<p>I am currently enrolled at community college. I will be completing my third semester next week. I am a slightly above 3.5 GPA student all around. I will be transferring to a university. I have pretty much narrowed down my selections to NIU and Aurora University. I plan to live at home and save money while completing my undergraduate. Both these schools offer great scholarships and I can most likely work off any debt before even completing the degree. </p>
<p>The problem that I am having is between majors and schooling past my under graduate. I am positive I will major in Psychology. I would also like to double major in something like criminal justice. The reason for this being that I want to get into forensic psychology. I figured that a double major could help me. I could also do the criminal justice as a minor so that I could put my entire focus on my psychology because that is the one I feel is more important.</p>
<p>I am also having a hard time figuring out what happens after under graduate. For forensic psychology I read that a masters is a bare minimum and most prefer even further schooling. The time is not the problem here. The main problem is that I am worried I will not get into graduate school, or even further than that for that matter. </p>
<p>Would NIU be a better choice since I am planning to go to graduate school? As a 3.5 student who is involved in the honor society and clubs will I have any major problems getting into graduate school? I know one of my friends is having a hard time but he has a much lower gpa than me and went to a tiny school. </p>
<p>So to break it down I am currently a sophomore looking for advice on how to pursue further education in the psychology field where my time is not the biggest issue, but the funding and acceptance are. </p>
<p>Also please not that my interest in forensic psychology has absolutely nothing to do with the TV shows that feature psychologists. I do not even watch TV. </p>
<p>Admission to graduate programs in clinical psychology is quite competitive. You will need to get a doctorate. Admission to a PsyD program (especially in a professional school) probably is easier than admission to a PhD program, though the later might offer better funding. Some programs offer a subspecialty track in forensic psychology, though you also can do a postdoc for additional training in forensic psychology. Some universities offer joint doctoral programs in psychology and law.
NIU would not necessarily be better than Aurora, though it might offer more research opportunities. Undergraduate research experience is an important factor in graduate admissions, though more so for PhD programs in university psychology departments than for PsyD programs in professional schools Other factors in admission include grades, GRE scores, personal statement/interviews, letters of recommendation, and quantitative skills. Coursework in criminal justice might be useful background, though you don’t necessarily need a minor in it. At this stage, a broad education is probably more important than several courses related to a possible future specialty area. A course or two in criminology (generally in the sociology dept.) could be useful, though.</p>
<p>See the following books on graduate study in psychology:
<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Graduate-Study-Psychology-2014-Edition/dp/1433815486”>http://www.amazon.com/Graduate-Study-Psychology-2014-Edition/dp/1433815486</a>
<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Getting-In-Step-By-Step-Admission-Psychology/dp/1591477999/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1XAGPJSPXXTBEYRVR34R”>http://www.amazon.com/Getting-In-Step-By-Step-Admission-Psychology/dp/1591477999/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1XAGPJSPXXTBEYRVR34R</a>
<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Graduate-Programs-Counseling-Psychology/dp/1462518133/ref=pd_sim_b_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=1RJ02SDMB31H960MVVCC”>http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Graduate-Programs-Counseling-Psychology/dp/1462518133/ref=pd_sim_b_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=1RJ02SDMB31H960MVVCC</a>
Also check out this link:
<a href=“Graduate Programs in Psychology and Law”>Internal Server Error;