and there are plenty to choose from) public policy might be a good academic path for you. The major or area of study looks different at different schools, but the broad strokes idea is students in the public policy disciplines will look at how to solve problems through, well, policy. Students with a degree of focus in public policy often go on to work in government, politics, and non-profits. If you are someone who watches the news every night and has ideas about how to get regulate corporate carbon footprints, public policy might be the right trajectory for you.

10 Best Undergraduate Schools for Operations and Information Systems

So you love Operations and Information Systems? First off, impressive. We don’t meet a ton of teens who know they want to get into this field before they take college courses in it. OIS is an exciting and honestly pretty new field that combines business and technology to help businesses run better and more efficiently. And as tech and business become more interconnected than ever before, this degree is only going to become more valuable to those both interested in the tech and business sectors. If you already know that OIS is for you or even if you are just curious, it pays to check out these schools’ programs.

10 Best Undergraduate Schools for Statistics

A lot of the top schools offer majors in statistics. When you start looking into lists of “best universities for statistics” they start to read like laundry lists of the top 25 schools in the country. This article is titled “best” but maybe it would be more aptly titled “the 10 most unique top-tier undergrad programs for statistics.” Many top programs in statistics aren’t the best just because they are at top universities or part of prestigious math programs, they also are unique, interdisciplinary, and committed fully to the field of statistics. So let’s break them down.

 10 Best Undergraduate Schools for Marketing

Marketing is a great major for students who are pretty clear on what they want to do with their careers, or at least have a passion for the subject. Not all business schools offer Marketing majors or concentrations, but there are some with really excellent Marketing programs. While a Marketing degree isn’t required to get into the field after graduation, it’s a great idea for those who know they have a passion for the subject as it’s a—well--marketable degree to have.

How Many Colleges Should I Apply to? 

In the hyper-competitive world of college applications, one might think their key to success is to throw a bunch of spaghetti at the wall and hope something sticks. But we find that the best approach is to create an actual strategy, discover what elements of a university are interesting to you, and where you might be a good fit. You’re not going to be a fit at every school. It’s best to create a list of schools in which you will be. While some applicants apply to 30 schools, we find that 12-15 schools (a healthy balance between reaches, safeties, and targets) is a solid range.

Best Undergraduate Journalism Schools 2021-2022

It’s an exciting time to be a journalist. While the industry is in flux and completely uncertain, some of the biggest stories in a generation have been reported in the last several years, from #MeToo to the Trump presidency. While journalism as a profession isn’t for the faint of heart (or for anyone who wants to be rich), it can be a fulfilling career path for those with extra curiosity. And while professional journalists might recommend undergraduates use their time in school to gain expertise in a particular area or beat, honing your journalism skills while you’re young isn’t a bad idea if you’re dying to be the next Cronkite.

Best English Major Undergraduate Programs

We scoured the internet for our favorite English major programs and made efforts to only include programs that focus on English, and not writing. These kinds of programs are often blended together, but not everyone who plans to study English wants to be a writer. Enter this list. As per usual, we do not create our lists based on rankings and look for unique programs with special opportunities.

Best College Major for Extroverts

On Monday, we published a blog post about the best college majors for introverts. Spoiler alert: your personality has absolutely nothing to do with what you study in college! For arguments sake, let’s say that you truly identify as being a very extroverted person. At best, this might influence the kinds of schools that you apply to. You might be looking to attend a big, fun, Greek life-loving college. But what you study? That’s entirely up to you. Keep reading for our tips on how to find the right major:

West Coast "Ivy League Schools"

People often ask us about the other Ivies…you know, those that aren’t in the northeast. The reality is, there actually are none outside of the northeastern region and there are definitely no Ivy League schools on the west coast. That’s because the Ivy League was formed a trillion years ago as a sports league. While the Ivy League wasn’t officially formed until 1954 (though the term was used as early as the ‘30s), most of its partner schools have been around since the colonial period. Harvard has been around since the 17th century. Columbia University (then known as King’s College) awarded degrees to the likes of Alexander Hamilton in 1777, nearly 100 years before California joined the union. While the west coast is devoid of ye old American collegiate institution, there are plenty of ivy-caliber schools to consider checking out:

Best Non-Ivy League Schools East Coast

If you’re familiar with our blog, you know by now that we don’t subscribe to the “Ivy League is best” line of thinking. The schools on this list were chosen for various reasons – strong academic programs, heavy research emphasis, and special opportunities. Keep reading for some of our favorites, and we encourage you to do your own research as well!