Historical America: The Top Five Colleges for History Majors
1. Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college that has a reputation for academic excellence. Colgate is located in Hamilton Village and Hamilton Township in New York State. Hamilton is 40 miles southeast of Syracuse and 30 miles southwest of Utica. It is a small community with approximately 4,000 plus people.
The goal of a Colgate education is to help students become independent and critical thinkers and to assume leadership roles upon their graduation.
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For those students who wish to major in History, Colgate offers numerous opportunities to study abroad and beyond the Colgate campus. The student body is comprised of 2900 full-time students. “U.S.News and World Report” ranks Colgate among 12th all liberal arts institutions in the 2017 edition of “Best Colleges”. Colgate is also is listed as a “best value” school. “Sierra Magazine” ranks Colgate as one of the “Top colleges working to protect the planet.” “USA Today” ranks Colgate as one of the Top Schools for History Majors. (colgate.edu)
In 1817 The Baptist Education Society in Hamilton, NY was formed, and subsequently chartered by the state legislature in 1819. Construction of their school began. In 1823 the New York City Baptists consolidated its seminary with the Hamilton school. One of the founders of the seminary was William Colgate. Colgate was a successful businessman who became involved in establishing the new school. The school was originally named Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution. In 1846 the school’s name was changed to Madison University after receiving permission from the state legislature to confer academic degrees. In 1890 the school’s name was changed again to Colgate University as a way of acknowledging the continued support of the Colgate family over many years.
Colgate is known for its welcoming community and campus. The college journey of academics and college life is shared together by the students as they learn, grow and live together. One of the goals of Colgate University is to get their students involved, from volunteering at the Hamilton Fire Dept., to joining and participating in many different organizations and clubs.
The Student Activities Fair is a great way to find out what is happening on campus and how students can get involved. Students are strongly encouraged to engage in service-oriented programs both on and off campus.
For those students who are seeking a faith-based organization, you will not be disappointed at Colgate. Many of the faith-based organizations are student led. There are also Campus Chaplains available to any student.
Fraternities and Sororities are very much a part of campus life. Approximately one-third of all students are active in Greek life. There are sports activities for everyone at Colgate who wishes to participate from varsity level to recreational sports. Club sports provide highly competitive rivalries among the non-varsity students. Intramural sports on campus are designed around having fun, and one’s skill level is unimportant.
The Trudy Fitness Center offers all kinds of opportunities to get fit or stay fit while you are a student at Colgate. And finally, if you are yearning for the great outdoors there are trails for biking, running, hiking, climbing and there is boating on Lake Moraine.
Varsity Sports at Colgate compete on the Division I level in the Patriot’s League, and there are 25 Raider teams that represent Colgate in athletic competition.
Colgate offers 54 different majors, but we are looking specifically at History. Colgate’s History Department expresses the importance of History in this way, “We believe that the study of human history is critical to global survival; the experiences of others serve as guides to present and future conduct.” The study of History expands our ability to do research in any field and on any topic and to write in such a way that engages the reader about the significance of the research that is being shared.
There are all kinds of opportunities at Colgate University to study history at any level and to learn about any place and any time in the world in which we live. Look at the different career fields that some of the Colgate alumni who were History majors pursued upon graduation: Attorney, Medicine, Editor of NY Times, Seminarian, Librarian, Life Science Consultant, Chief Speechwriter, Research Assistant at Metropolitan Museum of Art, Historian, Platoon Commander US Marines, Chief Compliance Officer and High School Teacher. This is why Colgate University is rated as one of the top schools in the nation for History Majors.
So If You Love History, Check it Out
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If you are concerned about your employment options after graduation and you don’t see yourself standing in front of a group of students who want to be anywhere other than in history class, don’t let that stop you from pursuing a subject that you love. Hopefully, you have found out from reading about these schools that majoring in History can open many different career fields: law, public service, business, library administration, museum administration, military, medicine and like myself, journalism. Look over these great schools and then decide whether to follow your dream.
Sources
- http://college.usatoday.com/2016/05/13/the-top-10-colleges-for-a-major-in-husband istory/
- http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/history-rankings
- http://www.collegefactual.com/majors/history/history/rankings/top-ranked/?show_messages=1
Featured Image By Balon Greyjoy – Own work, CC0, Link
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