Psychology Major Vs. BioPsychology Major

Parents Forum
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<p>Hi parents, </p>

<p>I wanted to get your expert & mature opinions. I have a solid plan, but am very, very lost & confused about which of two paths I should take & need to be decisive soon because spring registration is here.</p>

<p>I am currently at community college & unsure of whether to major in Psych or BioPsych (also known as neuroscience, cognitive science, etc..) </p>

<p>I plan on transferring to UCSB.</p>

<p>Majoring in Psych (BA)
-More interesting to me.
-Would be much easier. I'm not the best student..
-Don't have to take the hard science classes.
-Would get Higher GPA so I can get into good grad school if I chose.
-Screwed for job after graduation? After graduation would I think that it was a pointless major and think I'm an idiot for not being able to find a good job?</p>

<p>Majoring in BioPsych (BS)
-Not quite as interesting to me as psych because its more sciency, but I am very interested in things like neurotransmitters, adderall, autism, etc.. which are all about biopsych.
-Would be much harder, prolly take an extra year to transfer out of CC because I believe I would have to take 3 bio classes, 3 chem classes, & 2 physics classes. (I wouldn't have to take any for reg. psych)
-Honestly, would probably get mainly Cs (with hard work) in science classes and upperdivision biopsych classes, but should manage fine. I've never failed a class in my life but with hard classes like sciences its hard for me to get above a C. With mainly Cs after I graduate it might be hard to go to grad school if that's what I chose with low GPA..
-After UG graduation much more employable than psych. (right?) Plus I can basically go into any industry such as business like a normal psych major.
-Health industries booming, a major like biopsych seems to be a good thing to major in.
-I've tried researching the major a lot but really don't know much about it / what jobs I'd get into.</p>

<p>There is no psych (BS) offered at ucsb.</p>

<p>Too be honest, I'm very very lost and know this is a decision that will effect me for life. I'm registering for spring classes at CC now and knowing my major would significantly help. I'll make my own decision, but any advice would be lovely.</p>

<h2>Can I get any advice / input? Thanks soo much.</h2>

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<p>any thoughts?</p>

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<p>Can you say more about why you think there would be better job opportunities with a bachelor’s in biopsychology? What type of work do you envision that leading to? More importantly, is it the type of work you’d like to do? If not, why go down that path?</p>

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<p>Not sure about that. In career surveys (e.g. at Berkeley, Cal Poly, Virginia Tech), biology majors tend to have similar or worse job and career prospects compared to psychology majors.</p>

<p>Just because something is a “STEM” field does not mean that it will have good job and career prospects. Biology is the most popular STEM major, but the large number of graduates relative to the number of good jobs in the field means that most will not be able to get the good jobs (many will end up as low paid lab technicians).</p>

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<p>Many moons ago, when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, I was an undergraduate. I double-majored in psych and biopsych. Obviously many of the courses applied to both majors, but was able to get all teh necessary courses to do the double major. Why don’t you consider this? My psych major had a developmental emphasis, fwiw.</p>

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<p>DeskPotato-</p>

<p>Due to my knowledge, it seems like it would be a much more employable major. Is it not? I’ve heard lots of people say once you graduate with a psychology degree it’s really hard to find a job… Honestly I don’t care much for the sciences, but would be willing to put in the extra work if that means I could find a good job after graduation.</p>

<p>Too be honest, I’m not sure if that’s the type of work I want to get into. I’m not sure AT ALL what I want to get into. Psych classes interest me. I’m not sure if I want to be a therapist or whatever… might even want to go into business possibly, but I enjoy learning about people & the way we think, what motivates us, emotions, happiness, etc…</p>

<p>I just figured knowing the science behind things = much more employable? I would enjoy being a psych major much more than a biopsych workload wise and the classes we would take. </p>

<p>On the otherhand I’m very interested in things like diseases of the central nervous system, adderall, neurotransmitters, autism & stuff like that, but really can’t see myself doing research in labs as a job for those things even though those topics interest me. Also taking all the bio, chem, and physics classes really doesn’t interest me but upper-level biopsych like neurotransmitter classes would.</p>

<p>UCBal- Really, bio has it worse than psych even? I’d figure with a growing industry in medicine and healthcare bio majors would be thriving and psych majors would be not doing too well just it doesn’t prepare you with any science / hard skills for a job… What’s a stem major?</p>

