<p>I am a prospective psychology major and I am applying to Northwestern and possibly UCSD. Based on the NRC US Psychology PhD Rankings (<a href=“NRC Ranking of U.S. Psychology Ph.D. Programs)%5B/url%5D”>NRC Ranking of U.S. Psychology Ph.D. Programs)</a>, UCSD has a better psychology program than NU. Career-wise is it better to go to the college with the better program (UCSD) or the college that is more prestigious (NU)? </p>
<p>I am only wondering. Either way, I would definitely choose NU.</p>
<p>bump 10 char</p>
<p>why would you be looking at PhD program rankings if you are applying for undergrad school?</p>
<p>Also, since UC apps were due in Nov. you’re not applying to UCSD if you haven’t already submitted the app.</p>
<p>Rather than this question: “CAREER: the name of the college or the ranking?”</p>
<p>How about this: “CAREER: how an individual applies himself/herself in a rigorous program”</p>
<p>This trumps “ranking” and “prestige” in 80% of cases in my experience. I’ll take a known diligent person than a marginal one who went to a “name” school any day.</p>
<p>Firstly, I am a sophomore and therefore have plenty of time to send in any applications.</p>
<p>I am just having a tough time phrasing my question…</p>
<p>Doesn’t the ranking of a college’s PhD programs reflect its undergrad studies as well?</p>
<p>T26E4-</p>
<p>“I’ll take a known diligent person than a marginal one who went to a “name” school any day.”</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t think a student graduating from NU is “marginal.” NU also has an excellent psychology program which I am sure is comparable to UCSD’s. I am choosing NU not for its name but because I earnestly admire the school.</p>
<p>you’ll be surprised how many incompetent people come out of big name colleges.</p>
<p>riyam-</p>
<p>yes I agree with you and I am aware of this fact. However, just because there are some doesn’t mean that I am one of them. I take pride in my work and studies!</p>
<p>If I really wanted to be related to a big name college I would just go to Harvard. But of all the ivies I only consider cornell</p>
<p>Let’s put it this way:</p>
<p>Should one sacrifice going to their dream school to going to the college that offers a better major program?</p>
<p>no
10 char.</p>
<p>
Not really. In a PhD program a small number of grad students work under the supervision of a single faculty member advisor. The main focus is not on taking classes (many PhD programs don’t require that many, and you’re finished with them in a year or two out of a 6 year process to get the PhD) but on producing new research. You can see this description bears little in common with undergrad education. </p>
<p>
You are not a psychologist with an undergrad degree in psych, you are not an economist with an undergrad degree in econ, etc. In fact quite often you can enter a grad program without having an undergrad major in the same subject. The point is that if you are planning on pursuing a career area tied to an academic area that is outside of the trades (nursing, engineering, etc) then your undergrad major is much less important than your grad studies. Pick the college you love for undergrad without worrying about the rep of a particular major. In fact, most people end up changing their majors once or twice anyway. I’d bet you can’t even name 1/2 the majors offered at NW or UCSD, and if you can’t even name them how do you know one wouldn’t be a better fit than psych? (I’m not kidding, BTW; take a sheet of paper and list all the undergrad majors you can think of, then compare it to the ones on the school website).</p>
<p>This isn’t to say the instruction at the college doesn’t matter, but my next bet is that as a HS sophomore you haven’t been exposed to enough info to make a decision in a reasonable manner. How did you decide NW was your dream school? Because it is prestigious, as you imply in post #1? Bzzzzttt!!! Wrong answer. Now of course you are entitled to pick your colleges any way you want. But a thoughtful approach would be to consider the size of the classes, attention from the instructors, advising system, type of kids the college enrolls, the types of housing available, whether it is a rural/urban/suburban campus, financial aid, etc. What makes for a good undergrad psych program (or any program) are faculty that truly desire to teach and challenge their undergrads, the chance to engage with fellow students who are also dedicated to learning, and access to advice on how to further your goals. You can find this many places, even those without a PhD program such as a LAC. Some would even argue you’re MORE likely to find it at a good LAC than at a large U where many courses are taught by part-time visiting lecturers, and the brand-name profs reluctantly teach one undergrad course a year while preferring to spend their energies fostering their grad students rather than on the sea of undergrads in their dept. BTW I’m not saying all or most U’s are like this, but its worth talking to current students to find out for ones you’re considering.</p>
<p>Since this is an advice forum, my advice is this. Forget about picking any colleges (dream or otherwise) now. You’re in freaking 10th grade! Start by reading thru a good book on college admissions such as [“Admission</a> Matters”](<a href=“http://www.admissionmatters.com/]"Admission”>http://www.admissionmatters.com/) that discusses fit and the factors that go into picking a college. Begin to make some tentative decisions about these factors, and start visiting colleges in your area of various types (LAC, large U, etc) to see first-hand what they are like. It’s one thing to say “large classes don’t bother me”, its another to sit in a lecture at UCSD surrounded by 300+ other students. In 11th grade spend some time identifying colleges with the characteristics you want, in all ranges of selectivity. And have your parents fill out one of the online FAFSA estimators to see what colleges are going to expect them to contribute and to make sure they are ok with it; no sense spending a lot of time considering schools you can’t afford. In the spring of 11th grade visit your safeties and matches; you can wait to visit any reaches until you get in. Then in the fall of 12th grade you will know where you want to apply and can spend time working on your essays and apps without having to rush.</p>
<p>One more thing on rankings I want to add, since they seem to play such an agonizing role to the OP. I don’t think many people appreciate how arbitrary rankings really are. US News, for example, adds up a set of factors to get a score. Were those factors handed down from the heavens, or the result of years of careful research? No, they were the decisions of some reporters. </p>
<p>In ranking colleges, should selectivity count for 10%, 15%, or 20% of the total score? US News picked 15%. And within selectivity itself US News has decided that SAT scores count for 50% of the factor and the ECs of incoming students count for 0%. Is that beyond question? Clearly top schools make decisions based on ECs, but this is something US News doesn’t have ready access to so they give it 0 influence. In other words are they measuring reality or what’s convenient?</p>
<p>You can look at their other factors and the way they measure them and ask “Is this the only or best way to do this?”. What about the factors they leave out? The point is that while rankings are useful as a coarse guide, it is silly to think of them as an absolute measure they way you’d weigh something. Reasonable people could measure different things or change the weights, and the rankings would spin.</p>