# Is psychology a useless major?



## alipaige

If I were to major in Psychology, what job opportunities are there for a psychology degree?

I've heard that this is an over-crowded major with very few job opportunities.

Is this true?


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## Under Pressure

If you were to get a PhD in Psychology, there will be plenty of job opportunities. 

My sister-in-law only got a BA in Psychology. Four months after she graduated, she landed a job with Eli Lilly and Company and is a pharmacutical sales rep. She works only four days a week and she chooses the time of day of when she wants to work. She drives around and goes to meetings with doctors and try's to sell them her company's drugs. After 2 years on the job, she was making 6 figures. 

So a pharmacutical sales rep is one job oppurtunity that comes to mind.


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## Stanley

It's not as useless as Women's Studies but unless you get PhD you won't be able to do much with any lesser degree in this field.


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## coldmorning

I don't think there are too many useless majors but rather there are a lot of people who pick the wrong major for them. Psychology can be very useful depending on what your goals and interests are. But for some people it's totally wrong. Nobody can really tell you if it's the right major for you except yourself.

I know that's vague and not very helpful. But generally, if you aren't sure about your career path right now, pick a field that really interests you. One rarely goes wrong when following their interests (the exception being when it conflicts with another life goal). Don't worry about whether your field is over crowded because many degrees, like psychology, are useful in different fields. 

A bachelors degree is about getting a broad education and learning useful life skills. Your choice of degree is not really as important as many people at that age think. For example, even if you end up wanting to go to med school, most medical admissions committees would take more interest in a history major (who fulfilled med school requirements) over someone who majored in biology and minored in chem (all other things being equal). I'm not making this up and you should speak to a career counselor at your school to verify this. Remember this is assuming you've fulfilled the requirements to get into med school like math.

But you can do pretty much anything with most degrees. The world is not as rigid as you may think. Many computer programmers did not major in computer programming. Many financial planners did not major in finance. The CEO at one place I worked at (with over 7,000 employees) did not have a business degree... And so on. A lot of schools will also discourage things like getting a pre-med degree and there is no such thing as an undergrad pre-law major (at most reputable schools). 

Why is this? Because over-specialization at a young age tends to lead to a narrow perspective. Most higher paid jobs need people who have a broad set of skills and experience. When I went to grad school, there was clearly an interest in cross disciplinary studies. Most grad departments loved getting students who had undergrad degrees from a different major. 

So if you're uncertain right now, don't worry so much about it. The world is a very uncertain place. It's more important to learn to deal with uncertainty as it happens rather than feel your life should have a set path ahead of you, fwiw.


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## veryshyperson

A Ph.D. in Psych is pretty useless as well. There is no reason to go that far in that field if you can't prescribe medication to patients and won't have the job security or financial stability of an M.D. Other than being a psychologist your options become limited financially of what you can do with that degree. Sure you can become a professor or something along those lines, but those jobs are hard to find and don't pay very well.


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## kikachuck

coldmorning said:


> I don't think there are too many useless majors but rather there are a lot of people who pick the wrong major for them. Psychology can be very useful depending on what your goals and interests are. But for some people it's totally wrong. Nobody can really tell you if it's the right major for you except yourself.
> 
> I know that's vague and not very helpful. But generally, if you aren't sure about your career path right now, pick a field that really interests you. One rarely goes wrong when following their interests (the exception being when it conflicts with another life goal). Don't worry about whether your field is over crowded because many degrees, like psychology, are useful in different fields.
> 
> A bachelors degree is about getting a broad education and learning useful life skills. Your choice of degree is not really as important as many people at that age think. For example, even if you end up wanting to go to med school, most medical admissions committees would take more interest in a history major (who fulfilled med school requirements) over someone who majored in biology and minored in chem (all other things being equal). I'm not making this up and you should speak to a career counselor at your school to verify this. Remember this is assuming you've fulfilled the requirements to get into med school like math.
> 
> But you can do pretty much anything with most degrees. The world is not as rigid as you may think. Many computer programmers did not major in computer programming. Many financial planners did not major in finance. The CEO at one place I worked at (with over 7,000 employees) did not have a business degree... And so on. A lot of schools will also discourage things like getting a pre-med degree and there is no such thing as an undergrad pre-law major (at most reputable schools).
> 
> Why is this? Because over-specialization at a young age tends to lead to a narrow perspective. Most higher paid jobs need people who have a broad set of skills and experience. When I went to grad school, there was clearly an interest in cross disciplinary studies. Most grad departments loved getting students who had undergrad degrees from a different major.
> 
> So if you're uncertain right now, don't worry so much about it. The world is a very uncertain place. It's more important to learn to deal with uncertainty as it happens rather than feel your life should have a set path ahead of you, fwiw.


