<p>Hi, I'm a high school senior right now going to CC after i graduate and then after two years there, some hard work, and a high GPA I am going to transfer to a UC (UCLA fingers crossed) to pursue a psychology major. That's my plan, at least. My question is just what am I getting myself into here? I mean.. it feels like the right path for me but maybe someone out there can give me some tips, and a couple heads up. Is it heavy on the math and science? I am more a thoughtful, philosophical person. How demanding is it? How competitive is it? At CC I am going to do some psych internships and stuff like that too because I know that making connections is important. I am pretty good at reading, studying and writing. I am in the process of fine-tuning what I call "emotional-reasoning skills." What else can I do to give myself the edge. How do I become the cream of the crop?</p>
<p>I’m doing psych at a cc and UCLA is one the ones I’m hoping for. It’s not too heavy. You’ll need a bio class and a chem or physics class, and you’ll need stats (or a different college level math class, but stats is better). I’m taking very intro-level bio and physics classes at my cc. Use assist.org, there you can see what classes are listed for yours, which you can then look up at that cc’s website. It might give you a better idea of what level science classes transfer for you.</p>
<p>Biggest tip - PREREQS AND GPA. Average admitted at UCLA was 3.81 last year, I believe. A high GPA and prereqs are more important than ECs. Don’t sacrifice grades for them.</p>
<p>I just recently changed my major to psychology and my main concern is whether there’s money if I choose this career path. Can anyone shed some light on this topic?</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-Degrees_that_Pay_you_Back-sort.html]Here[/url”>WSJ.com]Here[/url</a>] is a chart listing majors by starting and mid-career income. Psychology is below the median for all except mid-career 90th percentile earnings. Which means to do well financially, you’ll need to be at the top of the earnings ladder. Of course this just lumps ALL majors into one nebulous category, and I would imagine doesn’t take into account post-graduate work.</p>
<p>The important question isn’t, "Is this a good major - ", but “What do I want to do with it, careerwise.” Biggest mistake people make is picking a major and then hoping the career just comes naturally; and it doesn’t.</p>
<p>There are many, many different jobs for which a psychology degree would be useful. Search some of the popular job finding sites for whatever degree program you’re interested in to see some of the options you might have after graduating with that degree. Human services, scientific research and marketing are a few options. As far as math and science courses, it depends on your school and your career goals. Psychology is a science, and pretty much any psych program will require you to learn about research methods, but you probably won’t need many other science courses if you want to go into an applied field like human services. You’ll need at least one stats course to understand the research you read, but the number of other math classes you need depends on what you want to do. It’s a confusing major because it can lead to so many things depending on the focus, so you have to plan carefully. </p>
<p>At my school ( <a href=“http://www.ccis.edu/maincampus/[/url]”>http://www.ccis.edu/maincampus/</a> ) psych majors have a ton of contact with professors from day one to get advice and help plan ahead to make sure we’re on the right track to get where we want to go, and every major has to take a class on careers and grad schools related to psychology, and the steps you have to take to get there. My most important advice for you, as a senior psych major, is to plan carefully with a good adviser. Writing skills are extremely important in all psych classes. Math and outside science requirements, level of competition, etc. all vary depending on what you want to do after undergrad. Good luck!</p>