Jan 14
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America’s 5 Best Colleges To Study Psychology
As of May 2012, psychologists in the US are earning anywhere from $90,020 to $116,240 per year. On top of that, job and career opportunities in the next ten years look great for this profession. If you plan on being one, you have to know which psychology colleges in the U.S. offer the best program as groundwork for this exciting career. Here are the top 5 schools with the best psychology programs in the country today:
1. Stanford University, Stanford CA
Tuition. Stanford’s tuition and fees are $43,245 for 2013-2014
Financial Aid. Types of aid available include federal and state grants, university and outside scholarships, loans and student employment. Need-based aid only.
Application Requirements. Stanford uses The Common Application where all specific instructions and requirements are coursed through.
In the fall of 2013, Stanford’s acceptance rate was only 5.7%, making it the toughest school to get into today. But it doesn’t mean you can’t. In fact, Stanford does not require a minimum score for standardized tests and GPA for admission, which pretty much evens out the playing field. Stanford’s Department of Psychology is organized into 5 different areas: Social, Cognitive, Neuroscience, Affective Science and Developmental Psychology. The school currently ranks #1 among psychology colleges in the country today.
2. University of California – Berkeley, Berkeley CA
Tuition. In-state tuition and fees are $13,836 and $25,056 for out-of-state
Financial Aid. UC Berkeley offers financial aid in the form of loans, work-study, scholarships and grants
Application Requirements. UC Berkeley encourages online application for admission. Instructions and specific requirements are provided there as well.
UC Berkeley frequently ranks #1 in America’s top public universities. Famous for its liberal and activist qualities, UC Berkeley has a beautiful campus in the San Francisco Bay area. Student to faculty ratio in the school is 15:1 and 75% of its classes have 30 students or less. Its admission rate is 18%. The Department of Psychology at UC Berkeley covers 5 key areas of research: Social-Personality Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience, Change, Plasticity & Development, Cognition, Brain, & Behavior and Clinical Science.
3. University of California – LA, Los Angeles CA
Tuition. For 2013-2014, Tuition and fees are $12,696 for in-state and $35,574 for out-of-state
Financial Aid. Types of financial aid in UCLA include merit and need-based scholarships, grants, student loans and part-time student jobs.
Application Requirements. Just like UC Berkeley, UCLA encourages online application through the University of California Application for Admission and Scholarships. All information and specific requirements are provided there.
Another top-ranking public university in the country, UCLA has a total of 27,941 undergraduate enrollment and over 4,000 of teaching faculty. For being particularly strong in the liberal arts and sciences, UCLA was awarded a chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa. While for its strengths in research, the school earned a membership in the Association of American Universities or AAU. UCLA’s Department of Psychology offers three undergraduate majors: B.A. Psychology, B.S. Cognitive Science and B.S. Psychobiology.
4. Harvard University, Cambridge MA
Tuition. Yearly tuition and fees are $42,292
Financial Aid. Types of aid include need-based scholarships, payment plans, loan programs, grants and student employment.
Application Requirements. Harvard accepts both The Common Application and the Universal College Application. Specific application instructions and requirements are found on both websites.
With more than $30 billion of endowment at its disposal, Harvard is the most well-financed university in the world. Thus, the school boasts of world-class, state-of-the-art facilities and high-level research and membership to the AAU. Stanford bumped Harvard from being the most selective school for 2013-2014, but with an acceptance rate of 6.0%, it’s still not an easy school to get into. The Department of Psychology at Harvard offers the following program options: Social and Cognitive Neurosciences track, General track, the Mind, Brain, and Behavior track and the Secondary Field in Psychology.
5. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI
Tuition. $13,819 for in-state tuition and fees and $40,496 for out-of-state
Financial Aid. Available aid includes work-study programs, loans, scholarships and grants
Application Requirements. UM Ann-Arbor uses The Common Application. All requirements and instructions are specified there for the application process.
About 25% of UM students finished high school with a 4.0 GPA. The school has an undergraduate population of 27,979 and there are more than 200 undergraduate majors being offered by the university. It has one of the best college towns in the country, which is 45 minutes away from Detroit. The university is also one of the founding members of the AAU. The Department of Psychology in UM offers two areas of study for its undergraduate program: Psychology and Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience (BCN).
Any of these impressive psychology colleges will give you the strong foundation needed to eventually pursue your Ph.D. Start the application process to any of these schools today to jumpstart your dream career in psychology.