I’m a junior in high school and I want to be a pyschiatrist. What are some really good colleges for Pyschology, preferably with more of a medical influence since I want to be a pyschiatrist, who goes to med school to prescribe medicine. I’m open to the states of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, and maybe Louisiana and Tennesee.
Psychology is one of those majors that shows up at pretty much every college. A strong college or university with a psychology department is likely to have a good solid psychology department. So you can study psychology at most places and get what you’re looking for. The state flagships in all of those states have great psychology programs (particularly UT-Austin, UIUC and Missouri) and the regional campuses will also have great choices.
Psychology is pretty much a commodity like biology. Any reasonable college will have an acceptable undergraduate program.
Considering the high cost of med school, college net price and personal fit may be more important factors than differences in program quality. So if you have residency status in one of those states, seriously consider public schools in that state. Psych and pre-med programs at most OOS public schools may not be worth a big price premium over in-state rates.
If your qualifications are strong enough to get into the kinds of schools that offer generous need based aid, then you might get a competitive net price from them compared to rates at your own state flagship. In that case, consider Rice, Northwestern, UChicago, Washington University - St. Louis, or Vanderbilt.
If your qualifications are strong enough for those schools, but your family income is a bit too high for need-based aid, then you might qualify for a big merit scholarship at a school like Alabama.
Run the online net price calculators for any schools that interest you.
If cost is truly not a factor, then schools in those states that seem to have relatively strong psych departments (based only on the USNWR graduate program rankings) include: UIUC, Northwestern, UT-Austin, WUSTL, UChicago, and Vanderbilt.