Where to take pre-PhD classes?

[ekm0924]

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Hi everyone,

I am in the way, way early stages of all this. I am starting to think about where I'm going to take some undergrad psychology courses. I already have my Bachelor's from a pretty good university, but now I need to take additional psych classes if I want to get into a phd program. I'm wondering how important prestige of the undergrad school is when it comes to getting into a phd program. Also, would it be better to take all or most of the classes at one school or is it ok to spread them out a bit? I'm worried that taking them at more than one school will look sketchy or something. Maybe I'm being too paranoid though.

Thanks!

 

[JockNerd]

UG prestige matters to some small degree, but not nearly so much as the research experience you posted about in your other thread 😛 I wouldn't go out of my way to take classes at an Ivy-league if you have a good school nearby.

I'd also say take all the courses at one school. It'll help you build connections with people to write letters of rec if your energy is focused.

 

[zeldazelda]

...I'd also say take all the courses at one school. It'll help you build connections with people to write letters of rec if your energy is focused.

Another advantage to this approach is you only have to order one transcript instead of multiple ones from multiple schools (in addition to your UG). You can reduce your hassle and your costs... depending on how many schools you apply to, transcript costs can add up.

 

[deleted176373]

Hi everyone,

I am in the way, way early stages of all this. I am starting to think about where I'm going to take some undergrad psychology courses. I already have my Bachelor's from a pretty good university, but now I need to take additional psych classes if I want to get into a phd program. I'm wondering how important prestige of the undergrad school is when it comes to getting into a phd program. Also, would it be better to take all or most of the classes at one school or is it ok to spread them out a bit? I'm worried that taking them at more than one school will look sketchy or something. Maybe I'm being too paranoid though.

Thanks!

If you have a B.A./B.S. from a decent school and a decent GPA, I don't think where you take your psych courses will matter much as long as it's not DeVry or ITT-Tech. Obviously any reasonable school should do. If you feel for some reason that the school might be suspect you can always take the GRE subject test and get a high enough score on it to end any concerns regarding your Psychology background. A score of 700+ is usually very convincing in this regard and certainly attainable (even though I missed that mark by 20 points!)

As others have said, research exp, clinical exp, and letters of recommendation are far more important than where you go get your psychology coursework done.

Mark

 

[ny1020]

I looked for a school that had evening classes (I work full-time) at a price I could afford and that had a psych department that was doing research.

That gave me the opportunity to get the classes and the research experience I needed all in one place.

 

[wdd]

I looked for a school that had evening classes (I work full-time) at a price I could afford and that had a psych department that was doing research.

That gave me the opportunity to get the classes and the research experience I needed all in one place.

Same here, though I don't start for another couple of weeks. (Fingers crossed that I can get into a lab.) This seems to be the best way for people in our shoes to get those connections. Big plus, allegedly, if you take those classes/do that research at a school in which you hope to get your PhD.

 

[ekm0924]

Thanks for the help everybody. I'll definitely try to focus more on finding some good research and clinical experience.