Expert: John J. Shea - 9/28/2006

Question
What are the best schools for archaeology? I want to concentrate on Europe, Near East, and Asia but I don't have any particular time period in mind yet.  I want to go to a school with a lot of research options and field work as well. Any suggestions?

Answer
Kayla
I have received several questions lately that are essentially the same as your.  Have a look at the anwers I gave to those questions.  If you don't find what you are looking for, send a follow-up question. Briefly, though, don't go to a particular school, just to study archaeology.  Your interests may change during the course of your college education.  Get a good range of courses in sciences and humanities and study hard.  The time to specialize is in Grad School. If you get good grades in tough classes as an undergrad, the odds on your getting financial aid for grad school are much better.
For archaeology, any of the Ivy League schools are pretty good, as are most of the larger state universities, particularly those in the Southwest (UNM, U of AZ, AZ State U).  Boston Univ. and UCLA have specific BA programs in archaeology.
Cheers,
John Shea