<p>If your interests are very very broad, then getting into graduate school may be difficult on the front end. Graduate students in both sociology and psychology are typically admitted to study a narrow-ish area of the field. First, in psychology you have to narrow it down to a subfield - it sounds like social psychology would be that for you. Then, most students pick a specific area/research topic - for example, the effects of prejudice/discrimination on mental health in African Americans.</p>
<p>If you haven’t yet narrowed down a research area, then it is your best bet to work for a few years while youe xplore on your own time. Don’t spend money on school when you don’t yet have a focus; you run the risk of wasting time and money floundering and trying to find an area of interest.</p>
<p>Secondly, many things can be studied from multiple angles. A professor once told me that the field you go into determines not so much the research questions you can ask, but the angle from which you ask them and the approach that you take in answering them. Social psychology and sociology are similar and tackle some of the same problems, but social psychologists are interested in how individuals function within and in relation to other people, whereas sociologists tend to focus more on how groups act in relation to each other. Also, social psychologists tend to do experiments and quantitative survey research; sociologists tend to use quantitative survey research or a variety of qualitative methods like semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and ethnography. So in addition to thinking about what questions you want to answer, you should also think about what approach you want to take in asking them.</p>
<p>An academic postbacc program is only good if you already know what you want to study. For example, Columbia has a postbacc in psychology, with the goal of preparing students who didn’t study psychology in undergrad for doctoral study in psychology. Students take classes and do research with professors. But it’s not an exploration program; you wouldn’t get to take classes in both sociology and psych for example. You’d be expected to come in knowing roughly in what area of psychology you want to focus (cognitive, neuroscience, or social are the ones the department offers) and what professor’s lab you’d like to get research experience in.</p>
<p>Plus, I tend to think postbacc programs are expensive and there are other ways to get the same material. Once you decide, you could take classes as a non-degree student at a local public university (much cheaper than Columbia) and volunteer in a research lab. You could even work as a research associate or lab manager/research coordinator at a university and take classes there for free.</p>
<p>Thirdly, you don’t want to do a postbacc that" isn’t too limited to one area of study." Graduate school is about specialization. If you’re still interested in lots of things, then read books at the library or take classes as a non-degree student at a nearby college. But graduate school isn’t about exploring infinite interests; it’s about learning to operate as a scholar and a researcher, and preparation for a career that requires research skills and credentials. An interdisciplinary postbacc that allows you to explore multiple interests (if one even exists) is not going to properly prepare you for graduate study in a field.</p>
<p>Finally, yes, you typically need to have an undergrad degree in psychology to get a graduate degree in psychology. Generally students have majored in psychology. If they didn’t, they’ve taken enough classes to be the equivalent of a major. If you’re interested in a PhD in psychology, and you have no psychology coursework, you’ll have to take the equivalent of a major in post-baccalaureate coursework (which is about 10 courses).</p>