Married Woman wanting to Attend College

[TigerBear]

Originally posted by Pugdog007
You need a doctorate to make any money.

Even with a doctoral degree, psychologists do not make much money.

 

[Talking Hands]

I have paid for all my interpreting classes myself. No loans, scholarships or grants. It is well worth it.
Community college for 2 years then transfer to a 4 year college to finish up. Also if you play an instrument well you can frequently get scholarship money for playing in orchestra or band and you do not have to major in music.

 

[Pugdog007]

Originally posted by TigerBear
Even with a doctoral degree, psychologists do not make much money.

This is true. Even with a doctorate, you'll probably cap around $60k. Not too good when you consider all the $$$ you will pay to get the degree.

 

[MagicalMom]

I just wanted to add that if you are really interested in psych, you may want to consider pysch nursing. I have a few friends who ended up in the psych field & love it. This could easily be done with an associates degree in nursing.

 

[Trinity721]

i just received my BS in Psychology this past April. I do plan on going to graduate school, but like with all higher education, it takes money. I got a lot of financial aid my last year of college because that was the first year I could apply to FAFSA as married. My DH, who's in the Navy, didn't make enough (so that's one good thing about military pay ) So I was able to get a good amount of financial aid, but still needed to take out some loans.

Yes student loans hurt, and you might be paying for them for a long, long time. But I really think that having a college degree is priceless, if you want to think about it in a positive light. And if you get your masters or doctorate, so much the better!

As the wife of a Navy man, you might consider doing military active duty or reserves. Definitely a commitment, but they pay for your schooling while you also get paid regularly. Even I considered doing this for a little while, but it wouldn't work out with both my husband and I in the military, with our DD2.

True psychologists don't make a great amount of money, but there are many opportunities and paths for people with a BS, masters or doctorate in Psych which include counseling, forensic psychology, child psychology, criminology, criminal profiling, research, etc. I chose to major in psych not because of the money, but because of my interest and love for learning about people and the way people behave, think, etc.... There are many things people with a psych degree can do, not only limited to things that have to do in that field alone. many possibilities!

It can be really disheartening when you hear people say, oh they don't make enough money in that field, or better yet..."A psychology degree? What are you doing to do with that ???" Yeah, real nice . Some people just don't know enough about it, to say that "this is how it's going to be". Appreciate the advice, but really you should look into all the options/possibilities before accepting things that people say.

My advice to you is to try filling out a FAFSA, it doesn't hurt and it's free. I would definitely consider going to a community college for your first 2 years and then transferring. You can go to school part time, while working. It's a long road, and a hard one... But the reward at the end of that road is completely worth it. Good luck, I wish you all the best! And if you have any other Q's, just PM me!

 

[Pugdog007]

Trinity721:

Just to be clear. I have a degree in Psychology. My DH has a degree in Political Science. I'm simply saying we could have made better choices. We are doing very well... but I'm a VP of Sales/Marketing and DH is a Funeral Director. Not exactly using our degrees in our professions.

But yes... I did it because I'm fascinated with "why people do what they do." And I guess it's helped a bit with managing people.

 

[diznee25]

Trinity721, what a great post! We share the same passion for psychology. I took a course in high school and was hooked! I never want to become the traditional clinical psychologist though, I'm more interested in the areas counseling, and social work.

For now, I'm looking into a Community College for my Associates Degree, and then possibly continue my education after that.

MagicalMom: Thanks for the tip. I'll have to research psych nursing and see what it's all about.

Diznee25

 

[Trinity721]

Pugdog, that's great! I know many of my friends and fellow graduates of psychology have gone onto jobs that have absolutely NOTHING to do with their degree, and are successful just as you are And that's one of the great things about psych, is that it can be applied to a broad range of professions, whether you know you are using it or not! See, you have an answer for that ever annoying question "what are you going to do with that degree?"

Diznee25, that sounds like a great plan and I hope everything turns out well! I also want to get into counseling, namely marriage and family therapy. Clinical psych does not appeal to me either! Keep us posted

 

[JayBee]

Originally posted by diznee25
I'm a 25 year old married woman who has a high school diploma and would like to attend college to get a bacholor's degree in psychology.

Honestly, I know a few people with this degree and they have all told me that you need a minimum of a Master's to work. So unless you plan on going to school full time for 6 years, I'd pick another course of study..........anything in the Medical field is going to be "hot" as the baby boomers start aging.

 

[Hillbeans]

All I can say is that the more education you have, the MORE LIKELY it is that you will earn more money, depending on what field you choose and what type of work you do.

I know for myself and my DH, our education alone has made a huge difference in our work salaries.

 

[tar heel]

Go meet with someone at the community college. Tell him/her that your goal is to get a four-year degree. He/she will advise you about the program you should be in. Make sure not to sign up for a terminal degree (that is one that ends there, an AA of some sort). After you meet with this person, call the Psychology Department at your closest state university (or the one you would most likely attend) and make an appointment to meet with someone there. Find our what a Psych major at that school would be taking and what classes will/will not transfer from the community college. You should be able to take most of your first two years at the community college, then transfer to a four-year school.

 

[Trinity721]

Originally posted by JayBee
Honestly, I know a few people with this degree and they have all told me that you need a minimum of a Master's to work. So unless you plan on going to school full time for 6 years, I'd pick another course of study..........anything in the Medical field is going to be "hot" as the baby boomers start aging.

I think several of us have already pointed out that you will need a master's to work specifically in the field you want, if it's counseling, social work, or whatever. I'm sure you are aware that getting your bachelor's in Psych and going onto graduate school if you so choose, will take quite a bit of time and work. But if this is something you really want to do, don't let that discourage you. Of course, you must think about the reality of it, how much time and yourself you will be devoting to your education. But really, you are still very young and all this is easier now than it will be 10 years down the road, when you can have your degree before then.

Yes the medical field is always good to get into, and if you're looking into short term schooling there's always x-ray techs, radiology techs, etc. But it also takes just as much schooling if you want a Bachelor's in Nursing, even longer if you plan on doing physical therapy, physicial assistant, nurse practitioner or even a doctor. I myself have looked into these options of study, and have come very close to going into medicine myself. In fact I started out as pre-med, then looked into nursing and physical therapy quite seriously, and decided to stick with Psychology after all that. Because that is what I really want to do. from what you've been telling us here, you seem to really be passionate about this field and that is good.

Diznee25, definitely look into all options and research your interests... But don't let others discourage you because they don't think it's a good field to get into. You decide that for yourself. I'm not giving you advice simply because of what I heard from friends or from others, but from my own personal experience and struggles in getting my education. Above all, I have learned that if you really want something, you will always, always, always find a way to accomplish it. So once you know what you want, go for it and don't let anything stop you.

 

[kylara]

Diznee, if you want to start researching scholarship, let me suggest that you try www.fastweb.com. It is a free site that lets you search for scholarships. Good luck.

 

[sk8belle]

Try this website: http://fastweb.monster.com/

It's supposed to help you find all sorts of money for college through scholarships and grants. Because I have yet to follow through on my plan to get my MA, I haven't tried it, so I can't tell you how effective it is, but I thought I'd mention it.

Best of luck!!

sk8belle

(edited to add - it looks like someone else had the same advice!)

 

[Kallison]

I worked at Princeton University and they paid for the majority of my classes at another college. Even though I was a secretary and it didn't apply to my job, I was a history major. I remember human resources telling me to put it in for reimbursement and they would "make it" apply to my job. They were really good to their employees that way.