Thinking about changing my Major

S Freud

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2005
4,755
1
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Currently I am pursuing a B.S. in Psychology, I had planned on going all the way to getting my doctorate.

However when I look at how much work it is to balance a full time job, school, and try to have a life it becomes more of a realization that I don't think I can make it all the way to doctorate school.

People have also been telling me that a BS in Psychology will get me nothing, I know that I at least need to get a masters to even be looked at, which is something I had always planned to do.

Some other majors I am considering changing to:

Marketing: business seems like a good way to go and I do enjoy creating ads and brainstorming things related.

Industrial Engineering: the problem with this is I'm not very good at math and I don't like math very much.

Constructional, Environmental, Civil Engineering: See above reasons

I guess really I don't know what I want to do anymore, Psychology just doesn't seem like the way to go anymore. And I don't want to leave college with a useless degree, I enjoy Psychology but if its not a secure field then obviously its not something I want to enter.

Any helpful advice from people that have been in a similar situation would be much appreciated.
 

mercanucaribe

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
9,763
1
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Why do you have a fulltime job? Try getting loans and working part time. Your time is worth more now than the money will be worth once you've started your career.

In any case, look at other careers. You may not get much useful advice on this forum, because people here only know engineering, programming, IT, etc.

I majored in geography and graduated last May. I've been an intern at Yellowstone for the past 5 months, and now I"m trying to find a job, which shouldn't be a problem. Yet most people have no idea that geography is a major.
 

AnthroAndStargate

Golden Member
Oct 7, 2005
1,350
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0
If you like Psychology consider Sociology or Anthropology - they are a lot more scientific in their methods of looking at human interaction. But if you don't want to go to grad school they may not be the best option. You could always major in English and then go teach English in Peace Corps for 2-3 years until you figure out what you want to do.
 

fire400

Diamond Member
Nov 21, 2005
5,204
21
81
1. friend lives in Sandiego now.

major: IT field

wife makes: hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, bought off two houses for family members here in Minnesota.

He is going back to school to study in the medical field. my mom says he claims that there are no jobs available. however, I think he is just being picky. he is an EXCELLENT teacher, is billingual in two very hard Asian languages, Laotian and Hmong. Perfect English skills and is a know-how with very effective methods of learning new things.

if you have the right talent, don't waste it on a field that isn't right foro you. you don't have to make more money than your spouse, but it's pretty embarrasing to know that she is the one working and the father is staying home with the kids, or is he working at a low paying job? thing is, he can't afford that, so he is going back to school to do something worth while. as far as the kids... umm... mommy is staying home now?

Well that's something to think about. Most very decent and hardworking men I know recommend that you do something with your time where 'mother' is home with the kids, and not two parents working all the time, at least not a dead end spectrum.

2, I have another friend who owns a multi-million dollar statistics company. His company has helped Target, KBtoys, Timex, etc. in developing/evolutionizing their industrialism and advertising schemes. He has a Masters in Computer Science. Him and his wife had kids at the time, very young of age, in their 20's and you know how young their kids were... very young. He and his spouse worked for a few years to help pay off a house so that they kept the commitment of buying things that did not require borrowing money or taking loans - which was their standard of living (pretty high standards if you'd ask me). Wife is a stay at home mother, father has a lot of off time but works long hours to keep his company going.

Point being, I think if you're willing to change majors, put your family in the picture and do a run-down on your long-term calender several times in several different ways. If it looks good to you, then you've got that much to take off of your shoulders when you finish each day of your pursuing career, knowing you're headed in the right direction.

It's the people you spend time with that get you places, tagged along with what you accomplish by yourself. But don't get stuck at a dead end job, oppurtunity is key. When one door closes, another opens.
 

tfinch2

Lifer
Feb 3, 2004
22,114
1
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Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Why do you have a fulltime job? Try getting loans and working part time. Your time is worth more now than the money will be worth once you've started your career.

That is the biggest bunch of crap I've ever heard.
 

mercanucaribe

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
9,763
1
0
Originally posted by: tfinch2
Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Why do you have a fulltime job? Try getting loans and working part time. Your time is worth more now than the money will be worth once you've started your career.

That is the biggest bunch of crap I've ever heard.

He's having a hard time with school. How does it not make sense to work a few less hours a week and use that time to keep his grades up??
 

meltdown75

Lifer
Nov 17, 2004
37,558
7
81
I started out as an English major and switched to Communication Studies. For me it was more of a choice towards more interest in the actual topics of study as opposed to what I could get a job doing with each discipline under my belt. With English... you basically read & write. Comm Studies offered a lot more applied courses such as photography and media studies while still focusing on the literary aspect, ie. journalism courses.

What do you enjoy studying more? What do you love? Try not to base your decision as much on what kind of job you will land when you graduate or what chances you will have in a certain career. Do what you love and follow your heart. You will be working for a long time when you graduate. You will find that it is more important to be doing something you love than something that you don't like as much but pays more. Well... depending on what type of person you are of course. That's my 0.02 but hope it helps somewhat or lends some perspective.

That said, I've been in the workforce for 7 1/2 years ('99 grad) and I landed in a field entirely unrelated to Comm. Studies... but I can assure you that not only did I enjoy my studies more but I have something concrete to fall back on - whether it be a career in journalism, reporting, etc. Best of luck to you whatever you decide.
 

