US News ranks colleges and universities. They put Princeton at the top this year — but the rest of the world says Harvard.

To become a psychiatrist, you need four years of college, four years of medical school — then you neeed to do an internship and residency in psychiatry. It looks like tha tis another four years.

The following link is a ranking of psychiatry residency programs.

I am a forensic psychologist (which I’m guessing is what you mean by criminal). You will need an undergrad degree, then a doctorate in Clinical Psychology, which takes another 4-7 years. Becoming a skilled clinical psychologist is a necessary foundation for providing expert opinion and consultation to the legal system. If you choose psychology, I strongly advise that you only consider graduate programs accredited by the American Psychological Association–you will have difficulties licensing and qualifying as an expert witness otherwise. After your grad degree, you would be wise to complete a formal postdoc in forensic psychology (1-2 years), as this requirement appears to be the direction the field is going in. Eventually, you may choose to pursue board certification also, which helps establish credibility in the courtroom. This can be done after you are already established in a professional position.

There’s a world of difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist…both in education and careers.

Here are the web sites for each association. Maybe these will help you decide:

Psychologist: http://www.apa.org/

Psychiatrist: http://www.psych.org/