I know that many med schools frown on pre-reqs being taken at community colleges. Is this true for other grad school programs as well? I ask only because my D25 thinks she wants to major in psych, and has taken three DE psych classes (Intro to Psych, Social Psych, Positive Psych) during the last two years. She is toying with adding a fourth class next year, and it occurred to me that if she’s planning on doing so, perhaps she should avoid one that is needed for grad school (MFT, PsyD, or PhD). Any thoughts? TIA!
PhD in psychology and PsyD programs would be expected to focus on upper level psychology course work, rather than the lower level course work that could be taken at a community college.
MFT programs which list specific undergraduate course prerequisites also appear mostly to focus on upper level psychology course work.
Medical school is somewhat different, in that a large portion of the pre-med courses that they want to see are lower level ones that are commonly available at community colleges as well as four year colleges, and community colleges in many places appear to be disdained as low rigor.
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I just looked at 6 different psychology PhD programs, and none had any information about taking community college classes. They all said that an undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university is required.
I do not think that taking community college classes in HS will negatively impact your daughter’s ability to get into a psychology graduate program 5-7 years or more down the road. Your daughter can take upper level psych classes in college to show that she can do the work. These programs are very competitive.,
Besides GPA, programs will look (depending) at letters of recommendation, work experience, research experience, personal statement, interview etc. By the time your daughter gets to this level nobody will talk about her CC classes in HS (opinion). They will notice the upper level psychology courses in college, and how she did.
The 2 students I know who are in PsyD programs… worked for a few years before applying. One was not a psychology major.
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And this 17 year old might change her mind entirely. But I’ll let her choose whichever class sounds best to her. Thanks for the reassurance!
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