what would it cost roughly for me to become a psychologist?

Question

and do I need any previous qualifications beforehand?

Answer 1

The underlying requirement for any career in psychology is to have completed a Society accredited psychology degree that confers the Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR). For information on applying for undergraduate courses you can contact UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service). This will take about 7 years.

On completion of this you would then be eligible to apply for the accredited postgraduate pathway (PhD or Masters) depending on the area of psychology you want to practise in. For further information on the postgraduate training please see the section Areas of Psychology.

For this you would probably get a student loan as a mature student and on completion have somewhere in excess of £30,000 in debts depending on where you study. Please note that since you live in the UK this is not $!

Alternatively since you don't really need any previous experience or qualifications to practise you can just buy 'Psychology for Dummies' (9.99 at all good book stores and plenty of crappy ones too).. Print of a pretty little certificate that says you are accredited in something, frame the certificate and hang in your spare room, advertise in 'Time Out' and you will be inundated. And don't forget to print some cards to make you look all official.

In fact I need a shrink so let me know when you are all set up!

Answer 2

You don't say which country you are in, but for UK, first you need to qualify to go to university for which 3 A levels would be appropriate (as well as GCSE English, maths and a science subject at least, or equivalent).

Then do a B.Sc (or possibly B.A.) in Psychology for 3 years full-time, then spend a year full-time doing a Master's Degree in your chosen field e.g. Clinical Psychology. You are unlikely to be accepted to do this unless you have at least an upper second class Honours degree. Competition for places is fierce. Some people will then go further to do a Ph.D but this isn't essential.

You could initially contact BPS for info. as any psychology degree you do must have all the appropriate components for graduate recognition by them.
As the other answerer said, you could do a part-time Masters while working as an Assistant Psychologist. Then there's the rest of the training... If you are funding yourself this is going to cost many thousands of £.

If you are not absolutely sure this is what you want to do, it could be better to think about alternatives. Only a small number of people who get psychology degrees actually become psychologists. However, such degrees are useful for work in any profession/job where you are working with people. Good luck~RJS

Answer 3

your sanity.

in theory:

you get yourself a psychology degree (or anything really), then maybe a masters - but the masters must meet the British Psychological Society's "clinical basis for registration". Then you can get onto the clinical training, 3 years full time, longer part time, and hey presto.

But it's not as easy as that. Most people on the clinical training have done years of slog as "assistant psychologists" and have applied for the clinical training a bunch of times. Some do PhDs while they are waiting.

You Really Have To Want To Do It otherwise don't bother, be a plumber instead.

Answer 4

What current qualifications do you have? To be a psychologist, you need a PhD or PsyD. To get into an undergraduate program, you just need to meet their admission requirements. Same goes for the graduate program. However, you don't necessarily need a bachelor's in psychology to get into a psychology grad program. One of the women in my grad program had a degree in music.
The cost of the degree varies according to the school you attend. My graduate school is private, so I will have $175k in debt when I finish next year.
The APA did a survey in 2003 and here's what they found.
Forty-four percent of these (new doctorates) had debt in excess of $75,000. In contrast, 40% of new doctorates in the research subfields owed more than $30,000 and only 12% owed more than $75,000. The median level of debt for those in the practice subfields was $67,500 compared to $22,000 for those in the research subfields.

Answer 5

Well first off it depends on what country you are from, because each country will have different routes to becoming a psychologist and also diffeent countries have different fees for courses! And also it depends on what area of psychology you want to go into? But your first route to becoming a psychologist and which applies to all countries (I would imagine) is to do an undergraduate degree.

Answer 6

go through the Open University if you live in the UK. If you are on a low wage bracket, then you will get help from the OU. Otherwise it will cost approx £700 per year for 7 years.

Answer 7

It depends, if you go to a state school not too much. Assuming you already have your bachelors degree in a related field you could hook up with an assistantship at a large university (waiving your tuition) and get away with just paying fees...maybe around $2,500/year x 2-3 years

Answer 8

It will cost you eight or more years of college--you at least have to have your Master's degree but preferably a Doctorate. Also, youi need to have a strong social science background. I looked into psychology and decided instead to go into social work.

Answer 9

properly, Psychologists are oftentimes paid greater, yet they have greater years of education. i think of nurses have greater type from working with newborns to elderly to the wounded in conflict to the E.R., and so on, and so on, and so on. Psychologists have type to boot, yet nursing has greater i think. notwithstanding it genuinely relies upon on what you want. Edit: in simple terms observed the different answer... perhaps i become perplexed? perhaps i become thinking of a psychiatrist? : /

Answer 10

do you have any degrees?

I am taking graduate psych classes and each class costs about $800.
I have to take about 15 more classes, so it's about $13,000. Then, there's getting the doctorate degree which is even more.