AbsolutZero

Senior member
Oct 16, 2000
327
0
0
Actually, psychology and marketing are related. I would pursue marketing and don't be shy come resume time to highlight how many psych hours you completed.

BTW, focus on school and graduate as soon as possible. PT jobs can cause delays and/or poor grades.
 

akubi

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2005
4,392
1
0
all you get out of an undergrad major in psychology is a B.S. on B.S.
i'd say get out now if you have no intention of pursuing grad school.
 

QurazyQuisp

Platinum Member
Feb 5, 2003
2,554
0
76
Originally posted by: S Freud
Currently I am pursuing a B.S. in Psychology, I had planned on going all the way to getting my doctorate.

However when I look at how much work it is to balance a full time job, school, and try to have a life it becomes more of a realization that I don't think I can make it all the way to doctorate school.

People have also been telling me that a BS in Psychology will get me nothing, I know that I at least need to get a masters to even be looked at, which is something I had always planned to do.

Some other majors I am considering changing to:

Marketing: business seems like a good way to go and I do enjoy creating ads and brainstorming things related.

Industrial Engineering: the problem with this is I'm not very good at math and I don't like math very much.

Constructional, Environmental, Civil Engineering: See above reasons

I guess really I don't know what I want to do anymore, Psychology just doesn't seem like the way to go anymore. And I don't want to leave college with a useless degree, I enjoy Psychology but if its not a secure field then obviously its not something I want to enter.

Any helpful advice from people that have been in a similar situation would be much appreciated.

Why not go for a dual degree?

I'm not sure what your school's requirements are, but Michigan State University's requires 150 total credits (assuming you've filled all the requirements of both majors) for two degrees, over the 120 for one degree.

One of my friends is a psychology + marketing major and is graduating this year with dual degrees, he already has had quite a number of job offers all being around 60k starting with a lot of room for vertical development.

I'm currently going for my BS in Econ and Computer Science...

 

S Freud

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2005
4,755
1
81
QurazyQuisp, I take it what you're talking about is completely different then graduating with a major and a minor right? What are th benefits to having a dual degree rather than just having minor?
 

krunchykrome

Lifer
Dec 28, 2003
13,413
1
0
In my opinion, a B.S. in Psychology is BS, literally, unless you go forward and pursue an incredible amount of higher education.

That said, I changed my major from Business Admin to Accounting. And it was the best thing I've ever done.
 

QurazyQuisp

Platinum Member
Feb 5, 2003
2,554
0
76
Originally posted by: S Freud
QurazyQuisp, I take it what you're talking about is completely different then graduating with a major and a minor right? What are th benefits to having a dual degree rather than just having minor?

Yes, completely different then a major & minor.

Once you graduate, you end up with two seperate degrees, in my friends case he'll have a BA in Psychology and a BA in Marketing. For me I'll end up with two BS degrees, one in Computer Science, one in Economics.

The benefits are that you will have much more education in a subject if you go for the full degree than a minor, usually minors only require a few classes of a certain subject for a minor.

So, not only do you have experience in both marketing and psychology, but you also have the option to get a job in either field, or find a job that uses both. Advertising & Marketing companies love Marketing + Psychology majors because there is a lot of psychology that goes into marketing and advertising, it puts you one step above all other applicants.
 

mrkun

Platinum Member
Jul 17, 2005
2,189
0
0
Originally posted by: QurazyQuisp

I'm currently going for my BS in Econ and Computer Science...

I was looking over your B.S. in Econ requirements at MSU. How do they justify that an extra math course and an upper div. stats course warrants a B.S. over a B.A.?
 

chambersc

Diamond Member
Feb 11, 2005
6,247
0
0
Originally posted by: mrkun
Originally posted by: QurazyQuisp

I'm currently going for my BS in Econ and Computer Science...

I was looking over your B.S. in Econ requirements at MSU. How do they justify that an extra math course and an upper div. stats course warrants a B.S. over a B.A.?

Why are you gun-ho on a B.S. degree?
 

CountZero

Golden Member
Jul 10, 2001
1,796
36
86
If you are leaving psych but love it then thats a mistake. Going to grad school you will almost certainly not work outside the school. I should mention this is coming from my experience with EE but many schools guarantee you to be funded if they accept you into the grad school. This means you will work as a teaching assistant or research assistant and you will get a tuition waiver plus a monthly stipend while you finish your degree. That being said I believe getting into psych grad programs is very competetive and you should probably have some undergrad research work already under your belt when app.

If you are leaving psych because it just doesn't interest you the way you thought it would then I would say business is good in general. If you are already nearly done with your psych requirements making it a double major definitely doesn't hurt. And if you hate math stay away from engineering, I can't speak for all of them, but at least in EE its almost nothing but math.

Good luck!
 

Fike

Senior member
Oct 2, 2001
388
0
0
There are no useless degrees. Do what interests you, and a profession you didn't even know existed will present itself. If you are smart and have a disciplined, educated mind, in any field, you will find productivity and happiness. Psychology is not a worthless field. I can easily name several jobs that you can get into right out of college:

Survey design and implementation
Human Factors (interfaces) design
Social Work
Human Resources

I studied English Literature, and I assure you my salary far exceeds anything I ever thought I would have. Life is good.