I am planning on attending Salisbury University next year and am debating my major. I am certain that I will be majoring in English with a focus in secondary education and going on to become a high school English teacher, but I am not certain of what I want to complete with this. I would love to complete a double major, and my main interest is in psychology, but this will most likely end up taking 5 years. Since I don’t want to be a psychologist, is this even worth it? I hear that it is a good supplement to education and I know I could go to graduate school and become a school psychologist, and I absolutely love psychology, but the extra year is a drawback. Should I just do a minor in psychology? Or is it worth it to double major and maybe attend college for five years?
I would just do a minor. It’s not worth it to take an extra year to finish a major in psychology, especially if you’re not 100% sure you’re interested in a career as a school psychologist. Just choose your psychology classes wisely - most school psychology programs require a specific set of psychology classes. For example, I majored in psychology and if I wanted to become a school psychologist, I’d have to go back and take some undergrad classes in a couple areas I didn’t take (mainly developmental and abnormal). If you are somewhat interested in this career, take a look at some graduate programs and see what classes they require.
@julliet is correct, you do not need a psychology degree to go to graduate school to be a school psychologist, but rather coursework required for admission into graduate programs. You could probably do this through a minor in psychology and perhaps some of your education classes as well. You will probably need an undergraduate statistics course. You can look up admission requirements for graduate programs for planning purposes. Make sure you also gain experiences working with kids and teens of various ages as well.
Thanks for your reply. My main concern is that teaching is a passion of mine, and there are quite a good amount of people applying for high school English jobs. Not only is psychology something I love, but it will also show that i have a great capability to educate through the double major. If I am able to complete the major in four years, could it be worth it? Becoming a school psychologist is something that interests me, but the fact that the double major could improve my resume and help me to become a better teacher is the main point of interest.
Teaching positions are probably not going to care whether or not you double majored in psychology. It doesn’t necessarily show that you have a ‘great capability to educate.’ Most of the educational psychology classes you’ll need will be included in the school certification coursework you need to take.
It’s not that extra coursework in the field won’t be helpful or valuable; it might even make you a better teacher, as an understanding of psychology can be good for classroom management and thinking about how people learn. It’s just that few schools/employers are likely going to care very much about a double major in psychology when considering whether to hire you to teach English. (More appealing would be the ability to teach in another area, or a hard-to-find certification like special education or bilingual education/ESL.)