Psychology Degree

[Louiepipbgeeco]

I too completed a Bachelors Degree in Psychology. I continued with a Bachelor in Education immediately after graduating. I worked in the mental health field for a about 3 and half years and then began teaching. I feel I have used my knowledge immensely in both of these fields. I have been teaching for 11 years now and love my profession.

 

[LisaZee]

My husband has a BA in Psych. He has been in the long term care field since his college graduation in 1996 - he's currently the social worker in a CCRC (continuing care retirement community.) Some facilities require a masters, specifically an MSW, to do social work - but lots here do not.

 

[Hillary12.8.07]

I have my my BA in Psychology as well, and just finished my Masters in Education for School Counseling. Still looking for a job! I couldnt find anything to do with my psych degree that I wanted, I did retail and sales for a few years and decided to go back and get my Masters a year or so later. I have to agree that a Psych degree is worthless w/out at least a Masters!

 

[jwhtewolfd]

I have a BA in psych. I was a zoo keeper at Audubon Zoo for 2 months (pre-Katrina, and yes, you need a bachelor's degree to be a zoo keeper - who knew?), got laid off, and now I'm a vet tech. Of course most of my upper level psych classes were independent studies in animal behavior. Growing up, people always told me I should be a vet, but I wasn't sure I could handle the "yuck" factor (plus I was scared of bio and chem). Turns out I can, but the vets don't handle the animals as much as the techs do, so it turned out perfect for me.

 

[cats mom]

I found a job as an assistant HR manager in a retail setting after graduating with a bachelors degree in psych. Of course I think my work experience did more to get me the job than my degree. (I worked retail all through college)

I discovered speech language pathology about 3/4 through my psych degree. My plan was to go ahead and get the bachelors in psych, take a couple of years off, and go back for a masters in SLP.
Unfortunately they changed degree requirements on me before I made it back to school, and the 2 years I would have needed to certify back in the day turned into closer to 6 years (at least in my state)
Not happening.

I haven't worked outside my home for several years; but I have no illusions about the usefullness (or more correctly, the lack thereof) of my degree when I do decide to go back to work. I'm thinking the "who you know" option is going to be my best bet.

 

[MrsPete]

I looked into becoming a counselor, but apparently around here, you need a master's degree for that. I don't want to say that a bachelor's in psychology is worthless - I don't feel that education is ever worthless! - but I've found that many employers simply shrug and say "That's nice."

Yep, that sums it up.

Gosh, doesn't anyone get their psych undergrad knowing they'll have to go to grad school? My son is getting ready to start college as a psych major because he wants to be a psychologist.

In theory, all psych majors know this.

In reality, they don't realize that by the time they've completed their bachelor's degree they may be burned out and ready for a break, and they may not have the funds for a second degree right away . . . and there's a sense that the psych undergrad will get you some type of a job, even if it's not exactly what you want, and you can finish the masters later. Even masters really won't get you too far with a psych degree -- it really has to be a PhD.

 

[DawnM]

I only have a minor in Psych/Sociology, but my major was Anthropology. I truly had intentions of becoming an Anthropologist, but they quickly went out the window.

I had to get an MA to do anything marketable. I actually ended up getting two MAs.

Getting a degree is Psych is not "worthless", you still HAVE a degree, but just know that you will most likely need to continue on to get an MA in Counseling or Psych to do anything with it.

These days it seems like a BA is only a stepping stone, not an end.

Dawn

PS: Oh, and the BA did get me a teaching job and then I went back for MAs in TESOL and then School Counseling.

 

[minnie56]

DD22 graduated with an Honours BA in Psychology-Minor in Marketing
She is off to Parsons-New School of Design in NYC in a couple of weeks for a 2 year course for her degree (AAS) in Fashion Marketing..so much for the Psychology thing!

 

[Singleminnie]

I have a BA in Psychology, with a minor in Anthropology and Sociology. Initially I worked at a probation and parole officer, with a case load of mental health and sex offenders for six years. Now I am a civil rights investigator. I am looking on returning to school, would like to get my MBA or HR degree.

 

[debbi801]

Gosh, doesn't anyone get their psych undergrad knowing they'll have to go to grad school? My son is getting ready to start college as a psych major because he wants to be a psychologist.

Yep. My parents. Both had their Bachelor degrees, Masters, and PhD because they wanted to become physchologists. Here, you cannot practice psychology with out all 3 degrees. It was difficult for them to get their practice going, it takes many years for it to become successful; especially with health insurance the way it is.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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