any psychologists?

Question

I'm thinking about majoring in psychology. Can you please give me a description of your day at work, what college courses I would need, and the average salary? Thank you, any information is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

I am a psychologist. If you are bright and motivated, go to med school. I am serious. It is nearly the same amount of time spent in school but without the financial reward.

You will need a Ph.D. to be a Psychologist. This means, 4 years of undergrad and then close to 6 years in grad school, provided your dissertation is done in a timely fashion.

I completed by B.A. at 22, worked for 3 years and then went back to school and did not finish my Ph.D. until I was 32 years old. While in graduate school, you have to field work and then a one year internship after your coursework is completed. After you get your degree, you then need one year of supervised experience to sit for the licensing exam. It is a long haul.

I love my job and having a Ph.D offers alot of flexibility. I have taught on the college level and can work in different settings. I do private work and I work in a hospital. As far as a typical day, I think it varies with the specialty. Today, I performed a developmental eval on a 6 month old infant, ran a meeting with other staff members to discuss the patients in our program, I evaluated a man with a complaint of memory loss after being hit by a car to see if his problems are the result of the accident, and then I saw a patient for psychotherapy who has terrible anxiety after a work related accident. But, again the typical day varies with the setting and area of expertise.

As far as salary. 45-55k to start, mid career 70- 83k, and senior level 83 - 100K average but that is with heavy administrative responsibilites also. People who hustle to get a lot of referrals, those who do forensic work, work in the pharmaceutical industry or bring in grant money can make more. And, I am sure salary varies depending on part of the country.

As far as the classes you'll take, that is the least of it. Your college with have a core group of courses you must take such as Intro, Stats, Research MEthods, Developmental, Psychopathology, and History of Psychology, plus some electives. Grad school will expand on the breadth and depth of the courses and will send you out to get field training. You do not get paid for this as this is part of your training.

Clinical psychology graduate programs are very competive and you will need strong grades and strong scores on the GRE's,which is like the SAT but for grad school.

If you love it, go for it. But, you won't be rich. I wouldn't do anything else.

Answer 2

I"m not a psychologist but I am a psychology student. I can tell you that the class load is pretty intense (of course I might just feel that way because I have a double major so I have twice the work). You'll have to take the basic classes, general psych, abnormal, personality, and then you'll have a history of psychology class. All of these are pretty simple and interesting. You will also have to take several research based classes (statistics, research methods 1, 2, &3). These are the ones I struggle the most in but I'm not a very good math person. However, it isn't so difficult that you CAN'T make it.

I did some research on saleries a while back for education (my other major) and psychology. Mostly this will depend on where you live, but in Arkansas I think it was around 150-200,000. If I remember correctly.

Answer 3

I am a 3rd yr psych student and I love it. I would talk to a professor in your psych department. There are a lot of different paths you can take with a BS in psych but you will need at least a masters to make over $20,000. Where I live(MN) $200,000 would be on the very high end and is not all that realistic. I think here it would be closer to 40 thousand to start as a psychologist with a Ph. D. You will also have to (usually) pay off the loans which can get pretty hefty after going through a Ph.D. I personally am going into Industrial/organizational psych and am hoping to go into market research. Recent grads from the master I/O program where I go to school make 90 thousand plus 20% increases for the first 5 years for market research. You could choose clinical, counseling, school, or I/O then you have to also consider specialties like marriage and family therapy and so on and so forth. If you are feeling confused I would set up a meeting to talk to a professor more to see if it is something you think you would like to pursue.

Answer 4

I'm not a psychologist, but I am a second year psychology major. If you are interested in psychology, contact the college that you want to attend and meet with the department head. Your classes will start with general psy and you will proceed from there. The salary depends on the specialty; once you get into a program you can decide what you would like to do. There are many branches in this profession. I want to specialize in addictions because I have a lot of experience in the medical profession, and I think that will help me out tremendously. If you like, you may email me and I'll answer what ever I can.

Answer 5

In addition to paying for your undergraduate degree, count on 10 thousand a year for two to four years of graduate school for a masters degree, and twenty thousand dollars a year for five years for the PhD.

What is it like.... make a tape recording that says, "I'm too depressed to get out of bed, I just don't care any more, therapy isn't working nothing will help." Then play that recording over and over again for eight hours a day, and for two or three years. That is what your day is like.

Answer 6

well i know its alot of wrok i think you gotta go to school for like 4 or 5 years dont know what courses you gotta take but the school obviously would let you know and i know they make well over 150,000 + . I work for at a answering svc for drs