I originally didn’t want to choose a psych major; now I’m in love with it
When people think of the world of psychology, they think mainly of therapists and psychiatrists. While that is a big part of the field, there is so much more to psychology than meets the eye. Many think it’s a safe bet to choose psychology if they don’t know what they want to choose as their major yet. While that is a good idea if you like experimenting, a lot of people get discouraged when they enter the program and it can be very intimidating. I would love to encourage everyone to go into psych, but in reality, it’s not for everyone. We see TV shows about mental health and psychology and think it’s cool, but here are some things you should be aware of before considering a psych major.
Congrats, you’re officially a STEM major. Many think of psychology as pseudoscience, though that is far from the truth. Psychology is a research based social science, heavy emphasis on the research. Understand that if you pick this major, you are not free from the science and math parts of it, even if you want to be a therapist. There are a lot of statistics that go into psychology, since they are needed to conduct research. When you’re enter upper level psych courses, your course load goes from learning about psychological experiments to actually conducting them yourself. This can sounds scary, but it opens you up to a world of opportunities to conduct your research and present it at conferences. The more research you do, the more opportunities you get in grad school. Psych requires a lot of numbers, so if you’re picking psych to avoid math, then it probably isn’t the best idea.
If you don’t want to be a therapist, you can still do psych! I literally cannot stress this enough; there is more to psych than being a therapist! Every time I tell someone that I’m a psych major, the first question or statement I get is about what kind of therapy I want to go into or how the other person could “NEVER be a therapist.” I do know why it’s a common misconception, but I want to say that a psychology major will open the door for so many different opportunities after college. If you want to work in an office one day, you can choose industrial organizational psych. That basically means you know how to hire the right people, work through conflict effectively, and be able to be an effective employee. There’s environmental psych that allows you to help humans interact with other humans and react to different environmental hazards. If you like kids, there’s developmental psych! My point is that if being a therapist is not what you want to do, you have plenty of other options! I went into psych thinking I wanted to be a school psychologist. Now I’m on a completely different path, and I didn’t need to change my major!
The next thing will hurt some feelings, I’ll admit, it hurt mine too. A psychology degree will not get you into the FBI to become the next Spencer Reid. I met a lot of people at my orientation that wanted to be in the BAU and live out their Criminal Minds fantasy. Well, the professor that was telling us about the program gave those people a reality check really quick. The first thing to say is that if you want to work with serial killers, you might want to consider criminology or criminal justice with a minor in psych. A psychology degree won’t get you into the FBI (maybe in some cases). You have to understand that psychology is a gateway to a lot of different things, but just maybe not that door.
Don’t drop out because you didn’t like psych 101. Psych 101, or general psychology, is not a good indicator of all psychology has to offer. It teaches you a lot of different topics about psychology in the span of one semester. It gives you good insight to other things you can learn about, but psychology is way more than operant conditioning and Freud’s five pillars. Take a couple psych electives; if you like the idea of counseling, take abnormal psych. If you like the brain and all it has to offer (like me) take biological psych. There’s developmental, social, and so much more!
The last thing I have to say is that psychology is not easy by any means. A fun little piece of data for you; only 32% of people who enter an undergrad psychology program will graduate with a completed BA in psychology. That tidbit of information is not there to discourage you, but to let you know what you’re getting into. Grad school programs for psych are competitive and challenging, but think about the reward that you’ll receive! My dream is to go into neuropsychology, meaning I want to figure out how the brain plays a role in different psychological disorders. In the future, I want to go into memory care to see if there are ways to help those with neurodegenerative disorders (Alzheimer’s, dementia, etc.). It’s a lot of schooling and hard work, but this is away to help others with a disease that isn’t seen with the eyes.
Psychology is so much fun and I think it’s a valuable degree to have. I hope this gave everyone some insight about how the program works (but every program is different!) and some more information about picking a major!