If you were a psych major, what kind of work are you doing now?
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Anonymous
| I have a bachelors in economics and am a researcher...I work with a lot of psychologists now...the two fields have, in some ways, morphed as behavioral economics is now much more similar to psychology than the economics that I studied....psychology can be extremely quantitative (if that's your daughter's jam) and behavioral science is very hot in public policy. |
Anonymous
| I was accepted into the top nursing program in the country, got my MS, and became a nurse practitioner. DD is majoring in psych before becoming an elementary school teacher in graduate school. My BIL was a psych major and is a drug rep. |
Anonymous
| You can do anything with a general liberal arts degree, it is all about your entry level job and working your way up. I have a BA in government and work in HR. If I had a degree in Psych i would also see HR as a track. |
Anonymous
| CPA |
Anonymous
| My brother majored in psychology and started a record label and music management company in LA. |
Anonymous
| Lawyer DOJ |
Anonymous
| Human Resources. Was interested in associate relations, but wound up in the compensation discipline |
Anonymous
| Psych is usually the #1 or #2 most popular major at any university. For many fresh graduates, they get jobs where they just need to have any degree, not a psych degree. For example, project manager, program coordinator, etc. Employers just need a person who has more than a high school education for the position. |
Anonymous
| I’m in tech sales now. |
Anonymous
+1 I got a BS in Psych. Was bored by it by the time I was a junior. I kept going through the book that had all the majors and couldn't find one to change to... so I added a minor in Econ b/c I liked my econ classes. I also started taking more Political Sci. I walked by a bulletin board one day (in college) and saw a poster that had something about doing internships in DC. I pulled off the postcard-request form (this was before internet)... and I sent away for the info. I convinced my big-state-university to let me get credits for doing a semester internship in DC -- did I mention that I was bored with college and my psych major b/c I didn't see myself going to grad school in psych? (I had done some research for a psych professor and it wasn't a draw for me). I interned at the US Attys Office. That really excited me! It was such a different world coming from the midwest. (I mean, the REAL midwest --- like I grew up on a farm and here I was in downtown DC working on cocaine cases and having the time of my life going out with undercover cops and such). Anyway -- I went back and finished one semester to get my BS in Psych with a minor in Econ. Then worked as a paralegal at the USAO (because I still had connections), and then another year as an investigative assistant in another DOJ office, then I did a year of volunteer service in a well-known direct services DC non-profit, and then I went to law school. I will agree with the PP that a psych degree is worthless on its own. I have a HS senior right now and I have told her "do not get a psych degree UNLESS you are willing to go to grad school for psychology." Having looked for work in a non-legal profession, my undergrad degree is U.S.E.L.E.S.S. If my kid was interested in psychology, I would ask myself whether he/she is the kind of person who might make a good counselor/therapist, or researcher/professor. If you don't see either of those, then I would strongly encourage the kid to look at other options and still take psych classes for a minor. But, I'd rather my kid get a degree in English or Communications or Business than Psych. |
Anonymous
| I have 6 friends who got their BS in Psych. This is how things played out: 2 have a career in HR, 1 is an administrator in higher ed, 1 did a Masters in public health and works fir NIH, 1 got a MSW and is a therapist, 1 got her PhD and is doing clinical work with kids. |
Anonymous
| I'm so thankful for this discussion. I have HS sophomore who thinks he wants to be a therapist. But I hope he'll remain open to some of the interesting paths many of the PPs have taken. My older child is at a flagship OOS school and my DH and I both went to LACs. I've been just exposing DS to various colleges recently and I've been contemplating whether I should really push for him to stay in-state for his BA to make some funds available for grad school. For those that went to grad school, how important are grades from your BA vs. the prestige associated with the college? |
Anonymous
| Lawyer |
Anonymous
| DH got an MA and was a counselor for awhile. Then he went to nursing school and is now a psych nurse. He's making low six figures as a nurse. |
Anonymous
| Psych major doing Software sale. Salary is 800k/year. |