I started taking community college classes this year with the hope of applying in Fall 2023 for transfer to UC Berkeley. My honors counselor wants me to change my major from Media Studies to psychology because I have plans to go to grad school for educational counseling. I’m not passionate about psychology the way I am about Media Studies. Also this would mean it would take me longer to finish my major prep, so I wouldn’t be able to apply for transfer until Fall 2024. And I’m place-bound, so I need to go to a college in the Bay Area. Berkeley has a 6% acceptance rate for psychology, and psychology is an impacted major at San Jose State, so he told me San Francisco State is a more reasonable choice for me with transfer. I feel like a lot of bubbles were burst during my appointment.
I talked to my Berkeley rep after that appointment and he said it’s definitely a more seamless transition from psychology to counseling, but he did English for his undergrad, took the recommended psychology preparation courses for grad school, and then got his counseling degree.
Then I had an appointment with my Promise Scholars counselor (I know, I had a lot of appointments) and she agreed that psychology would be the most expected undergraduate major, but said a related major like sociology could be okay. She explained that in educational counseling, at least in this district, pay grade is based on whether your undergraduate degree was related to counseling. So I could end up getting paid less if I chose the path my Berkeley rep took.
What do you think? Should I change my major? What to? Psychology or Sociology? Ugh. I don’t really want to get an associates degree in sociology either. Berkeley does have a major called Social Welfare I found interesting, but legislation was passed in California so that every student is placed in an associate to transfer program unless they opt out. I said I wanted to opt out to my honors counselor, but he still pressured me to choose the psychology associate to transfer program. I’m just worried that I’ll end up with a student educational plan that contains too many excess units, takes me longer to transfer, and is in a major I don’t care about.
What are the requirements for the grad degree ? If your passion isn’t psychology I’d say I’d revisit the grad degree. Does it line up with your interests ?
Recommended preparation for grad school at San Francisco State is Theories of Personality, Developmental Psychology, Abnormal Psyc, and General Psychology. San Jose State accepts any undergraduate degree and has no recommended preparation for the major. The same with CSU East Bay.
San Jose State’s foundational courses are Introduction to Counseling and Guidance, Counseling Process and Techniques, Laws and Ethics in Counseling, Dynamics of Behavior and Development, Education and Career Planning and Assessment for Counselors.
I’m passionate about college and career planning. I’m doing my honors seminar’s undergraduate research project on how to improve transfer rates at California Community Colleges.
Will a certain undergrad major make grad school less difficult or long…ie with media studies, will grad school take more time to make up classes from undergrad in psych, etc.
If you’re confident your major will work for you, then stick with your plan. Or ask your counselor why you need to change? Is their reason legit?
I only found four classes that were recommended preparation for grad school. They’re all lower-division undergraduate classes, so I can take them at the community college level. As long as I took those four classes I don’t see why grad school would take more time to complete.
It was explained to me that the pay grade of educational counselors, at least in this district, is based on whether your undergraduate degree was related to counseling. So I could end up getting paid less if I have an unrelated undergraduate degree.