<p>Hey guys --</p>
<p>I tried to Google Psychology undergrad rankings (lists) and couldn't really find one I thought was trustworthy enough :)</p>
<p>Does anybody know where I can find a top Psych undergrad listing?</p>
<p>--Also, I'm trying to find a school with a great (social) psych program and a good language program (I want to double major). Hopefully staying East, pretty good stats. Any ideas?</p>
<p>Thank you!! :)</p>
<p>~Isi</p>
<p>I don’t know any schools on the East coast with good language programs, but I did find a listing of schools with good undergraduate Psychology programs here: </p>
<p>[Ranking</a> of U.S. Undergraduate Psychology Programs](<a href=“http://www.socialpsychology.org/gunder.htm]Ranking”>Ranking of U.S. Undergraduate Psychology Programs)</p>
<p>Additional, if you were thinking of going to graduate school for Psychology, this site lists top ten schools who have ranked nationally in Psych. The results are quite similar to the link above, actually.
[Best</a> Psychology Programs | Good University Ranking Guide](<a href=“http://whichuniversitybest.blogspot.com/2010/02/best-psychology-programs.html]Best”>Best Psychology Programs | Good University Ranking Guide)</p>
<p>I pretty much just looked up “best psychology programs” under Yahoo! Search.</p>
<p>There are no reliable rankings of undergrad psychology depts. The rankings that the previous poster listed are based on the “Gourman Report.” The most recent edition of the Gourman Report is from 1997. In any case, no one knows how the Gourman rankings were developed since the methodology has never been disclosed. For all we know, they are made up out of thin air. Without disclosure of its methodology, the Gourman Report should be dismissed. </p>
<p>Some guidance as to strong departments is found in the USNWR graduate psychology department rankings or the recent NRC rankings, but this tells you very little about the quality of teaching at the undergrad level. Also, since good departments can be found in liberal arts colleges as well as in research universities, the graduate rankings obviously won’t help you identify LACs with good psychology departments. </p>
<p>Psychology is a core discipline at a wide range of schools. There are many schools with strong psychology departments. Most psychology departments have a pretty similar structure for their major requirements: general psychology, research methods, statistics, some distribution of courses across various subfields of psychology in intermediate level courses, and advanced courses (including specialized research methods) on more specialized topics which build on intermediate-level courses. Some departments require a senior capstone course or a thesis. In years past, many departments required a course in the history of psychology, but this is much less common now. </p>
<p>Some things to look for: better departments offer many more seminars at the undergrad level; have an active chapter of Psi Chi or a psychology club; offer undergrad research opportunities; offer undergrad practicum or field experiences; have good advising; have faculty who are actively involved in national professional organizations; have faculty who are actively publishing in major journals; might have a number of department faculty who have won teaching awards; etc. Another consideration is the availability of supporting coursework in related fields. For your interests in social psychology, check how many faculty specialize in that area and whether advanced coursework (including social psych research methods) is offered in that area. </p>
<p>For languages, there also are no undergrad rankings. Graduate rankings ([PhDs.org:</a> Jobs for PhDs, graduate school rankings, and career resources for scientists and engineers](<a href=“http://www.phds.org%5DPhDs.org:”>http://www.phds.org)) might give you some idea of strong programs, but again they don’t tell you a whole lot about the quality of undergrad teaching, and they won’t identify strong departments that don’t offer graduate studies. A lot depends on what languages interest you. The NRC graduate rankings only cover depts. in classical languages, French, Spanish, and German. Some things to look for: native speakers for language courses; extracurricular opportunities, e.g., active language clubs, language houses, film series and other cultural events, etc.; study abroad options; supporting coursework in relevant area studies (e.g., the history, etc. of countries/regions where the language of interest in spoken; whether commercial or technical language courses are offered (e.g., business French, technical Japanese); whether relevant culture/civilization are offered in the language of interest; whether teaching methodology courses are offered in you’re interested in teaching the language; whether linguistics courses are offered in the language of interest; how well the coursework covers the various periods of literature in the language of interest; how many faculty and how many majors; how many years of actual language instruction are offered; if interested in a critical language, whether any special programs are offered (e.g., <a href=“http://www.thelanguageflagship.org/);%5B/url%5D”>http://www.thelanguageflagship.org/);</a> library and language lab facilities (e.g., access to periodicals, access to TV broadcasts in the language of interest); opportunities for coursework in related languages (e.g., Czech, Polish, etc, if the primary language is Russian); whether courses in translation are available if that area interests you; etc. Universities that have designated National Resource Centers for Foreign Languages & Area Studies generally have solid language programs in the areas in which they specialize. [National</a> Resource Centers for Foreign Language, Area and International Studies](<a href=“http://www.nrcweb.org/]National”>http://www.nrcweb.org/)</p>