Expert: John J. Shea - 8/28/2006

Question
Hello John,

I am going to be a high school senior this year.
Just let me tell you that ever since I was ten years old I have been facinated with Eygpt. I go to all the musuems I to look at ancient artifacts from all the Dynasties of the Eygption rule. I also like Roman history and South American history too. I have always dreamed of being an archaeologists. On the 30 of September is national museum day and live in Michigan and I am going to the University of Michigan to look at there Archaeology museum. U of M has a huge archaeological program. But, also U of M is one of the top ten schools in the nation to get into. I try really hard in school but I know for a fact it would be impossible to get in. I want to go into archeology, anthropology, and even some theology if that is possibe. What colleges could I apply for that would let me major and minor in those fields?

Answer
Jessica,
I have received several questions similar to yours in the last couple of weeks. You might have a look at my responses to see what schools I recommend.  U of Michigan is indeed a great school.  Their Anthro/Archaeology program is one of the best in the country.  Fortunately, because it is a state school, it has to give preference to in-state residents in undergrad admissions.  
For other schools with top-rate archaeology programs, basically any of the Ivies are a good choice (Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Penn).  NYU is looking pretty good lately as well.  U of Chicago is a longstanding powerhouse of Egyptian archaeology.  Boston Univ. has a good undergrad archaeology degree program (of which, in interest of full disclosure, I am an alumnus).  Bryn Mawr is a smaller school with a great reputation for training archaeologists.
But, really, in selecting a college, you should be looking for one that gives you a good liberal arts training (foreign languages, social and natural sciences, some exposure to the humanities -art and history).  The time to specialize in archaeology is in Graduate School.  While you are an undergrad, you might consider attending an archaeological field school, either here in the US, in Europe, or in Egypt itself, so that you can learn if fieldwork is what you like to do.
To get a preliminary list of possible schools together, your best bet is to look at Barron's Guide or the Princeton Review listings to see which schools list archaeology and/ancient history as majors.  Then go online, look up the individual departments at those schools (you'll probably want to look in archaeology, anthropology, history, and art history).  If you see a professor whose areas of expertise and research looks interesting, send them an email, or call them.  Visit them when you go looking at campuses.  If they make time for you, this is a good sign, if not, well....you probably won't get much more attention from them when you attend.  When you talk to prospective professors, ask about their current research. You will get a better education from someone who is actively researching some major issue than you will from someone who is not.  If they can clearly and concisely explain to you what they are doing and why it is important, that is a good sign.  If they can't, then they probably aren't going to be able to do this in your classes with them either.  This is what I did when I was your age, and it worked for me.  (Though we didn't have the internet and Google searches back then.)
Sincerely,
John Shea