Rutgers vs Fordham Undergraduate

[Surfin22]

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I trying to decide between Rutgers and Fordham for undergraduate and eventually hope to get my Ph.D or Psy.D. Which one has a stronger undergraduate program for psych? Which one do you think will help me get into a stronger grad school?

 

[BiopsychStudent]

I know very little about Fordham, but I have friends who've went to Rutgers and have heard mixed things about the school:

Obviously its a large state university with a great deal of resources, and many of the professors are actively involved in research. Whether or not you'll have an easy time working in one of their labs as an undergrad I don't know (research experience is very important for any kind of PhD).

I've also heard, from many sources, that while you're generally going to get a good education the university's policies and bureaucracy are very inefficient and infuriating for students:
-Class sizes get very large
-The campus is difficult to navigate, and if you live on campus you'll still be taking a bus most places (forget trying to park)
-Registration for classes is a major pain

 

[Hmela]

As a graduating senior from Rutgers undergrad (psychology major) I can tell you that it's a great program with a wide variety of research options that can help you get into grad school. I got involved in research my sophomore year and loved it, and did a clinical fieldwork course in autism that was also a great experience that added to my CV and probably helped me get accepted to a Master's program =) I don't know much about Fordham but if you have any questions about Rutgers feel free to ask!

As for the class sizes, its true that it's a huge university and the psych department is pretty big but I've had psych classes ranging from 200 students to 8 students. Upper-level classes tend to be smaller. And as with most large universities, class registration can be frustrating especially for freshmen but it's not a big deal and I personally have never been screwed over by the system. The campus is large but not hard to navigate and the bus system is pretty efficient.

 

[mixolyd]

-Class sizes get very large

This is true. My quantitative methods class had maybe 200 people, but the professor goes out of his way to help everyone and make himself available.

-The campus is difficult to navigate, and if you live on campus you'll still be taking a bus most places (forget trying to park)

The campus is not difficult to navigate at all. Buses run very often and are easy to learn.

-Registration for classes is a major pain

Registration is done online and is rather painless...

It's also probably worth mentioning that Rutgers has a reputation for having a great psychology program.