Good Educational Psychology program?

[t_ruth]

I'm having a hard time finding many good options for research-oriented Educational Psychology programs (Ph.D. instead of Ed.D.). Some schools offer this directly through the Psychology program and some through the College of Education. Other Universities offer only Developmental Psychology programs with a focus on school environments. It's taking ages to find exactly what I want and I was hoping that someone could make suggestions of places I might have missed.

So far, looking at: Stanford, Vanderbilt, UC Irvine, Duke, UGA, FSU (maybe?)

anyone have somewhere great that I should know about?

I am applying to a broad range of schools because I am returning to school after a long absence (12 years since undergrad and 5 since law school), so I have no idea how I will fare. Thanks!

[rising_star]

You could also look for "School Psychology" programs, located in either the College of Ed or in the Psych department.

[t_ruth]

thanks for the response! School Psych programs seem to be more practice-oriented. I'm looking for a traditional research-based Ph.D. with the goal of being a professor and researcher.

[rising_star]

I think it depends on the program. I know folks who have done research-oriented school psych programs. I wouldn't rule out every school based on what some do. Certainly not all departments and emphases are the same.

[t_ruth]

true. I just haven't been able to find one.

[steveotron]

here's USNEWS' rankings for Educational Psychology:

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... u/edu_tech

I'm planning on applying to some Educational Psychology, Developmental/Social Psych, and possibly some Human Development programs. UCLA has a good Psychological Studies in Education program at their education/information studies department. UC Davis, UC Berkeley, Teachers College @ Columbia, and I think NYU's Steinhardt programs have Human Development programs with an emphasis in education, and you might want to take a look there.

Best of luck to you. I know those deadlines are getting close!

[t_ruth]

thanks. I paid for the subscription on that a while ago, but I can only see 9. Can you see more?

I've been researching and applying for a few months now, but it takes forever to dig for the programs (since they are in different areas in every school...some in psych, some in education, some somewhere else entirely), and then to find a professor with the right interests. My interests are motivation, achievement and metacognition.

How about you? Did you apply for any of the fellowships?

[flyinglion]

how is Univ of Michigan on that? they have a combined program in edu and psych....

and how is harvard grad sch of edu? it has a doctoral program called human development and edu....but seems they can give EdD only

[suggs55]

I know this is a little late, but here is some info for anyone else confused.

I applied to school psychology PhD programs. The ones I applied to are very research based. The specialist level degrees for school psych are the ones that are only practice oriented. I myself am considering a career in research/consultation/teaching. I'm not trying to convince anyone to apply to school psych programs, but make sure you've done enough research on both educational and school psych - there is an incredible amount of overlap. For instance, your stated interests, "motivation, achievement and metacognition," are definitely research interests of many school psychologists. I would suggest thinking of applying to schools who have the PROFESSORS you want to work with, and not the type of program, especially if you are interested in a life of research.

One school psych program I applied to (UGA) was labeled as "Educational Psych with specialization in School Psych."

Here are some picks I know about:

-UGA ( I interviewed there for school psych and loved it. It is within "Educational Psych and Instructional Tech Department. There is no "Educational Psych" in this department as you might think. Check the website.)

-Penn State

-Fordham University (interviewed for school psych program, but there is also an educational psych program within same department)

-CUNY

[t_ruth]

Thanks for your feedback. Most of the programs to which I applied were not labeled Ed. Psych, but were under the umbrella of Ed. Psych. At UGA I've been accepted to Applied Cognition and Development. I've been accepted to three other programs and am still waiting on two.