Quant Psych Programs

[fisher57]

Hi All,

I am applying to mostly Quant. Psych Ph.D. programs for next fall and could use some other opinions on the strengths of programs.

Based on surveying where a lot some of the big names in the field are at, # of faculty exclusively in the Quant area, and other subjective criteria I see UCLA, Illinois, Arizona State, and UNC at the top of the list.

Below these programs, I am having a hard time distinguishing between others. Right now I would put Ohio State, Vanderbilt, UC Davis, Minnesota, and Virginia in Tier 2.

Not sure how to rank other programs out there. Thoughts on this? Any input or personal experience would be helpful. As a disclaimer, my opinion is just that, an inexperience opinion.

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[psycecream]

In general, but especially for small sub-disciplines like quantitative psych, the "quality of the program" as a concept is probably more like to hinder your search than to help. Rankings will not allow you to make the best decision because ranking criteria are unlikely to be related to your experience in the program.

What is likely to be related to your experience in the program: funding relative to cost of living; atmosphere/culture of the program, department, & institution; culture/climate of the location; opportunities that match your career goals (teaching, collaborative publishing, consulting with industry, consulting with students/grad students/professors?); good instructors who are willing to mentor students, etc. These things are very very difficult to capture quantitatively (aside from funding). "A lot of big names" doesn't matter if they're egotistical jerks who don't know how to mentor. Try your best to talk to as many current grad students as possible.

One program not on your list is Notre Dame--Scott Maxwell is the current editor of Psych Methods and has the reputation of being a great mentor as well as instructor. There are likely others who would be good as well--they have a crop of younger faculty.