<p>Neither is going to give you a background in clinical psychology as an undergraduate. Either will give you a really solid base of knowledge in psychology or neuropsych, opportunities to do extracurricular stuff that will enhance your resume, and solid guidance in graduate school applications. </p>
<p>Amherst is probably a cut or half a cut above Oberlin in terms of the quality of the students it attracts and the success of it graduates in getting into desirable graduate programs, and Amherst helps students who want help in that regard quite a bit. The 5-college consortium absolutely gives you a much broader set of advanced course options in whatever field you choose, and people seem to really like Amherst/Northampton (while tolerating Oberlin). I would not go to Oberlin because of the primo urban experience nearby that Cleveland offers.</p>
<p>All those factors, plus the money, really means that you only have one logical choice. Oberlin is a great college – and, to tell the truth, I have a close friend who is a very successful clinical psychologist in a teaching hospital program; she got her BA at Oberlin and is a fiercely proud alumna – but it really offers nothing that Amherst doesn’t give you a little more of a little better, at half the price.</p>
This was extremely helpful. (I’m leaning towards Amherst. I’ll decide for sure after the Diversity Open House in two weeks.) :-bd </p>