What college would be best?

I took my Psyc classes at Cornell.

Here’s a ranking of the top 30 undergrad Psych programs. Mostly large schools, though.

I heard a comedian say a while back…

“If your college was advertised on the side of a bus, you will never own a car.”

Remember that and take it as advice because 6 months after graduation Suma cum laude with a close to perfect GPA I still haven’t found a job.

Go to a medium to big school and live in the dorms. There are tons of schools with good psych programs, don’t forget to have fun. People love their college days because of the new friendships they make and the experience.

I miss college.

You say that you want to be in a city. Do you want to be in a particular city? How far away from home are you willing and/or able to go? If you’ve decided that you have any geographic limitations, then it will be easier to narrow down your search. Which areas are you most interested in? Also, you might want to think about whether you will really take advantage of the city. For example, I went to school in a city, but there was so much going on on my campus that I hardly ever took advantage of our urban setting. Plus, this particular city was kind of dangerous at times. Some people really go off campus and explore the city, but think about whether you really will.

Might want to steer clear of college for a while. Doesn’t look too bright. Don’t tell your parents I told you that. :)

I would go to an in-state school. Tuition is getting so crazy that the odds you’ll make back the difference in tuition costs over the course of your life by having a degree from an excellent in-state school vs. a slightly better out of state school are not good. Ultimately, it’s about how well you do in school and on standardized tests, and much less on the name of the school that’s printed on your degree. My girlfriend’s friend is over 200K in debt from college loans, and it’s part of the reason her marriage failed.

It’s also worth considering that you may change your mind once in school, perhaps you’ll discover that you don’t love Psychology as much as you think you will. Perhaps you’ll fall in love with another discipline. Choosing a school that has many great programs is an important consideration. Furthermore, even if you stick with Psych, all the way through, you’re still going to be taking courses in other disciplines. Some of the best college classes I’ve ever had weren’t in my major. I had a cultural anthropology class with a great professor that was really fascinating for example.

I don’t know exactly what your plans for using the psych major are, but if you’re looking to go on to grad school, it’s really more important that the grad school be a good school than the undergrad school. So just go to a state school for undergrad, then pay for the nice school for grad school.

I say go out of state if you can afford it. It broadens your horizons. Go to a different part of the country. Meet people who grew up differently than you.