:agree

Well said


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## Kelly

I have a BS in psych. To do anything, really, you'll need at least master's. It also depends on if you want to do clinical psych or not. For clinical, your master's will be sufficient - at least in Ohio.

Psych is also the most popular major in the college of arts and sciences at my university, so there are a lot of people majoring in it. (I got my psych degree at a different school though.)

Have a nice day,
Kelly


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## SilentLoner

It defenitely not useless. You could try a double major if you're interested in a subject that could add to it (that's why I'm going for a double degree in biological anthropology and criminal justice). 

Anthropology is my main interest, but I enjoy criminal justice as well and its more secure as a career.

Are you planning to attend grad school?


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## screwjack

If you aren't going to go past a bachelors it is useless unless you have a lot of social connections or know someone which is exactly the reason I transferred out of psychology when I found out. You will have to do lots of clinical hours (free work) and years of study plus sucking up to professors on top of all the serious debt you will accumulate. In the end I wasn't willing to do all that even if I did something that didn't involve patients you still need to be social to get jobs so as someone with SA it didn't seem so feasible. .


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## alipaige

coldmorning said:


> I don't think there are too many useless majors but rather there are a lot of people who pick the wrong major for them. Psychology can be very useful depending on what your goals and interests are. But for some people it's totally wrong. Nobody can really tell you if it's the right major for you except yourself.
> 
> I know that's vague and not very helpful. But generally, if you aren't sure about your career path right now, pick a field that really interests you. One rarely goes wrong when following their interests (the exception being when it conflicts with another life goal). Don't worry about whether your field is over crowded because many degrees, like psychology, are useful in different fields.
> 
> A bachelors degree is about getting a broad education and learning useful life skills. Your choice of degree is not really as important as many people at that age think. For example, even if you end up wanting to go to med school, most medical admissions committees would take more interest in a history major (who fulfilled med school requirements) over someone who majored in biology and minored in chem (all other things being equal). I'm not making this up and you should speak to a career counselor at your school to verify this. Remember this is assuming you've fulfilled the requirements to get into med school like math.
> 
> But you can do pretty much anything with most degrees. The world is not as rigid as you may think. Many computer programmers did not major in computer programming. Many financial planners did not major in finance. The CEO at one place I worked at (with over 7,000 employees) did not have a business degree... And so on. A lot of schools will also discourage things like getting a pre-med degree and there is no such thing as an undergrad pre-law major (at most reputable schools).
> 
> Why is this? Because over-specialization at a young age tends to lead to a narrow perspective. Most higher paid jobs need people who have a broad set of skills and experience. When I went to grad school, there was clearly an interest in cross disciplinary studies. Most grad departments loved getting students who had undergrad degrees from a different major.
> 
> So if you're uncertain right now, don't worry so much about it. The world is a very uncertain place. It's more important to learn to deal with uncertainty as it happens rather than feel your life should have a set path ahead of you, fwiw.


Thank you. This helped me a lot.


