<p>Does UCLA have a resource like this <a href="https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Psych.stm%5B/url%5D">https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Psych.stm</a> ?</p>
<p>I am just starting community college this fall and want to transfer to UCLA for their fantastic psych program. I like to see stats that give me hope about having good career prospects upon completing a BA. I feel like majoring psych always gets a bad wrap, even though it looks like many psych majors at Cal can find decent jobs. Nonetheless, I am very eager to do grad school afterwards for a PhD, but thats a ways off. Anyway, how are the career options for psych majors upon graduating? Can I have a well-paying job and go to grad school at the same time? My dream is to be a clinical psychologist.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>There’s quite a bit you can do with a psych major, but it typically doesn’t pay the best for quite awhile after graduation, though it may depend on how much research, volunteering, and work experience you gained while in college. I don’t think it’s very possible to have a well-paying (and therefore more intensive) job while going to grad school, as grad school is often thought of as a full-time job+ unto itself. However, if you get into a top-tier PhD program, you may be completely funded, so finances may not be a huge concern. You might also want to consider a PsyD (which may or may not be as well-funded as PhDs, I haven’t looked into it myself), which is geared more towards the clinical practice than towards conducting research.</p>
<p>Good luck! :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the great info. Maybe people go straight from obtaining a bachelors to applying to grad school. Maybe all the stereotypical psych major jobs (social work, etc…) don’t even really matter (for future doctoral students at least). I just want to be sure that a major in psych isn’t totally useless, just in case.</p>
<p>And a psy.d sounds like a great option too!</p>
<p>I know this is a long ways down the road (not to mention a lot of work) but thanks for helping me weigh some future options.</p>
<p>To be fair, psychology isn’t a very practicable degree in itself. If you want to make any use of it, you’re going to have to have some graduate degree to supplement it.</p>
<p>If you want to do psychology related work, you’ll probably want to look into degrees like MSW, Psy.D, phD, etc. A psychology degree alone with limit you into a lowly paid research assistant job.</p>
<p>Other psychology majors I know didn’t go into the psychology field itself. For instance, one friend is now a elementary school teacher and another went on to medical school after also taking med school pre reqs. Another went into consulting, but was also a double major in business economics.</p>
<p>Thanks notaznguy, good to know that there are some other options (teaching, med school) in addition to doctoral study. </p>
<p>A career in teaching or medicine or even law seem like very possible options for me. And hopefully I will know by the time I graduate exactly what it is I want to do with my life. But psychology truly interests me and I am very passionate aout the subject, so maybe grad school is right. I keep hearing that graduate programs are difficult, expensive, and extremely selective.</p>
<p>But for now I just have to work at transferring. To UCLA fingers crossed!</p>
<p>I just want to be sure working towards a psych degree won’t be a total waste of my life.</p>
<p>I graduated psychobiology, so here are my thoughts.</p>
<p>Psych is like a lot of other majors… people graduate without many job opportunities that are relevant to their major. Its all about what else you are doing while you are in school and what you plan to do after. That will guarantee whether or not you can find a good job. Major is only a small piece of the puzzle.</p>
<p>If you are interested in possibly doing medicine/law, you will most likley need to decide a lot before you graduate since you need to do pre-reqs, relevent ECs, etc.</p>
<p>Most clinical psych jobs are gonna require grad school. </p>
<p>Grad school will cost a lot, while your pay will be lower than other professional jobs.</p>
<p>Grad programs are selective, but the key is to start getting involved in labs early!</p>
<p>The Psy.D’s and PHDs in my lab appear to truly love their job, so if you share the same passion, I say you keep pursuing it.</p>
<p>Have fun taking psych classes at UCLA… I swear, the first 1-2 weeks are the same for just about EVERY single psych class. Its funny, u will learn about Dualism, Watson, Descartes, Pavlov, etc. about a dozen times.</p>
<p>Thanks a ton azngamer54. Good to hear you know some ph.ds and psy.ds that are having fun. That is what it’s all about. Yeah they’re expensive, but seem like a good investment (to be a psychologist), and if you’re having fun, then why not? Definitely my ideal path to continue doctoral studies for psych :)</p>
<p>And good point about internships and ECs. They’re pretty important to get exposure to the field. </p>
<p>You did psychobiology huh? How was that and what are you doing now? Med school? I’m halfway considering this major, but from a transfer perspective, psychology seems a lot less rigorous (but as a result a lot more impacted 
)</p>
<p>If I did psychobiology, however, I could knock out a lot more pre med coursework. Hmmm. Seem like a lot more job opportunities too.</p>
<p>I don’t know. I might be able to think better once I start at community college and actually experience it firsthand.</p>