11 Survival Tips for Psychology Majors
Posted: August 10, 2017 | Author: Abigail Wyatt | Read Time: 3 minutes
Southern Utah University’s Psychology bachelor’s degree program explores the fascinating science of behavior and mental processes. Students may choose a research-focused course of study or the clinical/counseling focused option. A research focused major can lead to the more scientific aspects of a career in Psychology. A clinical/counseling focus to the major is more in line with a future in counseling or human services. In addition, by taking the courses for a human services specialization, students can earn a social work license.
Psychology professors are deeply involved in helping students choose courses that support their career goals and form strong mentoring relationships with students in classes. All Psychology professors are heavily involved in research and give students many opportunities to take an active role in their research undertakings, including presenting research findings at professional conferences.
By the time you complete this highly experiential Psychology bachelor’s degree program you will be well prepared to take the next step in your future, be that into the workplace or on to graduate school.
Dakota Elliott, a senior psychology major from Logan, Utah shared 11 survival tips for psychology majors.
- If you need help, go talk to your professor. They are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.
- Find internships through your professors or volunteer at shelters and crisis centers to build your resume.
- Participate in research projects and present them at conferences. It’s rewarding and helps develop lasting friendships.
- Plan for graduate school. If you want to get a higher-paying job in this field you need more education than a Bachelors degree.
- Job shadow clinical psychologists, school counselors, researchers, professors, marriage and family counselors, and IO Psychologists.
- Don’t take Principles of Assessment and Research Design in the same semester since both give larger workloads.
- Stay caught up. You will read academic journals articles, textbooks, and research papers. It’s time consuming so if you get behind it’ll be hard to get caught up.
- Start with Psych 1010 to see if you’re interested. It’s offered online but in-person classes are better in this major.
- Work a little bit every day. The majority of homework assignments are large essays, presentations and research projects. Don’t wait until the last minute to finish them.
- Take classes from a variety of professors each semester for a more balanced workload. Some teachers assign a lot of reading and presenting so if you have multiple classes from them in one semester it’s overwhelming.
- Remember: you’re smart enough to make it. Leaving high school and starting college can be overwhelming but once you gain effective study skills you can do anything.
“A week or two before school started, I started to wonder if I was choosing my major for the wrong reasons. It was what my family expected me to do but I started to realize it wasn’t what I wanted to do as a career," said Elliott. "So, I dropped out of all my classes and enrolled in random ones. One of them was Psych 1010. I was disappointed when the class was over because I always wanted to know more. I realized this is the field I wanted to be in for the rest of my life.”
This article was published more than 5 years ago and might contain outdated information or broken links. As a result, its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Tags: Blog College of Humanities and Social Sciences Psychology Majors