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## CopadoMexicano

I was a psych major but changed because I was struggling a lot with the mathematics requirements at the university I was going to. Now I have three different majors all in one. As for employment, you may find jobs in sales, health related services, administrative positions, education/ teaching, and public relations.


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## scaredtolive

It's not useless if you get and advanced degree in it. I've heard you at least need a masters minimum and to practice you really need a Phd.


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## hyacinth_dragon

if you're going to major in psych, major in something else as well. if you have sa it is really hard to get a job thats beyond something you could get with just a high school diploma with just a bachelors in psych.


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## OverAnalyzer2989

I was going to major in Psych as well, but decided that considering the amount of work & money needed to get a job that would stablize me, it's not really worth it. I guess what it really comes down to is how much you love it and are willing to work to get a degree like that because unless you get your master's, there are few good, financially securing jobs. I mean, I really LOVE psychology. It's what i really want to do, but at the same time, I'm a magazine journalism major right now and feel that I can write/research things to tell people about topics that will affect their lives, especially psychological subjects.


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## veryshyperson

Well the bottom line is that if you want to make decent money you are going to have to work your *** off in any field. Some fields just offer more realistic opportunities than others to reach the goal of making decent money. There's one thing to love something dearly and another thing to be realistic and work in a field that can actually give you a stable financial life.


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## pita

Everything Coldmorning said.


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## sanspants08

I have a psych degree and stable, well-paying job, but it took me a while to find one. There for a while I quit the field and went into graphic design, which paid reeeeeaaaally badly lol. Basically, you need a higher degree than a bachelor's if you want to do anything in psych that involves therapy...which I have no desire to pursue. I'm pretty happy working in the ER and only seeing each patient once.


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## Stanley

coldmorning said:


> pick a field that really interests you.


I know a few guys with bachelor's in History and Political science. They picked something that really interested them, but considering that half of them works in Burger King, and the other half in Pizza Hut something tells me they didn't make the right decision. I still think that you should consider what your degree is really worth in the real world.



> Many computer programmers did not major in computer programming.


That was the case about 10 years ago. After the dot-com bubble burst IT companies had gotten more picky.


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## coldmorning

Stanley said:


> I know a few guys with bachelor's in History and Political science. They picked something that really interested them, but considering that half of them works in Burger King, and the other half in Pizza Hut something tells me they didn't make the right decision. I still think that you should consider what your degree is really worth in the real world.


That's a correlation and does not show cause and effect. Have you ever thought maybe those guys would be working at Burger King regardless of their major?

There are lots of people who will say that... I majored in 'x' and now I work at mcd so major 'x' sucks. What about all the people who majored in x and became very successful? They need to take responsibility for where they ended up. It's not your major or your school or etc... it's you. I don't mean that in a derogatory way... obviously one can have other issues that keep them from being successful. By the way, that CEO I mentioned before only had a ba in geography.


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## alipaige

I appreciate everyone's responses. 

Also, I'd like to make it clear that if i did decide to go into this field, I would probably not just settle for a BA. 

What different types of careers in psychology are available for someone with a masters? 

Btw, I'm not interested in becoming a psychiatrist or attending 4 years of med school.


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## ameliabedelia

Alipaige, do you mean you want to pursue a master's in Psych or another field? For people with a background in psych, you can also work in the non-profit sector. I worked at a women's shelter and my supervisor at a master's in clinical psychology and a M.Ed in psych. She had a management position at the organization and also taught psychology on the side at a local technical college.


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## cakesniffer

ameliabedelia said:


> Alipaige, do you mean you want to pursue a master's in Psych or another field? For people with a background in psych, you can also work in the non-profit sector. I worked at a women's shelter and my supervisor at a master's in clinical psychology and a M.Ed in psych. She had a management position at the organization and also taught psychology on the side at a local technical college.


My boyfriend has a BA in psychology and his goal is to get into the non-profit sector. He just started his program for an MA in Organizational Systems.


