A degree in psychology opens the doors to a wealth of employment opportunities in a wide variety of fields. With every level of psychology degree, you can work both directly and indirectly with adults, children, teens, and families.
If research and science are your forte, this, too, is the field for you, with many avenues open for testing and evaluation. The ever-evolving nature of society presents constant needs for research and application in fields ranging from human/machine interaction to cultural diversity.
How to Get an Associates Degree in Psychology
To get an Associates Degree in Psychology, you must start with a high school degree or GED. Your application to a medical school is possible, but you actually can start out with a junior college, because an Associates Degree is your basics, such as English Composition, PE, Science, and Math.
There will be about one semester of major specific courses, so you need to choose a junior college or 4 year college that provides the proper freshman and sophomore courses to lay the foundation for psychology. Each university has its own standards and requirements, so speak with an advisor to line out a degree plan. Also, make sure you take courses that are transferable. Before you go through all that work, you’ll want to make sure you understand what you can do with an associates degree in psychology.
How to Get a Bachelors Degree in Psychology
A Bachelors Degree is usually about 130 hours of college credit. However, any degree in the sciences, especially the medical field, you can expect a minimum of 160 hours. Also, since this is a science, there will be many labs, which actually require more time in the classroom, or lab, that shows up on the hours credit.
For instance, most labs are 1 hour credit out of that 160 hours to graduation, but a lab lasts about 3 hours each time, and may meet twice a week. So, this will have to be part of your scheduling with other classes and work schedules.
A Bachelors Degree in Psychology is a wonderful springboard into just about any career. In fact, only about 5% of the BA graduates in psychology actually went to work in the field. Most of them used their higher learning skills to work in public affairs, business, health, computer programming, education, and many other fields.
How to Get a Masters Degree in Psychology
A Masters Degree is usually about 30 hours over the Bachelor’s degree. To get a Masters Degree in Psychology, you can expect to do an internship and on-the-job training.
This level of education is usually pursued by those people who want to dedicate them to the field of psychology, itself, in its relationship to other professions. Community health centers, general personnel management, and government and industry jobs are common for those with a Masters Degree in Psychology.
How to get a PhD in Psychology
PhD programs vary from science to science, and from university to university. Any PhD requires an original research topic. To accomplish this, you’ll have to present your own hypothesis and prove or disprove it by quantitative methods. Still interested? Find out more about what you can do with a PhD in Psychology.