Roswellgirl1001

I need a lil' help from the professionals over here!
I'm seriously considering a career in general psychology, the one with a degree and many, many years of medical school. Could anyone help me with what courses I should take in High School that might help, and any suggestions about psychology careers?
I just need information from anyone who knows! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

lilivonschtupp

Well, you won't have to worry about medical school to go into psychology, so you can check that off your list. Psychiatry on the other hand, would put you in medical school. I'm not a psychologist, so I can't actually help, but I just thought I'd let you know that you could be a psychologist a lot sooner than you thought.

Ken Adams

I'm in a psychology class right now. Gotta love wireless universities.

It wasn't something I planned on either. I just took some psyc classes here for my general ed requirements, and they were interesting, and I did relatively well in them. I was hating biology and chemistry stuff, so I dropped bio as my major. What kind of psyc courses does your high school offer? Because if you've got a selection, then that's a pretty great starting point. My HS didn't have a single one, but I was all super bio/anatomy guy back then anyway.

I took a couple of cognitive science courses before going full-force with this psyc major, and they've been a little helpful. Not the computer-based stuff, but the stuff about the brain we discussed. I'd suggest taking a couple of intro and seeing what else interests you. If you think you might like working with kids/teaching, I think some behavioral psyc courses would be good. I took a behavioral modification class last quarter, and it was fascinating. And if you're cool with the more science/technical stuff, you might look into sensation/perception psych. Or if the brain interests you, then study cognitive psych. I'm taking a social psyc class right now, and I love it. Not too much "science", but it's still complex stuff and if you like working with people and observing them and your own behavior, you might want to take that. I don't know a whole deal, but I could go into some more stuff, PM me if you like.

satansgirl

I want to became a psycholoog to. Here in the Netherlands you can go from the highschool directly to a study voor spygology, but thats here. So im sorry i dont know [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

Mio

I took Psychology in the 12th grade and it helped when I took it last year. My minor is going to be noth Psychology and Sociology.

You need to talk to a student advisor to help you select the Psychology courses that you will need to take to get a general psychology degree.

At my school there are so many psych classes, but once you ask, you'll be on the right path.

- Sudy -

I'm also taking a psychology class in highschool. It's a College Now class that gives you college credit and I pretty much like what i've been learning. Right now, i'm thinking of becoming a psychiatrist because I really want to become a doctor. But if you don't want to get the medical degree but still want to treat people, you can become a clinical psychologist.

Do you know what kind of courses your highschool is offering in psychology? As others have said, talk to your grade adviser about this.

New York City

I'm interested in going into Psychology too. I'm not eligible for my high school's AP Psychology courses until next year when I'll be an 11th grader.

Roswellgirl1001

Wow, thanks guys! I am planning to take Sociology in 11th and Psychology in 12th. Would it help to be in any other Medical classes, like Health Science?
lilivonschtupp, I could have sworn on one the sites I visited that it said you would need an MD or something. I'll check again.
Ken, thanks for all those different options. Actually, cognitive science doesn't sound so bad...
But I have some more time for that! I'll check with my counselor.

Mitt Mitt St Clair

I know a child psychiatrist, who obviously went through medical school and all. He's very wealthy now, and owns a few homes. It definitely helps to get a doctorate if you're going into the field. He likes it a lot but just be wary it's a very stressful field to go into if you're working with people. To put it simply, just realize you are listening to ill people's problems all day long every day, and you end up taking it home with you. I actually think it's quite interesting despite that. Right now I'm taking some soc classes. I love it!

Baranlothiel

It really depends on what you want to do with your degree. If you want to be a psychologist you'll need a Ph.D so that would mean going to grad school.

As for high school classes, take all of the Psych/Soc classes you can and if there are any available, take AP or IB...anything that can get you college credit [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

lilivonschtupp

You can't do much in the field without a PhD, but medical school isn't needed. Only when you work with drugs. Either way, you get to be called Doctor!

poohead

I'm doing a Psychology degree at uni/college.

It depends what kind of psychologist you want to be. Most people who are interested in psych. usually want to do clinical psych., which really has very limited job prospects. Apparently organisational psychology is a pretty good branch to look at. However, even if you do Psychology major at college, you still need to consider Masters or PhD to become a registered Psychologist. Mind you, this is in Australia. It might be different in the States.

*Ledi*

I want to be a psychologist when I "grow up".... so yeah I'd be really interested in hearing what you guys are studying and stuff. And I don't want to become a doctor... I just want to treat people... if that makes any sense whatsoever... and yeah I think I'd like Sociology....

[ 02-06-2004: Message edited *Ledi* ]