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## entropy

Stanley said:


> I know a few guys with bachelor's in History and Political science. They picked something that really interested them, but considering that half of them works in Burger King, and the other half in Pizza Hut something tells me they didn't make the right decision. I still think that you should consider what your degree is really worth in the real world.


Sucks for them. I am graduating with a degree in Political Science with a minor in History, and I am getting sweet job offers from everyone from C-Span in DC, think tanks, to local law firms. This is very odd, because I am not even graduating with honors, and I am having a relatively positive experience in finding a job. Fellow classmates who graduated Summa cum laude with a degree in Political Science can't find a job for anything. And no, I did not pursue an internship or do anything spectular while in college.

Original poster. The worst thing you can do is listen to people who are demoralized. That negative energy is going to rub off on you, and cause you to make a decision that may not be in your interests. They have valid points, and you should consider them but ultimately the decision is yours. My fellow May 09 graduates with degrees in Psychology have gotten job offers with decent starting salaries, even in this crappy job market. If I would have dropped my major every time someone told me that I was going to live in a cardboard box if I didn't get a law degree because a poli sci degree was useless........


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## solasum

^Out of curiosity, how do you get job offers? If people contact you, how do they find out about you in the first place?


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## entropy

I get job offers by applying for a position, going to the interview, and getting the job offer from the employer. Other people put in applications and interview with companies that come on campus during the job fairs. Some people make a good impression with the company or organization during their internship, and they receive job offers like that. Some people have connections, and they don't have to do much of anything.


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## entropy

polythene said:


> Entropy, I'm guessing your case is unusual. Maybe you're stunningly charming.
> 
> Really, there's no degree that guarantees you'll put food on the table, though applied sciences, engineering, computer science, medicine and law are generally majors that increase your chances of securing a decent, relatively well-paying job.


My point is that I have what some people could call a "useless" degree, and I am not confined to the types of jobs people say I would be confined too, much to my own surprise. All too often, I see people get discouraged by the negative talk of others, and they end up working dead end jobs because they feel that is all they qualify for.

What you say it definitely true. But what's the point of thinking negatively? Those people with job offers thought positively and yes they were charming, they displayed their intelligence and related their fields of study to the position, like any sensible person who wants a job would do. I know one young lady who graduated last year with a BA in African American Studies and who has a $45,000 salary working with inner-city kids and runs her own non-profit organization and business. She is a go getter. You would think someone in her position would be working at Mickey Dees.

I am just saying.... a Liberal Arts degree doesn't mean you have to work in retail or service jobs.

I understand one must think realistically, but some of you are just downright negative.


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## Neptunus

Kelly said:


> I have a BS in psych. To do anything, really, you'll need at least master's. It also depends on if you want to do clinical psych or not. For clinical, your master's will be sufficient - at least in Ohio.


:ditto Heh, I have a BA in psychology. My university didn't consider it a science.


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## entropy

polythene said:


> True, but we also have SA, which severely limits our options regardless of the degree we earn. Many people on the forums have problems going through with a retail interview, so I'd imagine we're all daunted by the prospect of not being as qualified as possible for a 'real job,' given our stunted social skills. If you have special training, there's at least the chance someone will hire you because you've got expertise in a certain field, but with a 'useless' major you need to have a big personality, which many of us are too fearful or anxious to show. I completely agree that an extroverted go-getter would have no problem majoring in something like philosophy and securing a totally random, well-paying job in an unrelated field, but they have the social advantage, which counts enormously.
> 
> And "if you want it bad enough, you'll put aside your SA" is really not a plausible option for a lot of anxious people. We can handle college, sure, but the real world is another thing.


