Today we present you the ranking of 7 best Ivy League schools for psychology, where you will find departments which boast more than a century long traditions and faculties who have been elected to prestigious institutions such as the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Getting into an Ivy League school is not an easy task. Excellent grades are not enough as admission committees are looking for applicants who have managed to accomplish something significant outside classroom either through sports, social activism, art, or any other area which is not strictly connected to the curriculum. Some of these elite institutions, such as Harvard, admit only 6 percent of applicants. Although getting into an Ivy League school might require significant preparation, the possibilities offered by these colleges make the effort worthwhile.
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Students who get admitted to these universities profit from working under the supervision of renowned professors. The abundance of research opportunities is not only reserved for graduate students, but undergrads are also expected to get the first-hand experience by conducting independent projects. Moreover, some of the listed institutions give psychology majors, and PhD pursuers chance to spend some time abroad at foreign schools and thus enrich academic as well as life experience.
Psychology has been one of the most popular majors among American students for years. Unlike in the case of a sudden popularity of computer science programs, the reasons motivating young people to pursue the degree in psychology have little to do with the money. According to Pay Scale report, BA holders earn $37,600 at the beginning of the career, while mid-career pay amounts to $61,800 annually. Although MA and PhD degrees increase salary for about 20 to 75 percent, psychologists are near the bottom of the list of highest paying graduate degrees. One of the reasons for this might be the fact that many psychology degree holders find a job in educational and social security institutions which are not among the highest paying. A positive thing though is that demand for the profession will grow at a significantly faster rate than the national average for all occupations. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2024, there will be 32,500 new jobs, which is a 19 percent increase.
In creating the ranking of 7 best Ivy League schools for psychology, we relied on QS World University Rankings 2015 which took into account objective criteria such as academic and employer reputation, and research impact. We also considered the list of Best Psychology graduate programs, coming from US News, which was based on the results of surveys sent to academics. By combining these two lists, we ranked Ivy League institutions in the following order. If you don’t find school that matches your goals and interests below, check out our previous list of 7 best universities in the world for psychology.
