Help! NYU or UCLA or UW

Please help me! I am most likely pursuing psychology is a major and will need to get Phd to even make money with that degree.

I got accepted into NYU (costs 71k) UCLA (costs 58k) and my state school, University of Washington (costs 25k)

I feel like I’ll be the happiest at NYU but its it worth the money for my degree? Is UCLA a better option over UW? Please help I’m so lost

Pick UW, especially if you are committed to a psychology major. $284,000 for NYU or even HYP isn’t a realistic choice unless your parents are millionaires. AND you want to get a PhD, so that’s even more money…

UW is a great, great school. I am considering it seriously myself also. Among the scientific community, UW is probably the highest regarded school. USNEWS rankings does not do it justice.

No, UCLA is not a better option than UW, especially costing over twice as much.

Hi, @human100emoji . Here is a link with some information that might help: http://www.socialpsychology.org/gunder.htm (you can toggle the bar located above the ranking to look at other types of rankings).

Washington and UCLA have had highly regarded psychology departments for many years. If you go to UW, the $132,000 (or $184,000 if NYU) you saved will come in handy during graduate school. Do well at UW, and you will have your pick of graduate schools.

Congratulations and good luck!

Washington has such a large financial advantage and you’re giving up nothing (or next to it) in quality. If you like the campus and the culture, and the rain doesn’t drive you crazy… then Wash is the logical choice.

If the rain does drive you nuts, get a good umbrella. hehe

Do you guys think entering graduate school will be easier through UCLA since its higher ranked (i’ll also be able to graduate from there in 3 years) @prezbucky @UWfromCA @FireBallsDJ

NO. Do great at UW and you will get a top grad school. I’ll repeat: UW is highly regarded, it won’t lose to UCLA.

They are both top level programs, so the difference is probably negligible (or next to it, to borrow a phrase from prezbucky). In looking forward to graduate school, you might want to consider where you think you are more likely to earn a higher GPA.

You don’t need to get a PhD to make money as a psychology major. Most professionally successful psychology majors do not have PhDs.

In any case, this is a no-brainer - UW is the best choice. They have a great psychology department, and are a great overall school in case you change your mind. And they’re less than half the cost of your other options.

No, UCLA will not give you any great advantage for getting into graduate school.

New York City and Los Angeles are fun places, but so too is Seattle. Like both NYU and UCLA, the University of Washington is a member of the AAU, one of the premier associations of research universities in North America.

UW has a fantastically large [undergraduate research program](Undergraduate Research Program) which, if you start freshman or sophomore year and get a great GPA/GRE scores (sort of like the SAT), will make you competitive for the best research based graduate programs. If you spend even a fraction of the money you otherwise would have spent on UCLA and NYU, you can go to psychology conferences across the country and even the world, where you will not only be able to present your research, but also network with professors at programs which offer both funding and a high graduate rank.