Help me decide on a major

[AtheistCreed]

I'm thinking of majoring in Psychology for my Bachelors'.

But then, my indecisiveness comes in, and I think maybe a higher salary potential degree like Business Administration would be better...

I want a good salary but a relaxed lifestyle, I don't want to be forced into long hours unless I WANT long hours.

That is what I liked about Psychology, if I ultimately ended up running my own clinic I can have other doctors in the office and I can take as many or as few clients as I want, etc...

Of course that would require a PsyD, which is extra time and money.

So then I revert back to the idea of a different BA with intentions of going into a Masters program afterwards.

Decisions decisions...

I just would like to hear from anyone who has gone through it and has some advice to share.

Money is nice but I would like to have a rewarding career in science, so there are really no options off of the table except when it comes to Chemistry and Math, I am not so fascinated by those subjects

[Captain Colostomy]

Follow your heart, the rest will follow.

[AtheistCreed]

Follow your heart, the rest will follow.

Noooo, obscure advice eludes me and confuses me further.

Thank you for your good intention though

I honestly have no idea what my heart is saying, I think it's Chinese.

[pineapplebunnybounce]

hmm, ok.

I think the important thing about picking a degree is your interest, and what sort of jobs you'd like to have. Is it research or would you like to do application science? Do you like to interact with people or do you like to work in a lab/office? Have some form of idea, and then look up the possible jobs that you'd like on google. While you're at it also formulate a plan B.

Are you in your first year? How many courses have you taken? Many people realize their "true interests" after actually doing a few courses. I went in wanting to do neuro but didn't like the psych part of the degree and switched to toxicology, which I really love. I take neuro courses on the side, but I avoid psych courses after 1 course, just wasn't my thing. If you haven't already finished your first year, be adventurous, try courses from different departments that interesting, you'd be surprised at how much you really like something you've never considered before.

---

Oh and if you're early in your undergrad career, enrol in a language course and by the time you graduate you'd be more or less fluent . I wish someone told me that when I started.

[freedomfromforum]

Go for the Psychology Degree

[AtheistCreed]

Go for the Psychology Degree

Lol thanks!

But why do you encourage that choice?

Thanks for the responses. I have interests in too many things to know what I want to do entirely.

I have 21 credits currently, I'm aiming for an Associate of Arts transferable degree, but I would like to have better focus.

A degree in psychology is what I'm currently intent on, however I'm concerned about the salary, when I get my BA, what can I do exactly besides continue an odd-job while still in study?

With a BA in psychology can I work in the field earning a decent salary while completing my studies? I obviously cannot be a psychologist at that early stage but is there some other entry-level position in this field for prospering psychologists?

I have searched Google but the internet has become rife with horrible advice and half-witted opinions, false information... I hope to reach a more intelligible audience on these forums

[pineapplebunnybounce]

Depends on which country you're in?

Where I am (Toronto), you get a stipend while doing Masters, so you if you jump right into that financially it'd be ok (depending on your lifestyle, obviously), also you can be a TA while doing that . As for jobs after bachelors ... I think working in a research lab wouldn't be too hard to arrange? I've certainly done that several times (paid and unpaid). I hear it might be harder after graduation because having a BA means you require higher pay while not really having the knowledge or experience of a Masters/PhD student.

Oh and I, too, am interested in too many things. In the end I just went for the most practical option that I also like, I figured the rest of the things I can learn from books, so just get the degree my target career would require.

[Darth]

Be warned about psych.

Here's my understanding of how it works, at least here in Aus (and I've had to do at least one psych unit each semester as part of a non psych course, so I've had a fair amount of discussion with some of the students and sat through some of their lectures where the lecturer/guest speaker advises the students about honours).

3 years Undergrad, a 4th for honours. Then 2/3 years post grad. http://www.psychology.org.au/studentHQ/s...-pathways/ and that's without getting a specialty.

Getting into honours is tough. At my uni the cutoff for honours is a grade of 70%+. But then the decision is up to that department. My own course has so few people, and so few people doing honours relative to the number of lecturers that they're willing to bend the 70% requirement, if you were just short of making the cutoff, at 68 or 69% say, and it's your non-core units dragging your grade down (for instance, the psych units), then they'll do everything they can to get you in. In psych however (with it's hundreds of students) 70% will not get you in without some serious affirmative action. 80% won't get you in either. There are so many psych students, all desperate to get into honours for without it their degree is quite worthless, that they are able to make them jump through all sort of hoops. You need great marks and a resume full of things like volunteering and and stuff to be considered. It's not a course you can just show up for and expect to come out with a worthwhile degree, you'll get a degree no doubt, but won't be able to do much with it. You can end up after 3 years of study in quite the predicament.

