Best Psyd Schools

[laura_potter]

Hi there, I'm looking to apply to PsyD (not PhD) programs this coming fall and was wondering if anyone here had a good idea of which ones have the best reputations. I know to find APA accredited schools, but beyond that, it is hard to tell which are most favorably viewed by leaders in the field.

Thanks!

[PsyDuck90]

You want to look for programs that are university based and have high APA accredited internship match rates. If their students are having trouble in the match, that probably means their training is subpar. Ideally, you would want to look at programs that have smaller cohort sizes, as well as faculty who do research of interest to you. Even in a PsyD program, you still have to do research, so you want to make sure you have some people that are in your field of interest. Baylor and Rutgers are often cited as the gold standard of PsyD programs. The Argosy/Alliant schools are usually frowned upon. There are a few other programs in California that have pretty bad reputations too, like JFK. 

[bubble_psych]

Besides Baylor and Rutgers which are the top programs you should be looking at, I've also heard University of Indianapolis, Roosevelt University, and Indiana University of Pennsylvannia are decent programs that offer some or full tuition aid through assistantships. 

[RidiculousResearcher]

I'm having a similar problem. I looked at several schools and one out of five have reasonable APA internship match rates. Last cycle, I was accepted at Palo Alto University and turned it down, because their PhD program was structured like a PsyD program and was sketchy as all hell. I want to apply to some PsyD programs in addition to PhD programs, but it looks like University of Denver PsyD might be my only one remaining on my list!

[dancedementia]

The best thing to do is go to the APA accredited programs list and look at all the PsyD programs' student outcomes sheets. With the way psychology is going right now, you probably want programs that have 80%+ internship match rates.

Also, what is considered "favorably viewed by leaders in the field" really depends on what field you're trying to get into. As a personal anecdote, when I was working at McLean Hospital, quite a few PsyDs there had their degrees from University of Hartford or MSPP. Neither of those schools are gold standard, but they placed a lot of students for externships at McLean because of the geographical closeness; those students were then able to knock it out of the park at their externships and when they later applied, got offers to work there. Similarly, if you're looking for programs that focus on specific populations, specific theoretical training (e.g. La Salle is known as the top CBT program in the Philly area; don't apply there if you're psychodynamic), or have access to specific cities/hospitals, that is another thing to consider.

I'm assuming if you're looking at PsyD programs, the clinical placements matter a lot more to you than being an uber-productive researcher; that's why you should consider strength of practica/externships and internship placement heavily (that said, make sure you are interested in at least one faculty member's research because yes, you'll have to do some). Also be wary of any PsyD program that makes you wait too long to get in the field. The good programs will send you to in-house clinics and practica no later than Y2; I remember looking at one program (can't remember which) where practica was only required in Y4, which is way too late for a scholar-practitioner model (for any model, really....)

Edited September 15, 2018 by dancedementia

[Sherrinford]

For yourself, you should also look into some cost projections of graduate debt if you are limiting yourself to PsyD programs. Even at Rutgers, their PsyD is not fully funded. I believe Bayler is the exception. 

[Le Chat]

There is an APA internship/felloswhip program in my university's town that has a large number of PsyD's that come through, and the training is in NeuroPsychology. Some of their programs:

Mercer University- Individual had a Health/Medical Psych focus and internship/fellowship training.

Pacific University- individual had APA accredited internship and fellowship in Neuropsychology at ivy league program. 

George Fox University

Yeshiva. University of Denver.

I also take a look at licensure rates, and rates of completion ( like someone already said, if it is more than 5/6 years that might hint at some potential problems with the program.)