Hi. I am a senior in college and I have been in college for quite some time. I have been transferring from college to college due to financial and personal reasons. I feel like I have been making a lot of bad decisions in my life. I am currently majoring in psychology and I literally have like a few more classes until I get my bachelor’s in psychology. I feel like I picked the wrong major. At first I loved psychology but then it got more advanced and research is involved and I realize that this is not for me. I still love psychology but maybe I should have picked something that wasn’t so difficult for me. I am really good in math. I don’t know why I didn’t decide to become a math teacher since I am so good in math. What do I do? I need some advice!
In many instances, your major does not matter. Start thinking about what you want for a career. Just finish your college classes and look forward. Who cares what you major in unless it has direct application for a job. Since yours does not, you need to figure out what you want to do and then start taking steps towards that career. Forget the major and just get the degree.
Being good in math doesn’t mean you would make a good math teacher. Is there some area you would enjoy working in where you could use your Psychology background?
I wanted to become a school psychologist but that requires a Master’s or a PhD. I can’t do that.
Only a tiny percentage of psychology graduates go on to work in psychology research. http://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/us-workforce/2013/html/SES2013_DST_03_2.html shows 84% of employed psychology graduates work in occupations that are neither science nor engineering. It’s not likely that you will have to be involved with this hard psychology stuff after the current year.
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Bachelor_of_Arts_%28BA%29%2c_Psychology/Salary and http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Bachelor_of_Science_%28BS_%2f_BSc%29%2c_Psychology/Salary show what some psychology degree holders have gone on to do. These individuals work in administrative jobs and heavily with that entity they studied: people. Examples: Case Manager for persons with addictions or other problems, Human Resources Manager (good pay), Account Manager (help a business keep its clients), Administrative Assistant.
The knowledge of psychology is an important teacher’s feature. It was definitely not a bad decision - no pain, no gainю Don’t claim about the past, focus on your future plans. And if you realize that you’ll be a good math tracher, then stop doubting yourself and go for your dream.
Hi. I’m 29 years old, and sometimes I wish I could go back and change the things I did.
That’s not an uncommon feeling!
There are ways to change your career after college. For example, you like psychology, but also math. There is LOTS of math in psychology, and actually there’s a high need for people who can understand applied math and psychology and blend them together. There’s a whole field called quantitative psychology:
http://www.apa.org/research/tools/quantitative/
Even if you don’t like research, there are still quantitative roles you can play. You could get an MA in applied statistics - there are only a few math classes you would need to make that transition (three semesters of calculus and a semester of linear algebra, although if you had time to take 1-2 semesters of mathematical statistics and probability that could help). With a couple of basic computer science classes added to the mix, you could be a good candidate for a data science master’s. We need more data scientists who know how to draw conclusions and interpretations from the data they analyze.
You could also get a master’s in a quantitative area of psychology. One suggestion is this rather unique program at Columbia called Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences:
Another is something like this MS in applied psychological methods at Fordham:
http://www.fordham.edu/info/21666/ms_in_applied_psychological_methods
Why not? You can be a school psychologist with a master’s, and that only takes two years. You don’t need the PhD to do that.