I hear you. Putting aside my SA had to be an option for me, because I am extremely poor and I could possibly be homeless in a few weeks. I guess I didn't realize how far I have come in regards to my social anxiety. I am able to pretend that I am fairly normal and I am willing to challenge the negative thinking that contributes to the social anxiety and be fairly comfortable in certain situations, especially if I am trying to compete for something that I desperately need. Some people have allowed social anxiety to control their lives. I say this not to be mean or anything, because unfortunately I've been there. But while going to threapy, I have been encouraged to not think in terms of "Since I have social anxiety, let me find the jobs that require the least interaction with people." I have been encouraged to do what I want and to challenge the negative thinking that says I can't do it because I have social anxiety. I see alot of people on this forum have just accepted the fact that they will have social anxiety for the rest of their lives. If you are going to allow social anxiety to influence every decision you make, especially in regards to your career, why go to college in the first place?


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## Kelly

entropy said:


> I hear you. Putting aside my SA had to be an option for me, because I am extremely poor and I could possibly be homeless in a few weeks. I guess I didn't realize how far I have come in regards to my social anxiety. I am able to pretend that I am fairly normal and I am willing to challenge the negative thinking that contributes to the social anxiety and be fairly comfortable in certain situations, especially if I am trying to compete for something that I desperately need. Some people have allowed social anxiety to control their lives. I say this not to be mean or anything, because unfortunately I've been there. But while going to threapy, I have been encouraged to not think in terms of "Since I have social anxiety, let me find the jobs that require the least interaction with people." *I have been encouraged to do what I want and to challenge the negative thinking that says I can't do it because I have social anxiety.* I see alot of people on this forum have just accepted the fact that they will have social anxiety for the rest of their lives. If you are going to allow social anxiety to influence every decision you make, especially in regards to your career, why go to college in the first place?


:agree Brilliant post. :clap:clap:clap

Have a nice day,
Kelly


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## UltraShy

1. Yes

2. One economist described a bachelors degree as "the biggest ripoff in America" and for the most part I'd agree. The exception would be degrees that clearly lead to a job such as engineering degrees that actually pay quite well, likely because there are so few willing to take on a degree program so difficult.


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## alipaige

Thank you so much, everyone.  

I have about another year left before I have to decide my major, but it's always important to be thinking about it.


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## Sonoran Lion

UltraShy said:


> 2. One economist described a bachelors degree as "the biggest ripoff in America" and for the most part I'd agree. The exception would be degrees that clearly lead to a job such as engineering degrees that actually pay quite well, likely because there are so few willing to take on a degree program so difficult.


I agree to a point. In many career fields a bachelors degree is no guarantee that you'll get employment, or even the job that you want in the field that you want, but a bachelors degree is valuable in advancing your career. However, this also depends on the career field and the program of study one earned the degree from.


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## Sonoran Lion

polythene said:


> Yeah. A bachelor's may be 'useless,' but it at least helps you get your foot in the door. Very few professional jobs will bother looking at the rest of your resume if you haven't at least completed undergrad.


I agree; though, I believe a bachelors degree is more useful in being promoted within an organization. In my experience, getting your foot in the door rests a lot on who you know and what experience you have respective of the position you are applying for.



> No bachelor's degree is completely and utterly useless, but they cost WAY more than what they're currently worth. It's like the equivalent of completing high school nowadays, but with thousands of dollars in loans.


I agree in some cases, but would say it depends on the degree and the career field. A good indicator of the worth of a degree, in terms of dollar amount, may be the measure of how long it takes to recover the costs of the degree.


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## coldmorning

Interesting thread and a lot of good points made. A few thoughts I had were:

Cost:
It can be a problem but that usually stems from students planning poorly and thinking they have to go to the school with the best reputation regardless of cost. Or they decide to take the 6 year plan because they want to avoid getting a job. There are lots of scholarships, grants and so on. Community colleges are a cheap way to fulfill your first two years. Interest rates on student loans also tend to be really low. And state schools aren't that expensive. Some people don't really understand loans... it's just a number to them and they end up racking debt without giving it much thought. 

It isn't that hard to get a degree for cheap. A lot of students, however, make it very hard on themselves. 