<p>JYM- Good idea. I can probably major in psych and just take a couple of those neurotransmitter & brain chemical classses I’m interested in.</p>

<p>My main concern I guess is will I be able to get a decent job if I graduate with a psych degree from UCSB.</p>

<p>After your posts, I’m heavily learning on just doing psych now. Thanks for input, any other thoughts? Thanks.</p>

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<p>Sounds like a good topic for discussion with your 4 year college advisor, along with a trip to the career advising center once you transfer. I find it hard to believe a college doesn’t offer a psychology major. You are likely best off majoring in something that plays to your strengths- neurosciences et al may be the “in” major now but you need to choose what most interests you and you can have success at.</p>

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<p>Thanks for input.</p>

<p>There is a psychs (BA) offered. I’m debating between BA Psych or BS BioPsych…</p>

<p>I just wanted to say there was no BS in psych where it was more sciency. My bad, sorry for confusing. Thanks for input, any other suggestions?</p>

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<p>Biology does little to help job and career prospects at the bachelor’s degree level.</p>

<p><a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Psych.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Psych.stm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/MCB.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/MCB.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>[Virginia</a> Tech Post-Graduation Report: Plans or status after graduation](<a href=“http://www.career.vt.edu/scripts/PostGrad2006/Report/DetailStatus.asp?College=00&Majors=Y&Cohort=2009-2010]Virginia”>http://www.career.vt.edu/scripts/PostGrad2006/Report/DetailStatus.asp?College=00&Majors=Y&Cohort=2009-2010)
[Virginia</a> Tech Post-Graduation Report: Salaries reported](<a href=“http://www.career.vt.edu/scripts/PostGrad2006/Report/DetailReportSalaries.asp?College=00&Majors=Y&Cohort=2009-2010]Virginia”>http://www.career.vt.edu/scripts/PostGrad2006/Report/DetailReportSalaries.asp?College=00&Majors=Y&Cohort=2009-2010)</p>

<p>Note that biology is a very popular major – the huge supply is likely part of the reason why job prospects are relatively poor.</p>

<p>“STEM” = science, technology, engineering, mathematics. Do not make the mistake of assuming that all STEM majors have good job and career prospects at the bachelor’s degree level. In particular, biology and chemistry tend to do poorly in career surveys, compared to math and engineering.</p>

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<p>In absolute terms, seems to me you’re trying to decide between Psychology and Psychiatry. In both case, you’ll have to continue your education beyond UG. Are you willing to do what it takes to get through med school, in terms of time commitment and costs to continue as a psychiatrist? Otherwise, go towards Psychology, where you’d probably want to get your Ph.D. to become a psychologist.</p>

<p>Your perspection that you won’t make as much $$ is because many folks don’t continue in either direction, in which case, it really doesn’t matter what you major in. There are many more psychology majors b/c it is considered much easier than neuroscience, but all this really should be dependent on what you’d like to do and where you’re comfortable.</p>

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<p>I don’t think of biopsychology at psychiatry at all. It could be, of course, but you can major in anything to get into med school. The reality is most of the arts and science majors just don’t map neatly onto occupational categories like degrees in more applied or professional programs do (such as nursing, engineering etc).</p>

<p>There are not a lot of jobs directly related to either major and I highly doubt it matters. You may get a job, but whether its one of these majors or the other, I just don’t see how it will play a role. They will hire you because you have (any) degree and will train you for the job. </p>

<p>As such I think you should choose the major you find most interesting and/or that you feel prepares you best for graduate school (but that would mean figuring out perhaps what kind of graduate school because of a particular career path in mind).</p>

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<p>The psychology degree is very versatile, so even if you don’t know what you want to do as a career right now, there’s a good chance you’ll figure it out as you move through your courses and see how related psychological concepts are to everything. </p>

<p>For an example, I have a BA in psychology and I plan to apply to doctorate programs in marketing at business schools. Consumer behavior is, in a sense, applied social psychology. I also knew a student who was interested in the neurological processes of memories and went to grad school to study how the memories of witnesses can be affected by different circumstances.</p>

<p>If you’re not sure about grad school or want to take a year or two off first, then make sure you take full advantage of good internships while you’re in school, especially with children and adolescents as these are common age groups needing added support.</p>