How do you know which college programs are considered good?

College Search & Selection
1

I want to major in psychology but I’m not sure which school to go to. I want to go into Clinical Psychology in the future, but I heard you don’t really have to settle completely when you’re in undergrad? I’m not sure which aspects to look into when considering their programs and where to find them because I couldn’t seem to find them on the websites. I’m planning on staying fairly close to California, but I am willing to go to schools on the East coast if it really is a really good program. Thanks in advance !

2

A school which is otherwise a good match for you will also often have a good psychology program. Two things to look for would be a good selection of courses (two to three dozen offerings should be more than enough) and, since your interest is clinical psychology, the college should have a program that allows you to choose a field placement at a local health facility. As tempting as they are to consult, I’d avoid any graduate school rankings you may come across.

3

Thanks ! So a good selection of courses and a place where I can intern or have hands on experience. Why would you suggest consulting graduate school rankings ? How else would you be able to find good psychology schools ?

4

I’d suggest not consulting graduate school rankings for the selection of an undergraduate college. As an example as to why, if you found graduate department rankings for psychology programs in California, you would come across UCLA but not Pitzer. This wouldn’t mean that UCLA would be a better choice for you – it could or could not be – but only that UCLA has a graduate department and Pitzer does not. That said, you should look at both of these schools.

5

Oh okay, I understand. I’ll be looking up those schools, thank you.

6

You should check out Tufts (even if you do not want to come to the east coast). They are one of a few schools in the country that have an undergrad major in clinical psych. As mentioned earlier, you do not have to major in clinical psych to go into it, but looking at Tufts requirements and courses (and contrasting them with the standard major) will give you an idea what to look for at other schools.

Best of luck