<p>My daughter is passionate about studying developmental psych, preferably at a northeast school (outside NYC) with a strong research program and arts scene, that is not too big or small, not dominated by frats, jocks or hipsters or obviously wealthy students, and has a conventional style (i.e. grades). She is Chinese and is most comfortable in a diverse environment. She loved Wesleyan. We are also looking at: Brandeis, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell School of Human Ecology, McGill (big, but cheaper), Middlebury, Smith, Tufts, U of Chicago, U of Rochester, and Vassar. Question is whether others should be added or some should be dropped. Money is a consideration. We are middle class in NYC, which means we qualify for no financial aid.</p>
<p>D is probably in the top 2 % of her heterogeneous NYC public school (1st SAT in March). Shes taking 4 APs, and will be doing a psych research study for the Intel Science Talent Search. Her ECs will include: NHS, three years as a discovery guide at the Brooklyn zoo, three summers as a pre-school teachers aide, three years performing in the youth wing of a nonprofit theater company, participating in an anti-sex trafficking school club, co-producing a short film about perceptions of Asian identity shown at festivals in DC and NYC, and mentoring younger girls adopted from China. </p>
<p>You may want to add a financial safety to your list. SUNY-Geneseo has a strong Psychology program. Since you have some of the big names already covered, I will throw out a couple LAC’s at the next level that may fit. Skidmore and Union both have strong Psychology programs, although Union might be a little too Greek for your D. Franklin & Marshall also has a strong undergraduate Psychology program. Depending upon your D’s grades and test scores, she may receive merit aid from some of these LAC’s. </p>
<p>Of your original list, you hit the big names already. Brown, Wesleyan and Middlebury are great schools with a diverse student body and Cornell has a great graduate Psychology program. You have a strong initial list. Does your D have the GPA and test scores for these colleges? They are among the most select in the country. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Thanks so much Bobby. I will definitely check out those other schools. My daughter’s GPA was 95 at the end of her sophomore year (95 is the highest grade you can get in regular courses and she had only taken 1 AP at that point). The GPA will probably exceed 98 this year. She takes the SAT for the first time in March, but on the basis of PSATs and tutoring, I think she’ll score in the 2000-2050 range. I think she’ll probably do better on the ACT, which she’ll take in April.</p>
<p>The couple schools I was going to suggest are on your original list.
You might check Barnard’s offerings, for itself and I believe you can take Teacher’s College courses with permission. But of course like all the privates this will not be cheap, and there are many wealthy students.</p>
<p>If you’re going the financial safety route, Binghamton has a Human Development major hidden away in its College of Community and Public Affairs.</p>
<p>My son is interested in Social Psychology, so I was looking at the offerings at some of the schools that were supposedly “good” in psychology. Based on our experience, if you look in detail at what each school offers, you may find some real differences in the breadth and depth of offerings in the precise sub-areas of psychology that interest her. Some programs seem to have relatively more emphasis on neuroscience and the like.</p>
<p>I admittedly know very little about this field, but I have heard nice things about Pitt’s program as far as getting students heavily involved in research. The school is very generous with merit money. Here is a link.</p>
<p>For strong students, full tuition scholarships are available. Seems the earlier one applies (rolling app) the better the package. It may be a better financial value than the privates.</p>
<p>Monydad, on your recommendation I checked out Binghamton. It looks like an interesting program, but it doesn’t mention research opportunities. Barnard is definitely a good option, although D would prefer to go out of town. Good luck with your son.</p>
<p>If money is a consideration, I’d look at Big Ten schools.
I had a 3.6 GPA and 32 ACT and I got GREAT aid. University of Minnesota is known for great research opportunities, even though it is a large school, and it’s only 24K a year out of state! University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, University of Michigan (she could get some aid, I’m sure), Purdue University, Indiana University, Ohio State University, Penn State. If money is not a huge consideration, Northwestern is great and your daughter seems like she has the stats for it! They might not sound like ELITE schools but they’re really good for research, and all around are pretty strong. Big Ten schools are diverse because they have a bit of everything.</p>
<p>Another great school to look at is Tulane, it’s not that racially diverse (I’m Asian too haha) but I think it has geographic diversity which is a diversity all on its own! They’re known for great merit aid (with your daughter’s stats she could easily get 25K in merit scholarships).</p>
<p>^ I didn’t suggest any Big 10 unis as they were too far outside the OP’s criteria (except possibly NU), but it is worth noting that U Minnesota is ranked #1 in child psychology at the grad level and has been for years. Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin are ranked in the top 10 in developmental psychology.</p>