<p>Hi everyone! Prospective student here. </p>
<p>I know Smith has a very good program in psychology, and I was wondering if anybody had some feedback about it. Is the program hard to get into, as in do you get into most/all of the classes you signed up for? What are the job opportunities for somebody with a psychology degree from Smith, is it competitive? How rigorous is the program? How you basically describe it is all I'm asking. </p>
<p>Smith so far is my first choice and I'm pretty sure I want to go into psychology, and there's nothing like getting facts from a real Smithie, right?</p>
<p>I’m not a psych major but a good friend of mine is, and I asked her some of your questions.</p>
<p>She said that she has had no problems getting into any psych classes except for the required statistics class, which she was waitlisted for and ended up taking a semester later than planned.</p>
<p>She’s also a STRIDE student, which means that she did paid research with a professor last year (her first year) and this year. She plans on doing an honors thesis senior year, and as such she’s going to stay on campus this summer and do some more research with her STRIDE professor.</p>
<p>She’s also double majoring in a completely unrelated area, and is going to study abroad all of junior year in a non-English speaking country. So if that’s something you’re interested in, it’s definitely possible with some planning.</p>
<p>Thank you so much to you and your friend. 
Sorry for my late reply, though. Do you know if Smith funds the studying abroad program?</p>
<p>For Study Abroad, you just pay Smith whatever you would normally pay them for a semester or year and they pay the study abroad program, including whatever program fees might be incurred. One of my good friends was a psych major with a minor in Study of Women and Gender. She works in a university psychology lab now and is planning to go to grad school in the future. I don’t remember if she was a STRIDE or not, but she did do research while on campus, and she was a Kahn Liberal Arts Institute fellow (though I think that was for her women and gender studies classes).</p>
<p>Do you think most people who graduate with a Smith psych degree end up having a good job and/or grad school of choice? Are people more successful if they plan on becoming practicing psychologists? (Sorry for all the questions!)</p>
<p>MusingStudent, perhaps someone will respond to your questions with some specifics, but you should know that the Smith name can open doors for you with both jobs and grad school. If you are still making a decision about attending Smith (I can’t tell if you’re a junior or senior), think about the opportunities Smith offers: potential undergraduate research (although unless you’re a STRIDE, you will need to advocate for yourself), a paid $2000 Praxis internship for one summer, the Career Development Office which can help you your whole lifetime, and the extensive alumnae network. All these resources will help with either grad school or jobs.</p>
<p>I think it depends a lot on the student. A Smith degree will open doors for you, but its really up to you to decide to walk through them. You have to get the grades, and do the networking, and put in the time to make yourself an attractive grad school or employment candidate. Smith can help you, but it’s up to you. So yes, some Psych grads are well positioned for work and grad school. Others are not. It comes down to how well prepared they are.</p>