Looking for some advice on which school to choose. All feedback/insight is appreciated.
Skidmore has a nice clinical field experience program for psychology undergrads, which could be a selling point if the student’s goal is clinical rather than theoretical/research. Brandeis might be stronger on the research side (but I am not at all sure of this - Skidmore is excellent). Campus and quality-of-life wise I would lean Skidmore unless the individual student perceives a particularly good fit with Brandeis.
(I see you’ve also been posting about UCI/UCD. Personally, I’d choose Skidmore over full-paying OOS $$$ for an undergrad psych degree at a UC. Your “visit slots are all full” experience accurately reflects the competition-for-resources that comes with a large/crowded public university. That’s fair enough if you’re getting a great value with in-state tuition, but at cost parity I’d go the top-notch LAC route for a program like psych. JMHO.)
3 Likes
Thank you so much for your insightful thoughts and feedback. Just shared it with my daughter for her to evaluate the pros/cons!! Thank you so much!
1 Like
My D looked at Skidmore and liked it but ultimately applied ED to Brandeis and attended. She had an excellent experience as a psychology major, and did research in a professor’s lab. It was not difficult to obtain research opportunities. I believe the department has some practicum course offerings as well. My D also double-majored and studied abroad. She got to know her professors, and found them very helpful in advising and writing recs after she graduated.
Brandeis often gets dinged for not being a fun place, but that was not my D’s experience at all. She made wonderful friends and was very social and busy. She got involved in several campus activities. There was no shortage of things to do on campus, but she and her friends also enjoyed going to Waltham, Cambridge, and Boston for dining, shopping, and cultural activities. Between the computer rail and Brandeis-run transportation (the Bran Van), it is easy to get around, and distances are short. She loved having an enclosed, suburban campus in easy reach of fun urban areas. Housing the first two years was pretty standard, double rooms on a corridor. For the last two years she lived in lovely apartment-type dorms with her friends.
Overall, she liked the academic and social vibe on campus. Just wanted to share our experience.
1 Like