Purpose:
A lot of comments seem to focus on getting a college degree to get a well paid job. Money is important but so is career satisfaction. And people who are happy in their career tend to move up quicker because they perform it better (generally). 

I made a comment before that "you rarely go wrong by following your interests". Somehow I think it got misinterpreted. I wasn't claiming that if you pick a major you like, you're guaranteed a six-figure job and perfect career with a perfect life. That wasn't what I was saying at all. It was meant for someone who was uncertain about their career direction and concerned about cutting off options too early (getting stuck with a useless degree). 

If you follow your interests, you're more likely to do well in school. You're also more likely to absorb and keep what you learn. And you're more likely to branch out from a subject you're interested in and do something unique with it. Majoring in psychology can lead to lots of careers... criminology, marketing, advertising, economics (yes, psychology is considered very important in econ). Many grad school economics professors would be thrilled to have a psychology undergrad who showed they weren't afraid of math and took a few econ classes. 

"Follow your interests" doesn't mean "rack up enormous debt by going to the most expensive school". After all if you're pursuing your passion, the name of the school should not be the main factor. It also doesn't mean one should necessarily even go to college. Some of those history majors who are working at burger king probably did not pick history because they loved the subject... they probably picked it because it was the least repulsive of several majors. "Follow your interests" can also mean you might be better off pursuing a technical school or a non academic career.

Your success in life is far, far more determined by personal traits rather than a few words on a square piece of paper. Most of the factual information you learn is school gets forgotten anyway. It is absolutely more important to work on yourself as a person, rather than try to pick the right degrees in the hopes that an employer will be impressed by that. And following your interests is a step toward working on yourself because it says to yourself that my interests are valuable. A little while ago I saw on the news a woman who had been fired and she was angry. She said she had a master's and complained how wrong it was. Personally, the biggest correlation I notice between unemployed people is not with a particular degree but the fact that they always seem to blame things like their major or the world in general.


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## alexbutton

*Psychology Degree Worthless?*

I kind of think you're right to wonder if a psychology degree is worthless. You might get lucky and find an employer down the road who is willing to overlook the psychology aspect of your degree and just be happy you have one at all, but there really aren't that many jobs out there for just undergraduates. Maybe if you go to grad school, too, but otherwise not likely... :|


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## Frepet

I'm taking BA psychology, beginning second year now, and I will probably take psychiatric nurse degree afterwards (it's a good combination) or continue towards Phd


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## Charmander

I don't think it's the most useful, but it's definitely not as worthless as a fine art degree.


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## Slumknox

Personally, I feel that it comes down to finances. If your parents are loaded and the price of college isn't an issue, why not do what you like to do? On the other hand, if you are 50 grand in debt when you graduate, then maybe psych wasn't a great choice.

If I felt that a degree in Philosophy was worth racking up 15-20 grand of debt, I would have majored in it.


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## Micronian

alipaige said:


> If I were to major in Psychology, what job opportunities are there for a psychology degree?
> 
> I've heard that this is an over-crowded major with very few job opportunities.
> 
> Is this true?


The job opportunities with a bachelors in psychology is pretty much the same as anyone with a bachelor's degree in social science or arts; It's a general level degree which will lead to an entry-level office job, or thereabouts.

A junior college degree would likely get you to the same place, but there will likely be a ceiling to where you can reach, because at some point you will need a university degree if you want to keep moving up.

To have a career precisely in psychology or some kind of counseling field, you will need a professional degree, which is post-grad.


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## jm2232123

*Actually it is not..*

Hi,

After seeing this thread, I was too curious to reply.
Actually, Psychology can help you in getting very great jobs.
I have completed my bachelor's degree in psychology from CBU online. After completion of my course, I had plenty of job options such as advertising agents, career counsellor, laboratory assistant and psychiatric technician.

Even you can get such job opportunities, once you complete your course.

Regards
J


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