<p>hi first post, been lurking since summer though!</p>
<p>deadlines are coming and im still not totally sure where i should apply. i know i want to major in psych but not sure where. the only real preference i have is first year housing. i have a 3.0 gpa (bad freshman year but big improvement during soph/junior) and a 1750 SAT. </p>
<p>ive come up with a list of possibilities in no particular order:</p>
<p>PSU (one of the branches... not sure which)
temple
west chester
ursinus
drexel
villanova (big reach but i live 3 minutes down the road from it worth a shot)
upitt (branch)
saint josephs
eastern u
arcadia
kings college
kutztown
arcadia
philly U
duquesne
U of scranton
juniata college
widener</p>
<p>yeah pretty big and rough list i honestly have no idea what i want out of a school. im open to pretty much anywhere that has a good psych program and would let me in haha.</p>
<p>There is a huge variety within your list of schools. We just went college touring in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago; we visited allegheny, bucknell, lafayette, ursinus, muhlenberg and drove past a lot of the others. </p>
<p>First off all, have you visited a liberal arts college, a smaller private university and a state directional? They feel very different; think about what you like. Psychology is very solid at most schools, so I would not think about that primarily. Also, there is a huge difference between center Philly and rural Appalachia.
The best school I can get into is generally not a good objective, because their is no best school. It’s about finding an environment where you can challenge yourself and grow socially and academically. Chances are this won’t be the case at all of the schools you listed. </p>
<p>Personally, I think small class sizes and professor accessibility are ideal for an undergrad. Thus, I would focus on small universities and liberal arts colleges.
In Pennsylvania, allegheny, ursinus, Juniata and I think formerly muhlenberg are colleges that change lives, meaning they have something special about them that creates a very welcoming and supportive environment for all kinds of student, also B students.
Also, lots of CC parents love Susquehanna university I believe.
It is good to have a state school that will most likely accept you and that you can afford as a safety.
Also, remember that affordability is key. Having 4 years of personal development is great as long as it’s not at the expense of your next 20 years of personal development because of mounting student debt. </p>
<p>I would suggest you check those schools out on college pro wler.com and bigfuture.org and read through their profiles. I would look for a 50% graduation rate, the number of psychology majors, the school philosophy, the financial aid policies, and the number of students in student housing. Also, average class size and faculty to
Student ratio is very important. </p>
<p>I hope this helps you, don’t hesitate to pm me or ask further questions!</p>
<p>Yeah, that list is kind of all over the place. Any reason why it’s all PA? I mean, you could be in NJ at the College of NJ and be a lot closer than Duquesne for example. </p>
<p>You need to see if you want urban or rural, big or little.</p>
<p>What about finances? The costs of those schools are all over the place too.</p>
<p>Juniata would be your best bet for psychology. Better than UScranton, good for science but also psych, and still a match. Allegheny probably too but more of a high match. Susquehanna is very personable and friendly. Albright or Eastern are both matches.
Psu: check which branch campuses have psychology, how many classes are offered, and how many students are enrolled. You want to avoid super huge psych 101 classes - although on some branch campuses I’d be surprised if the class topped 25-30.
A Pitt branch may not be necessary, try to apply to Pitt itself and see.
St Joe’s is bad for financial aid, I’d cross it out.
West Chester is your other public match (with any Penn State branch campus).
Ursinus is a reach, but within reach.
Check out Elmira (in Corning, on the NY/PA border).
Goucher should be within reach.
McDaniel another match.</p>
<p>Is it really? I’ve seen them offer what looked like significant aid to many students who didn’t have top statistics but that’s the extent of my experience with them.</p>
<p>The OP doesn’t mention needing financial aid in this thread; did he/she say it was needed elsewhere?</p>
<p>OP, I live in your neck of the woods, and I have to agree with other posters that your list is kind of all over the place. Have you visited any of these schools? Have your parents told you what their budget is for your education and whether or not that includes your living on campus? </p>
<p>Psychology is a very popular major, so most schools will have a decent program; however, unless you plan to go to graduate school afterwards, there isn’t an automatic career path once you complete your undergraduate education. For that reason, I’d consider the most affordable options for most students: Temple, West Chester (or one of the other PASSHE schools like Kutztown) or Penn State Brandywine. (Not sure why you’d go to a Pitt branch from the southeastern part of the state, but maybe I’m missing something.)</p>
<p>Let us know if you have no budget constraints and what your preferences are in terms of location, etc., so we can offer some additional suggestions. But keep in mind that private schools, unless your stats can attract significant merit money, are going to be very expensive ($40,000-$60,0000/year if you live on campus). </p>
<p>Is your guidance counselor recommending any of the schools on your list?</p>
St. Joe’s graduates leave with one of the highest debt loads of any school in the country (in 2010 the average debt was $44k; it’s likely increased since then).</p>
<p>the only school i’ve visited was penn state - abington, which i wasn’t impressed by… (no housing) but considering it was the only one i saw i didnt really have any frame of reference. i think id prefer something close to or in the city. i’ve lived in the suburbs surrounding philly all my life and would probably want to be in driving distance of it. </p>
<p>dont have an exact budget, just going to be filling out fasfa and seeing what financial aid offers we get from the different places we apply. private uni’s arent out of the question price wise, but obviously cheaper is better according to my mom haha. </p>
<p>have had little to no interaction with my guidance counselor about all this, kind of doing it on my own. because i go to online school and have no older siblings, i was pretty out of the loop and am kind of doing all this stuff last minute… i did send my counselor one email though with a similar list and the only thing he said was to forget about upitt because my scores werent good enough.</p>
<p>A lot of the schools on your list don’t have a fee. With Common Application it’s super easy to submit. For the schools that aren’t on CommonApp, such as Pitt or Penn State, you’ll need to go to their own website.
Beaver, Behrend, Harrisburg, and I think York have housing but they’re primarily commuter campuses.
Some of the colleges above promise to meet 100% need - sure, it’s “need” as they determine it, but it typically means a more generous financial aid policy. However, an easy way for you to eliminate some from your list and those suggested to you is to run the Net Price Calculator on EACH website, then cut out the ones that are too expensive.
(Each university calculates financial aid differently so you need to run the NPC on each to see the result).</p>
- although on some branch campuses I’d be surprised if the class topped 25-30.