I really got into psychology as I was nearing the end of my BBA. I now would like to get my MA in Psychology but I was wondering how much sense that would make. I may even go to my PsyD. Just wondering what my options were if I were to do this and how much sense it makes!
Why do you want an MA in psychology?
If you want to be a counselor, you need an MA or doctoral degree in a field that leads to licensure. At the master’s level, this is usually an MA in mental health counseling, or an MSW in clinical social work. At the doctoral level, this is clinical or counseling psychology (or school, if you want to work in schools with children).
If you want to be a researcher, then an MA in psychology isn’t bad, but there are probably more useful applied master’s degrees depending on what career field you want to enter.
I want to switch my career focus towards psychology. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize how much I loved psychology until I was well into my BBA program. I was just wondering if starting an MA in psychology with my BBA would hinder me in any way since my educational background was in business. I may even try to get my doctoral degree as well.
If you want to practice, you need to get a marriage & family therapy degree, a counseling degree, or MSW. You can also aim for a PhD in clinical psychology or counseling psychology (which requires a master’s first), but the acceptance rates for funded programs are extremely low. PsyD may be a good option depending on whether you can get into a legitimate school (Rutgers, GW, Baylor, Loyola, Yeshiva, etc.), but often not funded.
Yeah, you’ll have to be more specific with yourself than simply wanting to switch your career focus towards psychology. There are lots of different ways to do that, and getting an MA in psychology isn’t the best choice for all of them. thetransfercoach already pointed out different degrees and fields to go into. There’s also industrial/organizational psychology, which is a middle ground between business and psychology.
If you are trying to get into a clinical or counseling PhD or PsyD program because you want to be a psychologist who practices therapy, doing an MA first is probably a good idea in your shoes since your background isn’t in business. And in industrial/organizational or mental health counseling, you only need a master’s degree, although the kind you get has to be very specific. But before you hop into an MA program you need to figure out what career you want and whether or not an MA will help you get there.
And yes, your BBA will hinder you somewhat - you don’t have the foundational knowledge in psychology necessary. You may find some MA programs that will admit you because they designed to help people change fields, though. Another option is taking a few psych classes as a non-degree student to prepare you.