Like Pine I didn't much care for the psych components of my course. I went into the psych units thinking that "while it's not the degree I would have chosen, I certainly see how it's of interest". After the first few psych units though, what a load of bunk it is. I get emails from em inviting me to psychoanalysis (freudian) lectures on the Oedipus complex. It's very squishy, soft 'science' in my opinion (though in fairness aspects of my own course aren't much better). And be very, very wary of qualitative psychology, I couldn't believe how bad it was, that lot are intentionally anti-scientific. They rail against empiricism and statistics.

My advice is to balance profit/desire:

First, research the degree in depth, don't just go by "oh that sounds profitable", you might be surprised, and keep in mind the difference between the top tier and lowest tier universities, what is a good idea at one university mightn't be a good idea elsewhere.

Second: Don't choose something purely because your research indicates it's the most profitable. You need to have some sort of liking for the topic.

Third: Depends on where you are but I wouldn't advise spending a year 'finding yourself' by studying general crap if it's gunna cost you an arm and a leg. What Pine advises might work if you're not paying for it, but mightn't be a great idea in America at an expensive college.

Fourth: B.S>B.A, particularly if you want to do something worthwhile in science =P

I have a passion for language and linguistics, rather than opting for linguistics, I went for speech pathology which will be followed by Audiology. That way I get a trade or two out of it.

[AtheistCreed]

I'm in USA, pineapplebunnybounce (awesome name btw).

Yeah, when I think like that (learning from books because of my expansive interest) then I think to just go after a high salary job, but then I don't want to be unhappy, and so this terrible cycle begins

I suppose a degree in Psychology can't hurt, even if I don't become a psychologist it can still lead to other fields I'm interested in.

I was just worried if it's too hard to get into, I have heard that once before that it's a hard field career wise. That puts me off, in this economy, I need something reliable.

---

Be warned about psych.

Here's my understanding of how it works, at least here in Aus (and I've had to do at least one psych unit each semester as part of a non psych course, so I've had a fair amount of discussion with some of the students and sat through some of there lectures where the lecturer/guest speaker advises the students about honours).

3 years Undergrad, a 4th for honours. Then 2/3 years post grad. http://www.psychology.org.au/studentHQ/s...-pathways/ and that's without getting a specialty.

Getting into honours is tough. At my uni the cutoff for honours is a grade of 70%+. But then the decision is up to that department. My own course has so few people, and so few people doing honours relative to the number of lecturers that they're willing to bend the 70% requirement, if you were just short of making the cutoff, at 68 or 69% say, and it's your non-core units dragging your grade down (for instance, the psych units), then they'll do everything they can to get you in. In psych however 70% will not get you in without some serious affirmative action. 80% won't get you in either. There are so many psych students, all desperate to get into honours for without it their degree is quite worthless, that they are able to make them jump through all sort of hoops. You need great marks and a resume full of things like volunteering and and stuff to be considered. It's not a course you can just show up for and expect to come out with a worthwhile degree, you'll get a degree no doubt, but won't be able to do much with it. You can end up after 3 years of study in quite the predicament.

Like Pine I didn't much care for the psych components of my course. I went into the psych units thinking that "while it's not the degree I would have chosen, I certainly see how it's of interest". After the first few psych units though, what a load of bunk it is. I get emails from em inviting me to psychoanalysis (freudian) lectures on the Oedipus complex. It's very squishy, soft 'science' in my opinion (though in fairness aspects of my own course aren't much better). And be very, very wary of qualitative psychology, I couldn't believe how bad it was, that lot are intentionally anti-scientific. They rail against empiricism and statistics.

My advice is to balance profit/desire:

First, research the degree in depth, don't just go by "oh that sounds profitable", you might be surprised, and keep in mind the difference between the top tier and lowest tier universities, what is a good idea at one university mightn't be a good idea elsewhere.

Second: Don't choose something purely because your research indicates it's the most profitable. You need to have some sort of liking for the topic.

Third: Depends on where you are but I wouldn't advise spending a year 'finding yourself' by studying general crap if it's gunna cost you an arm and a leg. What Pine advises might work if you're not paying for it, but mightn't be a great idea in America at an expensive college.

Fourth: B.S>B.A, particularly if you want to do something worthwhile in science =P

I have a passion for language and linguistics, rather than opting for linguistics, I went for speech pathology which will be followed by Audiology. That way I get a trade or two out of it.

Thank you Stue, that response gave me a lot of food for thought.

That really puts me back at square one though.

I honestly have NO idea what I want to do. I don't think people have the pleasure of picking their dream job, I just want to have a degree that I will enjoy obtaining that will allow me to enter a path to a high salary job immediately...

[Captain Colostomy]

Follow your heart, the rest will follow.

Noooo, obscure advice eludes me and confuses me further.

Thank you for your good intention though

It's actually clear as a bell, but you're a young'un still. You can curse me in twenty years when upon reflection it suddenly makes sense.