So I’ve been going to cal state fullerton and it seems like it has an ok engineering department, decent majors that lead to post education, and then this amazing business program?
I’m doing psychology now and hoping to apply to law school, phd programs, keeping the options open. But incase I can’t get in for some reason I don’t want my parents 40k investment in a psych degree to not get me a job. They see it as you have to have a degree for security. Not sure if I’m doing the right thing here…
To practice as a psychologist you will almost certainly need a graduate degree, so a bachelor’s degree in psychology does not qualify as a degree for security like a bachelor’s in nursing, computer science, engineering and accountancy do.
Practicing as a psychologists is not the only thing you can do with a bachelor’s in psychology. Most psychology majors never practice any counseling or therapy.
Psychology majors take their major into a variety of fields - like nonprofits, corporations, government agencies, think tanks, etc. You can work as a BA-level research associate for a think tank; or a market research analyst or advertising exec; or a strategy consultant; or a health care administrator; or as an HR specialist; or a middle manager or account manager or project coordinator. No, a BA in psychology doesn’t lead straight to a specific career - but neither does a major in physics, computer science, math or any of the other liberal arts majors. (Yes, many computer scientists do become software developers, but it’s not a pre-professional major. Computer science is a discipline).
Are the job prospects better if you major in nursing or accounting or engineering? Yeah, probably. But none of that matters if you don’t want to be a nurse or an accountant or an engineer. You have to look for a combination of pragmatism and actual interest. And you have to acquire the skills and experiences that appeal to employers - like internships, part-time jobs, and the like. Learn a programming language; get really good at statistics and a software package like SPSS or R; do a summer internship at a market research firm.
If I could go back in time, knowing what I know now, would I still major in psychology as an undergrad? Absolutely. But I might double-major or add a minor in computer science or statistics. That’s because my interests are actually in data science, human-computer interaction, and user experience, and those career fields are more lucrative than the one I originally planned to enter (public health).