I am a freshman in college and am considering a psychology major. I am also a division 1 baseball player and I have a decent shot at the pros (consistently in low 90’s with 3 other pitches, have had pro scouts at my high school games) I know that I need a backup plan and I want something that is a solid backup that could still get me 6-figures (after grad school) Will psychology be a good major to achieve a 6 figure salary in case baseball doesn’t work out? I really enjoy psychology so it’s not like I’d be in it just for the money
Also, as the title suggests I am considering the pre med route with psychology in order to become a psychiatrist if I can’t get 6-figures without an MD in psych. Would you think that pre-med along with d1 baseball is doable or is that too much?
I’ve taken a couple premed prereqs and have done well in them.
I am already on a 5 year plan if I decide to do premed.
I had just recently gotten serious about school. in high school I never studied or really tried and got a 3.6 and a 26 on the ACT. I just finished my first semester of college and got a 3.4 GPA, but I failed my first 2 exams using my high school study habits (which were non-existant) So I’m confident that I could do much better than a 3.4 now that I know what to expect. I’m on week 4 of 2nd semester and have a 4.0 and it’s almost baseball season.
Yes I realize psychiatry is one of the lowest paid for MD’s but it’s something I’m very interested in and they still make almost $200K so it’s not like I’d be hurting for money.
If pre-med is out of the question for some reason. Are there careers I can have with a PhD or PsyD (other than teaching) that can earn me a 6-figure salary? I want to help people and not just do research and experiments or teach. I want to diagnose and treat medical disorders
I can only talk from D’s experience. She did not pursue being in Varsity at all. But she has tried continue with her sport at the club. It lasted only for one year, she had to drop it because of time limitations. however, she has seen other pre-meds actually doing varsity in her sport which is very time consuming. Also, D. had lots and lots of un-related interests that she decided to pursue at college and she did ALL of her ECs (volunteering, Med. Research, job) during school year and also had 2 minors, graduating with one, and she was on a board of her sorority. Adding all of this up, it could have been possible for her to actually pursue her sport at least at the club level if she dropped few other activities (all of them were long term, at least 3 years).
I would say, try and see how it goes. However, keep in mind, your GPA is absolutely your first priority and under no circumstances you can slack there.
“Psychiatrist” is not possible without being MD (Med. School).
On the other hand, you could be a psychologist (with some Grad. School) but from what I heard, it is hard to find a job being psychologist, no close investigation on my part though.
Also, your academic efforts will have to get adjusted upwards at college in a big way. Even those who had to study very hard in HS (like my D.) have to adjust considerably to be able to maintain high GPA. Kids who did not catch on right away on this requirement, those who glided thru in HS and still managed to get high GPA, usually do not survive on the pre-med track. Your goal will be to have an A in every class. It may not happen, but having a lower goal is basically shooting yourself in a foot. There is good percentage of Med. School applicants who have colelge GPA very close to 4.0. Keep this in mind.
Do not be afraid to try everything that you want to pursue in UG. That is what college is for. But do not neglect your academics, no matter what, it is your priority #1. Best wishes!
Also potentially think about social work - although it sounds like you actually like the neuropharmacology aspects of psych vs. talk therapy? (I assume that’s what you mean by “medical disorders”) In that case psychiatry is really the way to go but maybe also look at PMHNP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatric-mental_health_nurse_practitioner
Pre Med -academics must to be priority #1 to be successful
Baseball must be priority #1 to be successful
Social life
And sleep
At least one of these will suffer
Premeds will have less of a social life than many students because they’ll be taking required hard classes and in order to have a shot at med school, will need to be at the top of their class. You could choose a major like psychology with a minor in biology, but you’ll still need to be among the best in every class you take.
D1 baseball, when in season, will keep you busy 30 hours a week. It means that in season, you will have no social life outside your team (and will have to decline team-sponsored opportunities to socialize) and very little sleep since premed will require about 45 hours a week from your time.
Using your numbers (75 hours/week for premed and D1 sports) that leaves you with 13 hours a day (168-75 = 93 hours/week) - that’s plenty of time for socializing and eating/sleep. Unless you meant coursework alone is 45 hours in which case 13 hours/day for socializing + sleep + extracurriculars is obviously less but still not as tight as it seems if you actually manage your time well.
I think 30 hours/week for D1 sport might be an underestimate though since travel time isn’t counted in the 20 hour week limit nor are “voluntary, student athlete initiated” activities with no coaches present.