Reader Query on Studying in a Large or Small Department

A reader writes,

I am a prospective applicant to PhD programs in the US from a non-English speaking country and a regular reader of the Philoshoper’s Cocoon. I was wondering whether you could open up a thread to discuss a topic that I have been thinking about in the past few weeks. I would like to know what you and other readers think about the pros and cons of studying at small and large departments.

My take on this issue is that small departments provide a closer interaction between staff and students and you get to know your colleagues better. On the other hand, you are most likely to work with less-known people, which might make things difficult when seeking for jobs. Also, opportunities might be scarcer since small departments usually have lower budgets.

I am drawing such conclusions based on my experience on my country’s academic environment, so it might not be true of academic philosophy in the US. Anyway, I think that at least some of you have thought about this before, and it would help me a lot to hear your take on that.

Any thoughts? Here are a few I had off the top of my head in favor of choosing a larger department over a smaller one:

1. Your philosophical interests can change greatly (and unexpectedly) during graduate school, and studying in a large department with a large, diverse faculty may present one with more opportunities to change focus while still receiving a strong education. I speak here from experience. I entered graduate school firmly believing I wanted to focus on metaphysics and mind. Then, as time went on, I found myself gravitating toward moral and political philosophy--neither of which I ever expected to be interested in. Fortunately, because I was a member of a large department, I was able to change my focus and work with excellent faculty in my new areas of interest. Had I been a member of a small department (or a large but homogenous one), I might have been out of luck.
2. Breadth of education is something worth thinking about--and I would say, something worth preferring--in graduate study in philosophy. Although there seem to be strong trends in favor of greater specialization both in the US and (especially) many places abroad, I tend to think breadth is an important thing to develop. I, at any rate, am really glad that I enjoyed such a broad education in philosophy (in metaphysics, language, mind, philosophy of science, ethics, and political philosophy)--and, all things being equal, a larger, more diverse department is likely to provide greater breadth of sound philosophical education.

Of course, these are just a few considerations. Perhaps there are just as many considerations in favor of studying in a smaller department. Or perhaps there is no fact of the matter, epistemically, about which is generally better. I'm curious to hear what everyone thinks!

Comments

[Anon Grad Student]

I think point 2 gets things wrong. Breadth of education IS very important, but there are much reasons to think that being in a small department will actually promote a broad education more than being in a large one. Based on my first- and second-hand experience, large departments tend to balkanize much more than small ones. If your department is small, the faculty and the grad students are much more likely to all talk to each other than if your department is large. In a small department, people have to make an active effort to learn about what everyone else is working on than in a small department, where it's easy to only travel within your subgroup.

[Michel X.]

I think a lot of this boils down to department culture rather than size. It's absolutely true that one's interests may change, and I think it's right to seek out a fairly broad philosophical education. So, at a minimum, one wants to seek out a department that can accommodate those desiderata, at least to a certain extent.

But the advantages of being somewhere big (or small!) start to diminish pretty quickly if you're alone in trying to get a broad education, or if the faculty or student body is divided, or if they're aloof, or if the student:prof ratio is just too high.

I know that's a bit of a non-answer, but there you have it. I think one would be better off talking to a few grad students about the atmosphere in their program.

[Carrie]

A few more things to consider: I think it is false to say smaller schools necessarily have fewer resources; it really depends on the school and the department. In my experience, except for (perhaps) the most prestigious public schools, private schools in the U.S. tend to have more resources (at least measured in things like grad stipends, amount of TA work required, etc.). Grad funding for travel seems to vary more widely, and is something I would ask about at each school.

An important factor that I think may be underestimated by entering grad students but which I have found very important is what the culture is like in the department. Small schools are more likely to foster a close-knit environment (the balkanization effect mentioned in the first post), both philosophically and socially. Because my department is small, students are less socially divided by cohort or area, so many of my closest friends weren't even in coursework at the same time I was nor do we work in the same areas, and this is a type of broadening of one's education that is useful. Unless you are one of the few grad students who really thrives working all alone, this will become quite important, especially after finishing coursework. I am writing my dissertation now, so this consideration is quite live for me.

It is true that there may be fewer opportunities to broaden one's horizon at a small school by working with a number of different faculty, but it depends to some extent on how sure you are of your area(s) of interest (for instance, if you have had broad exposure and have a M.A. degree already, you may be more sure of what areas interest you most than someone who is fresh out of undergrad).