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Tag: College Majors

  • Should I study for a Psychology Degree?

    Should I study for a Psychology Degree?

    Should I study for a psychology degree?

    Should I study for a Psychology Degree?

    Have you ever looked up at the clouds and seen animals in the shapes, or wondered why you catch somebody else’s yawn, perhaps you have felt sudden pangs of hunger as you have walked past a fast food outlet? If that sounds like you and you are interested in why you do these things, then maybe a degree in psychology is for you!

    What is psychology?

    Examples of psychology can be found everywhere, from conforming to societal norms to the typing symbol on WhatsApp, intriguing us and ultimately keeping us online longer.

    Psychology focuses on understanding a person’s emotions, personality and mind through scientific studies, experiments, observation and research. By describing the behaviour of humans, and other animals, we are better able to understand and sometimes manipulate outcomes!

    The applications of psychology are widespread, and as such, the subject has many diverse subfields, such as health psychology, developmental psychology, and forensic psychology.

    What do you study in a psychology degree?

    In a word, science. While not a ‘hard’ science degree like the physical science degrees, psychology very much has its feet deep into the STEM world, so you can expect to have studied subjects like biology, chemistry to a high level while at school. Another area that you will need to demonstrate some skill in is maths, particularly statistics.

    Psychology uses statistics to make sense of vast amounts of data and to understand its relationship to other pieces of data, even when those data points are tiny. While much of this statistical analysis can be done using statistical software, it is still important that students studying psychology have a good understanding of the field.

    As a science degree, you should expect to cover topics relating to the scientific method, but you will also get to explore areas such as developmental, behavioural, social, and cognitive psychology. As you progress through college, courses become more specialised. You might take courses on psychology as it relates to relationships, media, or education. You should also expect lots of reading, in your coursework, you will be expected to back up the arguments you make. Psychology is also a field where new studies and ideas are frequently being published, so it is important to keep up to date with professional publications.

    Is psychology a good degree for me?

    A psychology degree is a good choice for students who want to work with people and are interested in understanding human behaviour and mental processes. Helpful skills for psychology majors include open-mindedness, critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication abilities. Therefore, this major is for people who can handle stress, social dilemmas, and high-pressure situations.

    What can I do with a degree in psychology?

    Having an understanding of human thought, behaviour, development, personality, emotion, motivation, and more can give you insight that is valued across many different careers within psychology itself or more often in an almost endless number of other career areas.

    Professional careers in psychology: These will normally require you to go on to gain postgraduate qualifications before becoming licensed, in the US, or chartered, in the UK.

    If you intend to work in the US, it is important to know that each state has its licensing requirements that you must meet. That said, typically you will need to complete a master’s, or more frequently, a doctorate in psychology. In addition, you should expect to gain work experience in a related field together with at least one year’s post-doctoral experience. Having met these requirements, you must pass the Examination in Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) and any other requirements of the individual state before being awarded your licence to practice.

    For the UK, having completed your degree, it can take a further five years of experience and further training before you can call yourself a Chartered Psychologist.  After their degree, students wanting to gain chartered status will complete an accredited doctoral degree before doing further training and supervised work experience.

    If gaining professional status is for you, there is a wide range of psychology careers to train for, including:

    • Clinical psychology

    • Therapist or Counsellor

    • Educational Psychology

    • Sports and Health Psychology

    • Occupational Psychology

    • Neuropsychology

    Other careers where a psychology degree can be helpful 

    • Human Resources

    • Social Worker

    • Probation/Correction Officer

    • College/Career Adviser

    • Teacher

    • Marketing

    • Public Relations

    Top colleges and universities for psychology

    Psychology is one of the most popular degree courses in both the US and Europe so you should be able to find one that fits your needs. According to the QS World Rankings the universities with the top psychology courses are:

    • Harvard University

    • Stanford University

    • University of Cambridge

    • University of Oxford

    • University of California, Berkeley

    • University of California Los Angeles

    • University of Central London

    • Yale University

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    • University of Michigan –  Ann Arbor

  • A Guide To STEM Majors – How To Avoid Dropping Out

    A Guide To STEM Majors – How To Avoid Dropping Out

    Highest Paying STEM Majors

    How To Avoid Dropping Out of STEM Majors

    Majors in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) are the most popular choice of major for the students we work with, so it was rather a shock to come across a statistic taken from the Engage to Excel report, stating that 60% of students who start college intending to complete a STEM major end up graduating with a non-STEM degree.

    There are many reasons for this, some key ones are:

    • The expectations of STEM faculty are higher than other departments, even if they do not teach the classes that have the most demanding workloads. Grade inflation, where work is marked higher than work of a similar standard would have been marked in the past, is less prevalent in the STEM majors than in any other majors on campus or in summer breaks.

    • Grading on a curve is more common in STEM classes than in non-STEM classes. This is where the score attained by the largest number of students becomes the middle grade, meaning that the higher and lower grades are fewer in number. The impact is that teachers have already decided that a set percentage will excel, succeed, muddle through, or even fail their classes before the first class has started.

    • STEM classes in the same subject are “cumulative.”   Earlier classes lay the foundations for the following classes. If you struggle in the early classes, your struggle is likely to continue into the more advanced ones.

    • The above combine to create a “sink or swim” mentality. Grading is more competitive. And if you don’t seek help, you are more than likely to fail.

    An important factor that can contribute to STEM students getting into problems with their studies is that in many colleges, introductory courses in subjects like computer science, chemistry, physics, biology, and mathematics are used to fulfill the core requirements for students who don’t intend to pursue STEM majors. The result is that it can be difficult to get into a class you need to progress onto the other classes you need to study, and you have students with a wide variety of interests in the one class. This is most commonly a problem in larger state colleges; the better ones recognise the problem and they run separate sessions for different groups of students.

    Below are some of the things you should be looking for when deciding if the college you are interested in college counsellor who will help you make a strong start to your STEM studies.

    • The quality of the textbook(s): is the text something that majors and non-majors will be able to understand, even if the faculty member or the teaching are poor lecturers?

    • The varied academic interests of students. For example, a prospective pre-med, psychology major, economics major, and environmental studies major all have different interests. But they must all take biology and chemistry. More schools are designing classes or lab sections around these interests.

    • The amount of help available. Many schools have peer tutoring programs in STEM classes and other subjects where a student who aced the course is paid to provide small-group or one-to-one instruction to other students who are struggling with the material. These programs have become quite visible, even at schools such as Georgia Tech that enroll some incredibly bright people.

    • “Flipped” lectures. One new technique used by colleges is to encourage students to listen to the lecture on their own time, then attend class to learn more about the material discussed.

    If you are a student intent on pursuing a STEM major, do take the time to explore not just what you will learn in class, but also how you will be taught. What are the average class sizes in introductory courses, and how will you be supported to gain the foundations you will need for your future courses? Get these things right,t and your chances of graduating with the STEM degree you are set on increase.