I’m still in undergrad(sophomore) but I need to plan out my future. I love psychology but I know it is quite a risky major since it is essentially worthless without grad school. Since I may or may not have the grades to get into grad school, I was thinking of majoring in a safe major like accounting since I can get a good job if I never get accepted into a grad school program. Plus it would help me for grad school admission if I get work experience right? Are there extra courses in psychology that I will need to take in undergrad to get accepted in a grad school program? Should I minor/double major in psych?
You’ll probably have to look it up because I don’t know it exactly, but I do know there’s a large number of people who went to grad school in something unrelated to their bachelor’s. The only thing is they had to do pre reqs for grad school in whatever they decide to study.
I think it would be difficult but you need to check the qualifications needed for each program you consider – generally those can be found online. The people I know who got into grad programs for psychology were either psych or neuropsych majors undergrad. It is unlikely that as an accounting major your would have the proper background for a grad program in psychology.
This is about the third or fourth time you have asked essentially the same question on CC. At some point you need to decide for yourself which path you want to take. In your other posts people have pointed to the difficulty of double majoring in one business discipline and one liberal arts discipline.
You would want to be sure to have a solid foundation in psych-- this would include the following undergrad classes: intro to psych; statistics, research methods, physio psych; learning/cognition. Courses in social, abnormal and developmental psych may also be required/recommended by some grad programs.
Have you considered organizational business management (OBM) for business grad school? Your accounting courses will set the path for an MBA.
wiki - OBM – "a form of applied behavior analysis which applies psychological principles of organizational behavior and the experimental analysis of behavior to organizations to improve individual and group performance and worker safety.’
You still need to clarify what is your end goal and where you see you self – meeting with individual patients and groups or maybe working in a corporation or business.
Too add to @oneundecided comment – A solid background in coursework is absolutely important. And in addition, the people I know who have gone on to grad programs in psych were also involved in doing undergraduate research with a professor. I’m not saying that research is a requirement for all grad programs, but it does seem to be a big positive for an application. This research generally requires a lot of time as well as the support of a professor who you would be working with-- and that seems unlikely to happen for a student with scattered focus.
Nobody on CC can or should figure out what road you want to take. But if you try to play things two ways chances are you won’t have the time or energy to bring your best effort and highest degree of dedication to either path.
Also from another post you say you are a sophomore with four W’s. Instead of posing the same question again and again on CC I suggest you:
– Talk to your academic advisor. Ask if a transfer to the b-school is even a possibility and if you could complete the degree in your remaining time. Also ask the advisor if he/she thinks you could have a chance to get into grad school with your record if you excel over the next two and a half years.
–Go to career services and see if there traditionally are any employment opportunities for psych majors from your college. If a switch to accounting is possible ask what the employment opportunities might be for that as well. Be sure they understand your current academic record for context and share that you hope to excel when you change majors.
Do the legwork to make an informed choice. Very often having the facts will lead you to a decision.